SL always maintains religious harmony - Dullas

The duty and responsibility of religious leaders is to prevent the repeat of the past unpleasant, chaotic situation and blood shedding that the country experienced due to terrorism. We must maintain religious harmony, Youth Affairs and Skills Development Minister Dullas Alahapperuma said.

Participating at a ceremony to unveil the newly built chetiya at the Sathbodhi Purana Rajamaha Viharaya, Nakulugamuwa, Hambanthota, Minister Alahapperuma said all ethnic groups irrespective of whether they are Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim or to any other community suffered immensely at the hands of terrorists for three decades.

“Parents and children did not go anywhere together as a family fearing for their life. Those who went about to attend to their day to day affairs, worshiped religious places, such as, the Temple of Sacred Tooth Relic or the Sri Maha Bodhi, to holy shrines or kovils, mosques etc, did so with much fear for their lives. People in the past feared to go government buildings, offices, departments or institutions or even sending their children to school due to bomb explosions. There was a fear psychosis which gripped the country during those dark days of terrorism, ” the minister recalled.

“Sri Lankans always maintained religious harmony. After a devastating war, we must not allow a few groups to use various religious symbols and holy books to create hatred and distrust. There is a conspiracy against the country. All Sri Lankans should try to recognize the groups involved in this conspiracy. We must unite in order to defeat the conspirators,” he stressed.

Ven.Nakulugamuwa Sathbodhi Purana Rajamaha Viharadipathi Dabagasare Chyandrasiri Nayaka Thera, Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Amaraweera also spoke.