Sept. 06, 2011: Peace and minority rights are illusory even two years after the end
of a 30-year civil war, the secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka
said on September 3rd. “Minority rights were not respected by the majority
of the people. Most of them do not like to accept the multi-language, multi-religion
and multicultural solution even after three decades of war,” said Bishop Norbert Andradi. He
was speaking at the 40th anniversary of the Oblate priests-run Center for
Society and Religion (CSR) in Colombo. Addressing the more than 250 rights activists,
Christian priests and nuns at the celebration the bishop said “We cannot simply bury
the past and then expect to find true peace,.” “We have to learn to deal with our
past and our hurt. We need to learn from our mistakes. As a result, it has become
a challenge to work for a sustainable peace in the country. “The attitude of welcoming
different opinions and thinking of others is decreasing now.” “We should question
the relationship between the security forces and the politicians. Politicians try
to take the law and order into their hands. So we should create a society beyond the
political influences,” Bishop Andradi said.