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Journalism of Courage
COLOMBO, Oct 3: The influential Buddhist Mahasangha8217; of Sri Lanka split vertically today with a section of its member monks coming out in support of President Chandrika Kumaratunga8217;s peace package which aims at granting political and administrative autonomy to Tamils.
The split came with 12 top monks from various sects announcing that over 5,000 monks would hold a special peace prayer on October 7 to invoke the God8217;s blessings on the proposals at the same place where over 400 monks held a satyagraha opposing the package a few days ago.
The monks who made the announcement at a press conference included those from the ranks of the Malwatta chapter whose prelates have denounced the government8217;s proposals and launched an agitation.
The pro-peace Buddhists, members of the Mahasangha comprising over 35,000 influential monks, also condemned the Sinhala Commission8217; appointed with the blessings of monks opposing the proposals.
They alleged it was totally one-sided and had drafted a report with pre-conceived notions against the government8217;s efforts to restore peace. The unofficial commission was appointed to probe grievances of the Sinhalese.The 12 maha nayakas or senior monks, who hail from various parts of the island including the Tamil-dominated northern Vavuniya town, also denounced their counterparts for 8220;banishing8221; Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera from attending temples and directing monks not to accept alms from him.
The monks said people should not be banished because of their opinion. The Minister had earlier said the rabid opposition displayed by the Sinhala Commission in its report would project the Sinhalese as racists and would strengthen the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam LTTE propaganda war.
His comments provoked a section of monks to launch an agitation. Significantly, while condemning the leaders of the monks for taking a prejudiced view against the peace package, the pro-peace monks said that from the beginning the Mahasangha should have been more careful in opposing various efforts to forge peace.
They pointed out the opposition by the Sangha to the pact signed by Kumaratunga8217;s father late prime minister S W R D Bandaranaike with Tamil leaders in 1957 granting official status to the Tamil language in this regard.
He was forced by the Buddhist clergy to reign on the pact and was later assassinated by a monk.
Meanwhile, Tamil parties today rejected Sri Lanka8217;s plans to hold referenda to decide geographical devolution of the north and east, saying it would only worsen the ethnic divide which sparked the bloody civil war.8220;The division of the north and east into several pieces and holding a referendum for each piece would only result in aggravating the ethnic problem,8221; said Douglas Devananda, leader of the Eelam People8217;s Democratic Party EPDP. The government8217;s proposed constitutional changes, aimed at devolving more power to regional administrative units, are intended to meet some of the demands of the LTTE.
Gamini Peiris, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, said yesterday the government proposed to hold a series of plebiscites in an effort to resolve the contentious issue of a merged northern and eastern province, which minority Tamils say is their traditional homeland.
Peiris said once the new constitution was enacted, people of the eastern Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts would decide whether they wanted to be part of the Tamil-dominated northern province.
If the vote was for merging with the northern province, referenda will be held in three towns in eastern Batticaloa district, where the majority Muslims will be asked whether they wanted to remain a part of the eastern province.
Peiris said the draft constitution would be presented next week to a parliamentary select committee where the ruling People8217;s Alliance is battling political parties, including the main Opposition United National Party for a consensus.
