Social media debates on issues connected to the Easter Sunday terror attacks have got down and dirty, with religious and political leaders becoming targets of scurrilous attacks. The situation is likely to take a turn for the worse. The victims of vilification are without any defence as social media activists are guided by Rafferty’s rules.
Spokesman for the Archdiocese of Colombo Rev. Fr. Cyril Gamini Fernando yesterday countered some allegations against Archbishop of Colombo His Eminence Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and clarified the Catholic Church’s position on the ongoing investigations into the Easter Sunday terror strikes. He vehemently denied social media claims that the Cardinal had received prior information about the terror attacks from his security personnel deployed by the state and therefore did not attend the Easter Sunday events in 2019. It was only after the 2019 carnage that the Cardinal had been provided with security, and therefore the argument that the VIP protection units had been informed of possible terror attacks and his guards had warned him of the threat did not hold water, Fr. Fernando pointed out. His line of reasoning is logical and compelling.
Rev. Fr. Fernando reiterated that neither the Cardinal nor any other Church leader had ever asked the government to appoint Senior DIG (Retd.) Ravi Seneviratne and SSP (Retd.) Shani Abeysekera to any positions. Only a request had been made that the investigators removed by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government from the Easter Sunday carnage probe be entrusted with fresh investigations into the tragedy. No particular names had been mentioned, Fr. Fernando stressed when a journalist pointed out that Minister Bimal Rathnayake had told Parliament that the government had appointed Seneviratne and Abeysekera to key positions at the Cardinal’s request. Did the government use the Church leaders’ request as an excuse to appoint two NPP members to senior positions in the public security sector to further its political interests under the pretext of probing the Easter Sunday attacks?
It is not clear from the reports of Rev. Fr. Fernando’s statements at yesterday’s media briefing whether the church leaders support the post-retirement appointments of Seneviratne and Abeysekera and their involvement in the Easter Sunday carnage probe. Their position on the issue would be of considerable interest.
There are compelling reasons why Abeysekera and Seneviratne should have been kept out of the Easter Sunday carnage investigations. In April 2019, they were serving as the Director and the Senior DIG of the CID, respectively, which failed to prevent the terror strikes, and there is a damning allegation that they did not act on the warnings of the impending attacks. Former IGP Pujith Jayasundera and former Defence Secretary Hemasiri Fernando are facing legal action for their alleged failure to prevent the 2019 terror strikes. Therefore, legal proceedings should be instituted against all others who failed to protect lives on Easter Sunday in 2019 despite the availability of actionable intelligence. After their retirement from the police, Abeysekera and Seneviratne became active members of the NPP, and campaigned hard for Anura Kumara Dissanayake in the 2024 presidential race. They were prominent members of the NPP’s Retired Police Collective, which was headed by Seneviratne. They themselves have stated this in two affidavits submitted to the Supreme Court, according to media reports. The government in its wisdom brought these two NPP politicians out of retirement, appointed them as the CID Director and Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security, and entrusted Abeysekera with the task of probing the Easter Sunday terror attacks that the duo allegedly failed to prevent. Sadly, their involvement has severely undermined the integrity of the probe.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that the VIP security divisions had been warned of possible terror attacks on Easter Sunday in 2019 and instructed to withhold warnings from the MPs and Ministers they were protecting. In an editorial comment on 22 July 2025, we pointed out, quoting former SLPP MP Indika Anuruddha Herath, who was an Opposition MP at the time of the Easter Sunday attacks, that the police personnel providing security to him had received warnings of impending bomb attacks but they had been ordered not to inform him of the threat. He was at a church in Negombo when the Katuwapitiya Church was attacked, and it was only after the carnage that he and other MPs had been informed of the warnings. He said that if they had been informed of the threat earlier, they would definitely have alerted the Church leaders and action could have been taken to prevent the carnage. Who ordered the police personnel to withhold the warnings of the terror strikes from the MPs and ministers? This aspect of the security failure that led to the Easter Sunday tragedy must also be thoroughly probed.
The Easter Sunday terror mastermind must be traced and prosecuted, but all those who failed to prevent the terror strikes that claimed more than 275 lives and left hundreds of other seriously injured must also be brought to justice.
I do not believe Fr Cyril’s assertion that the Cardinal was not aware of the impending terrorist attack . The Cardinal has NEVER, repeat NEVER explained why he did not celebrate mass at the bombed church. The Cardinal apparently saved his skin but NOT THAT OF HIS FAITHFUL !!!!!!!!!!!!!