Community Opinion On Post-War Development
The adequacy and need for further humanitarian initiatives to assist war-affected people three years after the war’s end is one on which there is contrasting opinions within the country and internationally. When faced with any call for improvement, the standard response of government authorities is to claim that Sri Lanka is a model of post-war resettlement and rebuilding which other countries can learn from. There is always an angry official denial that any serious problems exist. As a result the general opinion outside of the North and East is that the problems of the war-affected people have been more or less resolved by the government. However, by and large, people are open minded and willing to see a different side if there is someone willing to show it to them. This is what was evident at a recently held inter religious conference that was the culmination of a two year process of working together for reconciliation.
June 18, 2012
By Jehan Perera -
Jehan Perera
The adequacy and need for further humanitarian initiatives to assist war-affected people three years after the war’s end is one on which there is contrasting opinions within the country and internationally. When faced with any call for improvement, the standard response of government authorities is to claim that Sri Lanka is a model of post-war resettlement and rebuilding which other countries can learn from. There is always an angry official denial that any serious problems exist. As a result the general opinion outside of the North and East is that the problems of the war-affected people have been more or less resolved by the government. However, by and large, people are open minded and willing to see a different side if there is someone willing to show it to them. This is what was evident at a recently held inter religious conference that was the culmination of a two year process of working together for reconciliation.
The 200 plus members who attended the conference had just ratified a resolution on strengthening humanitarian initiatives with regard to war-affected women and children. For two years those who were part of the conference had strived to do something tangible on behalf of those who had been victims of the war; they had finally come to share their learning experiences gained over that period. The resolution was now to be given to those who had the power to overcome obstacles and turn civil society aspirations into concrete actions. Sitting in the audience was Ven. Maduluwave Sobitha, one of the most senior and well known Buddhist monks in the country who had accepted an invitation to attend the closing stage of the conference.
A Muslim moulavi from the east climbed down from the stage where he was a co-chairman of the conference along with seven others who were leading clergy of the other three religions, namely Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity. It is a cultural tradition in Sri Lanka that Buddhism monks do not come to others or stand up to receive worldly things, whether they are the honours the world can bestow or its problems. The organizers of the conference deemed Ven. Sobitha to be a religious leader of great influence to take the necessary action that their resolution demanded. Coming down from the stage, the Muslim moulavi walked up to the seated Buddhist monk and presented the resolution to him.
The willingness of the Muslim religious leader to go down from the stage to where the senior Buddhism monk was seated was not an indication of the superior place of one religion over the other. This was not a conference where one or the other religion dominated. The seating arrangements on both the stage and on the floor reflected the equality of the different religions. The Muslim moulavi’s action reflected respect for the cultural traditions of another religion that exists within those who are spiritually motivated. The meaning of this simple action has positive implications for religious co-existence and inter-ethnic harmony in the country. It means that the mistrust and polarization that exists can be overcome where there is proper leadership, conscious effort and goodwill is built up.
