History & Archeology of Deegavapi Sacred City
Patriotism is not confined only to the Sinhalese or Sinhala Buddhists- every son and daughter who has been born and bred in this country whether they be Tamils, Muslims, Burghers, Sinhalese, Sinhala Buddhists, Sinhala, Tamil & Burgher Christians, Tamil Hindus must all have even an aorta of national pride about what the history & heritage of this country called “Ceylon” or “Sri Lanka” holds for them and their families. There is no point of forming Inter-religious or Inter-racial Committees if citizens who belong to the different religions and races all termed as “Sri Lankan “ in this country cannot and do not respect each other sincerely & genuinely. Harmony does not grow just by mere words or committees but by sincere gestures.
Sri Lanka is surely a cursed nation when Tamil terrorists are mauling down historical sites in the North in their fanatic search for justification for their demand of a “Tamil Homeland” or when Muslims maul down Buddhist Sacred Sites in the East to justify their existence in the East. Fanaticism, nationalism or extremism must not be used against the Sinhalese who upto date have not destroyed any sites which belong to others. However, the same cannot be said of the Tamil terrorists or the Muslims of this country anymore. The depth of Sinhala tolerance has been tested to the maximum levels already.
During the lifetime of the late Mr. Aboosally when he was MP for Balangoda destroyed the archeological site of Kuragala where clear archeological demarcations and a notice of the Dept. of Archeology was visibly clear to all- that Kuragala was a Sacred Buddhist Site. Over this Kuragala Buddhist Archeological Site today stands the “masterpiece of vandalism” done by the late Mr. Aboosally which is named “ Jailani Mosque” and is now a worshipping ground of Muslims!
The story of the Sacred City of Deegavapi is facing similar vandalism right now. Our former President Chandrika Kumaratunga in her typical style of wanting to insult the Sinhala Buddhists, went and opened a Memorial in memory of the late Mr. Ashroff within the precincts of the archeological site of Deegavapi during her tenure of Executive President together Mrs. Ferial Ashroff to win over the Muslim support! That is the lowest level to which Chandrika Kumaratunga could have stooped. That has given added vigour to the Muslims of the East where there are many Muslim MP of the likes of Mr. Athaulla, Mr. Hakeem and Mrs. Ferial Ashroff.
They have master-minded a plan to excavate the Sacred Archeological Site of Deegavapi and it is now underway for the last week or so. This area comes under the purview of the Addalachcheni Divisional Secretariat in Ampare District. During excavations many valuable artifacts are being unearthed which the Dept. of Archeology is “meekly “ coming and clearing away in whatever vehicles they can get hold of! What is being unearthed does not prove the existence of a Muslim heritage in the area but a Sinhala - Buddhist heritage. The purpose of this current excavation we hear is to build 100 houses to settle Muslims within the demarcated Archeological Site of Deegavapi. Those who will be settled there will undoubtedly be Muslims and not Sinhalese or Tamils for sure! Is there absolutely no land in the area other than the Deegavapi Sacred Site? From what we hear, it is Mrs. Ashroff who is spearheading this latest onslaught on Deegavapi. No one dares to voice their opinions in the region for fear of reprimands from Mrs Ashroff and her colleagues.
The next vandalism will be the plan they have to get Samanthurai demarcated as a Sacred Muslim Site where the land extent would cover an area adequate to house 35 Muslim Mosques- and that too will be done very soon and used as a exchange bargain for their support to the GOSL. All plans and the “distorted history” is all ready and waiting for the opportune moment when it can be negotiated.
In the meantime, we beg to question what the Dept. of Archeology is doing while politicians are destroying the history of this country? Why have a Dept of Archeology, if they cannot protect what is under their purview? Who has made politicians act in such high-handed manner that they feel they are above the law of the land and should not be any respecters of persons or properties which belong to Mother Lanka?
Finally, we beg to ask- what is the GOSL doing by turning a blind eye to all these atrocities committed by their parliamentarians? In an era when we hear loud calls from the International Communities and INGOs for Human Rights, Child Rights, Worker’s Rights, Fundamental Rights etc., do the citizens of this country have any rights to protect their country, their heritage and their history? Do we continue to permit politicians to act in this obnoxious manner and destroy our country completely? Is the ordinary citizen of this country ONLY A DOOR MAT to be trampled? Farewell decency- there is nothing left!
Darmitha - Kotte
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Well done Darmitha……… you have just written one of the dumbest articles I have ever read. It is because of idiots like you that the country is in the state it is now. There is a war going on and has been for the past twenty years, those affected by the tsunami are yet to receive the aid that has been pledged, due to massive corruption… and your big problem is that a mosque is built over what is suspected to be an archeological site? Are you completely retarded or do you have some other excuse for this dribble? Here’s a little news flash for you, during all the shooting, shelling and general mayhem that tends to occur during a war people are inclined to be bothered by things other than the preservation of such sites.
While I agree that the history of this country is a shared one, Sri Lankan history belongs to us as a collective and must be preserved as such. we are Sri Lankan first religion should come a distant second, but just have a go at reading what you have written and tell me; do you notice anything a bit funny about it …. You know a little bit contradictory? You managed to make very serious statements and accusations with obviously very little research into what you were banging on about.
As for Mr. Aboosally; the man managed to do more for the Sri Lankan people of all races and religions, both as an individual and during his political career than a person of your obvious mental shortcomings could ever fathom. I suggest you think about what you say in future do your research or simply shut up and fade into oblivion.
