By Shamindra Ferdinando

Former Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms Minister Dr. Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe, PC, yesterday (22) said that a genuine effort should be made to ascertain why the first warning regarding Sri Lankan extremists’ direct link with ISIS was ignored by Parliament.

“Those who are harping on Easter Sunday masterminds and grand conspiracies have conveniently forgotten that the alleged link was exposed in Parliament on Nov, 18, 2016, by me in my then capacity as Justice, Prison Affairs and Constitutional Reforms Minister,” Dr Rajapakshe said .

The one-time President of the Bar Association said that he had made that declaration after confirming the developing situation with the then head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI).

Dr. Rajapakshe said that “instead of immediately launching an investigation, the Yahapalana government targeted me.” The former Minister named the then Cabinet spokesman Dr. Rajitha Senarathna as one of the culprits who had publicly dismissed the warning he had issued in Parliament.

“The truth is the top Yahapalana leadership, particularly Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe, lacked the courage to go ahead with an investigation as almost all Muslim MPs, irrespective of the parties they represented, demanded my removal from the Cabinet-of-Ministers,” the ex-MP said.

The former Minister said that his disclosure in Parliament, regarding a group of 32 Muslims, from four affluent families, joining ISIS, also contributed to his removal from Cabinet in late August 2017 after he opposed handing over of the Hambantota Port to China, on a 99-year lease, for USD 1.2 bn.

Rajapakshe alleged that he hadn’t received the backing of any MP though, at one point, John Seneviratne, who represented the Joint Opposition at the Constitutional Council, agreed with him the developing extremist threat was such that Pujith Jayasundera was incapable of handling the situation.

The former lawmaker said that he opposed Jayasundera’s appointment as the IGP, made in April 2016, even before his explosive revelation in Parliament, as the extremist threat was growing.

The President’s Counsel said that following his disclosure in Parliament, the then President called for a briefing from the then Director of State Intelligence Service (SIS) DIG Nilantha Jayawardena. “I was also present at the National Security Council meeting when the SIS Chief declared that there was no basis for my warning. Obviously the President and the Premier accepted the SIS Chief’s assertion.”

The former Minister said that the ongoing Easter Sunday cases, numbering over 40, could be undermined if the powers that be played politics with the issues at hand.

During P CoI proceedings, the inquiry had been told that the police sought the Attorney General’s Department advice regarding Zahran Hashim’s activities, particularly in the East, in June 2017, but the matter was never addressed till the Easter Sunday blasts in April 2017, the ex-MP said.

If police perused media reports, since the disclosure made in Parliament in Nov. 2016, those who opposed the ISIS exposure could be easily identified, he said.

Could the NPP government explain the circumstances the father of two of the seven suicide bombers had been included in its National List at the 2015 general election? the former Minister asked.

Former AG Dappula de Livera, PC, too, should explain why he refused to cooperate with the Terrorist Investigation Division (TID) after having called the Easter Sunday attacks a grand conspiracy on the eve of his retirement on May 24, 2021, the former Minister said. “I wanted the police to record his statement as his claim threatened to undermine the entire investigation,” the ex-Minister said, adding that the Easter Sunday carnage could have been averted if major political parties and groups adopted a common stand against extremism.

Rajapakshe pointed out that even after the detection of explosives at Wanathawilluwa, in mid 2019, the Yahapalana government continued to shield extremist elements.

Cabinet spokesman Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa yesterday (22) said that the responsibility for identifying the masterminds of the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage should be given to the CID and the courts.

Dr. Jayatissa, who is also the Health Minister, said so when the media asked him about the failure on the part of the government to reveal the masterminds behind the terror attacks, in spite of assurance made by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake during a political rally in the East.

The Cabinet spokesman said that the investigations were on track though he couldn’t give a time frame for the investigation. Declaring that the NPP government was proceeding in line with the mandate it received from the people, Dr. Jayatissa said that though the likes of Udaya Gammanpila were likely to react hastily, the government wouldn’t take notice of such Opposition actions.

The Holy See Press Office has announced that Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at 10:00 AM in St. Peter’s Square.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside at the Mass, which will be concelebrated by Patriarchs, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, and priests from across the globe.

The Eucharistic celebration will conclude with the Ultima commendatio and the Valedictio, marking the beginning of the Novemdiales, or nine days of mourning and Masses for the repose of Pope Francis’ soul.

The late Pope’s body will then be taken into St. Peter’s Basilica and then to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for entombment.

Earlier, on Wednesday, the coffin containing the Pope’s body, will be carried from the Chapel of the Casa Santa Marta to St. Peter’s Basilica, so that the faithful may pay their respects.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside over the rite of translation on April 23, which will begin at 9:00 AM with a moment of prayer.

The procession will pass through Santa Marta Square and the Square of the Roman Protomartyrs, according to the Holy See Press Office.

The procession will then exit through the Arch of the Bells, into St. Peter’s Square, and enter the Vatican Basilica through the central door.

At the Altar of the Confession, the Cardinal Camerlengo will preside over the Liturgy of the Word, at the conclusion of which the visits to the body of the Roman Pontiff will commence.