Gota now encroaching on Muslim burial ground

Sunday, 06 April 2014

Defence and Urban Development Ministry Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa after evicting many people from Colombo has now turned towards the Muslim burial ground in Maligawatte.

Businessmen with links to the Ministry have been allowed to illegally encroach into lands in the Maligawatte burial ground.

JVP’s newly elected Western Provincial Councilor K.D. Lal Kantha has said the party will stand by the Muslim community in Colombo to help them win their rights.

Lal Kantha has observed that the Muslim community in Colombo has been affected by illegal encroachments into the Muslim burial ground in Maligawatte.

Participating in a protest in Colombo organized by the Muslims, he has noted that the members of the Muslim community have held several protests to stop the illegal encroachments in their burial ground.

“Despite an order by the Colombo Municipal Council to stop the illegal construction work in lands that belong to the Muslim burial ground, the businessmen engaged in the construction work have ignored the directive,” Lal Kantha has said, adding that the Muslim community believes that the businessmen were acting in arbitrary manner due to the backing from the Defense and Urban Development Ministry.

According to the JVP senior, the party will resort to legal action to safeguard the rights of the Muslim people.

Lal Kantha has added that people needed to take action against the continuous acquisition of lands in an illegal manner by the government.