Whilst confirming that the electricity bill of the historical temple at Mihintale was settled with the contribution of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) members and donors of the party, Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa said the government should not harass places of worship.

“The government had put a huge burden on the historical temple which Arahath Mahinda once visited.  The monks in charge of the temple and devotees were facing huge difficulties as a result of this. Our attention was drawn towards this situation and I promised the Chief incumbent that I will settle the electricity bill when I visited him recently. I also assured that I will take care of other expenses as well. Electricity at Minihintale was disconnected just two days after I met the chief monk. Power was disconnected without even considering the associates of the government who have also defaulted,” Premadasa said in a statement.

“It is our policy of delivering our promises and we collected a sum of Rs. 4.1 million from SJB members and other donors from the party and thus the bill was settled. It is our duty to support temples such as Minitale which has played such a great role in shaping Sri Lanka’s civilization,” he added.

“It has been proven that the government is only using religion for opportunism and we  request the government not to harass places of worship,” he also said.

(dailymirror.lk)