National Christian Council condemns Sivaram's murder

THE National Christian Council of Sri Lanka in a statement said yesterday it was shocked to hear about the slaying of journalist Dharmaratnam Sivaram.

The statement: "We, the National Christian Council of Sri Lanka were shocked to learn about the abduction and slaying of journalist Dharmaratnam Sivaram. We grieve with his wife, children, relatives, friends and the public of this country and express our deepest sympathies to the family and others.

We condemn the killing of Sivaram and also the other abductions and killings in recent times for political, ethnic, religious or ideological reasons.

Sivaram was a courageous journalist who did our nation a great service through his journalistic commitment and skills. Even though we may not have always agreed with his political views and options, we were edified by his stance.

Sri Lanka's Constitution states that ours is a democratic country, and we urge all the peoples of our country to uphold democracy and eschew violence.

All religions teach tolerance and we urge all to be tolerant.

The trend of violence in Sri Lanka over the last few decades clearly demonstrates that the true religious principle of compassion had severely deteriorated. We urge all religious leaders to rally round to protect the dignity and freedom of expression of all.

The respective rich spiritual traditions of the major religions in our land can and must provide the vision and impetus towards peace at this crucial time in history.

We urge the Government to take every initiative and use all its resources to stop these political killings and to bring the perpetrators to book under the law of the land.

We also request all political parties to unite to stop such killings and to avoid pursuing trivial political gain this way.

We finally remind everyone that our country simply cannot go through such brutality and more, and that for the sake of the present and future generations all such inhuman acts must be arrested forthwith."

The statement was signed by Rt. Rev. Kumara Illangasinghe, Bishop of Kurunagala and Chairperson, National Christian Council; Rev. C. N. Jansz, President, Dutch Reformed Church; Rt. Rev. Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo; Rev. Noel P. Fernando, President, Methodist Church; Rev. Wijedasa Warsamanage, President, Baptist Sangamaya; Rev. George Stephen, Moderator, Presbyterian Church; Col. Roy Frans, Territorial Commander, Salvation Army; Rev. P. R. Navendraanugoolan, Jaffna Diocese of Church of South India and Rev. Dr. Jayasiri T. Peiris, General Secretary, National Christian Council.