Police misled by false information given by a Buddhist prelate, have tried to block the burial of a Muslim woman in Sri Lanka’s eastern province.
Regional correspondents said that despite a delay, local Muslim community managed to carry out the burial after officials of the area clarified the resl situation to the police,
On the morning of 12 October, residents of the Ponmalaikuda and Pulmoddai villages had been preparing the ground located in Ponmalaikuda to bury the body of a deceased woman. However, police officers from Kuchchaveli who arrived at the burial site had informed the villagers not to bury the body at that place claiming the land belongs to the Department of Archaeology. These villages are located in the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretariat area in the Trincomalee District.
Police had informed the funeral attendees that issue was raised through a complaint filed by Chief Sanghanayaka of the North, East, and the Thamankaduwa region who is also the Chief Monk of the Arisimale Temple, Ven. Panamure Thilakawansa Thera, claiming that the land belongs to the Department of Archaeology.
The monk was a leading member of the Presidential Task Force appointed for the management of archaeological heritages in the Eastern Province. The task force, led by former Defence Ministry Secretary Kamal Gunaratne, was appointed by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa amidst opposition from both local and international parties.
Informing police officers that the land isdemarcated as a Muslim burial ground, community members had asserted that regardless of obstacles, all the villagers will unite and bury the dead body at that place in accordance with Islamic rituals.
Meanwhile, the residents of the area had informed the Kuchchaveli Divisional Secretary of the disturbance caused by the police. In response, the Divisional Secretary had called the police officers visiting the venue and had informed them that a two-acre area that does not belong to the Department of Archaeology is in fact a Muslim burial ground.
Regional reporters added that earlier, bodies of several Muslims had been buried at the aforesaid burial ground.
They further said that after the Divisional Secretary’s intervention, the police left the place allowing the burial to take place.
In the recent past, allegations have been levelled against the Buddhist monk for allegedly occupying the traditional land belonging to Tamils and Muslims of the Eastern Province, and he is involved in several land-related court cases.
