{"id":94180,"date":"2019-10-21T14:59:52","date_gmt":"2019-10-21T21:59:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=94180"},"modified":"2019-10-21T14:59:52","modified_gmt":"2019-10-21T21:59:52","slug":"gota-phobia-part-v-d-a-presidential-commission-to-probe-easter-sunder-carnage-promised","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/10\/21\/gota-phobia-part-v-d-a-presidential-commission-to-probe-easter-sunder-carnage-promised\/","title":{"rendered":"GOTA PHOBIA \u2013 Part V D (A Presidential Commission to probe Easter Sunder Carnage promised)"},"content":{"rendered":"

By : A.A.M.NIZAM – MATARA<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The\nNational and common presidential candidate had a series of successful and\nhighly attended meetings in the areas coming under the landscape popularly\nreferred to as \u2018the Catholic Belt\u2019 \u2013 kiribathgoda, Katana, Ragama, Negombo\netc., – in which Catholic MPs Nimal Lansa, Arundika Fernando and several others\nmade emotional speeches about the Easter Sundage carnage and the government\u2019s\ndeliberate negligence to prevent the bomb blasts even at the last moment and\npointed out that government Ministers and MPs did not attend Easter Sunday\nservices in their neighbourhood churches on that day because they were well\naware what was going to happen on that melancholic day.  It was also pointed out that Minister Harin\nFernando had told the media that he did not attend church on that day because\nhis father told him that there will be bomb blasts in churches on that day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 They said not a single government Minister or\nMP despite their awareness of the looming carnage did not take any action at\nleast to keep the priests of the churches informed.  All the MPs emphasized that all Ministers and\nMPs in the government should be held responsible for the unfortunate deaths of\nover 250 people and nearly 500 people injured and colossal damages done to the\nchurches. They also stated that some of the injured people are still\nhospitalised and some have become disabled. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing\nthe meeting held in Negombo, which is considered as Sri Lanka\u2019s Vatican, on\nOctober 19th<\/sup> Saturdat, Mr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa promised to fulfil\nHis Eminence Cardinal\u2019s request.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He asserted that under his administration, he would appoint the\npresidential commission that His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith had been\nrequesting for, to uncover the persons responsible for the Easter Sunday terror\nattacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Rajapaksa also vowed to restore the disrupted security\nmeasures and to make the country a safe haven again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attending a public meeting held in Ragama, Mr. Rajapaksa claimed\nthat the incumbent government failed to prevent the Easter Sunday attacks\ndespite receiving all the necessary information on the date and the venues\nwhere the attacks would take place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toda,\nOctober 21st<\/sup> in the date this article was written it is exactly 6\nmonths from the Easter Sunday carnage. \nUp to now the government has not apologized for the havoc.  The ignoramus UNP candidate Sajith Premadasa\nkeeps on shrieking and thumping on the chest at his meetings uttering nonsense\nbut so far bot a single word of apology has been made on behalf of the\nunfortunate victims of this butchery. \nKilling people is not a matter to be regretted for this man who proudly\ncalls himself as the son of his father Ranasinghe Premadasa and the one who is\npossessing the genes of Premadasa who was responsible for the death of over\n60,000 southern youth.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\nEminence Cardinal Dr. Malcolm Ranjith who became very annoyed and saddened over\nthis carnage urged that all officials who received prior information about the\nbombings but did not take any action to prevent them should be removed along\nwith the country\u2019s leadership, The \nArchbishop made these commands at a \nSunday mass held at St. Lucia\u2019s Cathedral in Kotahena to commemorate\nthose killed in the Easter Sunday attacks and invoke blessings on the injured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nprelate said that the Easter Sunday bombings had come as a shock to him and he\nwas still grief-stricken like millions of others. He emphasized that not only\nthe officials who had not acted on an intelligence warning of terror attacks\nbut also the rulers were responsible for the tragic incidents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ncardinal added that a large number of people had been killed and injured in the\nattack not because of God\u2019s will but because of the evil of men and those who\nwere incapable of taking responsibility must be removed from their positions\nand from the leadership of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\nsaid some terrorists were still at large and they thought they could escape\npunishment and if they were not punished by courts, there would be divine\njustice. Those who failed to punish those involved in acts of terror would be\npunished by God .