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Walking the Easter talk

26 Aug 2021

It is depressing to see how Sri Lanka sweeps its priorities under the rug, or fails at identifying what should be its priorities. When the Easter Sunday terror attacks killed close to 300 people and injured scores, everyone from the then Opposition and the then Government camps came forward, vowing to be committed to giving justice to the victims of the bombings, and that was the expectation of the people too. However, that enthusiasm seems to have ebbed away. To shed light on the probes into said attacks, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chandana D. Wickramaratne, speaking to the media on 25 August, gave an update on the number of people in custody in connection with the attacks and what is happening as far as the investigations are concerned. However, that is not nearly enough to build confidence in the people, especially over two years after the attacks. The IGP noted that the group of extremists that carried out the attacks was a small group. However, the proceedings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (PCoI) that probed the bombings revealed that there was a bigger group or network behind the attacks, which undoubtedly needs to be brought to book. The bottom line is, having a large number of persons does not spark hopes for justice; it can only be done through effective legal proceedings and in-depth investigations to find out who were behind the attacks.   The truth is, everyone already knows what institutions and individuals failed to perform their duties in preventing the attacks as well as who carried out the attacks. What has been left unaddressed and unrevealed is who planned and abetted in these attacks. The IGP also mentioned a lack of proper communication and co-ordination between certain sections of the law enforcement agencies and also that hasty decisions had prevented those agencies from carrying out in-depth investigations to find out accurate information about the attacks. Even though there is no way we can know whether such shortcomings have been rectified, during the hearings of the PCoI appointed to look into the attacks, the country learnt of some unpardonable mistakes and irresponsibleness on the part of several institutions tasked with ensuring security. To prevent the recurrence of such attacks, in a context where the masterminds and aiders and abetters of those that set off the bombs not being revealed or brought to book, there is a massive responsibility to address the said coordination and communication related issues.   The IGP also claimed that since investigations are being carried out confidentially, it is not possible to reveal all the information pertaining to the investigations into the Easter Sunday attacks, and that doing so could be an obstruction to court proceedings regarding the attacks. The people are more than ready to extend their support to the law enforcement authorities to perform the latter’s job properly even by not asking overly sensitive questions, and at the moment, all the people have is the IGP’s word and not satisfactory tangible results. Justice-seeking Sri Lankans can only hope that what the IGP is saying is true, and that his statement is not aimed at pacifying the people to buy more time. If the law enforcement agencies have achieved the kind of progress they claim to have achieved, it is good. However, the people would like to know more, and the authorities have a responsibility to reveal what can be revealed. In addition to communication among the law enforcement agencies, communication between the law-enforcement agencies and the people too should be strengthened. The bottom line is that, the only progress that can satisfy the people is proper legal action against those who backed the bombers in any manner and those who masterminded the attacks.  


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