The painful events of the Easter Sunday attacks of 2019 continue to torment the lives of many who lost their loved ones on that fateful day. It continues to baffle every Sri Lankan even still, with too many questions languishing in the minds of all Sri Lankans. The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) appointed by former President Maithripala Sirisena attempted to answer as many questions as possible with all the available resources. The PCoI report recorded 1,588 statements, examined 457 witnesses, and studied approximately 30,102 pages of proceedings so as to arrive at this report. They also examined 2,377 documents, including 206 audio and video recordings. They visited many of the safe houses including those in Sainthamaruthu and Colombo.   Components of Zahran’s narrative   The PCoI noted five components of Easter Sunday mastermind Zahran Hashim’s narrative, which are the Islamic caliphate, jihad, atrocities committed against Muslims worldwide, events in Sri Lanka where Muslims were targeted, and the loss of faith in the Government. Zahran continued to emulate these notions in his constant speeches, which he actively shared on his social media pages.   Who is Zahran?   Zahran was born on 15 October 1986 to Hayath Mohammadu Mohammed Cassim and Abdul Cader Siththi Saveema. He had two brothers, Rilwan and Zaini (Shaini), both of whom died in the blast that took place in Sainthamaruthu on 26 April 2019 amid a shootout with the security forces.  As a child, Zahran was not attracted to any type of extremism. He attended the Jamiyyathul Falah Madrasa in 2001 to learn Islam, where he met Mohamed Ibrahim Mohamed Naufar, who was instrumental in feeding Wahhabism to him. After three years, Zahran vociferously argued with his lecturers and was forced to leave the Madrasa.  In 2005, he founded a Madrasa under the name of Dharul Adhar Ad-Dhaiyya together with Naufar, Nashmal Maulavi, Afshar Makulavi, and two others identified as Rauf and Thawfeek. The same year, he met Hadiya aged 10 years at the time and expressed his desire to marry her. Her father declined at the time, so Zahran joined the Ibnu Masjid Madrasa in the Kekunugolla Madrasa and the Anukkana Madrasa in Kurunegala.  In 2006, Zahran began lecturing at the Masjidul Fauzan in Hondenigoda in a manner that was against the preachings of traditional preachers. Between 2007 and 2009, he did further studies at the Imami Madrasa. In 2009, he had a dispute with the management of his organization, Dharul Adhar Ad-Dhaiyya and left. He went on to initiate the National Thowheed Jamath (NTJ) which he registered as a social service organisation. That year, he travelled to Japan for three months, and on his return he married Hadiya, with whom he had two children.  The PCoI finds that even in 2009, Zahran was in possession of Type-56 rifles acquired from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. He was identified as an extremist by that time, and he masterminded multiple attacks on the Sufi community, for which complaints were lodged against his actions and Zahran was warned.   Early stages of preparation In 2015, Zahran actively campaigned for the election of former President Maithripala Sirisena and set forth conditions for his support in the General Election 2015. They eventually supported the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) at the General Election. In 2016, Naufar had travelled to Turkey to join the Islamic State (IS) and on his return, he met Zahran and shared with him videos of IS content.  That same year, he was introduced to Iiham and Jameel, both of whom also became suicide bombers. He then began preaching aggressively on the establishment of a caliphate, the killing of non-Muslims, the Islamophobic preachings of Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera, and encouraging jihad. He had become an extremist by then. Zahran was an avid user of social media and communication platforms which he used to recruit followers. In March 2017, a meeting organised by Zahran and the NTJ at the Aliyar Junction in Kattankudy resulted in violence against the Sufi community. The Sufis filed a petition at the Presidential Secretariat and the Ministry of Muslim Religious Affairs. This led to Zahran going into hiding.  His Facebook account had been deactivated for some time. His Facebook account was nevertheless reactivated on 18 August 2017, and he began preaching very extremist views through his social media page. He started targeting the failures of democratic governance, a strategy employed by the IS.   Preparation for attack The PCoI finds evidence, both direct and circumstantial, that by 2018, Zahran had made a decision to launch attacks with the intent to establish an Islamic State. He wished to create disturbances between the Muslims and Sinhalese, and therefore, he initially planned an attack during the Esala Perahera. He held several training camps with this aim.  The training camps involved training in the use of T-56 rifles, pistols, the use of knives, and even training to avoid identification by the intelligence and law enforcement forces. Zahran’s approach was similar to any other terrorist organisation in its infant stages. He continued to exploit different situations and promote his ideology through his social media channels and recruited more people to his training camps after the Digana and Teldeniya incidents. On 31 August 2018, Zahran and Zaini were formally removed from the NTJ, so as to dissociate from Zahran’s intent to establish an Islamic State.  However, Zahran carried on with his extremist preaching, including a video threat on 15 September 2018 that jihad would soon be unleashed in the near future. He threatened that the roads would be “drenched with the blood of Kafirs”. An organisation named the Hizb-ut-Tahrir operating in Turkey had declared that an Islamic State would be established by 2024. They have a presence in areas such as Eravur, Valachchenai, Ottamavadi, Kattankudy and other areas in the East. The PCoI suspects that a possible connection exists.   