One week after; authorities still play a blame game
By Gagani Weerakoon-APR 28 2019Sri Lanka, a decade after defeating world’s bloodiest terrorist group LTTE, was once again rocked by a wave of terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday.
With these attacks, the people of the country came to realise the Government and the President they elected turned out to be utter failures as they engage in embarrassing, yet shameless game of passing the ball.
A week after the incident, there is a massive progress shown in tracking down suspects and destroying their plots to increase terror attacks with military forces taking charge of operations under the Emergency Regulations that the country once again imposed. However, the Inspector General of Police who happened to have received information on the attack - 12 days prior to it - remains unmoved despite President and various other parties calling for his resignation. He in fact, had remained silent ever since last Sunday’s attacks without offering as much as an apology to the country.
Emphasising that the Defence Secretary and the IGP had miserably failed to fulfil their responsibilities, President Maithripala Sirisena insisted that the Government, including several of its stakeholders, must take responsibility for the Easter Sunday carnage as it had weakened the intelligence service.
He said the prosecution of military intelligence officers after the war, left the country vulnerable to attack.
“This even led to a clash between the Government and me. During the past three years, I voiced my concern about military intelligence personnel being prosecuted on various allegations.
Even the former top brass of the Tri-Forces were summoned and grilled by various other affiliated bodies like the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka.
Those who portray themselves as human rights protectors confronted me, saying that the law is equal to all.
So much so that the Director General of the CIABOC stepped down from her post when I asked as to why she was going on a witch-hunt against the military top brass,” he said while noting that this situation led to the essence of the intelligence service leaving the country.
Addressing the Heads of Media institutions last morning, President Sirisena said he did not get intelligence information even after 12 days of receiving the original warning
That does not mean that I am trying to wash my hands off the matter, he said, blaming the top defence establishment including former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando, IGP Pujith Jayasundara and five DIGs to whom the initial warning letter was sent by the Indian intelligence services, for not warning him of terrorist threats.
Meanwhile, noting that the Security Forces were carrying out widespread arrests, with more than 70 people being held so far, President Sirisena said that he believed there to be more than 140 supporters of the Islamic State (IS) in Sri Lanka and that all of them will be arrested and ISIS would be wiped out from the island.
The President also said that his campaign against illegal drugs might have been a factor in the attacks because of the connections between drug gangs and terrorism.
“There is a nexus between international terrorism and the international drug trade. Furthermore, I got massive support for the anti-drugs campaign from Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, who joined us at Anti-Drug Walks. Perhaps the terrorists hastened the attacks on churches for these reasons,” he said.
He also vowed to reorganise the security services including the State Intelligence Service and intelligence units of the Police and Tri-Forces, to prevent the recurrence of terrorist activities such as the Easter Sunday carnage.
The decision comes in the wake of President Sirisena acknowledging that there was a serious lapse on the part of the Defence Secretary and the IGP who failed to inform him about the intelligence agency letter from a ‘friendly foreign country’ sent on 4 April, warning about a possible attack.
The letter warned of possible attacks on churches, places of public gatherings and Very Important Persons (VIPs).
“The IGP has sent that letter to the Staff DIG and it then went from table to table and finally it was forwarded to DIG Dassanayake of VIP Security, who, in turn, forwarded it to those in charge of the security of VIPs.
I was not informed. Neither my security head nor the head of the Prime Minister’s security was informed.
Both, the Defence Secretary and the IGP came to wish me on New Year’s Day (14 April) and they did not say a word about this warning letter. It was a serious lapse on their part and a shirking of their responsibility,” he said.
President Sirisena said, the Government had to declare an emergency situation to suppress terrorists and ensure a peaceful environment in the country.
“What have been imposed by Gazette are clauses pertaining to suppressing terrorism only. If these impositions were not made, the powers prevailing were not sufficient for the Police to take proactive measures and the Army, Navy and Air Force could not take part actively in the operations,” he said.
