{"id":155506,"date":"2026-04-04T16:11:01","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T23:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=155506"},"modified":"2026-04-04T16:14:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T23:14:38","slug":"easter-sunday-massacre-the-churchs-quest-for-a-mahamolakaru","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/04\/04\/easter-sunday-massacre-the-churchs-quest-for-a-mahamolakaru\/","title":{"rendered":"Easter Sunday massacre \u2013 The Church\u2019s quest for a \u201cmahamolakaru\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n
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There are numerous protagonists to Sri Lanka Easter Sunday massacre. We have Zaharan and his suicide bombers alongside an ideological network slowly spreading across the Island unchecked. The Church initially forgave the suicide bombers but has spent the past seven years in a relentless hunt for an undefined single mahamolakaru.\u201d This pursuit, never substantiated, has been used to reject Presidential Commission and Committee reports while endorsing allegations from a political asylum seeker, four years after the attacks, whose central claims remain untested in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

21 April 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

08:45a.m \u2013 St. Anthony\u2019s Church, Kochchikade \u2013 Suicide bomber Alawdeen Ahmed Maud (1st blast)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

08:45a.m. \u2013 St. Sebastians Church, Katuwapitiya \u2013 Moh. Hashthun<\/p>\n\n\n\n

09:05a.m. \u2013 Zion Church, Batticoloa \u2013 Mohammed Nassar Mohammad Asad<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The blast should have triggered immediate police deployment as heads were fully aware of an attack since 4 April. Closure of all remaining churches & hotels named in the intel briefs & teams should have been immediately deployed to intercept suspects who were already known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fatalities from the 3 churches neared 200 deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cardinal held the midnight mass at St. Lucias Cathedral (15minute walk from St. Anthony\u2019s Church) on 20th<\/sup> April 2019 while the Easter Sunday morning mass was held at his residence and not St. Anthonys Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No sooner he heard about the blasts he rushed to St. Anthony\u2019s Church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We tabulate the reactions of the Church from 21st<\/sup> April 2019 onwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IMMEDIATE POST-ATTACK: BLAME THE GOVTS FAILURE<\/p>\n\n\n\n

intelligence failure<\/p>\n\n\n\n

negligence of state officials<\/p>\n\n\n\n

failure to prevent despite warnings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

justice for Catholic victims<\/p>\n\n\n\n

moral accountability of the then Yahapalana leadership & strongly criticized President Sirisena, PM Wickremasinghe & police\/intelligence lapses<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Church\u2019s initial stand was that the attack was preventable because prior intelligence already existed<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SHIFTING FROM FAILURE\u201d TO INTERNATIONAL CONSPIRACY\u201d \u2013 July 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

21 July 2019 \u2013 Katuwapitiya memorial \u2013 Cardinal shifts narrative claiming bombings were not merely the work of extremists but part of a wider international conspiracy. This became the new theme and it is significant because.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it moved the Church away from a pure negligence theory<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it introduced concept of a mastermind\u201d \/ handler \/ geopolitical manipulation<\/p>\n\n\n\n

it opened space for later claims involving intelligence links<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This statement became the birth of the conspiracy thesis from the Church side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHURCH FORGIVES THE KILLERS<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another noteworthy statement was to claim to forgive the killers\u201d \u2013 this was a line directly coming out from truth commission logic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the direct perpetrators were publicly forgiven, the later singular focus on an undefined \u2018mastermind\u2019 requires closer examination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why is there an annual witch hunt over conspiracy and masterminds\u2019 sans evidence except conjecture even 7 years after the attacks. What is the purpose of forgiving the killers, ignoring those who knew & didn\u2019t take action but going behind a conspiracy theory\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even after 7 years all that has emerged is a political savvy asylum seeker creating stories to gain asylum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

REPEATED CRITICISM OF 2020-2022 GOVERNMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thereafter, every annual memorial, the Church repeatedly accused of<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • suppressing truth<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • failing to implement PCoI recommendations but rejecting its findings<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • protecting politically connected actors<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • sabotaging honest investigators\u201d \u2013 on what grounds was the Church making these claims & how have they measured their honesty.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    Their criticism was directed against<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    • Yahapalana leadership for prevention failure<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • later Rajapaksa governments for incomplete follow-up and delays in prosecutions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      SPECIFICALLY, NAMING INTELLIGENCE PERSONNEL \u2013 23 OCTOBER 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      This is the part that is somewhat confusing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      How did Suresh Sallay enter the radar of the Church from 2020 onwards for them to openly accuse him by name over a webinair?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      When fully aware that he was not in Sri Lanka, not holding a military post and not head of SIS during the attacks (though he was head of SIS when the webinar was held), why did the Church yet decide to name him in October 2021?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      This virtual webinair was hosted from Australia. The disclosure of names led to then SIS Chief filing defamation complaint against Father Cyril resulting in Father Cyril seeking court intervention via FR to prevent arrest or questioning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      This allegation came 2 years after the attacks, after official commission findings and testimonies and the May 2021 grand plot\u201d remarks by then Attorney General Dappula de Livera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Father Gamini claimed intelligence units had helped Zaharan, that financial & logistical assistance had been given, Brigadier Suresh Sallay had nurtured Zaharan\u2019s network.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      This became the basis for Suresh Sallay to file defamation against Father Gamini.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Father Gamini was speaking without judicially tested evidentiary documents which if available should have been handed to the Presidential Commission or a complaint filed with the police.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Serious allegations of this nature required evidentiary presentation before investigators or the Commission rather than first emerging in a public webinar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Also, special action was taken by the Presidential Commission Chairman Justice Janak de Silva to allow Cardinal to be present throughout all the proceedings and as such senior attorney Shamil Perera was nominated for this task. Therefore, the Church was privy to every word that went inside the Commission and if any grey areas prevailed they could have easily made their representation to clear doubts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      DIRECT SUPPORT FOR CHANNEL 4 ALLEGATIONS \u2013 6 SEPTEMBER 2023<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The Church rejected the Commission \/ Committee reports but issued a 4 page congratulatory message to Channel 4 following its documentary featuring Azad Maulana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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