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ncardinal added that those who were trying to use the tragedy to get their\npersonal gains and political agendas fulfilled would also be punished by God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\nlarge number of relatives of the victims of the bombings attended the mass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Addressing\na seminar held at Bolawalana, the Archbishop while blaming the government  for its deliberate negligence to prevent the\nsuicide bombings, said that  they are not\nbothered about whether an election is held or not but what they want is to know\nthe truth about the background to this carnage and the innocent people, men,\nwomen and children were massacred in this manner?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many\nreligious, social and political analysts have pointed out that Sri Lanka is\nfortunate to have a person in the stature of His Eminence Cardinal Dr. Malcolm\nRanjith as the Archbishop of the country at the time of the Easter Sunday\ncarnage and if there was a myopic person in his place there could  have been a horrendous bloodbath in the\ncountry and religious riots.  They said\nthat all Sri Lankans should be immensely thankful for Cardinal Dr. Malcolm\nRanjith for preventing such a calamity and ensuring peace and harmony in the\ncountry.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\na special appeal to the Muslims in Sri Lanka the Archbishop called on all Muslims in the country to personally\nminimise and shed their cultural differences and integrate with the rest of\nsociety and the common culture, as one people and citizens of the country. He\nsaid that Muslim politicians, should be authentic in their faith and the core\nvalues of Islam instead of using religion as a label or for selfish purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Cardinal along with several Buddhist religious leaders, also\nclaimed that regional level leadership of various political parties and\npolitically aligned groups and agents at the base and grassroots level were the\nlynch mobs who fuelled and motivated by the provision and consumption of\nalcohol behind the spate of tense and riotous situations and violent attacks,\nin the past couple of days, targeting Muslim properties, including shops and\nmosques, in certain areas which led to the imposition of curfew and arrests.\nThey thus called on all leaders of political parties to rein in and control\ntheir Party members and henchmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advocating on behalf of the private nature of religion and\nworship, and the separation of religion from politics and vice versa, the\nreligious leaders also reiterated their call to ban all national level\npolitical parties which contained references to race, ethnicity or religion in\nthe names of their Parties as it only served to cause further divisions. They\nemphasised that, political candidates representing minorities should be able to\ncontest from national level Parties for even the Presidency and Premiership,\nand should respect diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was also the view of the Cardinal and other religious leaders\nthat all affairs pertaining to religion should be brought under the purview of\none Government Ministry as was previously the case as opposed to having\nseparate Ministries per religion.        <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These views were expressed by Archbishop Ranjith and Chief\nPrelate of the Kotte Chapter of the Siam Sect, Ven. Ittepane Dhammalankara\nThera at a Media conference convened at the Archbishop\u2019s house in Colombo to\nmake a special appeal for the public to refrain from giving vent to their\nemotions and causing chaos, taking the law into their own hands owing to a\nmisguided sense of faux heroism and thereby disturbing the peace and unity, and\ninstead act intelligently and patriotically, keeping emotions in check,\nmaintaining calm, exercising compassion, love and patience, respecting dignity\nand individual liberty and freedom, and allow and assist the law enforcement\nauthorities to carry out their duties, including search operations and obey\ntheir orders as that would constitute the highest tribute to be paid to those\nwhose lives were sacrificed in the 21 April Easter Sunday suicide bomb attacks\non churches, hotels and elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Archbishop Ranjith urged all to allow for Buddhists and Muslims\nto celebrate their forthcoming festivals, Vesak and Ramadan,\nrespectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When questioned as to Tamil National Alliance MP, President\u2019s\nCounsel M.A. Sumanthiran\u2019s recent statement that the Easter Sunday carnage was\npartially the result of the grievances of the minorities not being addressed by\nthe Government, Archbishop Ranjith whilst acknowledging that minorities had\nlegitimate problems which should be separately discussed and resolved. He\npointed