Referring to the current operations, raids and arrests of suspects, he praised the law enforcement and intelligence services for their efficiency and dedication in responding to this situation.
“The Government has already cracked down on criminals, suspects and those responsible for the recent attacks and many arrests have been made. Therefore, I believe we can avoid a repetition of such gruesome acts of violence in the future,” he said.
“I have already planned necessary action to build an environment where the people of this country could live freely and without fear in the future,” he added.
Answering a question about the safety of schools and places of worship, the President said the Government will create an environment where public servants, students, entrepreneurs and the public could act liberally in a free and peaceful environment.
Muslim Ministers deny
Following Sunday’s carnage there is a massive public outcry to arrest or question certain Muslim Ministers who had long been suspected of associating with organisations that engage in radicalising Muslims.
Minister Rishad Bathiudeen rejecting all allegations levelled against him said that neither Mujibur Rahman nor Azath Salley had any involvement with extremist terror outfits but said he can’t keep track of the daily activities of each and everyone he interacts with.
He told a news briefing held at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce in Colombo yesterday, that he was not involved in getting any suspects arrested in Mawanella or Wanathawilluwa, released.
The Minister said his siblings and MP Rahman or Governor Salley had no connection with any extremist terror outfits as claimed.
“I know that my two brothers and two sisters have no links with any extremist terror organisations. At the same time, I personally don’t know who are renting their houses or who come into their houses.
If anyone has done any wrongdoing, the law enforcement authorities should take action against them and I can’t intervene,” he said.
When asked whether MP Rahman or Governor Salley were involved in getting any of the suspects released, the Minister said, “As I said, they are not involved with any extremist terror outfits.”
When journalists asked whether he maintained any relationship with Easter Sunday terror attack mastermind Zahran Hashim, the Minister said he had never even met that person.
Commenting on the arrest of the spice trader Mohammad Yusuf Ibrahim, the Minister said Ibrahim had been felicitated by even former Presidents and Ministers but that doesn’t mean that they knew what was going on in the spice trader’s life.
Meanwhile, he said all terrorist and extremist groups should be banned and said the Muslim Religious Affairs Ministry should take the responsibility of streamlining Madrasas and banning Muslim extremist outfits.
“The Ministry should monitor Madrasas, their curricula and the foreigners who are teaching in these schools. When a mosque is being built, the Ministry, along with the All-Ceylon Jamiyyathul Ulama (ACJU) should look into the necessity of building a new mosque. This should also be streamlined,” the Minister said.
It is in the midst of this that UNP Colombo Municipal Councillor Noordeen Mohomad Thajudeen gets arrested over the recovery of 46 swords at Slave Island yesterday, police said 46 swords, kris knives and several uniforms similar to those worn by the Army were recovered from a mosque at Palliyaweediya in Slave Island on Friday morning.
On the other hand, Army has taken the brother of Minister Rishad Bathiudeen into custody in Mannar with regard to the ongoing investigations in connection with the Easter Sunday bomb attacks.
Police Media Spokesman, SP Ruwan Gunasekera said, that later the Army had handed him over to the Mannar Police. He was released after recording a statement.
According to ground sources, the Army had initially arrested him as he sped past a military check point defying orders to stop. Thereafter, the officers at the check point had alerted the next check point to stop the SUV bearing the State emblem and a VVIP sticker.
Burqa ban
Justice Minister Thalatha Atukorale has come under attack by Ministers Mangala Samaraweera and Malik Samarawickreme for forwarding a Cabinet Paper proposing to ban burqas in the country.
Earlier, Parliamentarian Prof. Ashu Marasinghe moved a Private Member’s Motion in Parliament on Tuesday 23 April to ban the burqa. He added that burqas have been an issue to curb the terrorism operated worldwide and when questioned from Muslim leaders they say that burqa is not traditional Muslim attire.
However, he too came under criticism by Minister Samaraweera who pointed out that it could lead to unnecessary human right issues and undue criticism by the international community.
