By Saman Indrajith

Parliament yesterday observed one minute’s silence in memory of those whose lives were lost in the terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday (2019).

Following a special statement at the commencement of Parliament on the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, Prime Minister Rajapaksa requested Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena to permit a minute’s silence in memory of the victims.

The Premier in his statement said that it was sad to notice two years after the brutal terror attacks, those who were responsible for the prevention of the heinous crime were carrying out a campaign to spread lies about the incident and thereby disrupting investigations.

The PM said that all those responsible for the brutal terror attacks would be brought to justice. He said that the government had taken all possible measures to prevent such an unfortunate situation from recurring.

“Today we commemorate one of the darkest days in the history of Sri Lanka which is the second anniversary of the April 21st Easter Sunday Attacks. As we take this moment to remember the native and foreign lives lost, which took away 259 innocent lives and injuring hundreds of people who attended the Easter Sunday Mass on that day, given the series of bombing which took place on the 21st of April, I take this moment to wish that the souls of the Christian Community will receive the heavenly bliss they wished for and that all others whose lives were lost would also rest in peace. Hundreds of injured and disabled people are still suffering physically and mentally. I wish them a speedy recovery. We also extend our deepest condolences to the families of all those who died and became disabled.

“I wish to state that this matter has already been referred to the Attorney General based on the report and other documents prepared governing the information revealed by the Easter Commission.

“Though we do not wish to intervene with the judicial process, I wish to state that as a government we are ready to provide any assistance required for the success of this process of judiciary.

“The President has also facilitated the CID and the Terrorism Investigation Division in addition to the Commission for the purpose of carrying out investigations independently. We are confident that at the end of the investigation, the respective departments will take legal action in the future.

“It is the innocent public who have to pay for the criminal neglect and evasion by the previous government by mixing up their own political agendas with national security.

“Parties responsible for the attack are socializing various lies, influencing investigations and diverting social attention even to date. We feel sorry for such groups. While remembering all those who died, we as a government are taking every step to prevent such an unfortunate situation from ever recurring.

“Finally, I would like to state that we will bring to justice all those responsible for this heinous attack.”