For a quarter century, a civil war has been taking place in Sri Lanka between the central government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The antagonism between the government and the LTTE does not stop at the government level, but penetrates the level of religious leaders and grassroots communities, thereby acting as a significant destabilizing factor in society. This project aims to enhance mutual understanding, to support the peace process at the community level, and to demonstrate the effectiveness of an approach to the peace process that focuses on developing relationships at the community level by providing venues for non-official dialogue between religious leaders (Buddhist, Hindu, Christian, and Muslim) who have a strong influence in Sri Lankan society.
In fiscal 2005, eight workshops were organized separately for religious leaders of Sinhalese and Tamil backgrounds in locations throughout Sri Lanka (including Anuradhapura, Dambulla, and Vavuniya), and about 50 core religious leaders were selected.
The selected core leaders from all four of the major religious groups met together at nine workshops this year. A Sewalanka Foundation facilitator proficient in both the Sinhalese and Tamil languages supervised the progress of the workshops, and managed the discussion among the religious leaders, which grew very impassioned at times. Over the course of this series of workshops, the participants engaged in discussions about what specifically the religious leaders can do to build mutual trust. A group of 24 people selected from among 50 religious leaders visited Thailand for a week starting February 1, 2007 to attend a retreat workshop in Bangkok. The participants also visited southern Thailand characterized by religious strife, such as Nakon Sri Thamarat and Hat Yai.
The final declaration of the workshop and retreat proposed the establishment of multi-religious peace promotion committees that can serve as bases for taking steps toward peace. Committees have already been established in Trincomalee and Vavuniya. After the project ends, religious leaders are expected to work through these committees to further promote the cultivation of trust between the Sinhalese and Tamil populations by taking steps toward peace at the grass-roots and political levels. An analytical report was also prepared on the effectiveness of using a two-year program of workshops to develop trust between religious leaders.