Don’t use Easter Sunday to destroy Sri Lanka’s Nation Security apparatus – Remember Millennium City!
What is taking place under the guise of Easter Sunday is nothing but a repeat of the 2002 raid on the Millennium City Safe House in Athurugiriya goes down in history as one of the greatest betrayals.
Just as Commission reports on the 2019 Easter Sunday massacre are being repeatedly rejected in 2002, a discharged former Colonel (P. Dissanayake who has now joined up with S Deshapriya the LTTE sympathizer in Geneva) filed application with the Court of Appeal against the Commission of Inquiry report on the 2002 Millennium City debacle, but Justice Sriskandarajah dismissed it.
How is the Easter Sunday attack & the 2002 Millennium City debacle linked one may ask?
The raid was as a result of a false rumor about an attempt to assassinate then PM Ranil which resulted in disclosure to the public & media of the names of Sri Lanka’s intel operatives who were using the venue as a Safe House & carrying out attacks on LTTE. Exposure of the names of intel who had sacrificed their life to infiltrate into LTTE areas & carry out dangerous covert operations, resulted in LTTE gunning down over 50 intel operatives & their informants.
The Commission was mandated to see if any information was given by personnel inside the Armed Forces to expose the Safe House & the Commission found that the very petitioner was a source.
It is important for citizens to read back on this horrific event.
https://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2016/05/25/the-millenium-city-raid/
https://lrrp.wordpress.com/2007/08/05/kulasiri-udugampola-a-traitor-of-the-nation-and-the-state/
The Easter Sunday is somewhat different, yet the repeated innuendos being made & the demand for sensitive information of how intel carries out its covert operations are subtly to expose the manner the intel agencies operate & make public their modus operandi. The Cardinal & Church are clearly aware of this as a number of Fathers openly sided with the LTTE.
Lionel Balagalle was the Army Commander, Lucky Kodituwakku was IGP, Tilak Marapana was Defense Minister, Austin Fernando was Defense Secretary & John Amaratunga was Minister of Internal Affairs. President Chandrika appointed retired Judge D. Jayawickrema to report on the incident which found DIG Udugampola’s action in raiding the safe house “illegal & immoral” & he was demoted to ASP. He was also asked to pay compensation after a FR filed in SC by soldiers. Even the State was ordered to pay. Udugampola was interdicted & arrested in March 2005 (3 years after the incident) Udugampola was backed with political patronage & betrayed the soldiers defending the nation as they were rounded up & even tortured by police & treated as common criminals. It was the same government that asked 600 police officers to give themselves up to the LTTE to be gunned down.
Returning to the Easter Sunday, no amount of conspiracy theories or rejections can erase the fact that prior warnings had been given & received to the top posts in the country. Whatever, they say the written circulars are evidence that they have received the communication of an attack. If they had not read the circulars it also shows they are unsuited for their roles. These circulars would undoubtedly have come marked ‘FOR URGENT ATTENTION” or something similar.
Those who are rejecting the reports appear to want to for some unexplained reason, single out only the intelligence apparatus & pin blame on them. Let us all understand that the SIS & Military intelligence & even police intelligence only gather information from ground sources & pass them to the units who are mandated to take action & who have the authority to take action. Is it not strange that those venting hate at the intel & demanding to know how they operate are silent about the inaction of the entities that knew about an attack and did nothing.
Each statement they make articulates a hidden objective to want to be privy to how the intel apparatus operates on the excuse that they seek “justice” for Easter Sunday victims while ignoring to demand explanation from all those who were heading units that had the power to take action & prevent the crime. All that required to be done was to stop people entering the Church & ask hotels to beef up security.
We return to the disclosure of SIS head Nilantha Jayawardena who in his evidence to the Presidential Commission said that by 11th April at least 15,000 knew of an attack on targeted churches & hotels.
It is baffling that none of the 15,000 (Church goers who avoided Church that fateful day) informed the Cardinal or Cyril Gamini – or did they? This is something that also needs to be unearthed just as the need to investigate if the money sent by Vatican & well wishers were distributed to the victims though conflicting figures are being given to raise doubts! Why are those demanding transparency silent about transparency in the disbursement of money sent to be given to victims. Perhaps the victims must come forward to acknowledge they have received amounts from the Church other than what was given by the State.
It is pretty clear that when Cardinal & Cyril Gamini are repeatedly rejecting reports they believe someone else is guilty. They must stop making a mockery of renowned people who are paid by the taxpayer to investigate & present their findings. Instead the Cardinal & Co must go to Courts with evidence they have to claim their version is correct instead of not only asking for more Commissions & investigations but also demanding to know how the intel operates & have these details made public to enable another Millennium City type debacle to bump off another set of gallant men who sacrifice their life to defend the nation. The role of any intel operative is never easy & the manner they operate cannot be publicized as Cardinal appears to demand. Would any of the foreign intel ever disclose how they operate & none of their Governments or their Opposition will demand disclosure of these details to the public.
It is difficult to call for international investigations because foreign intel agents were in Sri Lanka & took most of the evidence & even the US State Dept & Australia have issued their statements regarding the attack. None of these findings collaborates with the Cardinal.
99% of the world’s terrorists are Islamic & the only molakaru behind these attacks is the Books from which they are indoctrinated into killing & becoming martyrs. There is no evidence that such terrorists have ever committed suicide for anything other than what their books advocate. Unfortunately, innocent Muslims who have no ties to extremism are victims too.
Politicizing of the Easter Sunday must end. It is unfair by the victims but also unfair by all other victims of LTTE attacks too.
146 Buddhist theros & Buddhists meditating at the Sacred Sri Maha Bodhi on 14 May 1985 were killed by LTTE. Did these victims get 5 reports paid by the taxpayers as Easter Sunday attack has got?
147 Muslims were killed inside the Kattankudy mosque on 3 August 1990. Did these victims get 5 reports paid by the taxpayers as Easter Sunday attack has got?
Some victims cannot be more special than the others!
The Government must take action against ALL officers who were given prior warning of attacks but did not take action. This is the crux of the entire entire issue.
We know who committed the crimes – 8 Jihadis
Why does Cardinal not demand to know why they targeted 3 churches & 3 hotels
We know prior warnings were given
Why does Cardinal not question who knew but who did not take action to prevent the mass murders. Those who knew could have saved 261 lives – This is an unforgiveable crime & no such person should be given any public role.
Shenali D Waduge