out that there was no evidence to indicate a direct link between the\nEaster Sunday attacks and unaddressed issues facing the minorities, and that\ntherefore Sumanthiran\u2019s claim was a case of overreach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Archbishop also took the security forces personnel to task\nover the recent incidents which revealed that areas and places previously\nsearched and swept by law enforcement during search ops had revealed more\nweapons. We told them to do a thorough search area by area, house by house,\nirrespective of religion, yet this went unheeded, he noted. The searches have\nnot been done properly, he further added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also bemoaned that their call to appoint a commission to\nprobe the assets of politicians had fallen on deaf ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Minister Mangala Samaraweera\u2019s recent claim that Sri Lanka is\nnot a Buddhist country, and not a Sinhalese country the two religious leaders\nsaid that such a view was one bereft of even the most rudimentary understanding\nof the country, its history and culture. The Archbishop also cited examples of\nhow well Christians and Catholics were treated in Sri Lanka when compared to\nthe treatment afforded them in other Christian and Catholic countries (example\n\u2013 separate seats for clergy in public transportation).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D6espite these conciliatory and pacifying moves by these two\nreligious leaders and many other religious leaders and erudite scholars the\nvicious elements similar to Sumanthiran, some Sumanthirams in the Sinhala\ncommunity also attempted to espouse hatred and communalism among the Sinhalese\nas well.  They were only blood thirsty\nand were not concerned at all about that could cause to this country.  A person calling himself as Ratanapala\u201d\nwithout giving his full name or proper identification writing an article to\nLankaweb news-site under the title Easter Sunday bombings \u2013 Islamic terror and\nR2P \u2013 clash of the Barbarians\u201d.  Exract\nfrom the opening paragraph of his article and writer\u2019s comments are given\nbelow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 21 April 2019 Easter Sunday \u2013 on the\nholiest day in the Christian Calendar, suicide bombers simultaneously attacked\nthree Catholic Churches and three 5 \u2013 Star Hotels in Sri Lanka killing over 250\nincluding nearly 40 foreigners visiting the island. The reason for attacking\nthe Catholics and White Foreigners can be adduced to ISIS losing territory in\nthe Middle-east to Christchurch massacre of Muslims by a white nationalist in\nNew Zealand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems that the so-called Ratanapala\nunfortunately does not know who the ISIS are, who invented this terror group\nand for what purpose it was invented? \nISIS was a strategic terrorist group invented by the United States when\nthey found Russian influence is increasing in Iraq and Syria extensive and\nthese two countries would become appendages of Russia and it is necessary to\ninstall American puppet regimes in these two countries.  American aspirations have not succeeded and\nthe ISIS has suffered heavy casualties recently.  At the same time, America is also very much\nworried about increasing Chinese influence in South Asia and was looking\nforward to destabilise these countries and establish a base in lieu of the\nDiego Garcia island in order to arrest and contain the Chinese influence..  Accordingly they have chosen Sri Lanka as the\nideal location and the Easter Sunday carnage was a part of their plan to foment\nMuslim-Catholic clashes in the country thus paving the way for them to assume\nthe role of peace keepers and establish a command base and maintain a puppet\ngovernment in the country.  Do you think\nthat it was because they like you and me and other Sri6 Lankans they proposed\nt0 grant U.S.$ 480 Million grant under a project named MCC.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe was to\nsign the SOFA agreement even without cabinet approval under which comes the MCC\nproject on 27th<\/sup> October, 2019 and President Maithreepala Sirisena\nforced to dodge it by appointing Mr. Mahinda Rajapaksa on the previous day of\nthe Ranil-American D-Day and launching Sri Lanka\u2019s October Revolution. After\ngetting re-instated with the help of the TNA Ranil attempted to get cabinet\napproval twice for the SOFA agreement but it was stalled by the President.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

