Colombo Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith on Tuesday slammed the Sri Lanka government, claiming that it is trying to sweep the truth relating to those responsible for the Easter Sunday attack under the carpet, and demanded the President to reveal the ‘grand conspiracy theory behind the terror attack that had killed 269 people and injured over 500 on April 21, 2019.
The 20-page letter to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa signed by eight bishops, including Cardinal Ranjith, and 28 priests, citing the findings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate the Easter Sunday attack, demanded that legal action be taken against former President Maithripala Sirisena and action be taken against ex-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe for his soft approach towards Islamic terrorism.
Additionally, the Cardinal also demanded that action be taken against a number of Muslim politicians and a large number of senior police officers who had failed to prevent the attack.
Cardinal Ranjith told the media that Indian intelligence gave prior notice and comprehensive information about the series of attacks, but its local counterparts did not act on it, nor did it do anything to prevent the tragedy.
“They hid all that information. By doing that, they took part in the conspiracy. They took part in this mass murder and they were part of it,” the Cardinal stated.
Cardinal Ranjith, the head of the Colombo Diocese of Catholic church in Sri Lanka, quoting the Presidential Commission of Inquiry report and some of the revelations made by the MPs in the Parliament, stated that there are many unresolved mysteries relating to the attack.
The letter to the President stated that the suicide bomber, Jameel, who tried to blast himself at the Taj Samudra hotel in Colombo, was met by an intelligence officer of the Security Services and later the suicide bomber was alleged to have blasted himself at a guesthouse in the suburbs of Colombo.
The Cardinal also questioned the President as to what happened to Pulasthini Rajendran alias Sarah, the wife of Hasthun, the suicide bomber who blasted himself at a church in Negombo, killing the highest number of church attendees, as there are evidence to say that she, escorted by a police officer, was sent from Batticalo in the Eastern province to Mannar and from there she had travelled to India.
He also demanded that instead of part of the report of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry appointed to investigate the attack, the full report be made available to the public.
“The report was handed over five months ago but we are truly saddened by the lethargic pace at which the state machinery is moving in order to fine those who are responsible for the attack. Even though they had forewarning about it (the attack) and could have easily prevented it, they did not fulfil their responsibility and willfully neglected it,” the Cardinal wrote to President Rajapaksa.
The Cardinal further stated that the former Attorney General himself had specifically stated that it was a “grand conspiracy”.
“We have the right to know what was this conspiracy,” the Cardinal demanded.
The senior Catholic church leader also complained about political interference in the Easter Sunday attack probe.
“A new investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department, the police and lawyers who act on the agenda of political leaders would end only in another series of questions. We have the right to know what was the conspiracy… Who was responsible for this and who gained what from this tragedy,” the Cardinal wrote.
He said that the struggle would not end until the final truth is revealed.
