With an early presidential election on the cards, the UPFA Government wants to launch a campaign to win the hearts and minds of different communities. At the political level, President Mahinda Rajapaksa will head a Cabinet Sub Committee “on social reconciliation and co-existence” among communities. A similar Committee at official level will be headed by [...]

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With polls coming, Rajapaksa seeks communal harmony

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With an early presidential election on the cards, the UPFA Government wants to launch a campaign to win the hearts and minds of different communities.
At the political level, President Mahinda Rajapaksa will head a Cabinet Sub Committee “on social reconciliation and co-existence” among communities. A similar Committee at official level will be headed by Presidential Secretary Lalith Weeratunga. President Rajapaksa has noted that “communities in our country have distanced themselves from each other due to the military background that prevailed over a period of more than three decades.” He has said this was also due to “the consequent religious, cultural and social phenomena.”

In a note to his ministers, the President has observed that “instead of interacting with trust the people are in the process of looking at others in an unfriendly manner.” In the circumstances, he has observed, “social integration and social harmony have become a special topic as at present.”

Pointing out that the recommendations of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) have been made with the aim of promoting coexistence among communities, Mr. Rajapaksa has said that ensuring it “among communities is not something that can be done easily as reconstruction or resettlement is not something which yields quick results.” He has said that it is mandatory “to act systematically with tolerance basing your actions on selected principles and processes.”

President Rajapaksa has added: “Various Government Ministries, Departments, Corporations and Statutory Boards are implementing programmes and projects based on recommendations of the LLRC from national level to regional level. It is possible to establish coexistence among communities systematically by implementing these programmes and projects having fixed a proper target and maintaining mutual co-ordination. However, the absence of a mechanism to regulate these activities at national level has become a constraint in implementing these activities productively.”

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