Active Engagement Of Youth Imperative For Reconciliation: YPLF
July 23, 2014
1983 July | pic by Chandraguptha Amarasingha – A Tamil boy stripped naked and later beaten to death by Sinhala youth in Boralla bustation
Young Political Leaders Forum of Sri Lanka (YPLF) issuing a media statement in remembrance of the ‘July 1983‘ events has called for active social engagement of youth both in Sri Lanka and within the Diaspora in the reconciliation process.
The young politicians of YPLF to which includes UPFA MP Vasantha Senanayake, SLFP MP Shehan Semasinghe, UNP MPs Niroshan Perera and Harin Fernando, ACMC MP Hunais Farook and TNA representative Raghu Balachandran in their statement have pointed out that it is the responsibility of the youth and youth-led groups to ensure that another July 83 does not recur.
They have highlighted that roles played by youth in reconciliation is imperative in promoting peace through dialogue and understanding as they are often seen as positive agents for change.
“They need to constructively engage – both individually and collectively – in encouraging values of respect and acceptance between and within communities,” the young MPs have pointed out adding it would ultimately help create an atmosphere that encourages civic engagement and positive feelings of belongingness among youth in Sri Lanka.
Furthermore in the statement, the YPLF members have reiterated the importance of accepting and respecting difference among people and of believing that diversity is the strength and the beauty of our society.
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The Need To Remember
Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha MP
In July 2008, when I was head of the Peace Secretariat, I published a volume entitled ‘Lest We Forget’, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the ethnic violence of July 1983. I had wanted the President to preside over a meeting to express regrets, but he did not think this appropriate at the time. However I had no doubt that, as a member in 1983 of the opposition that also suffered from the authoritarianism of the Jayewardene government, he understood the enormity of what had happened in 1983.
Now I am not so sure. Though he has reacted much better to the events atAluthgama than Jayewardene did, he has not been firm enough in ensuring zero tolerance for racism. And though he recognizes that the activities of theBBS and its leader are destructive, he seems to think that they have emerged through an international conspiracy. The pronouncements of close associates in government who have encouraged the attitudes propounded by the BBS (or, on a charitable view, fallen headlong into the trap laid by the supposed international conspirators) is ignored.
Worse the President also seems to believe in the danger presented by Muslim extremists. It is unfortunate that he does not see that a more irrational version of such fears is the purported raison d’etre of the conspirators he criticizes. What is then an essential ambiguity suggests that, unless he assesses the situation more carefully, we are in danger of descending into the mess caused by the Jayewardene government in 1983.
