S. Lankan Archbishop stresses on building nationhood on equal rights for all after
war
(May 18, 2009) While expressing satisfaction over the end of the war in the country,
the archbishop of Sri Lanka said they all need to forgive and forget the divisions
and bitterness of the past and grow into nationhood where the rights of all ethnic,
religious and cultural communities of the nation are respected. While complimenting
President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the army for the victory, Archbishop Oswald Gomis
of Colombo offered his deepest sympathies to those who laid down their lives in battle
and those innocent civilians killed, trapped in war. “In a sense we could say that
we have won the battle but the war is not ended,” the archbishop said. “The war would
end only on the day that we grow in nationhood realizing that we are all one people
in one country with equal right.” He said, “We have to realize the fact that we
are a multiethnic, multi-religious and multi-cultural community. As such we are now
left with the great task of nation- building forgetting our ethnic, political and
religious differences.” “It is imperative that there be a political formula that
will inspire confidence and promote a sense of belonging among the minority groups
in the country. We have to leave the sad and bitter memories of the past three decades
and look positively and optimistically towards the future in hope.” He said, “All
of us have to share the blame for our division and forgive each other.” “We should
have the humility and wisdom to learn from the sad experiences of that past.” “It
is then, and only then, that we could build nationhood that will bring true peace
and prosperity to our beloved country,” he added.