Sixth anniversary of Easter carnage

THE Easter Sunday of 21 April 2019 was one of if not the bloodiest days in the history of Buddhist Sri Lanka. It was staged by a small group of religiously deranged Muslim mercenaries headed by a vagabond madrasa truant and backyard imam apparently hired by a politically ambitious cabal. In a series of three articles under the heading "Anatomy of an Islamic infamy" authored by this columnist and published on 5, 8, and 10 May 2019, several issues regarding that infamy were discussed. Later, Daily Financial Times also published them. It is six years since that carnage took place and until now despite numerous investigations and inquiries both local and international and Presidential Commissions and Committees the masters who funded and stage managed this heinous crime have not been produced before the law.

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The only two solid facts that we know so far are the identities of those innocent Christian worshippers who lost their lives, and the names and whereabouts of the mercenaries who all had been conveniently killed by the security forces. Why were they killed instead of arrested is another puzzling question adding to the mystery. In the meantime, hundreds of Muslims had been arrested and incarcerated and some former politicians without any shred of evidence are still naming one or two among those arrested as the masterminds.

It was in this background that President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) announced that he would let know the names of those who were responsible for this tragedy before its sixth anniversary. That deadline has expired. So far only one person had been arrested under that draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) for his alleged involvement in the Easter massacre and is being questioned. In all probabilities it is highly unlikely that AKD would be able to fulfil his promise. It may be that he set that deadline in haste in view of the forthcoming Local Government Elections. But what matters is not the time but the delivery of his promise.