The Buddhist clergy point out that the mosque in Dambulla, some 150 kilometers north of Colombo, are situated inside temple land and should be demolished. The minority Muslims argue that they have been praying in that mosque since the mid-1940s.
Last week, the state offered three alternate locations for the mosque and also offered tax money to fund a new building, an offer firmly rejected by the SLMC.
"We will not agree to any compromise of taking land elsewhere," Sri Lanka Muslim Congress chief and Justice Minister RaufHakeem told reporters.
"We are very, very firm on that.”
Hakeem alleged that "extremist forces" were trying to stir trouble, to fan religious tensions across the island that is emerging after the end of nearly four decades of ethnic bloodshed.
"A strong government must protect the weaker minorities," Hakeem said. "We appeal to the government to ensure that they do not allow xenophobic forces to hold the country hostage."
Sri Lanka is recovering from a 30-year ethnic war which ended in 2009. In 1983 the state failed to protect thousands of minority Tamils who perished in ethnic riots, in landmark breakdown of rule of law and justice.
Sri Lankan citizens have taken up arms against the state three times, the Sinhalese majority twice and the Tamil minority once as the country was buffeted from both state intervention and nationalism.
                                                               Source: LBO.LK (01/05/2012)