Bo tree taken down in Grandpass
Following tensions in Grandpass which erupted on Saturday night an agreement was reached at a meeting with officials, politicians and religious persons on Sunday.
The solution involved the new Muslim Mosque in the area which became the root cause to the tense situation, to be taken back to its old location and allocated the necessary space. It was agreed that the Bo tree in the vicinity would be removed allowing the expansion of the original mosque in the area where the number of Muslim families had increased from 80 to 470 since 1987.
Earlier permission had been granted temporarily to use a warehouse as a prayer centre until the Ramazan festival was over. However, after the festival was over nothing had changed and devotees were continuing to use the location, sparking off protests.
The Urban Development Authority and the Municipal council removed the Bo tree, where future religious activities are to be conducted.
Source : sundaytimes