Military nexus in acquiring more land in KKS for illegally built Tissa Vihara: Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam MP

The illegally built Buddhist vihara in Thayiddy, KKS on private land with the support of the military. Pix: Northeastern Monitor 

Moves are underway to acquire more land amounting to eight acres in addition to the current six acres of illegally acquired private land in Kankesanthurai (KKS) where a Buddhist shrine- Tissa Vihara is currently built in Thayiddi, All Ceylon Tamil Congress MP Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam revealed in Parliament today. 

Addressing the Parliament today, the Jaffna district MP said that he came to know that an outfit called All Ceylon Buddhist Congress (ACBC) wrote a letter to government authorities recently saying that the Buddhist shrine should not be removed and another eight-acre land needs to be acquired for the use of Buddhist shrine as well. 

"The Army is still in counter-insurgency mode even after the end of the war and turned out to be a racist army towards Tamil people. They are still in the same mindset," MP Ponnambalam alleged. 

The MP also revealed that military nexus on acquiring  Tamil lands is more evident considering the fact that the President of ACBC is Chandra Nirmal Wakishta, former Director of the National Intelligence Bureau and retired senior police officer who wrote the letter to government authorities on the illegally built Buddhist Vihara.

The matter was brought to the attention during the District Development Committee meeting held on December 13, last year (2024) under the chairmanship of Fisheries Minister R. Chandrasekar. 

The issue was raised once again at the recent meeting held on January 31, 2025, when President Anura Kumara Dissanayake chaired the meeting where it was pointed out that the Tissa Vihara was built on a private land property and no approvals were obtained from local government authorities to set up the religious organization in the former high-security zone. 

The illegal Buddhist shrine was built by military personnel on private land after the foundation stone was laid by former Northern Governor Reginald Cooray on August 22, 2018. (Northeastern Monitor/ February 6/2025)