Thursday, 24th July 2014
No more ‘Black July’A peace program was organised yesterday remembering ‘Black July,’ the anti-Tamil program and riots which started on 23 July 1983, following which the country experienced nearly three decades of war against Tamil militant groups with demands for a separate state. The program, organised by campus lecturers, students and various artistes, was held at the Viharamahadevi Park Open Air Stadium
– Pix by Shehan Gunasekara |
A group of Parliamentarians from the Government and the Opposition have expressed regret over the incidents of July 1983 and called for trust to be restored between all communities in Sri Lanka.
The MPs representing the Young Political Leaders Forum of Sri Lanka (YPLF) said that 31 years after the July 1983 riots, they strongly believe Sri Lanka has the opportunity to restore trust between its people and progress towards national unity.
“The role of youth in this regard becomes crucial for peace-building and communal harmony. In this spirit, as a group of committed young politicians, we wish to share our perspective on the importance of engaging youth as change agents to resist hate and violence, and to promote unity,” the young MPs said.
The MPs said in a statement that as young people, they despise, reject and do not accept any form of hate, violence and destructive conflicts as they have never brought any constructive endings.“Remembering the bitter history of ‘July 1983′ and all forms of violence that took the lives of hundreds and thousands of young people in our country, we will open our hearts and minds to embrace the diversity as the strength of our unity,” YPLF said. YPLF also called for social engagement of youth, both in Sri Lanka and within the Diaspora, saying it is extremely timely, particularly in regard to reconciliation.
“We as Young Political Leaders Forum call upon all the young people in Sri Lanka to join hands with us as duty-bearers and consciously embrace unity in diversity with conviction, to promote inclusion, belongingness and strive towards equality,” YPLF added.YPLF consists of Vasantha Senanayake (MP – SLFP/UPFA), Shehan Semasinghe (MP – SLFP), Niroshan Perera (MP – UNP), Harin Fernando (MP – UNP), Hunais Farook (MP – ACMC) and Raghu Balachandran representing the TNA. (Colombo Gazette)
From : http://www.ft.lk/2014/07/24/mps-express-regret-over-july-83-riots/
