Bhikku Front holds national convention in Colombo

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 26 August 2003, 16:40 GMT]
The second national convention of the the National Bhikku Front (NBF) was held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall (BMICH) in Colombo today. The NBF is opposed to the establishment of an Interim Adminstration (IA) for the northeast province and had threatened to campaign in Colombo and 50 other cities in the South through the nearly 1500 Buddhist Vihares in the island.

Speakers addressing the second convention of the NBF said the proposed interim administrative council would become a threat to the unity of the country in the long run, sources said.

The LTTE would use the interim administrative council as a foundation to achieve its goal Tamil Eelam in the country, NBF leaders reiterated at the convention.

"It is our responsibility to create a stable future for the country without giving room for government leaders who in the name of peace process are engaged in undermining the territorial integrity and security of their motherland," said an NBF leader said at the convention.

At the commencement of the convention about one thousand members of the NBF marched to the BMICH hall from the office of the All Ceylon Buddhist Congress about two hundred meters away from the venue. They observed two-minute silence in memory of the Buddhist monks who died in the war and offered floral tributes before the proceeding commenced, sources said.

The NBF’s general secretary and other leading members earlier this month distributed pamphlets that appealed to the masses to come forward to oppose the proposed interim administrative structure for the northeast province, saying it would lead the country's division.

In its pamphlet, the NBF outlined what it said were dangers in handing over the interim administrative structure to the hands of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, sources said.