Kandy District Inter Religious Committee (DIRC) members travelled to 14 districts across the country sharing their experiences of how they dealt with the anti-Muslim violence that erupted in their district earlier this year.
During their visits to the districts, Kandy DIRC members showed videos, photographs and interviews from victims and explained how they were conducting a fact finding mission to gather information as well as suggestions on how to prevent future violence. They planned to launch a website to gain wider understanding of their efforts.
Kandy DIRC organized a press conference on the evening of the riots to request all communities and their leaders not to promote racism or resort to further violence and DIRC members engaged with religious leaders to reduce the tension since the beginning of the crisis.
Kandy DIRC provided information on the situation to government authorities including the police, the Presidential Media Unit and the Secretariat for Coordinating Reconciliation Mechanisms.
The DIRCs said they had learnt from the experiences of Kandy DIRC. Jaffna DIRC decided it would begin a dialogue among the people on how to build reconciliation and achieve a sustainable peace in the district.
Kandy DIRC members emphasised that strong DIRC leadership was vital for the process to succeed. They advised other DIRC members to be alert for situations and issues that could cause ethnic and religious tension and violence. They said DIRC members should know about rule of law mechanisms and to link up with relevant government authorities using their contacts.
Galle DIRC members visited Kandy and met victims of the violence to understand the situation and feelings of people while Kurunegala DIRC decided to have a dialogue among religious leaders and government authorities to achieve sustainable peace in the district.