{"id":87884,"date":"2019-04-28T17:00:09","date_gmt":"2019-04-29T00:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=87884"},"modified":"2019-04-28T17:21:40","modified_gmt":"2019-04-29T00:21:40","slug":"spur-gslf-media-release-on-the-easter-day-2019-terror-attacks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/04\/28\/spur-gslf-media-release-on-the-easter-day-2019-terror-attacks\/","title":{"rendered":"SPUR – GSLF Media Release on the Easter Day 2019 Terror Attacks"},"content":{"rendered":"

UNITED AUSTRALIANS OF SRI LANKAN ORGANISATIONS <\/strong>VICTORIA 3175, AUSTRALIA,<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The\nSociety for Peace Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (SPUR) organisations\nbased in Victoria, New South Wales Queensland and Western Australia (WASPUR) as\nwell as the Global Sri Lanka Forum (GSLF) Australia extend their profound\nsympathies to the families who lost their loved ones and those who sustained serious\ninjuries due to the barbaric terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka on the Easter Day of\n2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nparticular, we offer our heartfelt condolences to our Christian communities\nwhose lives have been cruelly destroyed on their most sacred day, as well as to\nthe overseas visitors who sustained irreparable damages to life and limb.  We also pay tribute to the members of the Sri\nLanka Police who paid the ultimate price in their attempt to safeguard the\nnation and its people.  Among those\nseriously impacted are members of the Australian-Sri Lankan community including\nmembers of our own organisations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nunreservedly condemning the acts of terror perpetrated on innocent civilians\nincluding a large number of children, we must also point out that this damage could\nhave been prevented had Sri Lanka not made itself a \u2018soft-target\u2019 due to a\nseries of commissions and omissions made by its dysfunctional rulers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These\nincluded the hounding of intelligence operatives and military officers due to\nthe co-sponsoring of UNHRC resolutions 30\/1 & 40\/1 to appease foreign\npowers, the relaxation of on-ground security measures, lax immigration controls\nand the appointment of incompetent officials to senior positions in the Police\nand Defence Ministry. The loss of focus on National Security was compounded by arms\nof the administration being used for a witch hunt against political opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nis apparent that there has been a total lack of preparedness for an attack by\nIslamic extremists despite warning from many quarters over several years right through\nto the last hours before the Easter Day bombings.  No action was taken after repeated exposures\nof extremist ideologies taking root in Sri Lanka that were issued by multiple\nsources including Muslim organisations.  Even\nthe recent discovery of arms and explosives at Wanathawilluwa and the vandalising\nof Buddha Statues were glossed over, the likely reasons being the patronage of a\nfew Muslim politicians and the desire to appease foreign powers and their NGO\ncronies in the name of reconciliation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\ncontrast, the Sri Lankan armed forces and police should be praised for acting\nprofessionally and decisively in countering the terrorist threat once the\nshackles placed on them by the political leadership were removed during the\npast few days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even\nat this late hour, our organisations urge the Government of Sri Lanka to act on\nthe following priorities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

  • Taking\nall legal steps to bring to justice those who planned, encouraged and executed\nthese attacks, as well as the officials and politicians whose criminal\nnegligence prevented them from being nipped in the bud.<\/li>
  • Appointing\npatriotic and competent officials to key positions in the armed services,\npolice and the defence ministry and rebuilding a strong and cohesive\nintelligence service.<\/li>
  • Reinstating\nall officers of the intelligence services who are remanded or on bail without\nbeing charged <\/li>
  • To\nprovide immediate assistance to rebuild the damaged property including the\nchurches and houses and to extend all assistance to the civilians affected.<\/li>
  • Tightening\nimmigration controls to prevent anti-national or radical elements entering the\ncountry and also deporting non-nationals who are illegally present.<\/li>
  • Banning\nforeign funded religious schools that preach a violent ideology.<\/li>
  • Implementing\na common policy on the teaching of Sri Lankan history and national languages at\nall schools in the country.<\/li>
  • Banning\ndresses with full-face covering.<\/li>
  • Preventing\nor removing illegal settlements on state land sponsored by politicians.<\/li>
  • Protecting\nhistorical sites particularly in the North and East of the country.<\/li>
  • To\nappoint a high powered commission to investigate the issue of radicalization of\nthe segments of the Muslim population and to take effective action within a\nshort period.<\/li>
  • Ensuring\nthat foreign powers do no use the current instability to infiltrate Sri Lanka\nfor their own geopolitical objectives. \nThis includes inter-country agreements that compromise the sovereignty\nand territorial integrity of Sri Lanka, thereby turning it into a violent\ninternational battleground.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    In\nconclusion we appeal to all Sri Lankans and their well-wishers to unite in the\nface of this latest adversity and support those who are in need.  The terror unleashed on Easter Day is not\nmerely an attack by one community or religion on another but a coordinated\neffort to socially and economically cripple the entire nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sri\nLanka was able to overcome a three-decade long campaign of terror and enjoy 10\nyears of peace and stability due to the vigilance and heroism of its security\nforces, determined political leadership and the resilience of her people.  Let us all stand strong and united on behalf\nof mother Lanka and her people once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Signed :<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Dasarath\nJayasuriya   (President \u2013 SPUR Victoria)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Nimal Liyanage           (President \u2013 SPUR New South Wales)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Priya Barnes               (President \u2013 Western Australian SPUR)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Anil Perera                  (President \u2013 SPUR Queensland)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Harsha Perera            (President \u2013 GSLF Australia)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    UNITED AUSTRALIANS OF SRI LANKAN ORGANISATIONS VICTORIA 3175, AUSTRALIA, The Society for Peace Unity and Human Rights for Sri Lanka (SPUR) organisations based in Victoria, New South Wales Queensland and Western Australia (WASPUR) as well as the Global Sri Lanka Forum (GSLF) Australia extend their profound sympathies to the families who lost their loved ones […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-forum"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87884\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}