The government has decided withdraw over 200 Sri Lanka Army soldiers assigned to work at the Mihintale sacred area.
This decision comes in response to a complaint from the Chief incumbent of the temple, a vocal critic of the government, who expressed concern about two army officers in civilian clothing, deeming it a threat to his life.
State Minister of Defence Pramitha Bandara Tennakoon informed Parliament that the two officials were part of the security forces who were assigned to protect the premises. The minister stated, “We learned only recently that an army officer cannot enter a temple in civilian clothes. Now we have decided that if he deems the military presence at the temple a threat to his life, we will remove all 252 officers from the temple premises today itself.”
However, the Police, in a separate statement, declared that they will not withdraw their security presence from the temple premises. (NewsWire)