President\u2019s Counsel Ali Sabry commenting on the Easter Sunday\ncarnage said that the number of members in terrorist leader Zahran Hashim\u2019s\ngroup grew significantly following the ethnic clashes in March last year and\nthat this goes to show extremism feeds extremism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said Zahran\u2019s terrorist group had only 20-25 members in the\npast, but after last year\u2019s unfo6rtunate clashes in Digana a large number of\nyouths had joined them and this has been confirmed through intelligence\nreports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also pertinent to present here a comprehensive investigative\nreport on the Easter Sunday carnage posted by the Colombo correspondent of the\nIndian daily The Hindu\u201d Meena Srinivasan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meera says that at first, they were nameless. Nine suicide bombers,\u201d is all authorities would\nreveal<\/a>. In\na little over a week, the police identified each of them and their stories\nbegan coming out. A month after a messy web of disgruntled radicals\nemerged, throwing up troubling hints of how readily rage can court terror.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She\nsays that Zahran Hashim, 33, was a radical preacher and was the\nalleged ringleader,<\/a> who f6ound\nlittle acceptance in his hometown Kattankudy, in eastern Batticaloa. Mosques in\nthe predom6inantly Muslim town rejected him outright and their members even\ncomplained to authorities, before he went absconding in 2017 after a clash with\na fellow priest who challenged his interpretation of Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But soon, a team of young Muslim men \u2014 and one woman \u2014 from\nother, mostly Sinhala-majority, areas eagerly joined him on his Easter mission\nto carry out a suicide attack on churches and high-end hotels in and around\nColombo and Batticaloa. All nine bombers were in their 20s and 30s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms. Srinicasan states that they were radicalised at different\ntimes, for different reasons, and in varying measures and they encountered\nHashim on social media or in person. She adds that in him they saw a mentor who\ncould give their lives purpose and direction. With time and interaction, their\nshared cause acquired considerable weight \u2014 enough for them to pledge their\nlives for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She states that the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and\nTerrorist Investigation Division (TID), w6ho conducted the probe, have traced all nine to two jihadist organisations <\/a>\u2014 National Tawheed Jamaath (NTJ), led by\nHashim, and Jamathei Millathu Ibrahim (JMI), a less formal group of youth who\nhad met on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marred by internal power struggles,Meera says that the two\norganisations gradually became less relevant for Hashim\u2019s team as its focus\nshifted to a new mission in the last six months. They were bound by ideology\nand connected by technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And on April 21, the nine bombers killed over 250 people<\/a>, including 45 children,\ndrawing attention to the underground terror network they had built quietly and\nefficiently, even as the rest of Sri Lanka was enjoying a relative post-civil\nwar calm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ishana Exports is a nearly three decade-old spice export\ncompany. Its founder Y.M. Ibrahim is widely known as 6a millionaire with modest\nbeginnings, and an ever-ready philanthropist. He has friends of all political\nhues, and they all respect him. In natural course, his sons would have\ninherited his business, fortune, and possibly all that goodwill. Instead, they\nchose to become suicide bombers. The CID has detained their father for questioning.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

An extremely mild-mannered and polite young man.\u201d That is how a\nsenior staff member at Ishana Exports remembers his boss\u2019s son Inshaf Ahmed\nMohamed Ibrahim. Even as a child he was not mischievous. He was a lovely child,\u201d\nsaid a family member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inshaf, 33, went to D.S. Senanayake College, he didn\u2019t go to\nuniversity but learned the tricks of the spice trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of nine siblings, only Inshaf and Ilham \u2014 the second and third\nsons \u2014 were directly involved in the business. Both were on the board of\ndirectors. Inshaf was more actively engaged, said company sources. Th6e two\noften travelled on work, including to India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though he [Inshaf] was technically our boss, he never gave\norders. He would say \u2018can you please do this\u2019, as if he were asking a favour,\u201d\nsaid an employee, who asked not to be named. Ilham, 31, on the other hand,\ndoesn\u2019t seem to have evoked a similar warmth. Ilham was a loner, he rarely\nshowed up at family events or spoke to people. He was very introverted. We\nhardly even know him,\u201d said a family member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not until a year ago that employees and family noticed a\nchange in the two brothers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inshaf often objected to his father\u2019s practice of taking\nshort-term loans on interest for rotating cash. He said our 6religion does not\npermit borrowing money on interest and we must stop it,\u201d a senior employee\nrec6alled. It\u2019s something Muslims often hear their preachers say, but their\nfather \u2014 with a practical business sense \u2014 did not consider it an offence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n