By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana   

Whilst stressing that the probe on Easter Sunday attacks should not be aimed at confirming pre-conceived conclusions, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake yesterday pledged a fair and open probe on the Easter Sunday attacks.   

President Dissanayake who visited St Sebastian’s Church Katuwapitiya where more than 160 people were killed by a suicide bomber on April 21 2019 acknowledged that there is a widespread belief in society that the Easter Sunday attacks may have been carried out to gain political mileage. Mr. Dissanayake emphasized that if politics in the country has reached such an extreme, the first priority must be to eliminate this dangerous situation.  

 He stated that if hundreds of innocent lives were sacrificed for political purposes, it would be a profound tragedy. 

“A probe will be conducted to determine whether the attacks were launched with an objective of changing the then government, whether those who are responsible for ensuring security of the nation neglected their responsibility. He said the probe will be conducted also to determine whether there were efforts to use the attacks to create a greater mayhem.   

He emphasized that the aspirations of the citizens align with his own, stating that his goal is to deliver the justice and fairness the people seek in relation to the Easter Sunday attack while assuring that efforts have already begun to achieve this goal. “We will conduct an open probe without solely trying to get pre-conceived conclusions confirmed. My aspirations are same as yours, my objectives are same as yours. Therefore, I assure that we will conduct an open and fair probe on the attacks,” he said.   

Also, the President expressed his deep appreciation for the role played by the priests, who helped prevent an even greater social catastrophe in the aftermath of the attacks. The President extended his gratitude to them once again for their efforts.  

Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith who was also present said those who attended Easter services in the church in 2019 want to know as to why they were subjected to such violent attacks. “They believe that there are more people involved than the seven suicide bombers who blew themselves up. They want to know who gave them orders and who supplied ammunition to the attackers,” the Cardinal said.   

“We made requests from all leaders who ruled this nation since the attacks. We decided to trust you because we feel that you will mete out justice to the victims of the Easter Sunday attacks,” he said.