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Former President Maithripala Sirisena arriving at BMICH on 5 October 2020 to provide evidence to the PCoI probing the Easter Sunday attacks. Photo Krishan Kariyawasam[/caption]
By Skandha Gunasekara
With former President Maithripala Sirisena being one of the last key individuals to be questioned by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing the Easter Sunday attacks, the commission hopes to conclude its operations by the end of October.
Thus far, former President Sirisena has charged that former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the United National Party (UNP) Government worked against him, that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were hampering reconciliation, and that former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara and former Secretary of Defence Hemasiri Fernando were to be held accountable for allowing the Easter Sunday bombings to occur.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Cabinet only supported him during the first six months in power, former President Maithripala Sirisena told the PCoI investigating the Easter Sunday attacks.
Sirisena said that Wickremesinghe and the UNP began undermining him, as he (Sirisena) started talking against the Bond Scam. Things only became worse when he appointed a PCoI on the Bond Scam, he said.
Responding to a question posed by the Attorney General's (AG) Department official that led the evidence, Sirisena said that from the time former President Ranasinghe Premadasa lowered the ceiling for a party to enter Parliament to 5% of the total vote, minorities had strong sways in successive governments.
The sixth Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, from April 2004 to February 2010, had 27 Muslim MPs, out of which 18 held ministerial posts. Meanwhile, the seventh Parliament, from April 2010 to June 2015, had 17 Muslim MPs, out of which 13 held ministerial posts. The eighth Parliament, from September 2015 to March 2020, had 22 Muslim MPs, out of which 11 held ministerial posts.
This was data compiled by the commission and Sirisena was informed of these statistics.
"When the ceiling for a party to enter Parliament was 12.5% of the total vote, this wasn't a problem. While we must ensure that we get the ideas and opinions of all groups in the country, we must also keep extremism in mind. I must remind you that all Muslim ministers of the eighth Parliament was with the UNP," he said.
The former President said that at present, politicians do not have the ability to address mistrust between various ethnic and religious groups, and that special institutions with the required resources need to be established to address these issues.
Sirisena added that he had just returned to his hotel after obtaining medical treatment at a hospital in Singapore when he was informed of the Easter Sunday attacks
"I then called the Prime Minister, the Secretary to the President, the Defence Secretary, and the IGP. I instructed them to take the necessary steps. I also called the then CDS (Chief of Defence Staff) Shavendra Silva. I called the Secretary to the President again and told him that we need to appoint a committee because we needed to find out what happened," the former President said.
Sirisena said that he had been feeling unwell and thus instructed his Secretary to come up with a list of names.
"The Secretary to the President came up with some names that I also found acceptable and I asked him to prepare the appointment letters. I returned the next day and gave the appointment letters before holding the National Security Council (NSC) meeting at 10 a.m. on 22 April. Appointing this PCoI was one of the recommendations of the committee I appointed, headed by Justice Vijith Malalgoda," Sirisena said.
He also told the PCoI investigating the Easter attacks that a large number of NGOs actively worked against reconciliation in the country by preventing people from overcoming various traumas they had endured in the past.
"All governments faced this problem. There are some good NGOs that do a lot for the people. But a large number of them want to ensure that people are angry and resentful. During my time as President, NGOs played a big role in hindering our reconciliation work," he said.
Sirisena added that these NGOs often work beyond their stipulated criteria.
“For example, they profess to support Montessori kids, but they go into Tamil villages and conduct skits and plays with children that focus on issues faced during the war. They want children who had not faced the war to be traumatised as well," he said.
Sirisena said that some Muslim organisations too bring in extremist preachers into the country and that these men played a significant role in the spread of Wahabism.
Furthermore, he said that former IGP Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando were responsible for not preventing the Easter Sunday attacks.
Sirisena made the above claim responding to a question posed by the representative from the AG’s Department who led the evidence.
Former Minister and current Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Harin Fermando too made a questionable statement to the PCoI when he claimed that the Catholic Church, including Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, had been forewarned of the attack.
However, the Catholic Church was quick to reject MP Fernando’s statements.
