NSC Representatives visited Galle

Representatives from NSC visited Galle after the unfortunate incidents took place in Ginthota (18.11.2017) and suburbs they also participated at the meeting held at Galle Divisional Secretariat which was attended by District Minister Wajira Abewardena, members of Parliament and representatives of armed forces, government officers, religious leaders and local representatives.

Though the situation has been brought under control, forces and police officers are deployed there are still external elements provoking people of the region creating suspicions and fears by way of spreading rumors and unfounded information mainly through social media.

While addressing the issues pertaining the safety and security of the people NSC urges the government to take all necessary measures to bring the culprits into book and compensate the victimized people by way of facilitating them to avail of the services of the relevant GS divisions, Divisional Secretariat and the law enforcement authorities providing them necessary legal aid as well.

NSC views that the following steps has to be taken to address the issue:

1. A meaningful dialogue has to be initiated between the local civil and religious leaderships towards reconciliation and to promote the value of coexistence preventing people from falling victims to various elements with vested interests in cooperation with civil authorities in the locality and the Police, the people in the region are not happy with the presence of forces in the region.
2. A proper loss assessment has to be conducted by the relevant government authorities such as GS divisions and Divisional Secretariat to compensate the victimized people.
3. There is an urgent necessity to raise awareness among the Youth of all communities to act responsibly in a proactive manner rather than reacting emotionally at times of such unfortunate incidents.
4. Responsible use of Social media is another important factor to build peace and harmony between people; it was observed that rumors and unverified information were deliberately spread by certain segments to gather outsiders to in an organized manner to carry out the rampage in the night. The law enforcement authorities should strictly follow the regulations with regard to the cyber crimes in this regard.
5. There is also a need to provide counseling for the traumatized women and children in the area to recover from trauma and schock witnessing the violent behavior of thugs who went on rampage.
6. It is important to provide the victimized people all necessary legal and logistical support to recover the loss encountered by them and to return to normalcy at the earliest.

NSC Media Unit