While Sri Lanka was facing an unprecedented turmoil with the deepening economic crisis triggers raging

street demonstrations, when groups of people, mostly young, stand in clusters chanting slogans, singing
songs, making speeches, 27 Religious, Priests and HR Activists came together to Fatima Retreat House,
Lewella Kandy from the 07th - 09th July 2022 to analyze and discern their
mission. It was organized by the Human Rights Office Kandy with the
theme “Protecting the Rights of the Voiceless”.

The July meeting included religious leaders of other mainline churches

and prominent Human Rights activists. There was an urgency to meet
and discuss about the latest developments in the country with the
deepening political & economic crisis. Hence recognizing the role as
religious leaders and Human Rights activists was crucial when the youth
continued the struggle of the people in the country for a new political
culture. Most of the participants were already involved in the struggle for long term reforms both
Political & Judicial in response to the crisis.

Suren D. Perera AAL initiating the discussion of the workshop, raised some basic questions regarding the
Economic crisis & the youth struggle. He paused 03 main questions:
 Reasons for the economic crisis
 The perspective of the participants about the People’s struggle.
 The changes that participants look forward to if the presidents resign?
It was an individual and a group activity for which all the participants
actively joined.

The discussion on “Women & Economic crisis” was facilitated by Sarah

Arumugam AAL. She briefly explained and questioned the life of women
during the crisis and the participation and the leadership of women in the
struggle. Further she raised the question regarding the response of
the society to women's activism and the barriers to women's political
participation in Sri Lanka.
 The perspective of the people in the north in relation to the
economic crisis and the youth struggle was explained by
Rev. Fr. Jeyabalan Croos that was followed by a lively
discussion. He reminded that the people in the north & east
suffered for more than 25 years without basics such as food,
medicine, fuel etc. and therefore he said that the people are
quite used to live in a crisis situation and political leaders
even if changed would not pay attention to the rights of the
people in the north & east. However, he said he supports the

youth in Struggle for a “System change”.

The responsibility of the Media was explained by Mr. Sampath Samarakoon

the Chief Editor of Vikalpa, enumerating the Ethics and guidelines that has
to be followed when reporting in Public Media and also in Social Media. He
spelt out the process in identifying fake media, stories that contain
elements of truth but are broadly inaccurate. However, he said that the
“trusted new sources will correct errors in their stories and be transparent
with readers when they’ve got things wrong”. Further he spoke about the
Rights of the Digital Media.

Human Rights that are to be safeguarded, especially the Right

to Food and Medicine that are not guaranteed in our
constitution was explained by Rukshan Fernando. Human
Rights & UDHR endorsed by nearly all governments, including
the debt collectors. “The UDHR prioritizes access to education
and health care. In welfare-states, when a family goes
bankrupt no child is expected to lose access to basic
education and health care in order for debts to first be repaid;
this principle apply for people everywhere”. He further said
that the ideas of human rights and basic human needs are
closely connected and “Human Rights” - rights that apply to
every person because they are human, can be seen as rights to the fulfilment of, or ability to fulfil, basic
human needs.

With a biblical background Bishop Kumara brought in

hope that has to be shared with the people who have
lost hope. “Being hopeful relies partly on having a sense
of control - it’s the idea that you can exert an influence
on the world around you and that the actions you take
can have positive consequences in your life”. He further
said “obviously there are some situations that are truly
out of your control, taking some control could include
elements of your self-care routine that you’re already
doing. For instance, many people find that simple, small
acts of compassion that help build that sense of control even in a chaotic situation”.

Since many of the participants were to join the protest on the 09th July, the meeting was concluded on
the 08th with a thanksgiving service for Jeyabalan who celebrated his Birthday followed by a fellowship
meal.