THE Mosque situated in Sinnakkadai Beach Road in Jaffna has been handed over to the Muslims of the area by the Army after 13 years.
The Mosque was taken for military use in 1996 since it was located within the security zone during the war. The Army has now moved out of the Mosque premises and the local Muslims were trying to resume conducting prayers again in the Mosque.
As a move to clean and restore the Mosque the Manippay Road Mosque Jamaath had involved volunteers in a cleaning campaign.
Muslims in Jaffna were chased out from their homes by the LTTE in 1990 and were given only two hours notice to vacate. They were not allowed to even take their belongings with them and were forced to travel a difficult journey out of the Northern Province.
They had been languishing in Puttalam and other places in refugee camps for the last 19 years.
Travel to Jaffna by road had been restricted to civilians until recently by the government. But the relaxing on security clearance and the pledge by government to resettle all Muslims before the end of this month had given hopes to the long-suffering victims of what was called ethnic cleansing. (Courtesy: Daily Mirror)
