SL’s growing IT sector urges zero tolerance against racial and religious hatred

Sri Lanka’s IT/ BPM industry, responding to this week’s racial unrest, has urged its companies to establish a zero- tolerance policy for any incident involving racial or religious discrimination and disrespect.

Heads of companies, business units or team members were requested, in a message to the industry by Ruwindhu Peiris, Chairman of the SLASSCOM Board, to “communicate the importance of diversity, respect and tolerance to your colleagues.”

He said this can be done as a town- hall meeting or within smaller business units, depending on the size of the organization. “In discussions with our international stakeholders, reinforce the message that we are a multi- cultural, multi- ethnic society with deep- rooted respect for each other and these recent incidents are not a reflection of the majority sentiment,” Mr. Peiris added.SLASSCOM is the industry’s main forum.

The message said:

“We are deeply concerned about the escalation of civil unrest in our nation and condemn the actions of this small group of people propagating violence and spreading hatred across communities. We strongly and urgently request those in authority to intervene and address the ground situation without allowing this situation to continue further.

“The IT/BPM industry has consistently operated with one common denominator – technical proficiency. We have excelled in positioning Sri Lanka as a compelling destination for innovation and ingenuity. This credibility was earned by individuals from every community, race and religion collaborating as creative, highly-productive teams. We have established our global brand through hard work and effort over many years. Let’s come together at this time to protect and nurture both our nation and our industry’s reputation.”

The IT/BPM industry has consistently operated with one common denominator – technical proficiency. We have excelled in positioning Sri Lanka as a compelling destination for innovation and ingenuity.