VIDEO: VIPKASHAYE VIRODAYA BLAMES GOVT FOR TERROR ATTACK ON BODH GAYA
July 7, 2013
Vipkashaye Virodaya, the UNP-led joint opposition group, says that the Sri Lankan Government should take responsibility for today’s bomb attack on the Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya.UNP MP Joseph Michael Perera satetd that when government politicians criticize other nations and launch scathing attacks at agreements reached with other states, the response comes with the world’s response to the country’s Buddhists.
Expressing anguish over the terror attack, the parliamentarian stated that the government should take responsibility for it.Nine serial explosions rocked the internationally renowned temple town of Bodhgaya, including four in the Mahabodhi Temple complex, injuring two monks in the blasts.
The Mahabodhi Temple, the site where Lord Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, is frequented by Buddhist pilgrims from Sri Lanka, China and Japan and the whole of Southeast Asia.
Mawbima People’s Party Leader and former Minister Hemakumara Nanayakkara, also speaking at the press briefing, stated that the current government has become “weak” to the point where Buddhists would once again lose the sacred Bodh Gaya, which was rescued by Anagarika Dharmapala.
He stated that today India, our closest neighboring nation, is against Sri Lanka due to the actions and statements of certain “ignorant” Cabinet Minister in the country.
He stated that the actions of the ruling government had caused the terrorist attack on the Bodh Gaya and the current situation with India.
NO LANKANS AMONG INJURED IN MAHABODHI TEMPLE BLASTS; PRESIDENT EXPRESSES SHOCK
July 7, 2013
Sri Lankan Foreign Secretary Karunaratne Amunugama has confirmed that no Sri Lankans were among the injured in the Mahabodhi temple blasts in India.He stated that the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi is handling matters.
At least two persons have reportedly been injured in multiple blasts outside the Mahabodhi temple in Bihar’s Bodhgaya district this morning.
Media reports stated that the injured, reportedly a Buddhist monk and a pilgrim, have been rushed to a hospital with splinter injuries.
According to reports, five blasts took place outside the world famous temple at around 5am on Sunday.
Initial reports said the blasts were of low-intensity and there has been no damage to the temple shrine.
The reports also suggest that the explosions were caused by crude bombs which were kept in a bag at a particular point inside the temple complex.
The temple premises have been cordoned off. Reports say security has been beefed up in and around other religious sites of the district.
Thousands of people from Sri Lanka visit Bodh Gaya on pilgrimage, the site where Lord Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment.
UPDATE: Meanwhile the Government Information Department stated that President Mahinda Rajapaksa, while expressing his shock over the blasts, has directed the Sri Lankan High Commissioner in India to look into the matter.
Initial reports suggest that the target of the bombings was neither Buddhists nor Sri Lankan pilgrims, the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi was quoted as saying.
Earlier in the year, the offices of the Mahabodhi Society, the administrative body associated with Bodh Gaya based in Chennai, came under attack by suspected Tamil elements.
