For peace government should learn from past failures: Sri Lanka Catholic Bishops

(March 01, 2012) The Catholic Bishops' Conference of Sri Lanka has called on the government to dismantle illegal armed groups, draft a list of people who went missing during the civil war and translate all official government documents in both Sinhalese and Tamil. This way, the report issued by the Lessons Learnt e Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) set up by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to investigate the final phase of the war can be more effectively implemented. Almost three years since the end of the civil war, the country is still licking its wounds. However, the government continues to borrow money to invest in mega tourist projects and build up the country's armed forces, the Bishops said. In the meantime, more than 200,000 people are languishing in refugee camps, unable to go home to their villages or move elsewhere. On Jaffna Peninsula alone, 39,000 war widows live without any kind of public help or job to earn a living. At the same time, some 12,000 people, mostly men, are still missing, vanished in thin air, with the authorities providing no account for their fate or whereabouts. The bishops urged the government to address the painful issue of missing persons and present a list of those who are still in custody as it would always help anyone to know if and when his or her loved ones are no more. They also called for the revival of the cultural renaissance through art, drama and music. They felt that it was important to identify the linguistic and cultural commonalities and affinities in establishing a Sri Lankan identity and be mindful of the fact Sinhalese and Tamil cultures have very rich roots.