For Card Ranjith and President Sirisena, religion is essential to build national unity

The president of Sri Lanka partecipated at a ceremony marking Tamil Thai Pongal. Organised at a college, the event’s aim was to promote peace between ethnic groups starting with students. “We should abandon the notion of affiliation based on blood,” said the archbishop of Colombo during a Church feast. “Let us unite to face our challenges"

Colombo (AsiaNews) - The contribution of religions, which go beyond racial and ethnic divisions, is important for peace and reconciliation, said Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Card Malcolm Ranjith, archbishop of Colombo. The president spoke at a ceremony marking Thai Pongal, the most important Tamil festival, which this year fell on 18 January.

At Thai Pongal, farmers traditionally exchange gifts in gratitude for a bountiful harvest. At this event, held at the Payagala Hindu College in Kalutara (south of Colombo), several cultural and religious activities were held to promote peace and reconciliation, starting with pupils.

"Building peace and reconciliation does not take place only through the implementation of laws and the adoption of a new Constitution. It can only be done through religious philosophies,” said President Sirisena in his address.

Card Ranjith had already stressed these issues months ago, when the Catholic magazine Gnanartha Pradeepaya celebrated 150 years, an event where the president was himself present. In a country that is still suffering from the wounds caused by the war between the army and Tamil rebels, which lasted about 30 years, “religion is essential in the construction of national unity,” said the pralate during that event. For this reason, it is essential to strengthen national unity and shared values.

On that occasion, the archbishop also noted, "The time has come to move beyond divisions based on blood. We must overcome the idea of ​​Sinha' (lion blood, i.e. Sinhalese blood), and embrace the notion of 'one blood', by coming together to face the challenges before us."

"I believe,” he added, “that to create a truly united country we must stop thinking about ourselves only as Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus or Catholics."

For the cardinal, "it would be simplistic to believe that we all must think and act the same way. When the majority seeks to impose its views on the minority, or when the minority pursues a vision that sharply differs from that of the majority, both create obstacles for unity."

Therefore, it is also important to refrain "from believing that everything belongs to us. Too many people – both in the north and in the south – are still suffering from the consequences of 30 years of civil war.”

“Today we cannot afford to give in to hatred, racism and religious ideologies that imprison us in behaviours from a dark past." Instead, "we must be able to think independently and understand the needs of humanity,” the archbishop explained.

President Sirisena concluded the ceremony of Thai Pongal calling on all of the country’s religious leaders to work together. "I ask you all,” the president said, “to further the government's goal of building peace and brotherhood among people, eliminating fear and suspicion in various communities. Racial and religious differences cannot act as a barrier to the plan to build a free and just society. "

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