President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday (06) assured that justice will be served to the victims of the Easter attack.
He made this statement when meeting with the victims of the Easter attack.
A discussion was held this morning at St. Sebastian’s Church in Katuwapitiya, Negombo, with family members of those injured and killed in the Easter Sunday bomb attack, led by His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Expressing his views, His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo, said:
“Since that day, we have tried our best to find out who did this through a transparent investigation. Because conclusions were drawn by the Presidential Commission, the Vijitha Malalgoda Committee, and the Parliamentary Select Committee. But all of them had accusations of neglecting responsibility. However, who did this, who provided the explosives, who organized it, who encouraged these people, who encouraged them to detonate it – they didn’t find anything about that… What we learned was… like an iceberg, we only see the top part, but there’s a big part underneath, that was concealed from us. For years, we made requests from various leaders, and finally, we even had to go to Geneva, to the Human Rights Committee. But we didn’t get any solution. We were helpless… The question that breaks their hearts is why did they do this to us? What did we do against them to do such a thing? That’s why we need an answer to that question, which is why we placed our trust in you this time.”
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake also expressed his views:
“More than five years have passed now. We will not allow such a tragedy to be buried in the sands of time and erased. I recently instructed the Secretary of Defense for Public Security that we should not conduct this investigation sitting on a pre-conclusion, collecting certificates to confirm that conclusion. I instructed to conduct a very clear investigation with a very open mind about what happened? Is there a hidden agenda behind this? There are several reasons. The first is that there is suspicion in society whether such an attack happened for a change in our country’s politics, which is being discussed in society. If hundreds of people in our country can be killed for a political goal, it’s a tragedy. So first of all, if our country’s politics is at such a destructive extreme, it should be revealed to society. Secondly, there is another discussion in society that if there is an attack or conspiracy against our country, there is suspicion that the state mechanism to prevent it is involved in these attacks. If the mechanism for the protection of the people of a country is working to break that protection, our country is always insecure. It’s insecure even now. If groups that should be prevented become partners in the attack, it’s an extremely dangerous situation. So, whether you look at it from that side or this side, we must necessarily reveal what happened. Thirdly, about 274 people died and a large number were injured. Justice must be done to the devotion within the victims regarding their relatives, their children, their spouses. Looking at it from that side too, we need to conduct this investigation fairly. On the other hand, I think the Easter Sunday attack polarized a significant portion of our society. A society was created that looks at each other with suspicion, distrust, hatred, and anger. Looking at it from that side too, justice must be done for this… I give you that assurance. Your expectation and my expectation are the same. First of all, we have built a governance. For the goals of the citizens of this country and my goals to be one. Therefore, the question of justice you expect will necessarily be resolved, and fulfilling justice is my expectation and hope too. We have already started it, we have already taken steps to launch these investigations very soon. If you have trust in us, we will ensure fairness and justice for you in this issue. An investigation, an experience is necessary in our country to prevent such a tragedy from happening again in our country. I assure you of that.”
English