Ultra nationalist Sinhala buddhist monks to contest in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 20 February 2004, 11:07 GMT]
Jathika Hela Urumaya(JHU), an ultra Sinhala nationalist party of Buddhist monks, Friday filed nominations in Jaffna to contest elections to Sri Lanka's Parliament in the northern peninsula. "We will talk to the Tigers only if they accept Sri Lanka as a unitary state and give up their arms", said Ven. Vitharandhenige Methananda, the chief candidate of the JHU for Jaffna, responding to question about the peace process after he had handed in his party's nominations.

All the JHU candidates for Jaffna are Buddhist monks.

Sinhala Buddhist nationalists say that every part of Sri Lanka belongs to them and that Tamils therefore have no right to claim any place in the island as their traditional homeland.

"The nominations in Jaffna is to assert the right of Sinhala Buddhists and to emphasise the unitary character of this country", said a columnist for a Sinhala weekly who has close ties withe JHU.