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Easter Sunday attacks: Government must be proactive to contain violent extremism: Prof. Gunaratna

27 Nov 2021

  • ‘No political conspiracy; attacks motivated by violent extremist ideologies’
  • Argues no evidence to support conspiracy theories
  • ‘Maithripala, Ranil, Madduma Bandara should explain why warnings were ignored’
By Yoshitha Perera Sri Lanka, last week, began the trial of 25 suspects accused of plotting the Easter Sunday bombings that killed nearly 270 people and injured many others in 2019. The cases are being heard before a Special High Court Trial-at-Bar in Colombo. Two years after a series of co-ordinated terror attacks on Easter Sunday (21 April), Sri Lanka had commissioned three reports produced by three different committees and commissions pertaining to the inquiry.  However, public perception regarding the attacks and where responsibility lies may differ significantly, and legal experts pointed out that the trials could take a long time to conclude. Following the conclusion of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) and several committees tasked with investigating the Easter attacks, many questioned whether these final reports and the pace of the investigation were sufficient to take legal action against those responsible and bring justice to the victims.  Among them, Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith had expressed his disappointment over the probe, alleging that there was a “grand conspiracy” behind the attack. However, the Government was of the view that litigation would be pursued based on the facts and recommendations presented in the final report of the PCoI.  Responding to a query by The Sunday Morning, Institute of National Security Studies Director General Prof. Rohan Gunaratna opined that that there was no political motivation behind the attack. He stated that the Government should move quickly and carefully identify persons following violent extremist ideologies and the organisations that were promoting, educating, and supporting extremist ideologies, such as Islamic State (ISIS), and ban them. “There are Sri Lankan and foreign organisations connected to ISIS. If Sri Lanka can legally ban them, then the country can take legal action against extremists. This is the purpose of having a large national security structure. Terrorism is a vicious by-product of ideological extremism. If ideological extremism is neglected and ignored by any government, it will lead to terrorism in future,” he said. In April this year, Sri Lanka banned 11 hardline Islamist organisations, including ISIS and Al-Qaeda, for their links to extremist activities in the country. No political hand in attacks? Prof. Gunaratna acknowledged that the blowback of the Easter Sunday attacks cost the previous Government the election, which was perceived by some as a conspiracy. However, according to him, the Easter Sunday attacks were inspired by extremist ideologies, and there was no political hand in it. “The Easter Sunday attacks is one of the most scrutinised investigations in the world. The three fact-finding reports produced by three commissions are available to scrutinise. Unfortunately, the Government of Sri Lanka has not released these three reports in formats that can be easily read. No one can dispute the findings of the three commissions appointed by the Yahapalana Government. The commissions concluded that there was no evidence to suggest a political conspiracy,” he said.  Commenting on the three reports, Prof. Gunaratna said the main report was of the PCoI to Investigate and Inquire into and Report or Take Necessary Action on the Bomb Attacks on 21 April 2019, which was released in February 2021. It is the most comprehensive report, according to Prof. Gunaratna. “The main report released is a summary of a series of reports. The commission report has not made a finding of a political conspiracy,” he said. He explained that the report of the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) was released on 23 October 2019, while the Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security’s “Report on the proposals for formulation and implementation of relevant laws required to ensure national security that will eliminate new terrorism and extremism by strengthening friendship among races and religions”, was released on 19 February 2020. “I have reviewed hundreds of reports that had informed the three fact-finding reports. None of the evidence that surfaced through investigations (Sri Lankan or foreign) indicate a ‘political conspiracy’. Salafi-Wahhabism is an ideology that cannot be manipulated by politics. Zahran (Hashim), in his farewell videos, clearly said this and why they are doing this attack,” he said. Responding to a query, Prof. Gunaratna said the “grand conspiracy” behind the Easter attacks articulated by the then-Attorney General Dappula de Livera was after 15 prosecutors reviewed both intelligence and investigation reports that demonstrated that the ideology came from overseas.  “The report explains how the Qatar-based Naufer Maulavi introduced IS ideology to Zahran in Sri Lanka. The gold standard of proof stems from Zahran’s farewell video. The video depicts how the ideology was developed by the IS in Iraq and Syria, the proclamation of the caliphate, and the call to mount attacks on ‘unbelievers’ by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in Syria. No one can dispute the video evidence where Zahran explains step by step his ideology and his motive to carry out the attacks,” he said. Venturing to explain why the Government had not produced all the columns of the final report of the PCoI to the relevant parties concerned, especially the Catholic Church, Prof. Gunaratna opined that the main volume submitted to Parliament and the relevant parties had sufficient information to understand how the attacks happened and who was responsible, and stated that it was vital to take immediate actions based on the recommendations of the PCoI. Commenting on the confidential letter sent by former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Director SDIG Nilantha Jayawardena to former Law and Order Minister, which was leaked to social media, Prof. Gunaratna said that the letter, through which the SIS advised the Ministry of Law and Order to take action by arresting Zahran, was authentic. “It is not only this letter, but there are over 350 reports given by the Sri Lankan intelligence community to the Yahapalana Government on the IS, spreading of extremism, Zahran’s activities, and repeatedly suggesting that the government leaders take action. As they did not take action, the threat grew and manifested in the form of several attacks including the Easter attacks,” Prof. Gunaratna charged. He opined that former President Maithripala Sirisena, former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and MP Ranjith Madduma Bandara could explain why the actions were not taken.  “No government should take threat information and intelligence for granted. National security was neglected during the Yahapalana Government. The Easter Sunday attacks happened, as vital steps were not taken to prevent the build-up of the IS,” he stressed. Among the PCoI’s recommendations, which were made available to the public, was the need to take necessary action against the former SIS Director on his failure to communicate on time the intelligence received in early April 2019 with regard to the attack. Responding to a query on why he had been named as a state witness, Prof. Gunaratna opined that it was done in order to understand the depth of intelligence prior to the attack, to see whether the intelligence was provided to the authorities or not.

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