The International Year of the Monument was a commemorative date created by UNESCO in 1964. The International Day for Monuments and Sites also known as World Heritage Day is an international observance held on 18th April each year around the world. The aim is to promote awareness about the diversity of cultural heritage of humanity, their vulnerability and the efforts required for their protection and conservation.
While we celebrate the 50 years of UNESCO World Heritage in Bharat at Dholavira, a Harrappan city (in the southern centre of the Harappan Civilization, is sited on the arid island of Khadir in the State of Gujarat. Occupied between ca. 3000-1500 BCE, the archaeological site, one of the best preserved urban settlements from the period in Southeast Asia) and many other places of outstanding universal value, the HSC is concern what is happening to the Hindus in our neighboring country SriLanka, in the name of heritage and archaeology.
Under the UNESCO Convention, instead of ‘focusing on the preservation of cultural sites’ the radical Buddhist monks (with State’s institutional support) systematically damaging, destroying, renaming and sometime converting the traditionally worshiped Hindu shrines in recent years in the North-East of Srilanka. This is of centre of attraction to raise awareness on this Day – an intolerable cultural crime. This malicious acts should be condemned and India to intervene on this matter. It is human dignity to protect a worshiping place, people living in the surrounding to continue their practices, preserve their culture, traditions and diversity.
SriLanka is undergoing its worst economic crisis. It merits emphasis that India helped bankroll a bankrupt Srilanka last year. And yet with the lifeline that India provided, the SriLankan Department of Archaeology and the military continue to vandalise Hindu religious places of the worship in a systematic manner. In recent time the SriLankan Department of Archaeology is taking efforts to show that any old historic site/monument only belongs to Sinhala-Buddhist. There is strong anger among Hindu organisations around the world regarding this issue amidst SriLankan President Ranil Wickremesinhe’s decision to visit India. One of the HSC’s representative said that “during the current economic crisis in SriLanka, India has come out as its biggest allies and donor, even during this period that if the SriLankan government is destroying Hindu temples there, then this step is fatal approach for the friendly relations between the two countries”.
The International Community should review its international cooperation and financial assistance for heritage conservation and related multifaceted projects in SriLanka. Further the tourist agencies and those visit the island nation should take note of this State sponsored atrocities against SriLanka’s other communities and religions. The donor countries like the Paris Club and institutions like the IMF should ensure the funds allocated to SriLanka are audited as part of transparency and that the funds provided do not released to Government funds for military and the Department of Archaeology.
Further the HSC representative went on to say that the “ State sponsored, reinforcement of Sinhala-Buddhist colonization, hence the demographic changes in the North-Eastern region of Sri Lanka, particularly the post-war period (2009) is of serious concern to the local population and also to India’s security; this type of actions hampers the implementations of the United Nation Human Rights Council Resolution 2023 on SriLanka and SriLanka’s true intention of the post-war reconciliations and accountability as part of multilateral agreement. The international community and India should take note on these as priority matters”.
In this regard the HSC appeal to:
• The Indian Government and the international donors to persuade the Sri Lankan government to re-establish the Ministry of Hindu Religious and Cultural Affairs, assigned with powers similar to those granted to the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs.
• Protect and rebuild the Hindu heritage in that country. We also passionately appeal to the UNESCO to apply its Initiative on Heritage of Religious Interest to ensure the outstanding universal value of the Hindu heritage is preserved in Sri Lanka.
• The Indian Government to insist on Sri Lanka to establish an Interim International Protection Mechanism for the North-Eastern Region of the island to arrest the imminent extinction of the Hindu religious heritage.