Unity without uniformity: A Ramadan reflection on national reconciliation

RAMADAN is often described as a month of spiritual discipline.

- By Mahil Dole

But discipline is not only a personal virtue. It is also a national necessity.In times of polarisation, uncertainty, and institutional fragility, societies fracture not merely because of diversity, but because diversity becomes unmanaged, manipulated, and weaponised. Sri Lanka’s recent history particularly in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday attacks demonstrates how quickly mistrust can metastasise into collective suspicion, and how swiftly identity can become a fault line.

Two verses from the Qur’an, revealed over fourteen centuries ago, offer a governance ethic remarkably relevant to our current national moment.

The first warns against fragmenting religion into hostile sects. The second establishes a principle of proportional justice: good deeds are multiplied, while wrongdoing is punished only in equal measure never excessively.

Together, they articulate two pillars essential for national stability: unity without coercive uniformity, and justice without excess.

These are not theological abstractions. They are policy imperatives.

Sectarian fragmentation is not merely a religious concern. It is a national security vulnerability.

When communities retreat into hardened identity silos, three dynamics typically follow: isolation, grievance, and radicalisation. Isolation fosters echo chambers. Grievance narratives deepen mistrust. Radical actors exploit both.

Sri Lanka’s multi-ethnic and multi-religious composition has always been a source of richness. Yet when political rhetoric, social media algorithms, and transnational ideological currents amplify difference over common citizenship, diversity becomes combustible.

Unity, therefore, must be understood not as enforced sameness, but as structured pluralism asystem where multiple identities coexist under shared constitutional loyalty.

This requires institutional design.

District-level interfaith councils with formal mediation mandates.