“President to appoint a task force headed by Defense Secretary to methodically study & protect archeological sites in Eastern Province- PMD”- @adaderana Pop Quiz- What’s the connection between the Defense Ministry and archeology and the Eastern province? Thread #lka

Some archeological sites have been historically contested in Sri Lanka. Contestation lies along ethnic and religious identities. In the past, violence has also taken place against minorities based on claims on such contested sites. Examples identified in this 2017 CSO report

"heritage and ‘sacred sites’ have again emerged as flashpoints. This includes Deegavapi in the east to Devanagala in the south-west and Dambulla in the north-centre to Kuragala/Jailani towards the south-east, amongst other sites." https://monlar.lk/images/leflet/PDF/Sri%20Lanka%20Joint%20Civil%20Society%20%20%20%20Shadow%20Report%20to%20ICESCR_April%202017.pdf

In 2017, over 100 civil society actors identified that "heritage interventions are often folded into nationalist political agendas and privilege majoritarian concerns and narratives of history" including @lstlanka and @monlarlk in its report to the CESCR

In the Eastern province, "religious actors have been involved and the protection of religious sites has been used as the grounds to prevent minority communities accessing and occupying land" documented @bfonseka and @mirakraheem in 2010 for @CPASL https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/8DECA542CE3EB96B852577220070E23E-Full_Report.pdf

"Given the rich history of the East with multiple religious and archaeological (largely Buddhist and Hindu, but also some Muslim and Christian) sites, there is a clear need to protect these areas for both the people of the province and the country at large." @CPASL

Examples from East include Deegavapi Temple, a site of significance for Buddhists, where there are some who claim that the archeological site extend to 12,000 acres adjacent to the temple- land included in this calculation, would include those of Muslim & Sinhala farmers @CPASL

In Illankathurai-Muhutuvaran/Lankapattana tensions persist Hindu and Buddhist devotees "the Tamil claim is that a Buddhist temple was built after the war on the ruins of a Hindu temple, the Buddhists allege that the LTTE destroyed an old Buddhist shrine and built a kovil" @CPASL

The controversy surrounding the Neeraavi Pillaiyar Temple at Chemmalai in Mulaitivu District involving a funeral of a Buddhist priest taking place on a contested religious site is a more recent example from 2019 https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/violence-again-at-neeravi-pillaiyar-in-mulaitivu-district/

Sri Lanka has an archeological department which should be eminently suited to lend its expertise to both lead and direct any task force on the subject. The role of the Defense Secretary in these subjects therefore is moot. http://www.archaeology.gov.lk 

Finally, if the human rights, culture and dignity of all Sri Lankans are to be respected & protected it is imperative that these subjects be approached in a human rights based, culturally sensitive and people centered manner - for which civilian led task forces are an imperative.

And so I ask again, why is the defense secretary heading a task force on archeology in the Eastern province? #lka