Select Committee of Parliament for National and Religious Harmony unveil Diyawanna Declaration

By Ashwin Hemmathagama

The Diyawanna Declaration with recommended steps for religious leaders, politicians, authorities, Government officersand citizens to curb religious hatred and extremism was launched yesterday at the Parliamentary complex during an all-faith, all-party conference.

The conference was convened by the Select Committee of Parliament for National and Religious Harmony as a post-event conflict resolution aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks.

The Select Committeemaking a declaration outlined fueling disharmony among different communities in order to reach extremist goals as the main objective of the attack on 21 April and the importance of educating society on the need to work in harmony and brotherhood without succumbing to terrorist tactics.

According to the Diyawanna Declaration, all political party leaders, including the President, Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition,must work in cooperation with each other, setting aside narrow political, religious or party differences, in order to ensure allcitizens are able to exist without fear or suspicion and to ensure the security of thecountry and its people.

It also emphasises the importance of the three arms of the Government – the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary – working smoothly with mutual understanding. 

“Taking relevant decisions by means of discussion and common agreement in the event there are deficiencies in the Constitution and the 19th Amendment, which require remedies. Until such time to provide space to move ahead under the prevailing law. However, such action should not pose a hindrance to the functioning of the independent commissions,” held the declaration.

The Diyawanna Declaration demands that the National Security Council meets regularly along with the President, the Prime Minister and the State Minister for Defence. 

“In keeping with the practices followed by other countries with respect to the Police, bringing the administration of the Police under a full-time Minister to function as line Ministry. In consideration of the fact that continuous discourse which was carried out among religious leaders and political and civil society leaders under the patronage of the Parliamentary Select Committee for National and Religious Co-existence in Sri Lanka which was established in March 2018 consequent to the incidents that took place in Digana, Kandy, were highly instrumental in minimising communal clashes in the wake ofthe unfortunate events which unfolded on the 21st, organising more such conferences in different parts of the island. The next conference will be held in Vavuniya,” it held.

“Re-establishing the community police service and maintaining a strong network of coordination between the Police and the general public. Taking immediate steps to prevent the spread of false rumours causing negative impacts on public life and disrupting work in offices and to establish a mechanism, which can provide true and accurate news to the public. Requesting the State and private mediato be responsible in the use of media and refrain from expressing political opinions which fuel discord,” were also proposed in this declaration.