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The introduction of any federal system in Sri Lanka would lead the North of the country to secede as a pure Tamil racist state warned the Most Venerable Madihe Pannasiha, the Mahanayaka Thero of the Amarapura Maha Nikaya at a conference held at the Jayewardene Cultural Center in Colombo. The Maha Nayaka Thero, one of the leaders of the three major sectors of Theravada Buddhism in Sri Lanka addressing the November 18 conference of the United Buddhist People’s Organization (Akhila Bauddha Janathanthrika Mandalaya) delivering his comments from the chair said there would be constant invasions of Sri Lanka by this racist state with the help of a neighbouring Tamil state if such systems were allowed to be introduced. Describing a scenario of war and not peace which would happen in the future the Most Venerable Maha Nayaka Thero , who was conferred with the title “Agga Maha Panditha” by the Buddhist Monks and the Government of Burma for his rare scholarship said, he was predicting such invasions after examining all factors in the history of the country. The most venerable monk said if one were to research the history of the country one would be able to find out innumerable instances of such invasions of the country by similar elements struggling against Sri Lanka’s unitary status now. The conference was held under the title, “The Sinhalese- The Great Nation Fed by the Generations of Buddhist Monks” Due to the frailty of the Maha Nayaka Thero owing to his old age another person read his speech from the chair to the audience. The Most Venerable Madihe Pannasiha Thero categorically stated that tiny Sri Lanka needed no federal division and the present system was adequate enough to run the country. He said the sole path to rescue Sri Lanka from this future disaster rested in the hands of the members of Parliament. When ever bills were presented in Parliament to decentralize power MP’s should defeat such attempts in the parliament. They should immediately decide whether they should protect the only country they had or protect the temporary posts of MP’s they held. He said the Sinhalese should take definitive decisions at this moment to protect their only motherland. The Mahanayaka Thero asked when the country was divided into divisions how could there be a United Sri Lanka. When a country was divided on racist lines what would increase was definitely racism, he insisted. He said on August 23, 1977 the Sinhalese shops in Jaffna were looted in a riot. Pannasiha Thero said 23,000 Sinhalese were made homeless by this riot. Authorities should say whether those 23000 could be resettled. Madihe Pannasiha Thero said there had been 273 Buddhist Maha Viharas in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. In Jaffna alone there had been 21 of them. What had happened to them, he questioned. Venerable Pannasiha said according to the Eelam map two thirds of the coast would be occupied by the separatists. Under such circumstances what was the plight of the Sinhalese fishermen who were 74 percent of the population he queried. Where could they live if Eelam dreams were realized the Mahanayaka Thero questioned. If the Eastern Province were to be lost to the separatists the future generations of the Sinhalese would have no place to go he warned. (EOM) (24/11/02 go2lanka.com) |