The Archbishop’s House charged that Fernando was making baseless allegations against Cardinal Malcom Ranjith.
“We wish to therefore condemn this puerile attempt of MP Fernando to find excuses for his own grave misdeed and cast unjust aspersions on his eminence. We reiterate that we fully trust the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to render justice to the hundreds of innocent individuals who lost their lives or were maimed for life due to, both the hateful actions of the terrorists and the shameful inaction of the political and administrative as well as intelligence officials of that time, who are responsible for this mindless carnage of human beings. Justice must prevail at all costs,” the Archbishop’s House said in a statement.
The Archbishop’s House went on to assert that neither the Cardinal nor the Archdiocese of Colombo had any prior knowledge of the attacks.
“Once again, we affirm categorically that the Cardinal and the bishops as well as the Catholic clergy were in no way made aware of this plot by anyone and so the allegation is baseless.”
Throwing a curveball at the investigations, authorities on 30 September released the brother of MP Rishad Bathiudeen, Riyaj Bathiudeen, from custody.
Bathiudeen was arrested in the run up to the parliamentary elections over alleged connections to the Easter Sunday terror attacks.
In response, the Cardinal said that he was disappointed to know that a suspect had been released prior to proper legal proceedings being followed.
“It is sad to note the release of a suspect held in connection with the Easter Sunday attacks,” Cardinal Ranjith said at a press conference in Colombo.
“It is sad that the investigations are not going the way it should,” he said.
Meanwhile, State Minister of Internal Security, Home Affairs, and Disaster Management Chamal Rajapaksa in Parliament last week asserted that Bathiudeen had been released due to the lack of evidence.
Meanwhile, Secretary to the PCoI investigating the Easter attacks Buwaneka Herath said that the Commission’s term ended on 20 December and that they would submit a report by then.
“20 December is the last date of the Commission’s functions. Our target is to complete all proceedings by the end of this month. Therefore, we hope to compile and present the report by 20 December.”
Former President Maithripala Sirisena arriving at BMICH on 5 October 2020 to provide evidence to the PCoI probing the Easter Sunday attacks. Photo Krishan Kariyawasam[/caption]
By Skandha Gunasekara
With former President Maithripala Sirisena being one of the last key individuals to be questioned by the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) probing the Easter Sunday attacks, the commission hopes to conclude its operations by the end of October.
Thus far, former President Sirisena has charged that former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the United National Party (UNP) Government worked against him, that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) were hampering reconciliation, and that former Inspector General of Police (IGP) Pujith Jayasundara and former Secretary of Defence Hemasiri Fernando were to be held accountable for allowing the Easter Sunday bombings to occur.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Cabinet only supported him during the first six months in power, former President Maithripala Sirisena told the PCoI investigating the Easter Sunday attacks.
Sirisena said that Wickremesinghe and the UNP began undermining him, as he (Sirisena) started talking against the Bond Scam. Things only became worse when he appointed a PCoI on the Bond Scam, he said.
Responding to a question posed by the Attorney General's (AG) Department official that led the evidence, Sirisena said that from the time former President Ranasinghe Premadasa lowered the ceiling for a party to enter Parliament to 5% of the total vote, minorities had strong sways in successive governments.
The sixth Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, from April 2004 to February 2010, had 27 Muslim MPs, out of which 18 held ministerial posts. Meanwhile, the seventh Parliament, from April 2010 to June 2015, had 17 Muslim MPs, out of which 13 held ministerial posts. The eighth Parliament, from September 2015 to March 2020, had 22 Muslim MPs, out of which 11 held ministerial posts.
This was data compiled by the commission and Sirisena was informed of these statistics.
"When the ceiling for a party to enter Parliament was 12.5% of the total vote, this wasn't a problem. While we must ensure that we get the ideas and opinions of all groups in the country, we must also keep extremism in mind. I must remind you that all Muslim ministers of the eighth Parliament was with the UNP," he said.
The former President said that at present, politicians do not have the ability to address mistrust between various ethnic and religious groups, and that special institutions with the required resources need to be established to address these issues.
