TULF leader for solution based on Mahinda Chintana

Anandasangaree hands over letter to Mahanayakes, appeals to Bishops and Prelates of other faiths:

COLOMBO: TULF President V. Anandasangaree called on the Maha Sangha and all religious leaders to prevail on President Mahinda Rajapaksa to come with a proposal to resolve the national question based on the Mahinda Chintana which is based on natural justice.

"I hope his proposal for a lasting solution will bring back peace to our suffering masses after a period of a half a century," he said in a letter addressed to the Mahanayakes, Bishops and Prelates of other faiths.

Anandasangaree handed over the letter to the Mahanayakes yesterday.

Referring to the President's Independence Day speech wherein he stressed on the role played by minorities to the cause of freedom Anandasangaree said: "Minorities of our country as well as those of the majority community applaud his call for unity of all forces and endorse his views that we as a country can rise up as a country and nation when we are united."

"The President wants all patriots who want the country's problems solved to rally round him. I am sure the ethnic problem would have been foremost in his mind," the former MP stated.

He reiterated his stand that the Indian Model would be an ideal compromise to those who reject a Federal solution or one based on a unitary state.

He said the LTTE had its own agenda and will never compromise on its demand for a separate state adding that the LTTE can be either isolated or forced to fall in line only if the Government while weakening the LTTE offered a solution accepted as reasonable by the international community.

He said countries which had banned the LTTE expect the Government to act reciprocally for them to move further in the matter.

Anandasangaree said the practice of getting the advice of the Prelates existed during Monarchial rule in all countries and it had been the practice in Sri Lanka too to get the Maha Sanga's advice.

The mention of his name by the President during his Independence Day address makes him (Anandasangaree) feel that the President is prepared to consider his proposal to find a solution to the ethnic problem.