The National Peace Council (NPC)

01.05.15 Media Release

CIVIL SOCIETY AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY CAN HELP REINFORCE RECONCILIATION-ORIENTED GOVERNMENT POLICIES
The International Conference on Religious Tolerance and Harmony that took place at the Buddhist and Pali University of Sri Lanka earlier this month on April 22-23 was an example of healing and reconciliation activities to take place at the level of the people consolidating the multi-religious and multi-ethnic nature of Sri Lanka.

The conference brought religious clergy, scholars and students from different parts of the country and also from abroad to exchange ideas and to get to know each other in a positive and accommodative environment. International participants came from India, Bhutan, Myanmar, USA, Thailand, Maldives, Pakistan, China, South Korea, Uganda, Argentina and UK. Sri Lankan university participants came from University of Jaffna, Peradeniya, Kelaniya, Eastern University, Colombo, Sri Jayawardanepura and Kelaniya and numbered around 250. Registered outside participants numbered 356.

The conference had 12 academic sessions including the discussion with the keynote speaker Rev. Dr. C. Welton Gaddy from the United States who is a nationally recognized leader on issues of religious freedom and 40 papers were presented. The conference venue and the surroundings that had been prepared over the past months to hold such a conference provided an ideal setting not only for an academic exercise but created a conducive atmosphere that provided an avenue for the expression of a multi-religious spirituality.

At the conclusion of the conference the participants appreciated the deep kindness and unity they experienced in their interactions with the University. They also approved a resolution that called for steps to be taken among others to uphold the unity and peaceful co-existence among people of all faiths, initiate steps to minimize all types of violence in the name of religion, race or language and condemn such violence, disengage religions from politics of governance, initiate dialogue to minimize religious extremism that disturbs inter-religious harmony and to stop unethical publicity for any individual or group trying to create ethnic and religion based violence.

The National Peace Council appeals to all politicians not to use religion and ethnicity as a means of political contest. NPC also suggests that the law be invoked against all those seek to incite people against other people belonging to a different religion or community. NPC calls upon the government to abide by its commitments under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The success of the conference showed the need to create a common path of walking together for all people of different religious beliefs as it leads to better understanding amongst them. NPC urges those who wish to see the transformation of Sri Lankan politics to use the opportunity that the government is providing to take this message to the length and breadth of the country.

As part of its contribution, the National Peace Council brought 50 representatives from its district inter-religious committees drawn from different parts of the country including the North and East to attend the conference and to contribute to its deliberations. The conference was financially supported by the US embassy in Colombo and shows the potential for the international community to work together with civil society in Sri Lanka to foster democratic and religious ideals of pluralism and universalism.

Governing Council
The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan organization that works towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of 20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.