Religions for Peace Sri Lanka Advances Post-War Reconciliation and Healing: RfP Sri Lanka’s 12th District-level Interreligious Council Launched in Kirinochchi, the most war-affected region and the ex-stronghold of LTTE

(7 November 2012 | Kirinochchi, Sri Lanka)

Hindu, Christian, Muslim and Buddhist leaders in the Kirinochchi district, the most war-affected region
and formerly the stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), launched the Religions for Peace (RfP) Sri Lanka-Kirinochchi District Interreligious Council on November 7, 2012. The inauguration was preceded by the RfP delegation’s visit to its Jaffna District Council for the monitoring of interreligious projects in youth leadership training, medical camps, Sinhara-Tamil language training, and women’s empowerment.

Senior Religious Leaders in Myanmar Reject Violence and the Misuse of Religion in Rakhine State

(Yangon, Myanmar)

Senior Buddhist, Muslim, Christian and Hindu leaders in Myanmar, collaborating as members of the working committee for Religions for Peace Myanmar, issued a multi-religious statement on June 18, 2012 in Yangon, Myanmar, to address the escalating violence and the misuse of ethnic and religious differences to fuel conflicts in Rakhine state. The senior religious leaders represent Myanmar’s major religious organizations, namely the Ratana Metta Buddhist Organization; the Myanmar Council of Churches (MCC); the Catholic Church; the Hindu Community in Myanmar; and the Islamic Center of Myanmar.

At least 50 people have been killed in fighting in Rakhine State since May 28, 2012 when a Buddhist
woman was raped and murdered in Kyauk Ni Maw village, allegedly by three members of the Muslim
Rohingya minority. The rape-murder resulted in a series of clashes across Rakhine State, which
borders Bangladesh, displacing up to 30,000 people.

Religions for Peace Myanmar Launched to Advance Inter-Communal Harmony and Peace

PRESS RELEASE

(13 September 2012, Yangon, Myanmar)

Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and Muslim communities in Myanmar together launched the Religions for
Peace Myanmar as the country’s first full-fledged representative and action-oriented inter-religious body for reconciliation, peace and development. Approximately 100 religious, diplomatic, political and civil society leaders in Myanmar and Religions for Peace International leaders joined the inauguration.