Sri Lanka’s National Policy on Reconciliation and Co-existence was launched on Tuesday under the patronage of President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
The National Policy has been formulated by the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation which is headed by former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.
Along with the launch of the national policy, “Thun Denek”, a movie produced by the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation (ONUR) was premiered at the Regal Cinema, Colombo.
Speaking at the event, President Sirisena called on everyone must to unite together to conquer the challenges against the peace and reconciliation.
The President pointed out that the reconciliation is a spiritual philosophy and in a society where spiritual values are not considered, it is challenging to achieve targets sets in this regard. He further said that it is the responsibility of all to fulfill respective duties towards achieving this target.
The ONUR prepared the National policy, fulfilling the need for a comprehensive national policy which emphasizes the need of reconciliation, and this is the first time that such a policy was launched.
The National Policy for Reconciliation and Public Co- Existence has been drafted taking into consideration the destruction and damage caused to the society, security and the reputation of all the citizens of Sri Lanka due to the socio- economic unrest including the war and conflict that lasted three decades and with the fullest commitment of the government to ensure that such conflicts would not occur again, formulation of futuristic principles for reconciliation with multiple approaches, under democracy, good governance, rights to language and cultural heredity, guarantee and respect for human rights, authority of law, national unity and diversity.
This policy statement was presented to President Sirisena by the Director of ONUR, M.S. Jayasinghe.
The film Thun Denek co-directed by Prasanna Vithanage, Vimukthi Jayasundara, and Ashoka Handagama depicts the post war reality of Sri Lanka exhibiting the tragedy of the people going through the unrest caused by war and conflicts that lasted 30 years.
The movie, composed of three inter- connected short stories depicts the pain and sheer terror of the individuals living today memorizing the lost members of families and the terrifying experiences they had to undergo due to the war.
The film expects to give a message to the society by depicting the aftershock caused during the war as well as trauma after the war was over, loss of family members, pain and sufferings caused due to the war and it emphasizes the imperative need to build a country where all the Sri Lankans live in peace and harmony.
Chairperson of the Office for National Unity and Reconciliation, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and other State officers, experts, artistes and other distinguished guests were present at this event.
