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Police had eviction orders as Ven. Sobitha calls off fast
By Shane Seneviratne
The Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) yesterday accepted President Chandrika Kumaratunga's assurances that a full discussion would be held with the Mahanayaka Theras before finalising the proposed Post-Tsunami Operations Management Structure (P-TOMS) with the LTTE.

A message from President Kumaratunga was conveyed to the JHU monks by the Ven. Weweldeniye Medhalankara Mahanayaka Thera of the Ramanna Nikaya in Kandy, prompting the party to call off the five-day fast unto death by Ven Omalpe Sobitha Thera outside the Sri Dalada Maligawa. The fast was called off at 9.15 a.m yesterday.

The monk was rushed to the a private nursing home in Kandy in an ambulance and is undergoing treatment. Doctors said his condition was stable, but he needed treatment. JHU Parliamentary Group Leader Ven Athuraliye Rathana Thera told a gathering of an estimated 1000 people including villagers from Ven Sobitha Thera's hometown Embilipitiya that the JHU hoped the President would abandon the Joint Mechanism (P-TOMS) plan.

The message signed by President Kumaratunga said she would not be taking a final decision about P-TOMS without consultations with the Mahanayaka Theras. On Friday, the condition of the fasting monk had deteriorated with a warning from doctors that he could suffer a stroke.

As the fast was called off, police sources told The Sunday Times that they had been armed with a court order to evict the fasting monk. They said they had made an application to the Kandy Magistrate and obtained the order late Friday night to remove the monk and dismantle the stage on the grounds that the action was a breach of law and order.

Accordingly, the Kandy Police backed by riot squads were preparing to evict the monk by yesterday morning but the fast was called off before that.

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