File photograph.
The Sri Lankan government is moving swiftly to placate Sinhala Buddhist critics following Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s remarks in Jaffna, which drew sharp criticism from Buddhist monks and nationalist groups, according to The Sunday Times.
While visiting the Tamil homeland, Dissanayake stated that individuals who gather at certain disputed sites in the North on full moon Poya days were not motivated by religious devotion but by hatred. The comments were widely interpreted as a rare acknowledgement of Sinhala Buddhist mobilisation around contested land and religious sites in the North-East, an issue long criticised by Tamils as a vehicle for state-backed colonisation.
The remarks prompted a backlash from sections of the Buddhist clergy and Sinhala nationalist actors, who accused Dissanayake of undermining Buddhism. In response, the government now appears keen to repair relations with these constituencies.
As an initial step, Dissanayake is scheduled to convene a meeting in Colombo, where he is expected to announce the allocation of substantial state funds for the reconstruction of more than 1,400 Buddhist temples damaged by Cyclone Ditwah. The funds are to be disbursed through Divisional Secretariats in the coming days. The government has also indicated that further assistance will be extended to Buddhist temples requiring repairs.
The move comes amid mounting criticism that the administration responds swiftly to Sinhala Buddhist concerns while remaining slow or silent on long-standing Tamil grievances, including land occupation by the military, the expansion of Buddhist structures in the Tamil homeland, and the continued lack of accountability for wartime abuses.
The effort to support damaged temples has also drawn interest from opposition figures. Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa, Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna parliamentarian Namal Rajapaksa, and Sarvajana Balaya MP Dilith Jayaweera have each announced plans to assist Buddhist temples affected by the cyclone, underscoring the political importance attached to Sinhala Buddhist institutions across party lines.
Read more from the Sunday Times here.