Human Rights Watch has called on the Sri Lanka to order its archaeological department to end its “discriminatory interference” in Hindu sites and protect their rights as well as other minority communities.
In a statement, Deputy Asia Director Meenakshi Ganguly said that Sri Lanka’s targeting of Tamil and Muslim sites is a “violation of the right to freedom of religion and belief”. While the North-East has been subject to Sinhalisation for decades, there has been a rise in efforts to appropriate lands belonging to Tamils and Muslims.
The statement comes amidst tensions over the disputed Vedukkunaari Hill Athi Sivan temple where eight Tamil devotees were recently unlawfully arrested by Sri Lankan police during a Shivarathri pooja. Sri Lankan police raided the site whilst Tamils were observing Shivarathri, despite a court order stating that the worship could go ahead.
Yesterday, the eight individuals were released by Vavuniya Magistrate court and the case against them was dismissed.
Since 2018, worshippers have been blocked from worshipping at the temple by Sri Lanka’s archaeology department and the Sri Lankan military.
The ongoing Sinhalisation of the North-East forms part of Sri Lanka's attempt to displace the Tamil community's ancestral ties to their homeland and build a unitary Sinhala Buddhist state.