Comment by Azi Mohamed — December 28, 2006 @ 9:28 am
Have you even been to Jailany? (I have been there many times) If you actually did bother to visit instead of spouting ridiculous statements (of which you have provided no evidence) you’d see that the Jailany rock cave mosque and Kuragala are actually not in the same place. Plus if you actually speak to any Balangoda Buddhist priest you will hear for yourself exactly what the Late Mr Aboosally did for communal harmony in Balangoda.
“Fanaticism, nationalism or extremism must not be used against the Sinhalese who upto date have not destroyed any sites which belong to others”
So those Churches that were burnt after the Ven. Soma Thera’s death just spontaneously combusted.
Idiot
Comment by Tariq — December 28, 2006 @ 6:02 pm
I happen to know and follow the history of Jailany and Mr Aboosally’s contribution — your comments are not only untrue but libel to the good name of a respected man. It is bigots and uneducated racists like yourself that give Buddhism a bad name in Sri Lanka.
Comment by Sharm Aboosally — January 4, 2007 @ 8:46 am
You are so right - Sinhala tolerance knows no bounds. Thank god the Jaffna Library contained no priceless books of historical value! Otherwise it would be a case of pot-kettle-black.
Comment by gideon — January 7, 2007 @ 10:17 pm
“…masterpiece of vandalism”?? I suggest you visit the Jailany Mosque, walk until you get to the viewing ledge at the edge of the mountain, admire the beautiful view, and then perhaps jump off.
And Dummy, can I call you Dummy? You should thank whatever it is that you thank that someone like Mr. Aboosally was ever a part of the Sri Lankan government, that he chose to serve the Sri Lankan people, even individuals like you, who were so unworthy of his time. You, in particular, would not amount to a sole on his shoe in a hundred lifetimes; this is fact, which will seem quite a change from the fiction you appear to write.
However, if Mr. Aboosally were alive to read this ridiculous article, I have a feeling that he would say that you were entitled to your own opinion, (while I personally, would like to coat it in red ants and shove it down your throat). He would also forgive you for this serious error in judgment, sincerely forgive you, because Mr. Aboosally was that special combination of everything that makes someone great, the country should be thankful that he was a Sri Lankan citizen, let alone one of it’s most competent leaders
Comment by Imz — January 12, 2007 @ 8:09 am
If we look at likes of some others mentioned in the article, we have seen they, over time they have no regard for other religions and you know it’s true. Things are done through power and money with no disregard to any other except for their own. They will do whatever it takes to throw out everyone else out of major cities/towns and get everything the way the want and the way only for their people, but not for the country as a whole. If you look around they have done whatever they want, whenever they want as and when they feel like it with no regard to the public. Our bloody other ministers are afraid and they follow them and kiss their backsides as they have the power and money to control them. I don’t live in Sri Lanka anymore but from what I read in the news and hear from many in the country, Sri Lanka is being played by some of these people. It’s a shame it was a beautiful country.
Comment by Rif — January 22, 2007 @ 6:14 am
Darmitha - were you born a bigot or did you have an unfortunate experience somewhere in your formation? I suppose there is nothing wrong in being a racist, especialy as you are most probably economically underprivileged. However, before you write a whole load of unresearched rubbish, pause for a moment and reflect ” Am I wasting my time?”
Comment by Jehaan Ismail — April 16, 2007 @ 9:22 pm
Darmitha’s article deserves serious attention. In the light of what has happenend in the past, locally as well as internationally, and still happening, the fears of Buddhists are understandable. If his facts are wrong, all that needs to be done is present the correct picture without name calling. Name calling always mars the truth.
Comment by Daya Wijesinghe — August 6, 2007 @ 4:18 pm
Let us protect our mother land with sacred cities. Don’t give a chance to touch the mother Sri Lanka.
Comment by Pradeep — September 11, 2007 @ 12:06 pm
Mr Wijesinghe,I think we can be almost certain that it is not fear that grips the heart of damitha-from kotte rather his (slanted and poorly researched) article almost guarantees that he is in fact brimming with arrogance and self -righteousness. Perhaps he stumbled upon a computer one glorious day, looked in amazement as the keys, once tapped, brought into the visual the thoughts running through his head. So supercilious was he that he at once decided that it was only right that he share his charming little rant, and thus decided to pour his (slanted and poorly researched )bile down the throats of innocents pursuing the wonderfully wondrous world wide web. Oh I do apologize for going off onto to quite a ridiculous tangent there, but seeing as you seem to enjoy senseless nonsense it might just be exactly what you need.
Make no mistake, d from k’s article deserves some serious attention. It is one kind of terrorist that straps themselves with explosives and decides it’s alright to take innocent lives, but it is the other kind of terrorist that I fear the most, the kind that pollute the world around them, using religion as a front for their racist tendencies. This article represents what the people of this country must fight against, and that is division. If the last few decades have taught us anything it is that when divided, we all fall, and we will keep falling unless people learn to look at the issues facing the country with a broader perspective and not what can be achieved for me and my people but what is best for people (full stop).
Singhalese tolerance= oxymoron, is that unfair? Maybe so, but look at where ‘Mother Lanka’ is , there is no tolerance, only hurled accusations, about ancient cities and sacred cites, people are dying, get over it.
Comment by Imz — March 13, 2008 @ 11:31 pm
In which country do you live?
Comment by download firefox 2.0 — March 20, 2008 @ 8:51 pm