Tensions have erupted in Vavuniya after the boundary wall of a roadside Pillaiyar Temple at Nelunkkulam Junction was demolished, following a complaint by the Sri Lankan Road Development Authority (RDA).
The RDA lodged a formal complaint with the Sri Lankan Police, calling for the removal of the temple’s perimeter wall, despite the site being surrounded by other roadside structures including commercial signboards, a bus halt and a three-wheeler stand.
Local residents say that while numerous shops and religious sites in the area have built large structures within the RDA’s jurisdiction, some even encroaching upon drainage systems, none of these have faced similar action.
Following the RDA’s complaint, the occupying Sri Lankan police in Nelunkkulam informed the temple administration and villagers that the wall must be taken down or legal proceedings would be initiated. Under pressure from the police and fearing further repercussions, the temple committee dismantled the wall themselves.
The move has sparked anger among the local Hindu community, who see the demolition as yet another example of selective enforcement and harassment of Tamil religious sites in the North-East.
This incident comes amid a pattern of land disputes, encroachments and targeting of Hindu places of worship in the Tamil homeland.
