Sinhala police blocks night-feast events at Tamil folk-temple in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 June 2017, 23:29 GMT]
The occupying Sinhala police of genocidal Sri Lanka has blocked Thiruk-ku'lirththi night-event, which is to be observed at Ka'n'naki Amman Temple on the night of 09 June, news sourcs in Batticaloa said citing the trustee board of the temple. Sinhala Officer-in-Charge of Kaaththaan-kudi Police Mr Wedagedara has refused the temple administration to proceed with the temple event which features devotional songs throughout the night. Ku'lirthi is a rituals observed to propitiate the deity as a remedy for drought, natural calamities and other miseries. It is performed during the Tamil month of Vaikaasi every year. The all-night event has not been blocked by the SL Police in the recent years after the war.

More than 200 people have been killed in the mudslides and the devastation caused by the floods in the South and the ritual was also calling on the deity's grace and mercy on souls, the temple management said.

The temple board has to approach the Police every hear to seek permission to use loudspeakers as there is a regulation under the amended National Environmental Act, which controls the ‘noise pollution’ between 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m.

The Sinhala Police OIC was interpreting the rituals and the night-feast at the Tamil folk-temple as a celebration and came with a hostile response stating that no permission could be given as there were deaths occurring in the South due to the floods.

Although the temple board members reminded him that it is a religious ritual, which was also calling on the deity's grace and mercy on souls, the permission was denied, they added.

Following the hostile reaction from the Sinhala OIC, temple board members confronted him by stating there were different practices for Buddhist temples that are allowed to conduct devotional events during the nights, also featuring loudspeakers.

The discriminative conduct of SL Police has also triggered off reactions coming from Eezham Tamil devotees, who said they had not forgotten how the Sinhala South was ‘celebrating’ the genocidal onslaught on Eezham Tamils in Vanni at their Buddhist temples in South in 2009.

Puthuk-kudihyiruppu village is situated 16 km south of Batticaloa city.

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