{"id":88612,"date":"2019-05-11T16:01:08","date_gmt":"2019-05-11T23:01:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=88612"},"modified":"2019-05-11T16:01:08","modified_gmt":"2019-05-11T23:01:08","slug":"easter-sunday-bomb-blast-in-sri-lanka-part-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/11\/easter-sunday-bomb-blast-in-sri-lanka-part-5\/","title":{"rendered":"EASTER SUNDAY BOMB BLAST IN SRI LANKA Part 5"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The attitude\nof Yahapalana government to the bomb blast threat raises many questions. Yahapalana\nhad known that something was going on, but had not taken action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Sirisena\nwas asked whether the Government was aware that there were local Muslims with\nISIS links, prior to the attacks. The President said that there was information\nabout several individuals, but not enough evidence to apprehend them or to\nconfirm that they were attached to the ISIS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 For the last four years, these names came up\nat the National Security Council meetings. However, there were no revelations\nthat they possessed weapons or bombs or planned attacks. They had been going\nout of the country frequently. We cannot remand anybody without proper\nevidence,\u201d he added. Another excuse\noffered was that the Emergency Laws were not in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ngovernment had known that Sri Lankan nationals who had joined the Islamic State\nhad returned to the country, but they could not be arrested, because   joining a foreign terrorist organization is\nnot against the law,   said Prime\nMinister Ranil Wickremasinghe, blandly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have\nno laws which enable us take into custody people who join foreign terrorist\ngroup,” he told Sky News UK.”Sri Lanka has a very narrow definition\nof aiding terrorism. Therefore, we find that our existing laws are insufficient\nto deal with the extraordinary situation we are faced with. In our country to\ngo abroad and return or to take part in a foreign armed uprising is not an\noffence .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This\nexplanation is both false and silly, said Kishali Pinto Jayawardene, who is\nherself a lawyer.\u2019  I do not propose to\nenumerate the laws that could be used for this purpose , but amendments to\nexisting laws could have been brought in, if the Government wanted to, she\nsaid.\u2019 “The existing laws are good enough to act against those with terror\nlinks,\u201d said Mahinda Rajapaksa. The laws that cover involvement with foreign\nterrorists: are the Penal Code (Section 2), the Prevention of Terrorism Act\n(Section 11) and the April 2019 Emergency regulations 2120\/5 (Sections 26 and\n27) said Lasanda Kurukulasuriya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalana also\n   turned a blind eye to the   insurgent activity that was taking place\nunder their noses. There was evidence that Zahran was an ISIS sympathizer and\nhad given sermons against the government and non-Muslims. This information was\nreadily available on social platforms. The Intelligence branch should have\nimmediately infiltrated the organization, also tapped the phones of the leaders\nof NTJ, said an analyst. Yahapalana did nothing of the sort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead, Yahapalana\nblocked the intelligence and military from taking action, though these agencies\nhad all the information needed.   Intelligence\nsaid, when questioned after the bomb blast, that they had gathered information\non 160 National Thowheed Jamath members who had been trained by terrorists. But\nit had not been possible to arrest them as the higher authorities would not\ngive them the necessary permission.  Army\nCommander Senanayake also said that the military had very good intelligence but\ncould not act as it lacked the authority to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalana\ndid nothing to stop the Easter Sunday bomb blasts from taking place, though the\nopportunity to do so presented itself on a plate. Several Buddha statues in\nMawanella were defaced in December 2018. Investigations   led to a raid on a 75-acre coconut\nplantation in Wanatavilluwa, Puttalam in January. Explosives and detonators\nwere found there. Valuable information on NTJ was obtained from those arrested.\nIf this had been followed up, the Easter Sunday carnage could have been avoided,\nsaid DEW Gunasekera. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead  the investigators were not allowed by higher\nauthorities to make arrests  during  the Wanathavilluwa  investigation, though the Defence Ministry and\nthe police had been informed that these were terrorists reported the media. Law\nenforcement authorities did\nnot pursue the matter even after the detection of a safe\nhouse at Wanathavilluwa operated by the NTJ in January this year, critics\ncomplained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two key suspects were captured in the raid at\nLacktowatta in Wanathawilluwa.