The ‘Good Chain’ campaign

Wednesday, 30 July 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Sri Lanka is a land blessed with good living conditions, good development prospects and good people. Since time immemorial, people belonging to a number of different religions have peacefully coexisted in the country. As a democratic nation surging forward on an ambitious post-war development agenda, Sri Lanka has become one of the fastest growing countries in Asia and today, Sri Lanka stands poised to transform itself into a regional benchmark.

Against this peaceful and positive background comes the recent wave of unfortunate activities disrupting racial harmony and the wellbeing of every citizen. In response, a group of like-minded independent people, who believe in the resilience of Mother Lanka and the goodness of her people have come together to create a movement of unity, which transcends these barriers of hatred and negativity. The Sri Lanka Can Trust has initiated a novel perception building campaign to inspire positive Sri Lankans to unite in the name of goodness. This initiative is woven around the ‘Good Chain,’ which amalgamates Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Muslims into one belief that goes beyond religious views but binds them all as one people, living in one country. The ‘Good Chain’ has been created as an icon to symbolise the importance of unity for the greater good of our country and its people. The idea of the ‘Good Chain’ is derived from the prayer beads that the above religions use, in order to invoke blessings or goodwill upon the person or persons who are partaking in the prayer. Catholics use the Rosary, Buddhists use the Nawa Guna Wela, Muslims use the Tasbih and Hindus use the Rudraksha Mala. Although there is diversity in terms of their individual beliefs, the unifying factor is that a similar item is used by all, when praying for good. A unique ‘Good Chain’ has been created to represent the four prayer beads, with four sets of beads in four different colours, shapes and sizes woven together to form one bracelet or chain. Youth representing the 25 districts of the country have gathered together to hand-make the first batches of these bracelets, to enhance the spirit of connectivity and unification of the cause. The aim of the ‘Good Chain’ campaign is to provide a platform for peace-loving Sri Lankans to band together, so that the extremist elements who belong to different religions understand and appreciate that the majority of Sri Lankans are standing up for a unified and plural Sri Lanka, where our inherent values, traditions and relationships are preserved for posterity and nurtured for prosperity. To obtain a ‘Good Chain’ one can log onto www.goodchain.org and post a request, visit the counter at the Good Market, Battaramulla on Thursdays or pick up a bracelet from any Keells Super outlet in the near future. Join a movement to protect our country from extremism. Display your ‘Good Chain’ with patriotic pride to say that we, the majority of Sri Lankans believe in one country, one people. This is the future our Sri Lanka deserves.