The week of July 16th to the 22nd has been declared as ‘Social Integration Week’ in Sri Lanka. It was launched ceremonially by President Mahinda Rajapakse at Temple Trees on Monday.
Colombo Page reports that the ‘initiative’ has been launched to tackle disparities in civil rights, to sanctify co-existence and ultimately to unite the nation.
The president was presented with the ‘Social Integration Policy Framework’ which aims to reintegrate all ethnic groups as one nation, free of ‘petty’ social and cultural differences. The framework is yet to be published, though one can only presume it will not outline how the government should tackle ‘petty’ issues such as land-grabbing and militarisation in the North.
President Rajapakse is reported to have urged everyone to set aside their differences and join hands to achieve ethnic harmony - a gesture of seeming harmony that comes weeks after the government ordered the removal of a mosque and a temple in the South as their presence offended the local Buddhists.
While the President expressed his belief, that unless society is equal nothing can be achieved, it remains unclear whether he explained that some groups in his society are more entitled to be equal than others.
We need your support
Sri Lanka is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a journalist. Tamil journalists are particularly at threat, with at least 41 media workers known to have been killed by the Sri Lankan state or its paramilitaries during and after the armed conflict.
Despite the risks, our team on the ground remain committed to providing detailed and accurate reporting of developments in the Tamil homeland, across the island and around the world, as well as providing expert analysis and insight from the Tamil point of view
We need your support in keeping our journalism going. Support our work today.
For more ways to donate visit https://donate.tamilguardian.com.
