{"id":88876,"date":"2019-05-15T22:12:40","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T05:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=88876"},"modified":"2019-05-15T22:12:40","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T05:12:40","slug":"under-whose-orders-did-attackers-come-in-bikes-buses-to-attack-muslim-shops-3-weeks-after-eastersunday-bombings-in-sri-lanka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/05\/15\/under-whose-orders-did-attackers-come-in-bikes-buses-to-attack-muslim-shops-3-weeks-after-eastersunday-bombings-in-sri-lanka\/","title":{"rendered":"Under whose orders did attackers come in bikes & buses to attack Muslim shops 3 weeks after EasterSunday bombings in Sri Lanka?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Is\nthere proof beyond reasonable doubt that the attacks on 13\/14 May 2019 in\nvarious parts of North Central\/Western province was by Sinhalese? Were the\nattacks a form of collective guilt that Germans suffered after end of World War\n2 when Allies treated all Germans as guilty as Hitler? But then why did \u2018attackers\u2019\ncome in bikes & busloads with SWORDS if they are supposed to be from the\narea? Who sent these bikes & buses of attackers? The narrative is usually written\nby the usual culprits whose paymasters expect them to tow the usual\nmajority-minority slogan and occasions like this are super chances for them to\nbeat the drums. However, if no revenge\nattack took place immediately after Easter Sunday, if no revenge attacks took\nplace even after hundreds of swords, arms & ammunition began surfacing, how\ndid an attack take place 3 weeks after Easter Sunday and after the Government\nstopped media showing what the police & armed forces were apprehending from\nhomes & mosques?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

21\nApril 2019 was Easter Sunday and Catholics prepared to go to church and hotels\nhad arranged special meals for the occasion. 6 successive bombs exploded in 3\nchurches and 3 hotels killing over 250 worshippers and guests at the hotels\nalong with hotel staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nwas no bigger shock than this to a nation that bid goodbye to LTTE suicide\nbombings, assassinations in May 2009. The nation had just 10 years of peace and\non 21 April 2019 what LTTE could never do in 30 years 9 rich educated Muslims\nindoctrinated by militant Islam did to end the lives of innocent people. As the\nnumber of dead got counted and shock turned to anger this would have been the\nbest occasion for a revenge attack. But it did not happen not only because the\narmy & police were on guard or because curfew was placed but because the\npeople knew the culprits were not ordinary Muslims but militant Islam adhering\nMuslims. It was to everyone\u2019s credit that people were quick to identify the\nroot causes of this radicalization and the call to ban burka\/nikab was even\nwelcomed by the Muslim Council. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n2nd<\/sup> shock came when the people came to know that not only did the\nGovernment receive specific intel information from overseas since April 4th<\/sup>\nApril (4th<\/sup>, 11th<\/sup>, 16th<\/sup> & 2hours before\nEaster Attacks) no one in the government had taken action except not to attend\nchurch themselves. The intel information not only had the venues of the suicide\nmissions but even the names of the suicide bombers and specifically mentioned\nEaster Sunday as the chosen date of attack. The PM jumped to say he did not\nknow but had to reverse that statement soon afterwards. A Minister unashamedly\nclaimed his father told him not to go to church specifically mentioning St.\nAnthony\u2019s Church would be attacked. This digital minister never informed the\nCardinal or even thought of sending a twitter note to general public either.\nThis was nothing but criminal negligence on the part of the government to which\nthe President & Prime Minister must be held accountable. No country would\nhave allowed deaths to happen after such precise intel information sent 17 days\nbefore an attack. The people were angry & the government needed to devise a\nplan to divert people\u2019s anger away from them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the options for a Government\nwho was at the receiving end of wrath by all the communities in Sri Lanka\nincluding its own party supporters?<\/strong>\nThis is a thought, readers must continuously keep in mind throughout this\ndiscussion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nnext shock came when police and army began rounding up suspects within 24hours\nof the attack. How could authorities round up suspects connected to the attacks\nso quickly? It later came to be known that the authorities had intel\ninformation since 2011. So we return to why the Government did not use the\nintel agencies to round up the suspects before Easter Sunday after the foreign intel\nwas clear that a radical Islamic group was going to carry out the attack? Government was guilty by inaction for 2nd<\/sup>\ntime.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nbecame known later that there are 6 Thawheed groups operating in Sri Lanka with\nthe National Thawheed Jamaat set up in 2011 aggressively promoting Shariah law.\nThe then government had set up 2 intel units in Giritale & Kurunegala camps\nwith 5000 intel officers proficient even in Arabic language to keep track of\nthese extremist Muslims. In 2012, some 161 foreign Islamic missionaries were\ndeported. The Directorate of Military Intelligence knew that locals were\nfighting in Syria in 2013. One Mohamed Muhsin Nilam left for Mecca in 2013 and\ndied in 2015. Never have we seen entire families taking part in radical militant\nIslam. Nilam\u2019s brother, Nilam\u2019s wife, 6 children, wife\u2019s parents, two of wife\u2019s\nbrothers including 36 from 3 families went to Syria and this was the 3 families\nthat Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakse referred to in 2016 while adding that\nforeign extremist teachers were teaching at Muslim International schools in\nBeruwela, Kalmunai, Kala Eliya, Kurunegala. A H M Azeer denied this as did\nRauff Hakeem. It was the refusal to accept radical Islam spreading or being\nindirect beneficiaries of the handouts given by these well-monied groups that\nresulted in not only NTJ but the setting up of Jamiyathul Millana Ibrahim Fi\nSellani (JMI) in 2015 by one Umair from Colombo 10 \u2013 the DMI was aware of this\ntoo. The state intelligence even in 2015 knew of Aadhil Ameez from Aluthgama, a\ncomputer wizard who used various alias on social media to draw people to\nsupport ISIS. Aadhil was recently arrested in India. When we know ISIS is a \u2018made\nin USA\u2019 just as Al Qaeda we seriously have to wonder if radical Islam was\nplanned to facilitate the pivot to Sri Lanka by West?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we return to ask, was the Government\ncomplicit in allowing radical Islam to evolve to facilitate the pivot to Sri\nLanka plan?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even\nMuslims opposed the radicalism being nurtured among the Muslim community. They\ncalled for action by the government we\nfear that these activities if left unchecked by the authorities would create a\nsituation in which the majority of Muslims in Sri Lanka may have to face the\nwrath of other religions\u201d.<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nwas aspects of this extremism that was left undealt with that resulted in what\ntook place in Aluthgama given a political twist, months before a crucial regime\nchange election. People have to be wiser to realize that the radicalism was a\nfactor that was a grievance to non-Muslims of the area coupled with the manner\nauthorities were getting influenced to do nothing and this was a super time to\nplan a riot that would result in denying a bloc vote to the then government. It\nworked superbly because during that period the narrative was written in such\naway that there was no radical Islam in Sri Lanka and everyone speaking against\nburka, halal, proliferation of mosques etc were simply Buddhist extremists and\nthe media went to town tagging them all sorts of names while nicely camouflaged\nthe festering extremism taking place. Media\nhas much to answer in equal measure as the Government for giving space\/columns\nto only one side to always vilifying the majority of Sri Lanka. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nnext shock to the people came when police & army began search operations\nacross the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did they find & where? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n