Explosives In May 2018, Milhan and Rilwan began procuring materials used in manufacturing explosives. On 15 August 2018, Zahran met a group of supporters from Mawanella and established a small group of secret investigators. Milhan was the head and the team included Sadeeq, Gaffoor Mama, and Sameer. Naufar and Hasthun also took part in the meeting. They were assigned the task of gathering information on Police stations in Colombo. On 27 August 2018, Zahran’s brother Rilwan suffered life threatening injuries when experimenting with explosives at Palamunai, Kattankudy. Zahran used some of his influence to have Rilwan transferred to the Colombo National Hospital. It was stated that RIlwan had suffered injuries from a gas cylinder explosion; however, Dr. Chandana and nurses inspecting the wounds strongly asserted that the injuries were inconsistent with the patient’s history. They had wanted the matter referred to the Police, but Dr. Muhamad Zufyan Muhamad Zafras, who helped Zahran admit Rilwan to the Hospital, did not proceed to inform the Police.  Zahran decided to temporarily halt the manufacturing of explosives after the injuries sustained by Rilwan. However, after listening to an audio recording of a conversation between Deputy Inspector General of Police Nalaka Silva and Namal Kumara, Zahran had decided to recommence the manufacture of explosives. In the aftermath of the Mawanella incident where Buddhist statues were vandalised, it had come to be discovered that Zahran had directed the vandalism with the primary role handled by Sadeek Abdullah and Shahid. Zahran obtained Rs. 500,000 from Iiham and handed it to the wife of Mufeez to get bail for the arrested parties.  It was even more significant that the Police had discovered a large stash of explosives from Wanathawilluwa. It was a training camp of Zahran, and an important location in Zahran’s plans to establish an Islamic State. The PCoI notes that Mufeez, who was arrested after the Mawanella incident, had in his wallet a note in English explaining how to make bombs. The PCoI also noted from the testimony of Zahran’s wife, Hadiya, that Zahran had obtained his information on making bombs from the Dabiq magazine of the IS. During the investigations, a Co-ordinating Secretary of former Minister Kabir Hashim at the time, Mohamed Razik Mohamed Thasleem, had assisted the Police in their discovery. For this, Zahran had attempted to murder Thasleem by shooting him in the head. He survived, but remains bedridden. After the discovery at Wanathawilluwa, Zahran’s name was revealed to the Police, and a hunt for Zahran had begun. Zahran was aware of this.   Release of prisoners by Sirisena   Two brothers who were arrested after the Mawanella incident, Mohamed Nafeez Mohamed Nafrith and his brother Navith, had been released on 9 April 2019 after an order signed by the-President Maithripala Sirisena. When Sirisena was questioned on this matter, he had said that those who presented the document to him must take responsibility for it.  During the PCoI investigations into the matter, the National Unity Alliance (NUA) Leader, Azath Salley, had admitted that he received a call from Muslim Council of Sri Lanka President N.M. Ameen, and that he had intervened as a result. Although the suspects were not directly linked to the attacks, the PCoI recommends further investigations as to their connections.   Final preparations On 25 March 2019, Muath met Sameer and called for a discussion because Zahran and Naufar were having a dispute regarding leadership. The meeting was held on 27 March at a safe house located at No. 53, Nasmiya Villa, Paratta Road, Panadura, and it was during this meeting that Zahran proposed a series of suicide bombings.  He suggested places frequented by foreigners, churches and casinos. However, no date was given at the meeting. Zahran had also stated that he would also join in the attacks just like Tamim Ahmed Chowdhury, who led an IS attack in Bangladesh. Zahran had believed that Tamim was dead, while in fact he was alive. On 26-27 March, Hasthun, Mubarak, and Rizkhan purchased more than 25kg of urea from Ottamavadi and Valachchenai, and Rilwan purchased eight barrels of nitrate acid each over 35kg. On 11 April, 10 backpacks were purchased from a reputed brand established in Sri Lanka. On 18 April 2019, eight Ruman Amjad shawls were purchased from a place in Colombo 14 by Hasthun and Mubarak. On 19 April, caps, trousers, shorts, sunglasses, t-shirts and other material were purchased from the same reputed company. On 20 April, eight suicide bombers made 17 video recordings at Span Towers, Mount Lavinia. They gave out four reasons for the attacks and 10 reasons why Sri Lanka was chosen for the attacks. The four reasons for the attacks were “love for Allah and hating for the sake of Allah”, revenge for the killing of Muslims in Baghouz, revenge against the Christchurch massacre, and people from countries killing people in Syria and Iraq coming to Sri Lanka as tourists. The 10 reasons for the attacks in Sri Lanka included defaming and scolding Allah, the incident in Kuliyapitiya where an image of a pig with allah being written on it, Gnanasara claiming that Allah will be reborn, scolding and defaming Muhammad (Sal), the tearing and burning of Qurans, the destruction of mosques, the destruction of houses of Muslims and forcible land grabs, the rape of a Muslim woman by intelligence officials and its cover up, Sri Lanka becoming a partner in the international crusade in Western Africa, and Allah having ordered the killing of non-believers on sight.   Temporary conclusion   The attacks that shocked all of Sri Lanka took place in four hotels and three churches. The Kingsbury Hotel attack was carried out by Mubarak, where 10 deaths were reported. The Shangri-La Hotel bombings were carried out by Zahran and Ilham Ibrahim, where 35 persons including 22 foreigners died. The Cinnamon Grand attack was orchestrated by Inshaf Ibrahim at the expense of 22 deaths.  The St. Sebastian’s Church, Katuwapitiya bomb attack was executed by Hasthun, which killed 115 persons. The St. Anthony’s Church, Kochikade was bombed by Muath, resulting in 56 deaths. The Zion Church bomb was blasted by Azad, killing 72 people. There had been two more bombs, one of which was detonated at 658/90, Mahawila Gardens, Colombo 09, where Ilham and Inshaf resided. It killed Ilham’s pregnant wife and three children. The other bomb was detonated by Jameel. It was intended to be detonated at the Taj Samudra, but had failed to explode and was inadvertently triggered at the Tropical Inn in Dehiwala. (To be continued) (The writer is a legal researcher. He can be contacted via faizer@live.com)