Abstract:
A post war period is the interval immediately following an end of a war. The end of a
war is generally expected to be followed by an end to collective violence. However, post
war societies often consist of certain generic features that trigger violence. Hence long lasting
peace building efforts that address the root causes of the war should be implemented.
Peacebuilding is known as the practical implementation of peaceful social change through
socio-economic reconstruction and development and various subject experts have expressed
their views on how peacebuilding should be done in a post war society. John Paul Lederach’s
ideas are the most important among them because he has answered this question by using
a diagram called “a peacebuilding pyramid” that describes the actors on social levels and
what actions are best taken at each level. The levels are: top elite, the middle-range, and the
grassroots. Religious leaders are included in middle level and the pyramid explores the role
of religious leaders in peace building.
The objective of the study is to understand the role of religion in a post war context. In order
to achieve this objective the research has been conducted in two ways; analysing John Pol
Lederach’s Peacebuilding Pyramid and collecting public opinions of a selected sample. In
order to gather the data, a sample consisting of 20 religious leaders were chosen. A simple
random sampling approach was used to select the sample. Both primary and secondary data
were used in conducting the research. To collect the required primary data, the interview
method was used and secondary data was collected using books, magazines and websites.
Data has been analysed qualitatively.
Among the conclusions that were derived, the major factors can be extracted accordingly;
John Pol Lederach’s Peacebuilding pyramid has given better practical and effective community
based interventions that can be recommended to rebuild strengths, adaptation, coping
strategies and resilience and in that context religious leaders have an important role. The
values contained in the teachings of great religious teachings are essential to eradicate root
causes of conflicts. Additionally, attributes of religions including reliability as a trusted institution,
a respected set of values, moral warrants for opposing injustice on the part of governments,
unique leverage for promoting reconciliation among conflicting parties, a capacity to
mobilize communities are important in promoting peace and reconciliation.
