Ethnic Cleansing of Sinhalese Continues in Tamil Tiger Land

Violent attacks against the Sinhalese community continue unabated De Silva Violent attacks against the Sinhalese community continue unabated As of 21st May, 2005 the following incidents have been reported in the Trincomalee District: 1. Prasanna Hotel, a restaurant owned by a member of the Sinhalese community was planted at 9 am. No one received serious injuries, but the hotel furniture was damaged. The restaurant was re-opened by noon with extra army protection. 2. An unexploded plant was found near the photo studio Vinns Ltd. which is owned by a Sinhalese family. The people who saw the plant at about 6 am this morning reported it to the army and it was diffused. 3. A Buddha statue at the historical Gokanna Rajamaha Vihara was vandalized. The head of the statue was removed and taken away. By around 8.00 am today, after a search operation by the police, the head was discovered in an unclean drain in Trincomalee near the police headquarters. A handwritten note in the Tamil language had been left near the damaged Buddha statue, which states that Trincomalee will be cleansed of Sinhalese and not a single statue of the Buddha will be left in Trincomalee under the Eelam Government of the Tamil Tigers. The Defence Ministry called a meeting at the Navy headquarters in Trincomalee to discuss the current violence occuring in the district. However, Buddhist elders, the North East Sinhala Organization (NESO) and the Trincomalee Three Wheeler Drivers' buttociation choose not to attend the meeting in protest at the plantings that are targeting the Sinhalese community, and the violent attacks being perpetrated against Buddhist places of worship. Despite the continuing buttaults on both the Sinhalese community and Buddhist places of worship in the district, the Government continues to announces that calm prevails in the Trincomalee District. The situation on the ground remains tense.