Religious leaders call for calm and appeal for peace

Friday, 17 May 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Chief incumbent of Thummulla Bodhiraja Temple Moragale Sobitha Thera called for the different communities in the area to unite and help the people who were affected by the attacks.

“We accompanied religious leaders in the areas, including the Bishop of Chilaw, to visit the areas vandalised by the mobs. It is a very unfortunate situation and the Muslims in Thummodara, Naththandiya, Kottaamulla and Hettipola were attacked by Sinhalese mobs.”

“Although we denounce racism, the Sinhala community is badly disturbed by the coordinated bomb blasts killing hundreds of innocent lives on Easter Sunday. Because of that they live in fear. We expect the Government to restore peace soon. We have discussed with the affected Muslim community and they too want peace. We urge the Government to expose the perpetrators and punish them. We need to be united despite our ethnic, religious and political differences to defeat our enemy,” he said Chilaw Bishop Valence Mendis concurred, pointing out that the entire country needed to take stock of what was happening and work to promote peace. He called on the people to act with patience and restraint in what he described as a “critical situation”.

“The entire country is facing a critical situation. We request people to remain calm like the past two weeks without creating a volatile situation until the situation becomes normal. The danger is that those who are behind these heinous crimes will try to create racism, taking advantage of the situation.

“We don’t know the truth but most villagers whom that we met said the attackers were from outside areas. I think this is an indication that some outside force is behind these mobs to create a volatile situation.”

Bishop Mendis also appealed to the people to support security forces who were working around the clock to restore calm.

“We request our people to act intelligently, although both Sinhalese and Muslims are living in fear. There are two requirements to restore peace – firstly, giving full authority to security forces to handle the situations. They are doing an excellent service to maintain peace, law and order, so far. We need to help them in their security operations.”

He also backed a broader discussion about media reporting on the attacks and the role played in disseminating information regarding the violence that swept through at least three districts earlier this week. “Secondly, we need a clear discussion on media censorship. People need to know about the Police investigations on the security situation and the recoveries done daily. When they know the truth, they will not mistrust security measures taken and the decisions with regard to perpetrators. We request the Government to take urgent necessary measures to restore normalcy.”