\nBut due to the intervention of a powerful\npolitician, they had been released and one of them had been involved in\nSunday\u2019s attacks, the media\nreported. The Vanathavillu raid pointed directly at spice trader Mohammad Yusuf\nIbrahim, and his three sons. But the family escaped scrutiny and succeeded in\ncarrying out the bomb plot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Security was\nreduced to nothing, by Yahapalana. Security Council had not met for 6 months\nprior to the bomb blast. During the past four years there was a significant\nrelaxation in overall security measures to the point that they did not seem to\nexist at all, said Malinda Seneviratne. \nAccess to government ministries and to hotels was possible without\nsecurity checks. Road blocks by the security forces became a thing of the past.\nThe freedom of movement and access to buildings became taken for granted. Yahapalana turned Sri Lanka into the softest\nof targets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalana\nhad appointed persons who did not know the subject of defense to key positions\nin the defense sector, including the two posts of Secretary, Defence and Chief\nof Intelligence. Under President Sirisena, there have been four Secretaries of\nDefence, B.M.U.D. Basnayake, Karunasena Hettiarachchi, Kapila Waidyaratne and\nHemasiri Fernando. None of them had any experience in defense and security. Basnayake was a SLAS officer, Hettiarachchi\nwas an engineer, Waidyaratne was formerly senior Additional Solicitor General and\nFernando has been the Chairman of various institutions such as Telecom, ITN and\n   Peoples Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fernando was\nnot the only Secretary who bungled the insurgency issue. Defense Secretary\nKarunasena Hettiarachchi had also been evasive on the question of Muslim\ninsurgency. When asked whether Sri Lankan Muslims had gone to Syria to join the\nISIS.  He said \u2018we    shouldn\u2019t to discuss the matter\u2019. Asked\nabout a threat from Islamic radicals, he said, Let the government and the\nSecurity look after the matter. I think the media should keep away from these\nthings.\u201d (News in Asia 31.7.16)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Persons without any experience of intelligence\nwork were appointed to the post of Chief\nof National Intelligence. The present Chief,\nSisira Mendis has little or no knowledge in intelligence gathering, said\nMerril Guneratne, former senior DIG. Mendis was a former Deputy\ninspector General of Police<\/a>\n. His term was extended annually. The State Intelligence Agency is the\nmain intelligence agency of the country and should be headed by a\nprofessional.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sri Lanka\nPodujana Peramuna said that the Inspector General of Police, Pujitha\nJayasundara, had on 18 April, authorized the transfer of 12 officials attached\nto the State Intelligence Service, just days prior to the Easter Sunday\nattacks. These 12 Intelligence officers\nwere those who tipped off the authorities regarding the Easter Sunday attacks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nDirectorate of Military Intelligence was a highly professional entity. It had\nsystematically built a treasure trove\u201d of intelligence information. The DMI was a major contributor to the\nmilitary defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in May 2009. Yahapalana reduced its position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said the bomb attacks\ncould have been prevented if Yahapalana had not dismantled the intelligence network\nand extensive surveillance capabilities that he built up during the war and\nlater on. Gotabhaya said that he had\nset up a military intelligence cell in 2011 of 5,000 people, some of them with\nArabic language skills and that was tracking the extremist ideology in eastern\nSri Lanka. This cell was disbanded by Yahapalana government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gotabhaya has set\nup two intelligence units to monitor security, at Giritale and Kurunegala army camps. “The 7th military intelligence\nunit, set up in Giritale army camp did a lot to destroy terrorism in the east. The\nunit was   sealed by the CID, in 2016,\ndespite resistance from the army. Extremist groups benefited by the dismantling of\nthis unit, said National Freedom Front .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Col. Shammi Kumararatna, head of that Giritale\nunit and Col.Prabodha Siriwardana, two of the best intelligence officers in the\narmy, were arrested in August 2015. They were then sent to secondary level\njobs. Kumararatna is at the Ranawiru Sewa Authority, while Siriwardana works at\na welfare shop. .  Intelligence\nofficer Erantha Pieris was also in a welfare unit. Officer Rajapaksa was in the\nWomen\u2019s unit. This is the fate\nof a number of others as well, said analysts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalana\ntried to strangle the Intelligence service. 