Justice Minister at 54th annual Asian-African Legal Consultative Conference in Beijing

Thursday, 23 April 2015 01:32 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC, Minister of Justice representing Sri Lanka at the 54th Annual Session of Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO) in Beijing (13-17April) delivered a keynote addressed on the topic ‘Carrying forward the Bandung spirit and United for International Rule’. He expressed the commitment of the Sri Lankan Government towards the practicing tolerance and peaceful co-existent of the two continents while having due regard to the principles enshrined in the charter of the United Nations. He also reminded that Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) played a vital role in crafting the Bandung principles based on five precepts and the 10th principles adopted in Bandung conference in 1955. It was the collaboration of five Asian countries which was known as Colombo Power that took initiatives of making the Bandung conference a success. Colombo Power included then Ceylon, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Myanmar. The summary of the Minister’s speech is as follows: We gather here today to commemorate the momentous occasion of the birth of the Bandung Principles three score years ago. The Bandung heralded the dawn of a new era for the African-Asian region fortified by the collective will of its people to unite under the banner of the Bandung spirit of peace, friendship and cooperation. The event sealed an indelible imprint in the domain of international law asserting the African Asian region’s dynamic resolve to partake in, and shape the global discourse. In the early 1900s the German geophysicist, Alfred Wegener, hypothesised the existence of the ‘Pangea’ – anall-earth supercontinent 200 million years ago. The subsequent continental drift created the northern Pangea of ‘Laurasia’ and southern Pangea of ‘Gondwanaland’ of which Asia and Africa were a part of respectively. This Bandung league of the African and Asian continents symbolises a return to the original geophysical order of unification. The yearning to band together can be traced back to the beginning of civilisation where security, strength, and longevity was sought and discovered in togetherness rather than in separation. It is this instinctive belief that has inspired nations to support a united front towards a common cause. The aftermath of the Second World War in 1945 sparked an epiphany, a worldwide flash of insight that acknowledged that development can only be conceived when spirited by peace, friendship, and cooperation. Having witnessed the unprecedented atrocities committed and the untold loss and suffering caused, during a war that coerced its nations to comply with decisions which they were not a party to; the African-Asian region resolved to stand united in the spirit of self-determination and steer a future premised on the essence of the Bandung Principles.