{"id":39544,"date":"2012-04-23T02:45:44","date_gmt":"2012-04-23T02:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=39544"},"modified":"2012-04-23T02:45:44","modified_gmt":"2012-04-23T02:45:44","slug":"sri-lanka-government-orders-removal-of-dambulla-mosque","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/sri-lanka-government-orders-removal-of-dambulla-mosque\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka Government Orders Removal Of Dambulla Mosque"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0By BBC ASIA –<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Sri Lanka’s government has ordered the removal of a mosque from an area it says is sacred to the country’s majority Buddhists.<\/p>\n

The order comes two days after Buddhist monks led a crowd trying to storm the mosque in the central town of Dambulla.<\/p>\n

Prime Minister DM Jayaratne says the mosque has simply been ordered to relocate to another part of the area.<\/p>\n

But the incident has angered senior Muslim politicians.<\/p>\n

The BBC’s Charles Haviland in Colombo says this statement by the prime minister appears to have been issued in a hurry, a day before the various parties to this religious dispute were due to meet.<\/p>\n

Buddhist monks in central Sri Lanka had threatened to demolish the mosque next week if the authorities did not act first. A special meeting to discuss the issue appears to have been convened on Sunday, and this statement was produced.<\/p>\n

The statement listed four prominent Muslims as present at Sunday’s meeting agreeing to relocate the mosque – but according to a weekly Muslim paper, three of them say they were not there.<\/p>\n

Cabinet minister AHM Fowzie told the BBC he had not been to such a gathering. He added that it would be acceptable to request such a relocation but not to order it.<\/p>\n

Another politician of the governing party, Azath Sally, said that even if the mosque were illegal, people opposed to it should not “act like thugs”.<\/p>\n

“Do Tamils and Muslims not have a right to live in this country now?” he added.<\/p>\n

Mr Jayaratne, who is also responsible for the affairs of the country’s majority Buddhists, said he had ordered the mosque to be removed from a sacred area in Dambulla and that it could be relocated to “a suitable place in the neighbourhood”.<\/p>\n

He described it as a mosque which is in the process of being built and local Buddhists have reportedly said that a previously small structure is now being illegally expanded.<\/p>\n

The chief of the mosque told the BBC Tamil service the building was legal and was simply being refurbished.<\/p>\n

Our correspondent says that whereas Sri Lanka’s Muslim community normally shies away from confrontations with the government, this incident has angered some senior Muslims and prompted them to speak out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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