Letters to the Editor
View(s):Ways to honour the victims of Easter Sunday attacks
Whilst welcoming the Vatican’s decision to declare those who died in bomb attacks in churches on Easter Sunday six years ago as ‘Heroes of Faith’ (men and women who have sacrificed their lives for Jesus Christ) on Monday April 21, I would suggest a few other meaningful ways that the Sri Lankan government could honour the victims.
The government can declare April 21 as a National Day of Remembrance, where people remember the lives lost. Places of worship can hold special prayer services every year, and people from all religions – Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and Muslim – can come together in unity through interfaith prayers.
A peace memorial can be built in places like Colombo or Negombo to give people a quiet space to reflect. The government can also support the victims’ families by giving them financial help and housing support.
How about organising workshops for young people to teach them about forgiveness and unity? A special stamp and / or coin could be created to honour the victims.
Print, electronic and social media can also help by promoting messages of peace and encouraging different religions to work together. All these efforts can help keep the memory of the victims alive and build a more united and peaceful Sri Lanka.
The above suggestions are for the kind consideration of of President A.K. Dissanayake. I sincerely hope that he will also bring to book the perpetrators of the Easter attack as promised.
Mohamed Zahran Colombo
The island of Duwa and origin of drama
Many years ago on a Good Friday, the late Professor Ashley Halpe and I were in a small audience watching the Passion Play on the island of Duwa, a short boat ride from the coast of Negombo. Readers who know of this annual Duwa theatre performance would be curious about my saying Ashley and I were in a small audience, because they know that many thousands have been coming to this performance.
There is a significant distinction between these thousands and the small number of people I was with. We, the small group were an audience, come to experience a play (written by Fr. Jacome Gonsalvez in 1728), like we do at the Lionel Wendt theatre, well separated from the actor’s stage in our chairs. The thousands here were not an audience. They came in the nominal capacity as members of an audience, but their urge was different. Unconnected to the making of this performance, they become integral with the action, because to them it was not a play being performed, but a ritual. Their ritual.
Faith and ritual are deeply intertwined, with ritual serving as a tangible expression and reinforcement of religious faith. Rituals provide a way for individuals and communities to connect with their beliefs, reaffirm their values and foster a sense of belonging.
Ashley spoke, words to the extent, “We are witnessing the origin of drama which today, in our theatres, even though subdued to the theory of theatre art, retains that ritual essence of keeping us as an active part of the performance, though seated separately”.
Ernest Macintyre Via email
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