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Trinco:
Another hartal looms over NE This warning comes hard on the heels of a court ruling regarding a Buddha statue in Trincomalee town-the centre piece of the recent showdown between the LTTE backed Consortium of Tamil people and the JVP backed Sinhala Organisation of the North and East (SONE). On Wednesday, the Trincomalee magistrate ruled that the Urban Council should deal with all unauthorised structures. However, V. Vigneswaran who heads the Tamil group has disputed the rule claiming that it only related to the contentious Buddha statue and not other illegal structures, that would include kovils too. Mr. Vigneswaran says that the Urban Council would have to seek a fresh court ruling when it came to other unauthorised structures. Mr. Vigneswaran had reportedly come under fire from certain sections of the Hindu community in Trincomalee who fear that unapproved Kovil structures too would be removed following the court ruling. Trincomalee Magistrate M. Ganesharajah ordered Special Commissioner Sunderam Arumenayagam and Secretary S. Vipulanandan of the Trincomalee Urban Council to take measures to remove four Kovils and the Buddha statue cited as "unauthorised structures" by the Police. However, the situation is at a stalemate as the special presidential team appointed to probe the situation in Trincomalee had recommended that the court ruling be referred to the Attorney General for his opinion. But this has apparently not been done yet. Although efforts by defence and Police chiefs to resolve the matter had ended in deadlock last week, tensions eased after the Tamil groups suspended the hartal in view of Vesak. On the instructions of the President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga Defence Secretary Asoka Jayawardana along with Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri, Inspector General of Police and other service chiefs met the Tamil groups last Saturday (21) but the Sinhala groups had boycotted the meeting. When the matter came up before Trincomalee Magistrate M. Ganesharajah on May 25, three-wheeler association secretary Keerthi Priyalal appeared for the first time in court while on the previous occasion on May 18 he was unable to obtain the services of lawyer. Following a meeting with TNA Trincomalee Parliamentarian R. Sampandan on the same day President Kumaratunga sent Presidential Advisor Harim Peiris, Minister Maithreepala Sirisena, North-East Governor Tyronne Fernando and Deputy Minister Dilan Perera to resolve the matter. Trincomalee TNA MP, K. Thurairatnasigham former MP M. K. D. S. Gunawardena, District Secretary Gamini Rodrigo and religious dignitaries were present at the meeting at the Trinco governor's office. At this meeting, which was boycotted by Sinhala representatives, Deputy Minister Dilan Perera had proposed that the Attorney General's opinion be sought with regard to the execution of the court order. Mr. Vigneswaran who was also present had issued an ultimatum for the removal of the contentious Buddha statue. Although the Tamil groups pledged to call off the hartal which it had earlier planned to launch last Thursday (26) they insisted that the government should take measures to ensure the Buddha statue is removed by midnight, June 2. However as the Sinhala groups including the three wheeler association had boycotted the meeting, Minister Maithreepala Sirisena held a meeting with former advisor to the Sinhala groups Ven. Dehiowita Piytatissa Thera to seek his views. He had reportedly said that they would not allow the statue to be removed and the Sinhala groups were ready to face any consequences. Prior to the meeting with the Tamil groups, the President's team met the Joint Operations Commander (JOC) Maj. Gen Sumith Balasooriya, Eastern Naval Commander Rear Admiral Sarath Wijesekera, Trincomalee Air Force commander Group Captain Gagana Bulathsinhala and Deputy Inspector General of Police Neville Wijesinghe to discuss security measures. Following the meeting, the site of the Buddha statue was fortified with a barbed wire fence and more security personnel were deployed at the site. |
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