A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
A Brief Colonial History Of Ceylon(SriLanka)
Sri Lanka: One Island Two Nations
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Thiranjala Weerasinghe sj.- One Island Two Nations
?????????????????????????????????????????????????Tuesday, June 20, 2017
All must stand together against religious extremism
Jun 19, 2017
A multiplicity of racist attacks are erupting in different parts of the
country and affecting different ethnic and religious communities.
The
widespread and systematic attacks against members of the Muslim
community are insidious and low profile. They are individual attacks on
commercial establishments and mosques that are sometimes reported in
the media and sometimes not. It appears that this is a testing ground
where extremist groups are testing the space for racism. Violent
extremists pose a security threat; it is naturally, yet not exclusively,
the responsibility of the government to respond to ensure the safety of
all its citizens. This involves the mobilization of law enforcement
agencies to enable the state to tackle the root causes of violent
extremism, to create societal buy-in across diverse stakeholders toward a
common goal, and to demonstrate the respect for both the rule of law
and equality of all citizens. The danger is that left unchecked by
deterrent governmental action they will lead to a buildup and erupt in
an unpredictable way.
A similar phenomenon has been taking place in regard to sections of the
Christian community. Here too the attacks are widespread and systematic
and yet insidious and low profile. President Maithripala Sirisena has
said various attempts are being made through the internet and some media
institutions, to spread civil unrest among communities in the country.
The state media reported the President saying “that when he asked the
Colombo Archbishop, Most Rev.Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, regarding a
statement made by a person during an interview with a private news
channel that 166 Catholic churches were attacked during the past few
months, the Archbishop of Colombo said no such incidents have been not
reported. The President further said that he vehemently rejects such
kind of statements made by some persons misleading society with ulterior
objectives in mind.” The news item in a private news channel that
Catholic Churches were attacked either smacks of ignorance or willful
distortion of facts.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith is a representative of the Catholic community
and has spoken as such. However, there are also a minority of
non-Catholic Christians who feel threatened and under siege. We regret
that the distinction between Catholic and non Catholic Christian has not
been made. The National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka
has reported that 111 incidents took place in 2014, 90 in 2015, 89 in
2016, and another 36 incidents in 2017 so far. The report said that
although these figures reflect a slight decline in the overall number of
reported incidents, notably the number of incidents involving state
officials has increased. In this context the National Peace Council is
dismayed that the Hon. Minister of Justice had threatened to remove
Attorney-at-Law Lakshan Dias for highlighting incidents of religious
violence as recorded by the National Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka
and presented by him in a talk show. Mr Lakshan Dias is a leading
lawyer and a committed human rights defender who has been engaged in
civil society activism for over two decades. He is a member of the Bar
Association of Sri Lanka and many local and regional human rights
groups. He has appeared for many fundamental rights violation cases on a
pro-bono basis on behalf of marginalized and underprivileged people and
also in many cases representing the victims of religious hate crimes
against the Christian and Muslim communities in the country. We note
that it is only the Supreme Court that is empowered to remove lawyers.
The National Peace Council calls for the protection of all and the
upholding of Fundamental Rights enshrined in the constitution that give
to all religions, big and small, the same rights of equality and freedom
of propagation. The impunity that is currently available to those who
attack minority religious groups is an enormous danger to society at
large as it heralds the breakdown of the Rule of Law. We are pleased to
note that in the past few days the police have acted and arrested
several persons for engaging in hate crimes. We urge the leaders of all
religions and civil society to stand together, displaying a shared
interest, to insist to the government that the Rule of Law is
sacrosanct, and must prevail, or else we fear that what Sri Lanka
collectively sows will be collectively reaped.