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Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, leader of the Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) and Member of Parliament, has sharply criticised the continued existence of the illegally expanded Tissa Vihara in Thaiyiddy, describing it as a manifestation of the Sri Lankan military’s role in the genocide of Tamils.
Addressing the controversy surrounding the Buddhist shrine constructed on privately owned Tamil land in Thaiyiddy, Ponnambalam stated that discussions had taken place in Colombo and questioned their legitimacy.
Officials from the Ministry of Buddhist Sasana, other state officials, and the chief incumbent of the Tissa Vihara had participated in those discussions. However, he noted that the people who had lost their lands were not invited to take part. He questioned how such an approach could be considered just, adding that the Thaiyiddy Tissa Vihara had no connection to the Sri Lankan government or to Buddhism and asserting that it was the military that carried out the occupation.
The meeting reportedly included representatives from the Ministry of Buddhist Sasana, other state authorities, and the chief incumbent of the shrine. Notably absent were the original Tamil landowners whose properties were appropriated for its construction. Their exclusion has intensified concerns regarding fairness and due process, with affected families continuing to demand the return of their lands.
The Thaiyiddy Tissa Vihara has remained a focal point of dispute since its establishment on land claimed by Tamil families in the Jaffna peninsula. Local residents and civil society organisations have consistently maintained that the site represents the continuation of militarisation and state-backed Sinhalisation in the Tamil homeland.
Ponnambalam directly attributed responsibility for the construction of the Vihara to the Sri Lankan military, identifying the former Army Commander Shavendra Silva as central to its establishment. He stated that the then Army Commander had worked with full commitment to establish the Vihara and described the Thaiyiddy Tissa Vihara as yet another brutal face of the Sri Lankan military that engaged in genocide.
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