Concerns related to the Easter Sunday attacks were raised at a US State Department conference on religious freedom held in Washington.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo opened the conference which was attended by over 1,000 participants from 100 countries.
Head of Legal and Advocacy of the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka, Yamini Ravindran, spoke on the opening day yesterday (Tuesday) on the Easter attacks and concerns related to incidents after the attacks.
Ravindran called on Governments and church representatives to work together to promote understanding in the hope of preventing bombings like the ones on two Catholic churches, an evangelical church and two hotels that claimed over 251 lives at Easter.
She described the effect of the violence on a 6-year-old girl who was left blind by the blast. Her parents died, however, and the girl still does not fully realize what has happened, Ravindran said.
“She does not know that she may never see again. She keeps asking, ‘Why is it so dark?’” the legal advocate said.
Ravindran also spoke of the spread of hate speech following the attacks and the rise of some extremist groups. (Colombo Gazette / Agencies)