Community united in prayer for peace The Canberra Times – P2 - 27 Nov 1995

 

Community united in prayer for peace
The Canberra Times – 27 Nov 1995 - P.2

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/130573278?browse=ndp%3Abrowse%2Ftitle%2FC%2Ftitle%2F11%2F1995%2F11%2F27%2Fpage%2F14746587%2Farticle%2F130573278

 

Picture: ANDREW CAMPBELL

Lionel Bopage, left, and Joe Motha after a gathering held in Manuka yesterday to pray for peace in Sri Lanka.

Rv ANDREW KAZAR

So tense is the state of the war between Sri Lankan Government forces and the Tamil Tigers that a member of Canberra's Tamil community, Joe Motha, of Kaleen, found it difficult to talk about it.

Of Sinhalese origin, Lionel Bopage, of Farrer, said the ethnic conflict was a disaster not only for the Sinhalese and for Tamils, but for Sri Lanka as a whole.

Yesterday, the two were united when more than 100 members of Canberra's Sri Lankan community came together for a gathering of peace and racial harmony in St Paul's community hall, in Manuka. The event involved families from Canberra's Tamil, Sinhalese, Muslim, and Burgher communities.

Members of the organising group were Australian residents in Canberra but of different community origins.

Mr. Motha, an organiser, said the event was a meeting of Sri Lankans and well-wishers of different faiths to come together to pray for peace. "It is part of a reconciliatory process, and there's a huge number of Sri Lankans in different countries, which is a huge untapped resource in terms of trying to bring about peace," he said.

"I think that the hearts have got to meet first before the minds can meet, and Sri Lanka is fortunate in that we have four, if not more, of all the great religions of the world: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam.

"And each of those religions, without exception, teaches tolerance, compassion, and love ... and I feel that it's a process that we have begun here today."

Mr. Bopage, another organiser, said the main aim of the event was to express the organising group's concern about the situation in Sri Lanka and the group's desire for peace.

"I see this is a moment of reflection, a time to think of what really happened, whether we have done something wrong because we are not trying to apply the basic guidelines of conflict resolution."

"What's happening in Sri Lanka is that the Sinhalese and the Tamils don't talk to each other; there is no communication, and there is a big barrier between them, a mistrust which cannot be taken away all at once.

"Maybe what we are doing may not have a very big impact on the whole scene, but if we start doing this and spread the word around, then probably this will create some influence."