Making Easter Sunday a political football

Former President Maithripala Sirisena last week made the news with his revelation that he is ready to disclose the true masterminds behind the Easter Sunday terror attack of 2019 if directed by a Court. According to Sirisena while the true culprits of the attack remain undisclosed, he personally possesses this information and is now willing to divulge all on the conditionality of confidentiality of the Courts.

These remarks by the former President under whose watch the worst act of terrorism in post-conflict Sri Lanka occurred in 2018 should be treated with the contempt it deserves. If Sirisena in fact knows some information which is not in the public domain, he should disclose it without preconditions. It is the very least he could do for the families of the 270 victims.

In January 2023, Sirisena was instructed by the Supreme Court to compensate the victims of the bombings. The seven-judge bench ruled that Sirisena was responsible for negligence to take measures to prevent the attacks despite solid intelligence warnings two weeks prior. Though a significant development in acknowledging the accountability of the former president and his team in charge of national security, this verdict was a result of a fundamental rights petition rather than a criminal prosecution. The petitioners were private citizens who claimed the violation of their fundamental rights and to their credit the Supreme Court verdict became the first and to date the only instance of a judicial process that has held someone responsible for the heinous act.

Despite this ruling of the Supreme Court, Sirisena has not yet paid the due amount as compensation. In fact, he used the opportunity to enact yet another political drama launching a ‘fund raising campaign’ to collect the money that he was ordered to pay. Sirisena and his family are no paupers and have accumulated significant wealth during his tenure as President. Requesting for donations to pay compensation to the victims of his own negligence was yet another callous act by this washed-out politician. 

The Easter Sunday terrorist attacks on 21 April 2019 are a watershed moment in contemporary Sri Lankan history. The unexpected, barbarous attacks against purely civilian targets were heinous even by Sri Lankan standards, despite the country being deeply acquainted with three decades of political violence, which often took the form of terrorism. Despite numerous commissions of inquiry, investigations by law enforcement authorities and a few indictments, no one has yet been found criminally accountable in a court of law for the Easter attacks. The whole process has also been undermined by political deal-making and interference. Sirisena who was at the time also Minister of Defence and Minister in Charge of the Police, and all State intelligence services has been given a free pass within the criminal justice system.

He must not be allowed to make a mockery of this tragedy that happened during his watch. He should be summoned by the police and a statement recorded on the latest claim that he is aware of the true culprits of the attacks. There are hardly signs of the victims of this crime getting justice within Sri Lanka. In the very least politicians must not be allowed to make the Easter Sunday attacks a political football to be kicked around, especially during times of elections.