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Tense situation between Army and devotees at Mullaitivu Kovil

06 Jul 2022

  • Devotees claim Army blocked route to temple via camp, conduct protest afterwards  
  • Army cites security reasons and says devotees used alternative routes since 2009 
BY Dinitha Rathnayake  A tense situation was reported earlier this week on the occasion of the annual festival of the Saptha Kannimar Hindu temple in Vadduvakal, Mullaitivu, between the Army and devotees who wished to visit the temple. Speaking to The Morning yesterday, journalist Kanapathy Prashanth claimed that army personnel had prevented devotees from using the road inside a camp which leads to the said Hindu temple. “Army soldiers blocked their way to the temple and set up a massive army camp towards the temple. During the Covid-19 period, when the Army did not allow anyone to pass through this road, devotees used to take alternative roads on the beach.”  He also said that a protest began when the road to the temple, which was along the military camp at the Vadduvakal bridge, was closed by the military, and the devotees were prevented from going to the temple.  “People then demanded that the military vacate the temple and their private lands,” Prashanth said. According to reporters, protests began after heated arguments with the troops. However, speaking to The Morning, Army Spokesman Brigadier Nilantha Premaratne said that the army camp in question had been in place since 2009, and that the devotees used to take an alternative route alongside the camp.  “But this time, the devotees tried to take the route inside the camp, which they were not allowed to do due to security reasons. We cannot allow anyone to come inside the camp.” According to Premaratne, it was not the devotees who started the protest after the incident. “A group of 25 people from outside started protesting in front of the camp and they were not devotees.” Meanwhile, the Army has decided to temporarily relieve one Lieutenant Commander Kumarasinghe from duties until the conclusion of an internal investigation into his conduct, following a video of him assaulting a civilian at a fuel station going viral on social media. Premaratne said that the Military Police had also started an investigation parallel to the internal investigation. The incident took place at the Yakgahapitiya filling station situated in the Doratiyawa Police area, where several persons who were not in the fuel queue had created a tense situation.  


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