Rev. Punitharajah Enoch, OMNIA Leader in Sri Lanka, Dies

Rev. Enoch at an OMNIA Training of Trainers in February 2020 in Kandy, Sri Lanka

Kandy, SRI LANKA (May 9, 2020) — OMNIA mourns the loss of Rev. Punitharaja Enoch who died May 8th of a heart attack at the Jaffna hospital. He was one of OMNIA’s Interfaith Peacemaker Team leaders in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. In February 2020 he participated in a Training of Trainers event in Kandy, where he committed to train others to participate in Interfaith Peacemaker Teams.

The following is an appreciation written by Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe, OMNIA’s National Coordinator in Sri Lanka.

It is with great sadness and loss that we have to record the passing on of the Rev Punitharajah Enoch of the American Ceylon Mission in Sri Lanka. Rev Enoch has served the Church in Sri Lanka and the Christian Community with much dedication and love. His love for God’s people was evident in the way he moved with them and made himself available to them at their times of need. Because of such love, his ministry among them was comprehensive and fulfilling. The humility with which he was serving among them, was exemplary. We are confident that Enoch offered creative leadership, when he was called to be the Chairperson of the American Ceylon Mission Church.

My association with him was very short. I got to know him as a leader of the OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership, in the North of Sri Lanka. He had grasped well the OMNIA concept of ‘all encompassing’ approach and attitude. OMNIA’s method of ‘Bottom up’ rather than ‘Top down’ learning, was attractive to him. Organising people was close to his heart, which was clearly visible in his speaking and preaching. He was loved by the people whom he served and he enjoyed a wonderful freedom in their midst. He was very well convinced, that he was called by God to serve the people in the community and was not willing at any stage, even during the times of great difficulty and insecurity in the North, to desert the people and be away from them.

Pictures of Rev. Enoch at the Training of Trainers event in Kandy in February 2020

I first met him in 2019, when I attended the Advanced Training Programme of the OMNIA Institute, in Jaffna. He had already gone through the Basic training programme and was deeply committed and interested in serving the community. His willingness to learn and equip himself to serve God’s people was remarkable. Enoch’s engagement in words and action with those who trained him and the desire to possess clarity of understanding, was solely characteristic. He was always willing to struggle hard to achieve the best.

In February this year, he was chosen and invited to be trained as a Trainer for the OMNIA programme in Sri Lanka, especially concentrating in the North and the East, which he accepted with great interest and travelled to Kandy. The enthusiasm with which he participated, was not only encouraging but also rewarding. We noted that he always looked to the future. While anticipating the kind of challenges that he may face in the future in such training, he was keen to learn and equip himself to creatively deal with such situations. Enoch’s ability and willingness to relate to the problems and the struggles of the people in the North, was commendable. His preparation to be a trainer and a leader in the community was in such a context. He was truly and deeply rooted contextually. That was both a psychological as well as a practical and a realistic approach.

We take this opportunity to thank his family for sharing him with the larger community. We also convey our heartfelt condolences and the assurance of our prayers to the family. We are ever grateful for all what he has been to us, the Church and to the larger community, in this nation.

We thank God for God’s concern for the people in need and who are powerless, that God was willing to share Enoch with us and the people, even for a short period of time. That probably was in God’s plan, the period in which his services were most needed. We are grateful for his life and ministry and pray that his soul will Rest in Peace and Rise in Glory. What a great loss to say goodbye to him at his prime age.

Bishop Kumara Illangasinghe
9th May 2020. Kandy

Religious Extremism, Human Rights and Sri Lanka - Dr. Shanta Premawardhana

The following article appeared in the publication “Human Rights News” in Sri Lanka on August 14 2019. Remarks have been revised and expanded from original interview. Written by Shanika Madhavi. Photo by Sudesh De Silva

Dr. Shanta Premawardhana, President of the Omnia Contextual Leadership Institute in Chicago, USA, discussed matters of religious extremism spreading across the globe and its threat to human rights. Here are his comments.

Human rights are being developed at the international level. How have they affected individual development?

In 1948 many countries of the world came together and agreed on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These principles were very important to all of us across the globe. If we want to measure how we address human rights, this declaration is the measurement. But human rights are violated in many countries and have been across time. Some governments do not particularly care about human rights because they think they can act with impunity. When they do, other countries should have a way of keeping them accountable. This declaration is the way.