Sirisena added that he had just returned to his hotel after obtaining medical treatment at a hospital in Singapore when he was informed of the Easter Sunday attacks
"I then called the Prime Minister, the Secretary to the President, the Defence Secretary, and the IGP. I instructed them to take the necessary steps. I also called the then CDS (Chief of Defence Staff) Shavendra Silva. I called the Secretary to the President again and told him that we need to appoint a committee because we needed to find out what happened," the former President said.
Sirisena said that he had been feeling unwell and thus instructed his Secretary to come up with a list of names.
"The Secretary to the President came up with some names that I also found acceptable and I asked him to prepare the appointment letters. I returned the next day and gave the appointment letters before holding the National Security Council (NSC) meeting at 10 a.m. on 22 April. Appointing this PCoI was one of the recommendations of the committee I appointed, headed by Justice Vijith Malalgoda," Sirisena said.
He also told the PCoI investigating the Easter attacks that a large number of NGOs actively worked against reconciliation in the country by preventing people from overcoming various traumas they had endured in the past.
"All governments faced this problem. There are some good NGOs that do a lot for the people. But a large number of them want to ensure that people are angry and resentful. During my time as President, NGOs played a big role in hindering our reconciliation work," he said.
Sirisena added that these NGOs often work beyond their stipulated criteria.
“For example, they profess to support Montessori kids, but they go into Tamil villages and conduct skits and plays with children that focus on issues faced during the war. They want children who had not faced the war to be traumatised as well," he said.
Sirisena said that some Muslim organisations too bring in extremist preachers into the country and that these men played a significant role in the spread of Wahabism.
Furthermore, he said that former IGP Pujith Jayasundara and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando were responsible for not preventing the Easter Sunday attacks.
Sirisena made the above claim responding to a question posed by the representative from the AG’s Department who led the evidence.
Former Minister and current Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) MP Harin Fermando too made a questionable statement to the PCoI when he claimed that the Catholic Church, including Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, had been forewarned of the attack.
However, the Catholic Church was quick to reject MP Fernando’s statements.
The Archbishop’s House charged that Fernando was making baseless allegations against Cardinal Malcom Ranjith.
“We wish to therefore condemn this puerile attempt of MP Fernando to find excuses for his own grave misdeed and cast unjust aspersions on his eminence. We reiterate that we fully trust the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to render justice to the hundreds of innocent individuals who lost their lives or were maimed for life due to, both the hateful actions of the terrorists and the shameful inaction of the political and administrative as well as intelligence officials of that time, who are responsible for this mindless carnage of human beings. Justice must prevail at all costs,” the Archbishop’s House said in a statement.
The Archbishop’s House went on to assert that neither the Cardinal nor the Archdiocese of Colombo had any prior knowledge of the attacks.
“Once again, we affirm categorically that the Cardinal and the bishops as well as the Catholic clergy were in no way made aware of this plot by anyone and so the allegation is baseless.”
Throwing a curveball at the investigations, authorities on 30 September released the brother of MP Rishad Bathiudeen, Riyaj Bathiudeen, from custody.
Bathiudeen was arrested in the run up to the parliamentary elections over alleged connections to the Easter Sunday terror attacks.
In response, the Cardinal said that he was disappointed to know that a suspect had been released prior to proper legal proceedings being followed.
“It is sad to note the release of a suspect held in connection with the Easter Sunday attacks,” Cardinal Ranjith said at a press conference in Colombo.
“It is sad that the investigations are not going the way it should,” he said.
Meanwhile, State Minister of Internal Security, Home Affairs, and Disaster Management Chamal Rajapaksa in Parliament last week asserted that Bathiudeen had been released due to the lack of evidence.
Meanwhile, Secretary to the PCoI investigating the Easter attacks Buwaneka Herath said that the Commission’s term ended on 20 December and that they would submit a report by then.
“20 December is the last date of the Commission’s functions. Our target is to complete all proceedings by the end of this month. Therefore, we hope to compile and present the report by 20 December.”