Guha advocates Indian model of pluralistic society for SL

Bangalore, Jan 11 (UNI) Noted historian and social philosopher Ramachandra Guha today advocated adoption of Indian model of pluralistic society by Sri Lanka to solve its persistent problem with LTTE.

Speaking on 'Beauty of Compromise' as part of Kappen Memorial lecture here yesterday, he said the conflicts had remained unresolved only because LTTE leader Prabhakaran was holding on to his dogmatic values.

''There is a need for Prabhakaran to take a middle path of compromise and reconciliation if he wants to resolve the issue which had claimed more than 75,000 lives,'' he said.

Stating that there was an equal place for both Sinhalese and Tamils in its constitution and Buddhism was no longer a state religion, he said the adoption of Indian model of pluralistic society was a better solution to the ongoing ethnic conflict.

The reorganisation of Indian states on linguistic bases had consolidated the unity of India within the federal system, he said, adding that if Hindi was given supremacy over the regional languages, there would have been an identity crises.

The conflicts in Kashmir and Sri Lanka had remained unresolved and demonstrate how the extremism and inflexibility of the contending parties had worked to intensify and deepen the conflicts further, he said.

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