A Sri Lankan lawyer, N Dharshana Weraduwage filed a fundamental rights petition on Monday looking to safeguard and foster the Buddha Sasana against any attacks or threats, in reaction to recent vandalism of a Buddhist statue in Mankulam, in the Northern Province.
Weraduwage's petition sought an interim order to direct the Minister of Law and Order to investigate recent incidents of vandalism of Buddhist statues in the Northern Province and to take action to re-build, restore and/or refurbish those properties.
The petition cited respondents including the Northern Provincial Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran, Law and Order Southern Development Minister Sagala Ratnayake, the Buddha Sasana, Justice Minister Wijedasa Rajapakshe, Northern Provincial Governor Reginald Cooray and the Attorney General as a representative of the President.
Weraduwage also referred to recent objections made by NPC councillors and TNA MPs to the ongoing construction of Buddhist viharas in the North-East and asked the Court to rule that no person in Sri Lanka has the power or authority to interfere negatively or act against the affairs of the Buddha Sasana except as provided for in the Constitution.
Following the end of the war, there has been construction of numerous Buddhist viharas in traditionally Tamil areas and in the vicinity of or in replacement of Hindu sites of worship. The Tamil People's Council has organised an upcoming protest specifically to protest this type of construction of Buddha statutes and accompanying settlement of Sinhalese in historically Tamil areas.
See Tamil Guardian's recent feature on destruction of religious sites in the East here.