A Buddhist temple is being built illegally on Tamil-owned land in Mullaitivu.

Lands privately owned by Tamils as well as some land belonging to Mullaitivu’s Kokkilai hospital have been illegally appropriated by a Buddhist monk, with the support of the military, for the purposes of building a grand Buddhist vihara.

Over twenty soldiers were seen taking part in the construction of the temple.

Northern Provincial Councillor, Thurairasa Ravikaran went to the site with one of the owners of the land, taking with them the rightful documents for the property. They were told by soldiers that the monk responsible was not present.

“I showed [the soldiers] the appropriate documents and told them that the place was private land and that the creation of a vihara without the permission of the landowners was illegal,” Mr Ravikaran said.

“The soldiers there told me that they were tasked to go there by higher officials and that they knew nothing about it.”

Mr Ravikaran said that since the responsible monk was away in Colombo, the soldiers had said that they would carry on the building work in the meantime.

 “It has become commonplace here for a cleric to commit violations in this illegal manner with the support of soldiers. This is a peak example of religious supremacism,” Mr Ravikaran further said.