Discriminatory racial political cultural discrimination which was inculcated during the colonial era contributed to the destruction of communal harmony, said Minister of Justice Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC.
He was addressing the Ministerial Session of the UNESCO Global Forum against Racial Discrimination held in Mexico City, Mexico.
The Minister said that all possible measures are being taken despite many obstacles such as COVID-19 pandemic and the political instability in the recent past to strengthen unity and equality among all. "Our Constitution is empowered to safeguard equality among all persons disregarding ethnicity, language, religion, culture or gender and the Supreme Court has the unfettered jurisdiction to remedy any injustice caused to any person on such grounds.
The recently passed 21st Amendment to the Constitution also makes provisions to strengthen the independence of the Public Service and thereby avert any kind of discrimination to the general public," the Minister said. He insisted that all nations shall get together to eliminate any kind of discrimination and the big and wealthy nations must play a vibrant role by assisting the nations in need. The Global Forum was organised by UNESCO with the assistance of Canada and the Ford Foundation.
It was highlighted at the meeting by many representatives as to how such discriminations ingrained into their territories as a result of colonial rulings and as to how milti-bilion companies exploit the people including children in poor countries.
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