Re-opening of Jayanthipura Buddhist Centre:

'It is time Buddhist gathas were recited in Tamil'

Nethali Struys

'The time is ripe to recite Buddhist gathas in Tamil language as well, Higher Education Minister S B Dissanayake said. He said so at the re-opening of the Batticaloa Jayanthipura Buddhist Centre which was destroyed in 1980 due to terrorist attacks.

He said that the start of the 30 year old war had been due to the country's main community trying to rule over other communities.

This conflict did not start as acts of terrorism, but eventually it turned into one. 'It was our fault from the very beginning, the minister said.

"But President Mahinda Rajapaksa managed to settle the 30 year old problem. Now there is no such thing as the main community or minority communities.

"All communities are under one platform and are able to follow any religion of choice.

"This has led to the regaining of peace between all communities in the country," he said.

The minister pointed out that all communities should keep in mind that we are one nation in this moment of rebuilding the country.

'We were the descendants of Indian people. Before the spread of Hinduism in Sri Lanka the Tamil speaking community too followed Buddhism.

'Therefore Buddhism was not a religion of the Sinhalese community alone. Today Buddhist temples consist of features from Hinduism. Therefore temples are for the Tamil community too.

The minister said that the government has taken a firm decision to establish religious coexistence between all communities.

'Our main need is to change our attitudes. This temple was for communities in Batticaloa. The government has no intention of bringing people from other parts of the country and colonizing this area,' the minister added.