Sri Lankan Buddhist monk says no peace until leader of the Tamil Tigers is dead

Simon Gardner:

A Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka, who heads a religious party opposed to a Tamil homeland in the north and east, says the country would be better off if the reclusive rebel leader of the Tamil Tigers were dead.

Venerable Ellawala Medhananda, head of the National Heritage Party, or Jathika Hela Urumaya, said the government should be prepared to fight the rebels, led by Velupillai Prabhakaran, to the bitter end if peace talks in Switzerland next week fail.

"If Prabhakaran is dead, Sri Lanka is a better place," he told Reuters in an interview at a Buddhist center in the island's capital, Colombo. "He is the stumbling block to the peace process. We should take his influence out of society."

Medhanadna, a political ally of President Mahinda Rajapakse, said his sentiment did not contradict the tenets of peace and harmony for which Buddhism is known the world over.

"Even Buddhist monks can act in self-defense," said the 69-year-old, who became a monk at the age of 12 and enjoys a revered status in Sri Lanka, like other Buddhist monks.

"Buddhist monks (elsewhere) have learned fighting techniques like Kung Fu for their self defense. Therefore fighting for self defense is not against Buddhist principles," said Medhananda, wearing a saffron robe, glasses and close-cropped hair.

A policeman carrying an automatic rifle stood guard near a shrine and a sacred Buddhist Bo tree in a courtyard outside to protect the outspoken MP.

"We now face a terrorist problem. They are attacking us, so why can't we fight in self-defence?"

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