Threats to Dr. Nirmal R. Devasiri of FUTA

We,  the members of the Christian Solidarity Movement,  are distressed by the media reports that Dr. Nirmal R. Devasiri of FUTA has been intimidated by a group of unknown men who have arrived by a jeep at his neighbourhood to inquire his whereabouts, claiming to be from the defense ministry.

Having witnessed the recent events of abduction, disappearances and shooting, this is a clear indication to us that Dr. Nirmal Ranjith's life is in imminent danger.

We have seen enough of blood being shed on our soil and the sufferings of families due to loss of their dear ones. If we continue this kind of behavior, world outside will begin to believe that Sri Lanka has not evolved from a culture of barbarism and that great religions of Asia have had no influence over us.     

The intimidatory  beahviour on the part of those  "unknown" men,  we believe,  indicates an intolerance of  Dr Ranjith's freedom  to express  his opinion, his involvement in the campaign against the privatization of university education and his trade union activities.

The free expression of thoughts and freedom for involvement in trade union activities is a fundamental right guaranteed by the constitution in Sri Lanka and human rights charter of the United Nations.

If the government is moving on the right path, needless to say, it ought to recognize the contribution of the academics of our universities, however unpalatable their ideas might be to some of our politicians. Moreover, it ought to further promote the freedom of thought and expression which are fundamental principles of democracy and good governance. The failure in this regard only indicates the Government's aversion to democracy and good governance.    

Therefore, we who met on the 25^th resolved to kindly request your Excellency as the Executive President of our country to hold an impartial inquiry into this matter as  reported in the media and ensure security to Dr. Nirmal Rajith and respect his role as an academic and his freedom to carry out his duties as a free citizen and as a trade union leader.

Thanking you,

Yours sincerely,

Fr.Sarath Iddamalgoda.

Fr. Sathivel.

Fr. Terrence Fernando.

Fr. Sherard Jayawardene.

Fr. Anton Jayananda

Fr. Bernard Rehart.

Fr. Nandana Saparamadu.

Sr. Helen Fernando.

Sr. Noel Christine Fernando.

Sr. Angela Fernando.

Sr. Deepa Fernando.

Sr. Kathleen Fleming.

Mr. Mahinda Namal.

Mr. Nimal Perera.

Mr. Ralston Weiman.

Ms. Melani Manel Perera.

Mr. Lal Fernando.

Mr. Roshani Fernandopulle

--

Fr. Sarath Iddamalgoda

Mobile -  +94 (0) 71 4 315124
siddamal.blogspot.com

P Please consider the environment before printing this email

The CSM meeting with the CMRS.

First we wish to thank Fr. Rassiah, the President of the CRMS for granting us this opportunity to meet you all. Our delegation is feeling quite at ease with you because we already observe the presence of some of our members who are regular at our meetings around this table.

Next we would like to introduce ourselves. We are an ecumenical group consisting of several Churches like the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Methodist consisting of Sinhalese and Tamil members, formed in the year 2004. We intend to meet the heads of those Churches too. CSM consists of members from several religious congregations, male and female and also devoted laymen /women.

As a Christian group all of us strongly believe that our Faith demands that we commit ourselves to Justice. Therefore, all the members are committed activists in various fields. The committee of the conveners of the CSM, meet every first Monday and the general membership gathers on special occasions. 

You might wonder why we made this request. 

We decided to meet you because:

• ·         In our view we recognize the Major Superiors’ Conference as a very important counterpart of Church hierarchy.
• ·         As a group of activists we find ourselves in a helpless situation in the present context of the country. The daily challenges we face are too heavy to cope with. As such, we need the guidance and support of the Church leaders.
• ·         In general the church leadership today seems to be lagging behind or shirking its responsibility of being a prophetic Church, at a time when the country expects their intervention most.  So we wish the CMRS to play a more active role in that direction.
• 
  
• In the past we have been engaged in the following activities:
• ·         Organized exposure programs in Wanni for people from the South to help them to know the impact of the war.
• ·         Regular visits were made to the North and East and held discussions with the priests and also with the civil society leaders to study the national issue from their point of view.
• ·         Educated the public by distributing leaflets and holding banners in the towns of Negombo, Kandana, Jaela and collecting donations from them for the displaced and war affected people.
• ·         Prayer services have been held in the Anglican cathedral, Fatima church, and Blessed Sacrement Church in Pettah.
• ·         At every Christmas and Easter we prepared literature intended to explain  the current context in the light of the scriptures.
• ·         Made public statement to the press.
• ·         A live-in seminar was held in Maggona for about 60 persons.
• ·         Organized a public demonstration against the 18^th amendment to the constitution.
• ·         Conducted a public awareness programme on the crisis in the universities, problems of people in Colombo who are threatened with displacement, people in the North and fishermen. 
• ·         Held several educational programs in various places on LLRC

Despite of all these efforts, the political and the economic situation in the country is worsening. But the Sri Lankan Church leaders seem to be complacent and observe a profound silence on these urgent matters which demand the intervention of the Church. For instance, we could not understand the silence of the Church leadership in the case of Bishop Rayappu. 

We feel that silence is not a healthy sign.  The Church cannot renounce its prophetic role. It has to raise its voice against discrimination, corruption at high level and degradation of moral life in our society.

The school system of education is an area where many clergymen and women are already involved but the quality of education is fast deteriorating. It is our suggestion that CMRS engage in a serious and systematic study about the education system in the country and contribute to make it more relevant to the younger generation.  

Another proposal we would like to suggest is to organize a monitoring and fact finding mission related to violation of human rights, using the Church network. 

There are instances when individuals whose lives are threatened contact us seeking a place of refuge. Can the church be of any help to them? We are aware that some you are already involved in this service.

During our reflections we realized that if we have your support in our work, we could do a better service. Further we are aware also that each congregation and the CMRS have Justice Desks or a team to work on Justice issues. As such, we wish to know whether you have an action plan to respond to the urgent issues in the country. Can there be a closer collaboration between us? On our part we are happy to extend to you our cooperation for any work at the grassroots level.

Thank you.

Christian Solidarity Movement