A NOTE from a Friend in London
“I have just come back from the temple as a special Pooja was organised to express sympathy and remembrance of the victims of the Church attacks. Aside from the remembrance prayers (Gaathas) a Maithri Bhaavanaa was conducted to remember the victims. The Monk then gave a sermon on the fast encroaching eye for eye culture and advised the devotees to refrain from that culture and stick to the Buddhist principles of non-violence and turn the other cheek and that the meek shall inherit the Earth (which Jesus preached as well).
The Sinhala and Tamil Avurudu festival organised for tomorrow has been cancelled to express solidarity with the victims. Instead of the festival, a fundraiser will be organised by the temple for next week with the funds going directly to the affected Churches. A lot of voluntary preparation and money was spent for the festival, but the temple decided to cancel it as it is not a time for celebration.
With regards to the actual attacks, it has been confirmed that it was conducted by ISIS suicide bombers who amazingly were on a Government watch-list, but the intelligence was not acted upon as it would stir “communal tensions”. A few months ago a Buddha Statue was defaced in Mawanella, the bearded perpetrator in Wahabi garb was taken into custody, but released the next day (as powerful forces were at work). This person’s head was found today in Kochchikade Church. Safe houses were raided in Dematagoda and Dehiwala. At Dehiwala two policemen were killed as the suicide bombers detonated their vests. In Dematagoda they did the same but it didn’t explode, so they were caught and further arrests were made. The,y confessed that bombs are hidden in 25 other locations. [M, a friend] speculates that these other locations are Buddhist and Hindu Temples perhaps even Sufi Mosques / Shia Mosques (Heretics).”
