DUBAI, April 2019: Hundreds of Sri Lankans of all religions in the UAE have participated in memorial services for the victims of the recent terrorist attacks.
On Wednesday,24 April, over 200 Sri Lankans attended a multi-religious function at the Consulate General of Sri Lanka to Dubai and Northern Emirates held in memory of those who lost their lives, and in support of their bereaved family members. On Friday, 26 April, over 1,000 Sri Lankans of all faiths kept vigil followed by a mass at St Mary’s Church in Dubai in memory of those who died.
The Consulate General of Sri Lanka organised its multi-faith event together with the Sri Lankan community in Dubai and the Northern Emirates with the aim of further enhancing ethno-religious harmony among the Sri Lankan expatriate community living in Dubai & Northern Emirates, and the wider UAE. More than 300,000 Sri Lankan expatriates live in the seven emirates of the UAE.
The function was held with the participation of four religious leaders representing Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam and Christianity and the Sri Lankan community members following these four main religions of Sri Lanka. Buddhist priest Ranmuthugala Buddhawansa Thero, Hindu priest Swami V. Venkat Raman, Islamic priest Yousuf Saleem and Catholic priest Rev. Fr. Jude Angelo led prayers in their respective faiths.
The function served as a platform for the religious leaders to invoke blessings on the victims and their family members in addition to wishing sustainable peace and harmony in the island.
Prominent community members representing the four major religions of Sri Lanka also had the opportunity to lend their voice to the growing chorus of criticism and condemnation of the terrorist attacks and the importance of averting such tragedy in the island nation in future. The underlying message of the four religious leaders and four community representatives was that Sri Lankans should stand united in this period of grief and continue to work closely and collectively to fight a common enemy, as unity in diversity is what would hold Sri Lanka together.
Addressing the audience, Charitha Yattogoda, Consul General of the Consulate General of Sri Lanka to Dubai and Northern Emirates reiterated the importance of facing the calamity as one nation at this difficult time. He said 21st April was a black day for Sri Lanka and noted that Sri Lankans in the UAE, irrespective of their ethnic differences, have come together to show their unity in a time of grief.
He said the memorial ceremony was also aimed at further enhancing the interaction with the community and work towards achieving common objectives. He said that a book of condolences that was opened at the consulate was signed by diplomats from various countries who also came over to show their solidarity with Sri Lanka.
“A lot of Muslim brothers and sisters spoke to me and I understand their feelings. As a country, we work together on many occasions…We were able to stop many terrorist activities due to the intelligence (system) we have,” the Gulf News quoted him as telling compatriots.
He praised the “invaluable roles that our Muslim officers have played in this regard which was one of the factors that had helped us to eradicate acts of terrorism earlier”. He urged the community members to work together and understand and love each other in order to move forward together to put an end to terrorism.
Yousuf Saleem, who led the Islamic prayer service, said: “The religion of Islam does not support any of these so-called movements. What happened on Sunday in a place of workshop is not condoned by our religion at all. We pray that Allah the Almighty protect our beloved country and all of us from such heinous crimes.”
A.S. Khan, Charge d’ Affaires of the Sri Lanka Embassy in Abu Dhabi also spoke and stressed the importance of maintaining collective strength in unity at this time of grief.
“Unity is our strength. We will form an iron wall of unity against terrorism,” he said, adding: “Terrorism has no religion, no race, no boundary.”
“ I thank all those who are helping Sri Lanka to come out of this testing time victorious. I also thank the UAE leadership for their support. We have one of the best armed forces and law enforcement personnel who will definitely find the root of this terrorist group and eliminate them for good sooner than later.”
Chathura Weerasekara, Head of Chancery at the consulate, welcomed the gathering and presented the vote of thanks.
