Sinhala archaeology focuses operation in North-East corridor
The PGIAR team excavating a site at the Yan Oya Basin. The PGIAR that is supposed to have a ‘multicultural’ team of reasonable proportions, doesn’t have any Tamil staff or student. [Image courtesy: yanoyaarchaeology.com]
[TamilNet, Saturday, 27 July 2013, 09:07 GMT]
Sri Lanka’s Postgratuate Institute of Archaeology (PGIAR), based in Colombo and exclusively staffed by Sinhalese, has recently undertaken a special project called “Yan Oya Middle Basin” research for the years 2011-2015, which will be focussing on a region that links the Northern and Eastern provinces of the country of Eezham Tamils in the island. Yan Oya is a river that originates in the North Central Province, follows the boundary of the Eastern Province and enters into the sea at Pul-moaddai that links the North and East. The selection of this location for intense archaeological research by an exclusive Sinhala team, go hand in hand with the accelerated Sinhala-Buddhicisation of the region, observers said, citing a State-sponsored Buddhist enclave coming up at Pulmoaddai in 500 acres of land.
The PGIAR project area for 2011-2015. Note how it borders the Eastern Province and gets into the North and East link at the narrow corridor at Thennaimaravadi-Pulmoaddai. The research area overlaps with the territory, where the Colombo-government is now intensely spearheading a Sinhala colonisation programme to wedge the North and East. [Image courtesy: yanoyaarchaeology.com]
