Sri Lanka’s most sacred Buddhist shrine the Dalada Maligawa or Temple of the Tooth in the Hill Country’s Kandy town was extensively damaged when suspected guerrillas of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) exploded a massive truck bomb on 25 January. Thirteen civilians, including two children, were killed and four of the suicide bombers also died in the blast. St Paul’s church in the vicinity was badly damaged.
The tooth relic of the Buddha, believed brought from India in the 4th Century AD and enshrined in Dalada Maligawa in the 16th Century, was unharmed. The Dalada Maligawa has remained a symbol of Buddhist culture in Sri Lanka and a centre for pilgrimage. Celebrations on 4 February to mark 50 years of independence from British rule, attended by Britain’s Prince Charles, were scheduled before the temple.
As President Chandrika Kumaratunge rushed to the scene of the carnage, crowds vented their anger attacking the Selvavinayagar temple, half mile west, and smashing icons of Hindu gods. Ten Tamil-owned homes and shops were damaged. Police arrested over 50 people and prevented attempts to burn the Hindu Maha Sabhai cultural centre. But the temple chariot of the Muthumariamman temple at Gurudeniya, six miles south-east of Kandy, was burned down.
As part of a massive security blanket around the hill capital, guidelines issued by police in early January requested residents not to house anyone without the relevant documents including proof of police registration. Around 60 schools were commandeered for 10,000 security personnel and all schools were closed from 23 January.
The ease with which the Tigers had penetrated Kandy embarrassed Deputy Defence minister Anuruddha Ratwatte, who declared that the Rs 400 million ($7 million) celebrations would go ahead in Kandy despite the bomb attack.
Army officers blame the police saying they were not consulted in security arrangements. Mr Ratwatte submitted his resignation on 28 January after President Chandrika decided to shift the celebrations to Colombo. While crowds burned Ratwatte effigies and others marched in his support, the President refused to accept his resignation. Although the Tigers succeeded in disrupting the celebrations, the backlash, if one was expected, did not come. But an incident away from the hill capital further marred the independence anniversary. Police and Home Guards massacred eight Tamil civilians in Trincomalee on 1 February.
As Buddhist monks demonstrated in Colombo and Kandy, there was international outrage for the attack on Dalada Maligawa. Amnesty International says deliberate killing of civilians cannot be tolerated and has called on the LTTE to abide by basic principles of international humanitarian law.
Prince Charles’s programme was scaled down and festivities on 4 February before Parliament in Colombo was a subdued affair, with only 300 privileged civilians, as a security ring was thrown around the area. The government banned heavy vehicles into Colombo city to prevent suicide bombers and ordered holidays to offices in business districts.
As emotions ran high in the aftermath of the Kandy bomb, the government decided on 27 January to proscribe the LTTE. The Tigers were first banned in 1978 by the Proscription of the Liberation Tigers and Similar Organisations Act which was repealed the following year by the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
Since then Sri Lankan governments have resisted demands to proscribe the LTTE, particularly after India’s ban in May 1992 and the US in October 1997. London-based Tamil Information Centre which condemns the attack on Dalada Maligawa, warns that the LTTE ban would not only deepen the gulf between Sinhalese and Tamil communities but also close the doors to peace and international disregard of the crisis would result in further polarisation.
The peace process suffered a further blow when influential Mahanayake Theras or highpriests of four main Buddhists sects rejected the government devolution proposals on 31 January. The Theras oppose the proposed union of regions replacing the current unitary state and determination of the unit of devolution on ethnic basis. They say the peace package would lead to Tamil Eelam or separate state in the north-east. The rapid turn of events overshadowed the late January proposals of the main opposition United National Party, calling for power-sharing for minorities in central government and asymmetric devolution.
London-based Catholic Fund for Overseas Development (CAFOD) says ordinary people desire peace but there can never be peace until the government and LTTE enter into talks and the distinct identity of both peoples is fully appreciated in a constitutional framework. CAFOD has called on Britain to use its position of historic friendship to promote negotiations between Sinhalese and Tamil leaders.