STF appropriates Tamil land to erect Buddhist temple in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 July 2010, 17:10 GMT]
The Special Task Force (STF) in Batticaloa district, after asking the Kannaipuram Tamil villagers in Vellave'li DS division to vacate their lands to construct a Murugan Temple, has reportedly started unloading bricks, cements and sand for the construction of a Buddhist vihare.

STF had also organized a sramadana campaign to clear the land, and the Tamil villagers had participated willingly expecting a Murugan Temple to rise in the area, civil sources in Kannaipuram village said.

Tamils now fear that the government would start a state aided colonization scheme in the traditional Tamil village, according to a statement issued by Batticaloa district Tamil National Alliance parliamentarian C. Yogeswaran and the Secretary General of TELO Mr. Prasanna Indrakumar to the local media.

The Statement further said that Buddhist monks in large numbers have been visiting Tamil villages in the DS divisions of Vaaharai, Kiraan, Vavunatheevu, Vellavelli, and Pattipalai after resettlement with uprooted Tamil families.

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