244 intelligence officers were\nfinger printed by the CID.  124\nintelligence officers were arrested.<\/em>  These arrests were made on flimsy evidence. 44 of them are still in prison said Wijedasa\nRajapaksa. (Derana 6.55 news 23.4.2019.) Some intelligence officers left the\ncountry and some, such as Suresh Sallay, got appointments overseas. No other\ncountry in the world has persecuted and weakened their own armed forces and\nintelligence services in this manner said Mahinda Rajapaksa.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalana\nwas slow to act after the event. MP Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka said it took\nhim 48 hours to get an appointment to meet the Prime Minister after the bomb\nblasts. I am the most senior military official in the country and the most\nexperienced in defense matters, but no one sought my advice in this situation.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time\nof writing Yahapalana was still holding back on investigations. The military\nwas awaiting permission from the government to question suspects. At the moment\nthe army hands over suspects it takes into custody to the police. “We have\nsought powers to question the suspect because we think it\u2019s better to record\nstatements immediately after arrests. We hope the government will grant us\npermission, Army Commander said on 6.5.19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yahapalana\ngovernment had offered Cardinal Malcolm Joseph a bullet proof vehicle. The Cardinal had\nfirmly rejected the offer. He was displeased with Yahapalana.  Instead he strongly criticized Yahapalana for\ninaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A joint media briefing\nof Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith and Dr. Ittapana Dhammalankara Maha Nayake,\nChancellor of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura was held at Bishop\u2019s House\nin Colombo on 29.4.19. The Cardinal said the clergy and the people are not\nhappy about the manner in which the government is conducting investigations\ninto the Easter Sunday bombings. I see neither direction nor\ncoordination in the efforts that have been taken. Security forces tend to go to\nplaces on tip-offs but much more needs to be done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The entire Negombo area needs to be\nsearched to prevent further disasters. When the authorities question some\npeople and release them, they can flee the country. At least, their passports\nshould be impounded. We will take to streets if these issues are not addressed,\nhe concluded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Ittapana\nDhammalankara said the people had so far not taken the law into their own\nhands, but warned the government not to test the patience of the people.If\nanother incident occurs, then the country will be plunged into chaos. Therefore,\nI urge the government to not allow the situation to get out of hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 1st<\/sup> of May, 2019, at another\nmedia conference, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith again expressed dissatisfaction at\nthe rate the investigations and search operations are proceeding, reported the\nmedia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said the Army has still not been given the\nrequired powers to search arrest and interrogate the suspects. Although the\ngovernment claims that the military has been given the power to act, they have\nonly been given the authority to carry out search operations but they don\u2019t\nhave the authority to interrogate the suspects. Then what\u2019s the point in\nengaging the army? They must be given the power to search arrest and\ninterrogate and extract information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 He wanted the army to carry out an extensive\nsearch operation in Negombo, especially the Periyamulla area. However, during\nthe search operations in the Periyamulla area, the houses that had been closed\nhad not been inspected. They have just gone to selected areas only. That won\u2019t do.\nThey must search every house, especially the ones that are closed up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shamindra\nFerdinando thought security measures when he attended President Sirisena\u2019s\nmeeting with the journalists were insufficient. The security measures were\nwholly inadequate, he said.  (Continued) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS The attitude of Yahapalana government to the bomb blast threat raises many questions. Yahapalana had known that something was going on, but had not taken action. President Sirisena was asked whether the Government was aware that there were local Muslims with ISIS links, prior to the attacks. The President said that there was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88612","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=88612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88612\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}