SILENT SUNDAY PRAYERS FOR PEACE IN COLOMBO

BY P.VIJIAN

COLOMBO, May 25 (Bernama) -- Ringing church bells punctured the serene
morning of the capital. It is the first Sunday since Sri Lanka tasted peace
after a prolonged ethnic clashes that devastated the tear-drop shaped island.

In Buddhist vihar (place of worship), jaded soldiers lit candles to mark the
peaceful Sunday. The mood in Colombo is nonchalant these days.

Most Sri Lankans are still basking in delight after their army vanquished
hardcore northern Tamil separatists, who wanted to divide the country, causing
so much sorrow for the people.

"We want to build a new Sri Lanka, nobody wants war anymore," the country's
most revered monk, Dr Madulurwawe Sobhitha told Bernama.

It is a real paradox in this island state that often baffles outsiders. How
a nation with only about 20 million people of various ethnic and religious
groups -- Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and Christians -- who co-existed
peacefully -- are forced to live in a cacophony of war triggered by the chilling
northern crises.

"We need a new Sri Lanka, not Singhalese, Tamils, Muslims or Burghers
(country). All are Sri Lankans, we can't be divided anymore," added Sobhitha,
president of the Sri Lanka Buddhist Sangha (council).

These words don't sound mere rhetoric from a senior Buddhist clergy, who
holds much sway in the Singhalese-majority society -- where Buddhism remains the
major religion of the land.

Since last Monday, Sri Lankans celebrate the hard-won victory over the
ruthless Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), an armed group that controlled
one-third of the nation's north for over two decades and demanded a separate
homeland for the minority marginalised Tamil people.

The rejoicing city is festooned with multi-coloured --
orange-green-yellow-dark red national flags bearing a lion holding a sword (lion
signifies the Sinhala race) but the LTTE's tiger symbol, linking to the Chola
kings that once ruled south India, is hardly visible anywhere.

Along Havelock Road in the capital, a temple, a mosque and a Buddhist vihar
triangles majestically -- where many faithful throng to pay homage to their
respective gods to bring more peaceful Sundays.

"Lets pray and come to reality. The war is a lesson to both (government and
Tamils). The majority must take care of the minority. This war would not have
happened if they (Tamils) were not marginalised," says mufti Mohd Ibrahim Mohd
Rizwe, president of the All-Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (Council of Muslim
Theologians).

About 7,500 Muslims were killed by the LTTE and nearly 150,000 Muslims from
Jaffna in the north to the eastern Trincomalee suffered and were forced into
refugee camps when the war climaxed. And at least 80,000 people perished in the
Sinhala-Tamil nationalism violent clashes that dragged for decades.

"We need to change our political system. The 13th Amendment (the 1987
Indo-Lanka accord that outlines devolution of power) is a fundamental one, we
can think of this in the future," said Sobhitha.

In Colombo, it is hard to grasp the war realities in the north. For years it
remained a predominantly Tamil populated city, where for every one Tamil-owned
shop, easily there is a Muslim or Singhalese trader.

The anti-war advocates are euphoric with the demise of the terror era while
the once pro-optimistic LTTE proponents have been silent, at least for the
moment.

"To many, the war has ended but there is some kind of fear among the Tamils
now. With the LTTE gone, there is no protection for us and we really don't know
what the future will be. People in power can do anything, we need a long term
political solution," lamented a political activist of Tamil origin, who did not
want her name to be published.

People in Sri Lanka continue to pray for the week-old much-cherished peace
to prevail longer as they detest the ugly war that devoured so many innocent
lives.

The waves of the Bay of Bengal lapped silently on the coastline of the
emerald island, as the dark war clouds vanished behind the silhouette of the
Indian Ocean, dragging along the bloody war memories that pained the nation.
Now, the world waits what is next!
-- BERNAMA