Search for a political solution must be intensified, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith

(November 03, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith told the Lessons Leant and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) that the search for a political solution to the ethnic conflict must be intensified in the aftermath of the war.

“Though errors have been made in the past by all stakeholders, what is important now is to learn lessons from them, which will imply attitudes of mutual forgiveness that will pave the way for genuine reconciliation,” Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said.

He added that it is only a political solution that will help to eliminate the root causes of violent insurrection, ethnic disharmony, suspicion and mistrust between the communities.

“Sri Lanka should be a secular democracy in which all ethnic and religious groups, irrespective of their numbers, identify themselves as citizens of one country. Race based and religion based political structures are best avoided in the search for national integration,” he added.