Human rights are based on the primary affirmation that each individual person is of intrinsic worth, and that no one is more important or more valuable than another. But because society often assumes that some are more important, individual rights are often violated. Laws are meant to protect us from such violations, but some laws are also biased against those who are poor and marginalized such as women and those who have different sexual orientations. Religion also plays into this, giving legitimacy to social norms that discriminate.

There were occasions when some religious leaders in our country spoke of human rights as a Western project. Your opinion on it?

Anytime there is a “universal” agreement there are problems because the “contextual” may come into conflict with it. Can we have a universal agreement without violating local cultural and religious norms? So, there is always a tension between universal and contextual. We don't all think the same way. I recall the occasion there was an argument about women’s place in society. While many countries agreed that women should have equal status, there were objections from other traditionally religious countries, whose religions tend to give women a second-class status. When powerful groups or governments want to suppress the rights of some people, they pull out the argument that “universal” means “western.”

Torture and degrading treatment have sometimes been condoned by this society. What does it look like?

Torturing people is against universally accepted norms of human rights. We know that torturing people to get information is rarely, if ever, successful. Moreover, torture is usually an extra-judicial process. That is, people are tortured before their guilt or innocence is determined. We must ask, how I would feel if I were innocent, but someone tortures me to get information. I would feel thoroughly violated. That same principle must apply to other people. That is based on a religious principle that is common to most religions called the Golden Rule, which says, do unto others what you would have them do to you.

During the Second World War, a German pastor said, when they (Nazis) came for the Communists, he did not speak up because he was not a Communist. When they came for unions, he didn't say anything because wasn’t a union member. When they came for the homosexuals, he didn’t speak up, because he was not a homosexual. When they came for the Jews, he didn’t speak up because he wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for him. And there was no one left to speak up for him, because all those who would support him were now gone. We don't have to come to that situation. We can be good as a society if everyone's rights are upheld.

What is the role of religion?

Our human tendency is to violence. But religion teaches us to live ethically. It tells us that we must love our neighbor, which means that we must act non-violently. Sometimes there are internal and external influences on religion, and these ethical principles can be lost. Religious leaders must be particularly alert to uphold the ethical principles of religion.

Why is there religious extremism?

Every religion has a good side, but many have an extremist side. This may happen because of influences on politics or money. Religious leaders and scholars are not free from such biases when they interpret religious scripture or tradition. Slight changes in interpretation can take a religious tradition in a very different trajectory.

Ultra-conservative teachings appear to people as piety. While piety is not the problem, ultra-conservative teachings sometimes prepare the ground for violent extremism. This is, of course, very dangerous. Deranged individuals can take such teachings and use violence, such as bombings or shootings, usually against those in other religious traditions. Although ultra-conservatism seems like proper religious piety, it is often not authentic religion. In fact, religious leaders should be in the forefront in speaking out forcefully against teachings that lead to violent extremism.

What do you think about the extremism in Sri Lanka

All indications are that the events of April 21st were orchestrated by foreign influences, and that a local religious group was deceived into thinking that Jihadism is authentic Islam. As a result, several Christian communities were destroyed, as many were killed or injured.

Today, the interreligious tensions are high. Some Buddhists (including Buddhist monks) feel that they need to incite hatred and violence, particularly against the Muslim community. This is an unfortunate result.

The problem goes back to four and a half centuries of colonial rule – perhaps the longest in history -- during which time Buddhism was decimated. The conflation of identities as Sinhala-Buddhist arose as a response. Whenever there appears to be foreign influences, therefore, the old anxieties come to the fore-front. Unfortunately, some have decided to use violence to resolve this situation, even though, that completely contradicts the very Buddhism that they seek to preserve and protect. First, the reaction was against Tamils, then it was against Christians (as foreign mission agencies started sending missionaries again in the 1980s and 90s), and now it is against Muslims.

How should we respond to this extremism?

My organizations builds Interfaith Peacemaker Teams. These are teams of Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian clergy and lay people who come together to learn how to relate to each other across religions, and how to build power, so they can act together on issues that are urgent, relevant and winnable in their village or town. As these teams win small victories, they build more power, so they can build greater victories. When people in the town or village see that religious people can come together and do something right, they build a fresh appreciation of the possibility for peace. Our intention is to build Interfaith Peacemaker Teams in all the villages of Sri Lanka over the next ten years.