Sunday 22 April 2012
Dambulla mosque shut down after angry protests


By Ranga Jayasuriya  

An ugly commotion over a mosque allegedly built on temple land has threatened religious harmony in Dambulla.
On Friday, a group of protestors led by Buddhist monks forced a mosque in Dambulla to abandon Friday Jumma prayers. The mosque was later shut down until next week by the government authorities. Over a thousand locals and monks surrounded the mosque, demanding that it be moved out. Their grouse was that it was built in the Pooja boomi (sacred area) of the Rangiri Dambulu Viharaya, a UNESCO world heritage site. 
As a forewarning of the troubles ahead, the mosque came under a petrol bomb attack in the wee hours of Friday. No one was injured. Later in the day, Buddhist devotees who set off on a protest march from the  Rangiri Viharaya arrived on the premises of the mosque and demanded that the worshippers and the caretaker of the mosque  leave, an eyewitness said. Reyaz Salley, a Muslim activist said there were 75 worshipers inside the mosque when the protestors turned up.  Full Story>>>