PM to discuss peace solutions with religious leaders
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will meet religious leaders from many sects to discuss peace building solutions for the Asean region and the restive south next week, the organiser of an international seminar said on Friday.
Religious leaders including representatives from the Muslim World League and the Religion for Peace Inter-Religious Council are scheduled to meet Yingluck on Monday at the Prime Minister’s Office to share views and perspectives on the role of religion in the peace making process.
They are in Thailand next week for an international seminar on religion and peace building process in Asean, said Parichart Suwanbubbha, director of Mahidol University’s Human Right and Peace Studies Institute, which is organising the event.
Among the key leaders attending the seminar are Abdullah Al-Turky Muhsin, secretary general of the Muslim World League, Dr William F. Vendley, secretary general of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (WCRP) and Somdej Phramaharajmangklajarn, of the committee of the Sangha Council.
On Wednesday, Dr Ismail Lutfi Japakiya Rector of Yala Islamic University and president of Religions for Peace Inter-religious Council of Thailand is to bring some 50 of the 200 participants to see first-hand the situation in the deep south, where violent incidents have killed more than 5,000 people since early 2004.
Pol. Colonel Thawee Sodsong Secretary General of Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center (SBPAC) is co-organising and will participate in the activity in the deep south.
There are many conflicts ongoing in the Asean region that affect, both directly and indirectly, believers of various religions. The violence in the predominantly Muslim region of southern Thailand is one.
The conflict has created mistrust among believers of different religions not only in southern Thailand but has also involved outsiders nationally and internationally.
Religious leaders will issue a statement while they are in the deep south, expressing their views on the situation and possibly suggesting religious elements as a solution to restore peace in the region, Parichart said.
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