Amid continuing controversy following comments by the head of the Anglican Church, the Archbishop of Canterbury, which appeared to justify Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse’s military action against the Tamil Tigers, two Sinhala Bishops Wednesday defended Archbishop Rowan Williams, saying his comments had been taken out of context.
Archbishop Williams concluded a 3-day visit to Sri Lanka earlier this month at the end of which he made his controversial statements.
"It is undoubtedly inevitable that what you might call surgical military action against terrorism should take place", Archbishop Williams said in reports filed by TamilNet and the BBC Sinhala service on May 11, 2007.
The Archbishop said that he hoped and prayed that military action would lead to an opening of communication between the government and the Tamil Tigers.
"But we all hope and pray that that will lead not to ...victory for one, defeat for another, but to an opening of communication, a re-establishment of the possibilities for civil society to develop", he said.
The Archbishop told journalists in Colombo, the government’s military solution to the problems of the country "increasingly appears to be no solution".
But this week, in a letter to TamilNet, Rt Revd Kumara Illangasinghe, Bishop of Kurunagala, and Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo, said Archbishop Williams had meant that military action was not justified “unless it had the clear aim of enhancing the possibility of dialogue.”
On Tuesday, Bishops Illangasinghe and de Chickera wrote to TamilNet saying Archbishop Williams had been misquoted and that he had, in fact, said the following:
“The military solution to the problems of the country increasingly appear to be no solution. It is undoubtedly inevitable that what you might call ‘surgical’ military action against terrorism should take place but we all hope and pray that it will lead not to desolation, victory for one and defeat for another, but to an opening of communication, a reestablishment of the possibility for civil societies to develop.”
By saying this, according to Bishops Illangasinghe and de Chickera, “whilst acknowledging that government forces will react to attacks, the Archbishop is questioning whether such a military response was justified unless it had the clear aim of enhancing the possibility of dialogue amongst both sides.”
“The Archbishop’s comments about military action were certain not an endorsement of but rather an observation on the present reality in Sri Lanka,” they asserted.
“The Archbishop’s position at the media conference, taken as a whole, made it clear that he was opposed to any military solution to the island’s ethnic conflict and that he was very concerned about human rights violations, child conscription and the problems faced by internally displaced persons,” they also said.
The bishops insisted that “the Archbishop consistently maintained this position at meetings he had with a cross-section of political, religious and civil society leaders and groups that he met while in Sri Lanka, including the meetings with the President and the Leader of the Opposition.”
TamilNet’s editorial board Tuesday said they stood by the original story which had, in its lead paragraph, clearly pointed out the Archbishop’s linkage between “surgical military strikes against terrorism” and “an opening of communication between the government and the Liberation Tigers.”
Ironically, a senior Buddhist priest who met with Archbishop Williams during the latter’s visit told him that religious leaders should keep away from interfering into state affairs in war situations
The Mahanayaka of the Asgiriya Chapter of Sri Lanka’s Buddhist clergy, the Most Ven.Udugama Sri Buddharakkhita Thero told the Archbishop it is a section of the people in north and east that had launched a rebellion against the government demanding a part of the country.
“The Sri Lankan government is engaged in a war to control this situation. We are neutral in that respect and our hopes are for peace”, the Mahanayaka Thero said in comments reported on BBC Sinhala service.
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| Rajapakse meeting the Archbishop |
"It is undoubtedly inevitable that what you might call surgical military action against terrorism should take place", Archbishop Williams said in reports filed by TamilNet and the BBC Sinhala service on May 11, 2007.
The Archbishop said that he hoped and prayed that military action would lead to an opening of communication between the government and the Tamil Tigers.
"But we all hope and pray that that will lead not to ...victory for one, defeat for another, but to an opening of communication, a re-establishment of the possibilities for civil society to develop", he said.
The Archbishop told journalists in Colombo, the government’s military solution to the problems of the country "increasingly appears to be no solution".
But this week, in a letter to TamilNet, Rt Revd Kumara Illangasinghe, Bishop of Kurunagala, and Rt Revd Duleep de Chickera, Bishop of Colombo, said Archbishop Williams had meant that military action was not justified “unless it had the clear aim of enhancing the possibility of dialogue.”
On Tuesday, Bishops Illangasinghe and de Chickera wrote to TamilNet saying Archbishop Williams had been misquoted and that he had, in fact, said the following:
“The military solution to the problems of the country increasingly appear to be no solution. It is undoubtedly inevitable that what you might call ‘surgical’ military action against terrorism should take place but we all hope and pray that it will lead not to desolation, victory for one and defeat for another, but to an opening of communication, a reestablishment of the possibility for civil societies to develop.”
By saying this, according to Bishops Illangasinghe and de Chickera, “whilst acknowledging that government forces will react to attacks, the Archbishop is questioning whether such a military response was justified unless it had the clear aim of enhancing the possibility of dialogue amongst both sides.”
“The Archbishop’s comments about military action were certain not an endorsement of but rather an observation on the present reality in Sri Lanka,” they asserted.
“The Archbishop’s position at the media conference, taken as a whole, made it clear that he was opposed to any military solution to the island’s ethnic conflict and that he was very concerned about human rights violations, child conscription and the problems faced by internally displaced persons,” they also said.
The bishops insisted that “the Archbishop consistently maintained this position at meetings he had with a cross-section of political, religious and civil society leaders and groups that he met while in Sri Lanka, including the meetings with the President and the Leader of the Opposition.”
TamilNet’s editorial board Tuesday said they stood by the original story which had, in its lead paragraph, clearly pointed out the Archbishop’s linkage between “surgical military strikes against terrorism” and “an opening of communication between the government and the Liberation Tigers.”
Ironically, a senior Buddhist priest who met with Archbishop Williams during the latter’s visit told him that religious leaders should keep away from interfering into state affairs in war situations
The Mahanayaka of the Asgiriya Chapter of Sri Lanka’s Buddhist clergy, the Most Ven.Udugama Sri Buddharakkhita Thero told the Archbishop it is a section of the people in north and east that had launched a rebellion against the government demanding a part of the country.
“The Sri Lankan government is engaged in a war to control this situation. We are neutral in that respect and our hopes are for peace”, the Mahanayaka Thero said in comments reported on BBC Sinhala service.
