Prez urged to remove Maj. Gen. Jayasekera from Defence Ministry

The SJB has called for an investigation into Deputy Defence Minister Maj. Gen. (retd.) Aruna Jayasekera’s declaration in Parliament that a small group within the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) was involved in 2019 Easter Sunday attacks.

Maj. Gen. Jayasekera, who was the Eastern Commander at the time of Easter Sunday carnage and subsequent blasts at Sainthamaruthu in the East also in April 2019, should come clean, top SJB spokesman Mujibur Rahman told The Island.

Rahman asserted that the Deputy Defence Minister’s declaration could be considered as the much anticipated breakthrough the NPP government expected. “We expect the CID to question the Deputy Minister on his claim,” Colombo District lawmaker said.

When The Island pointed out that accusations had been made against the DMI as well as one of its former heads the then Brigadier Suresh Sally regarding Easter Sunday carnage, MP Rahman emphasised that the latest allegation was made by a fellow retired senior officer who had served as the most senior officer in the East at that time extremists planned the attacks.

The government proscribed the National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ) over the Easter carnage.

Pointing out that during the initial investigations the CID recorded Maj. Gen. Jayasekera’s statement regarding the Sainathamaruthu incident where 16 persons perished on April 26, 2019, lawmaker Rahman urged President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who holds the defence portfolio in addition to being the Commander-in-Chief of armed forces to move Maj. Gen. Jayasekera out of the Defence Ministry. “Let the Maj. Gen. be shifted to facilitate the investigation,” MP Rahman said, warning the NPP of dire consequences of its failure to restore public faith in the investigation.

Maj. Gen. Jayasekera of the Gemunu Watch served as Eastern Commander from Nov 24, 2018 to Oct. 14, 2019. Jayasekera retired four days later.

The CID would it difficult to probe the retired officer as long as he served as the Deputy Defence Minister, the MP said, adding that since the last presidential election conducted in Sept 2024, Jayasekera on six occasions functioned as the Acting Defence Minister during President Dissanayake’s foreign visits.

If Maj. Gen. Jayaskera hadn’t told the CID of the alleged DMI link to Easter Sunday carnage when he was questioned in 2019, it would be of pivotal importance to establish actually when got to know about the conspiracy, MP Rahman said.

The NPP accommodated Maj. Gen. Jayasekera on its National List in recognition for his contribution to their parliamentary and presidential election campaigns last year.

MP Rahman said that retired Senior DIG Ravi Seneviratne and retired SSP Shani Abeysekera who had been assigned to the CID at the time of Easter Sunday carnage were brought back by the NPP to serve as Secretary Public Security Ministry and Director, CID, respectively.

Recalling Leader of the House Minister Bimal Rathnayake disclosed that they were brought back on a request made by the Archbishop of Colombo Rt. Rev. Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith, a claim swiftly denied by the Catholic Church, MP Rahman questioned whether lapses on the part of Seneviratne and Abeysekera, too, contributed to the overall security failure. Like Jayasekera, Senevirathna and Abeysekera, too, campaigned for the NPP, the SJB spokesman said.

Referring to a recent statement attributed to Rev. Cyril Gamini Fernando, the spokesman for the Catholic Church, lawmaker Rahman said that the priest is on record as having said that Maj. Gen. Jayasekera’s continuation as the Deputy Defence Minister could undermine the credibility of the investigations. The Church has expressed the belief that the government makes an appropriate decision on the issue at hand.

Lawmaker Rahman said that the NPP was yet to explain the circumstances how JVP National List nominee at the 2015 parliamentary elections wealthy spice merchant Mohamed Yusuf Ibrahim’s two sons turned out to be NTJ suicide bombers. One of them attacked Cinnamon Grand while the other blasted himself alongside alleged ringleader Sahran Hashim at Shangri-la.MP Rahman said that the NPP was in a bind. The top leadership was obviously struggling to cope up with the situation as difficulties mount on the other fronts, the MP said.

By Shamindra Ferdinando ✍️