“ABDUCTED JHU PARLIAMENTARIAN CAME BACK WITH ALLEGED ABDUCTORS AND TENDERED RESIGNATION FROM PARLIAMENT”
By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles
May 19, 06.30 PM: Amidst serious charges of forced resignation, the Jathika Hela Urumaya Parliamentarian Venerable Kathaluwe Rathanaseeha Thero who was allegedly abducted by his own party Buddhist monks tendered his resignation from his parliamentary seat, sources close to the abducted Member of Parliament said in Colombo.
The other Buddhist monk parliamentarian, Venerable Aparekke Pannananda Thero who together with the abducted Member of Parliament rebelled against the party hierarchy against joining with the proxy party of the Tamil Tigers in the parliament in the election of the UNP candidate W.J.M. Lokubandara as Speaker, said in the House, raising privileges issues, that he has also received death threats from his own party.
Venerable Aparekke Pannananda Thero Gampaha District JHU MP, also mentioning about his abducted colleague Venerable Kathaluwe Rathnaseeha Thero said that the abducted MP’s question raised very serious parliamentary privileges issues and should be thoroughly investigated.
After abduction, police sources said, the allegedly abducted MP was believed to be held in the temple of Rev. Kolonnawe Sumangala, another JHU Member of Parliament and brought to the parliament by him and other JHU MP’s for his resignation. Sources said when the letter of resignation was handed over to the Secretary General W.J.M.Lokubandara , whom the JHU MP’s helped to elect, was also present.
The Colombo based , Lanka Truth news website said, Kolonnawe Sumangala and other JHU Buddhist monks “while detaining Venerable Rathanaseeha have threatened him to resign from his parliamentary membership.”
Meanwhile Colombo’s Daily News said that Sri Lanka’s Police Chief Indra De Silva has ordered a top level investigation about the abduction of the member of Parliament from his Sambodhi Viharaya temple in Soyzapura, Rawathawatte , Moratuwa, last Monday night.
The Daily News said, “It has been reported that the Venerable Rathanaseeha Thera has submitted a letter which was written by him under threat to remove himself from the post of MP.”
The Police also interdicted the Officer in Charge of the Moratuwa Police who refused to act to stop the abduction of the MP while it was in progress. It was alleged that the driver of the abducted Buddhist monk informed the OIC that his master was being abducted but the OIC ignored the complaint. It has been alleged that the Police was collaborating with a JHU leader called Champika Ranawaka.
Meanwhile the Movement for the Protection of Buddhist Rights in a statement published in the popular Sinhala daily, the Divaina condemned the abduction The statement alleged that the United National Party (UNP)was collaborating with the .JHU in the abduction. The statement further alleged the violent activities of JHU could only be compared with the activities of Prabhakaran of the North. Alleging that JHU parliamentarian Rev. Athureliye Rathana had forewarned about this abduction at a public meeting in Panadura earlier the statement of the movement said the concepts of the JHU and the LTTE were the same.
