MP Dharmalingam Siddharthan, who is one of the people to lead the plot to overtake the land of Kurundi Viharaya temple grounds under the guise of a Pongal festival which was obstructed by the police and archaeology officials. has spoken up regarding the incident by writing a letter to the Inspector General of Police raising concerns about the treatment of Tamil people by police and archaeology officials.
The letter, sent yesterday (15), warns that if these officials continue to act arbitrarily and unfairly towards Tamil people, there may be racial issues.
The MP said that a group including himself attempted to perform a Pongal festival in the Hindu temple located in the Kurundi temple grounds last Friday (14), but were obstructed and treated unfairly by the police and archaeology officials.
He further commented by saying that the actions of those individuals raised two main issues. The first being that people of any race can enter an archeology site. However, on the day of the incident the Tamils were forced to leave the temple grounds, threatening them that they would be arrested.
Secondly, the Tamils who gathered were not allowed to light a fire at the site, but adjacent army soldiers had built stoves to cook food and pilgrims were also allowed to light stoves at the temple.
The MP accused the officials of enforcing the law only for Tamil people, despite two restraining orders imposed by the court on both sides regarding the Kurudumale temple.
The MP contends that these sites belong not only to Buddhist people, but also to Hindu people as accepted by the courts and history. He requested that the police act in a fair manner towards Tamil people to avoid unnecessary incidents rooted in racism.
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