The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law

¶ 01 Madam Deputy Chairperson, this morning I asked for one minute. Not for something else. There is no Minister in this Government for Buddhism. The Ninth Amendment to the Constitution has provided facilities to protect Buddhism. But there is no Minister for Buddhism. There is a Muslim Minister; we do not know what he is doing. The State Minister of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, Gamagedara Dissanayake, has not even taken oaths as a Minister.

¶ 02 I asked the Speaker for two minutes to speak on the issue that arose yesterday night regarding the removal of a Buddha statue at a temple in Trincomalee. The reason is that it is a vihara that has existed since 1951. It was destroyed in the 2004 tsunami. After that, arrangements were made to build a new Dhamma Hall. Yesterday morning, the foundation stone was laid and work began, and in the evening the Buddha statue was placed. What happened after that? The Police came and assaulted the monk. They broke the two pearl necklaces that were protecting the Buddha statue and assaulted the monk. Would these not hurt us? We have never behaved as racists in history. Sinhalese Buddhists must live as Sinhalese Buddhists. The Tamil people must also have their rights. The Muslim people must also have their rights. This is not building a new Buddha statue or starting something new.

¶ 03 If there was a complaint to the Police, summon the monks and inquire. Not like this. Someone calls a Minister; the Minister orders what to do; then our monks are assaulted and the Buddha statue is taken away. In the morning, the Minister of Public Security said that the statue was taken out to protect it. There is nothing to “protect” here. They have taken away the existing statue of this temple. Madam Deputy Chairperson, this will not stop here. This is not a one-off. Last Saturday, the Buddha statue established within the Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia Municipal Council premises was also removed. This is happening everywhere. Therefore, please prepare a proper programme to protect Buddhism in this country.

¶ 04 As you are also a Buddhist lady, I make this request of you with compassion. If this continues, tomorrow or the day after, they will even remove the Samadhi Buddha statue at Mahamevuna and it will become a problem. Therefore, we request the Government to implement a proper programme in this regard.