• Urges consideration of PSC report

BY Buddhika Samaraweera   Emphasising that the struggle to seek justice for the Easter Sunday terror attacks on 21 April 2019, is by no means over, Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith has called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe to investigate into the forces behind the terror attacks, taking into account the final report of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) appointed to investigate the same when the latter was Prime Minister. Speaking during a recent service, the Archbishop said: “Justice for the Easter Sunday terror attacks has not yet been served. We still don't know who and what forces were behind this. For instance, when Mohamed Cassim Mohamed Zahran (one of the suicide bombers who attacked the Shangri-La Hotel in Colombo) was to be arrested by a senior Police official, the latter was accused of conspiring to kill certain influential people, and was subsequently arrested. The relevant Police official was prevented from arresting Zahran, and Zahran was given the freedom to carry out the attack.” Noting that those who prevented Zahran from being arrested should bear the same responsibility for this attack as Zahran who carried it out, the Archbishop said that is what justice is. He also said that although the people's struggle at the Galle Face Green has come to an end, the struggle seeking justice for the Easter Sunday terror attacks would continue. “Everything behind these attacks should be carefully investigated in order to find out who planned it, encouraged it, and did not prevent it, despite the possibility of doing so. Especially, the report of the PSC appointed by the incumbent President, who was the Premier at the time, reveals that there was a political conspiracy behind this. Therefore, the President is duty bound to analyse the contents of that report. I request him to please be honest. Don't hesitate to analyse what your PSC stated. We accept you only if you act positively. Mere words don’t matter,” he added. On 21 April 2019, Easter Sunday, three churches (the St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, the St. Anthony’s Church in Kochchikade, and the Zion Church in Batticaloa), and three luxury hotels in Colombo (the Cinnamon Grand, the Kingsbury, and the Shangri-La) were targeted in a series of coordinated suicide bombings. Later that day, another two bomb explosions took place at a house in Dematagoda, and the Tropical Inn Lodge in Dehiwala. A total of 269 people excluding the bombers were killed in the bombings, including about 45 foreign nationals, while at least 500 were injured. Meanwhile, making a statement recently, Wickremesinghe, who was the Premier at the time of the terror attacks, said that he plans to obtain the assistance of the police authorities of the UK in order to complete the investigation into the Easter Sunday terror attacks, as the lack of a proper investigation has meant that this issue is yet to be fully resolved. “One problem is the question we all are having about the Easter Sunday attacks. None of those procedures have been finalised yet. I am dedicated to resolving these problems as we don’t need to continue with these problems forever. We must ensure that this is brought to an end. There should be a full scale impartial review of the material that is available. “If everyone is willing, I would like to get the help of the UK and their police authorities. They are the best that we can find. In addition to the people from Sri Lanka, who will be working on this issue, it is the responsibility of the Government to finalise this matter without any further delay,” he said.