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Batticaloa monk calls for support to clash with Police and Army
19 Oct, 2023
Batticaloa monk, the Venerable Ampitiye Sumanarathana Thero, has called for support to push through Police and Army blockades and place a statue of Lord Buddha on disputed land in the East.
The monk was prevented from entering the land by the Police and Army today.
Sumanarathana Thero accused the Police of acting on the orders of President Ranil Wickremesinghe instead of defending the monks.
He later met villagers and called on the Buddhist clergy to join him to forcefully enter the restricted area to place a statue of Lord Buddha.
Illangai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) MP Shanakiyan Rajaputhiran Rasamanickam tweeted recently saying the authorities were told by the President at a meeting to keep monks and new encroachers out from the disputed Mahaweli land, stop allowing tractors onto the land and to take action against encroachers.
However, the MP posted a video of a tractor on the land and a monk leading a group of people onto the land soon after the meeting headed by the President.
The President had recently called for an urgent meeting before he left for China to resolve the issues faced by livestock farmers in Batticaloa.
The dairy farmers had been on protest for several days against the encroachment of pasture land.
Rasamanickam said the President instructed the Police to obtain a court order to remove encroachers from the?pasture land.?(Colombo Gazette)
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