Former MP M. A. Sumanthiran, PC, has accused the Sri Lanka Police of attempting to prevent the enforcement of the law over the Thaiyiddy Tissa Vihara dispute in Jaffna, alleging that officers were acting under what he called a “Sinhala-Buddhist supremacist mindset,” The Island reported, citing Tamil Guardian.
The remarks were made after proceedings at the Mallakam Magistrate’s Court, where police had filed for an order preventing the Valikamam North Pradeshiya Sabha from reclaiming a public road within the premises of the Thaiyiddy Tissa Vihara. Sumanthiran appeared for the Chairman and Secretary of the Pradeshiya Sabha during the hearing.
The road in question, known as “Bhavani Road,” belongs to the local council but has been blocked off with fencing erected by the temple administration. Sumanthiran told reporters the police had informed court that reclaiming the road could lead to a breach of peace, and the Pradeshiya Sabha had initiated action in accordance with the law to remove the obstruction and restore access. The police, he said, should act against those obstructing the law rather than those seeking to enforce it.
“The Vihara’s chief priest has complained that enforcing the law would create unrest. Who is creating that unrest?” Sumanthiran said. He added that legal action would be pursued against those attempting to obstruct lawful duties.
The case sets a Tamil-majority local council against a Sinhala Buddhist temple administration in the Jaffna peninsula, with the magistrate’s bench now positioned between the Pradeshiya Sabha’s reclamation order and the police’s preventive application. Sumanthiran, a senior ITAK figure, was recently vocal in supporting the resignation of Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody over the coal procurement scandal.
