News
Two years after Easter Sunday carnage, country on powder keg – Church
‘Some of those suicide bombers are still at large…’
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The Catholic Church yesterday (28) warned the government of dire consequences unless tangible measures were taken to neutralize the continuing threat posed by 2019 Easter Sunday mastermind Zahran Hashim’s followers.
Serious threats remained even two years after the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage, Rev Father Cyril Gamini Fernando, parish priest of St. Anne’s Church, Kurana, said in his Sunday sermon.
Reminding the congregation that the Katuwapitiya Church targeted by a Zahran follower was situated just a couple of miles away from St. Anne’s Church, Rev. Fernando said that in addition to those who had pledged to mount suicide attacks being still at large, there were religious extremists roaming the country and thousands of swords and draggers imported into the country in the run-up to the Easter carnage were still unaccounted for.
Rev. Fernando, a former spokesperson for the Church, said that places of religious worship as well as any other place frequented by the public could be targeted.
Referring to the Presidential Commission of Inquiry (P CoI) into the Easter bloodbath, Rev Father Fernando said that the Church was yet to be convinced that the government was on the right track to identify Easter Sunday architects.
The priest reiterated that the Catholic Church’s commitment to pursue the matter until the government apprehended all those allegedly involved in the conspiracy. Rev Fernando questioned the failure on the part of the government to take into custody Easter Sunday conspirators.
A dire warning as regards suicide bombers’ presence amidst the public was delivered close on the heels of the end of a three-day parliamentary debate on the Easter attacks with Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) urging the public not to target the entire community for heinous crime committed by a few. SJB Colombo District lawmaker Mujibur Rahman appealed that the entire community shouldn’t be held accountable for the Easter Sunday carnage.
Rev Father Fernando said that special three hour prayer service would be conducted beginning 9 pm Sunday, March 28 in the churches in the Diocese of Colombo to underscore the need to take tangible measures against those responsible. Multiple blasts claimed the lives of 270 whereas 500 received injuries. A senior spokesperson for the Archbishop’s House told The Island that the Dioceses countrywide would back their initiative.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka recently demanded the release of the entire set of P CoI documents to Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC, following a meeting Livera had with Archbishop of Colombo Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith where they discussed the government’s decision to hold back 22 volumes on the basis of threats to national security. In the wake of the Church protest, the President’s Office delivered the entire set to the AG.
Rev. Fernando said that the national security was at stake as long as the extremists retained an arsenal consisting of suicide cadres. The priest said that no one would be safe until they were apprehended.
Police investigations have revealed that those who took an oath before Zahran to mount suicide attacks in support of their macabre cause included some women.
Lawmaker Rahman told The Island that the government should make a genuine effort to solve the mysterious disappearance of Katuwapitiya suicide bomber Hasthun’s wife Sarah, who had been with Zahran group’s rump. “We are not satisfied with the government’s efforts to track down her against the backdrop of claims she fled to India with the help of those who conspired.”
The Indian Naval Ship (INS) GHARIAL made a port call in Colombo for operational turnarounds on 04 Feb 26. The Sri Lanka Navy welcomed the visiting ship in compliance with naval traditions.
Commanded by Commander Gaurav Tewari, INS GHARIAL is a vessel with a length of 124.8 meters.
During this visit, ten (10) Bailey Bridges, brought by ship, through the coordination of the High Commission of India in Sri Lanka, will be handed over to the Disaster Management Center. These bridges will provide temporary transportation links while bridges damaged across the island by adverse weather conditions are repaired.
The crew’s itinerary features scheduled goodwill activities with the Sri Lanka Navy, alongside visits to several tourist attractions across the island.
SJB Gampaha District MP Harshana Rajakaruna yesterday told Parliament that the Speaker’s Personal Secretary had written to the Secretary-General of Parliament seeking information on a complaint lodged with the Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption (CIABOC) by a former Deputy Secretary of Parliament against the Speaker. Rajakaruna called for an immediate investigation into what he described as interference with an ongoing probe.
Raising the matter in the House, Rajakaruna said he had formally requested the Commission to initiate an inquiry into the conduct of the Speaker’s Personal Secretary, Chameera Gallage, questioning the authority under which such information had been sought.
Rajapakaruna tabled in Parliament a copy of the letter allegedly sent by Gallage to the Secretary-General requesting details of the bribery complaint.
Addressing the House, Rajakaruna said that the letter, sent two days earlier, had sought “full details” of the complaint against the Speaker. He maintained that seeking such information amounted to interference with an investigation and constituted a serious offence under the Bribery Act.
“The Speaker’s Secretary has no right to interfere with the work of the Bribery Commission. Under what law is he acting? What authority does he have? The Speaker, like everyone else, is subject to the law of the land,” Rajakaruna said, urging the Commission to take immediate action.
He noted that the Bribery Act treated the obstruction of investigations and the destruction of documents relating to such inquiries as serious offences punishable by law, and said he believed the Minister of Justice would concur.
The allegations sparked sharp reactions in the Chamber, as Opposition members called for accountability and due process in relation to the complaint against the Speaker.
By Saman Indrajith
The Ceylon Electricity Board has managed to reduce the average cost of electricity generation from Rs. 37 per unit to Rs. 29, marking a 22 percent reduction, Minister of Power and Energy Eng. Kumara Jayakody told Parliament yesterday.
Responding to an oral question raised by Opposition MP Ravi Karunanayake, the Minister said that electricity tariffs cannot be reduced unless the cost of generation is brought down.
“You cannot reduce electricity tariffs without reducing the cost of generation. What we are currently doing is buying at a higher price and selling at a lower price. When we assumed office, the cost of purchasing and generating electricity was Rs. 37 per unit. We have now managed to bring it down to Rs. 29, a reduction of 22 percent.
Our target is to further reduce this to Rs. 25. Once that is achieved, we will reduce electricity tariffs by 30 percent within three years, as we promised,” Minister Jayakody said.
He added that the government has already formulated a long-term generation plan to further expand the country’s power generation capacity.
According to the Minister, key measures include increasing the absorption of renewable energy into the national grid, expanding the national transmission and distribution network, introducing renewable energy storage systems, and constructing thermal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plants to replace aging facilities and meet future demand.
He also said that steps would be taken to enhance the capacity of existing hydropower plants as part of the broader strategy to ensure energy security and reduce long-term electricity costs.
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