SOCIETIES THAT AVOID LOOKING AT THE PAST, FAIL TO BUILD SUSTAINABLE PEACE – FM SAMARAWEERA AT CHATHAM HOUSE
12/01/2017
“We are convinced and we recognize clearly, that societies that avoid looking at the past, fail to build sustainable peace. Sri Lanka has suffered conflict several times both in the South and in the North. There is hardly anyone in Sri Lanka who can claim to have not been affected by conflict. We know that traumatic memories don’t simply vanish and we have learned, through experience since Independence that grievances that are left unaddressed, can go on for generations, becoming entrenched, and holding the risk of descending into cycles of violence, ” said Sri Lanka FM Mangala Samaraweera while delivering his lecture on ‘The Reconciliation Process in Sri Lanka’, at Chatham House, London.
The full speech follows. Emphasises are form SLB.
