By Unravelling the Enigma: Maithripala Sirisena and the Easter Sunday Tragedy
Maithripala Sirisena has implicated India in the Easter bombings, and under normal circumstances, this would have been a huge issue, and diplomatic tensions could have erupted between the countries.
However, nothing of that is going to happen as Sirisena is famous for contradictions and less than credible statements, commented a senior journalist who spoke to Lanka News Line. Former President Sirisena is yet to explain himself in open court about his revelations, but many reliable sources are assuming that he has implicated India in the Easter bombings, saying that they masterminded the bombings that killed 247 innocent victims. It is yet to be seen if the Chinese propaganda networks would pick up this bit of information or not, as the Easter bombings took place just after an official visit to India. According to Sirisena, he was undergoing some medical checkups at Mount Elizabeth hospital. It is not clear why these checkups could not have been done in Sri Lanka.
Medical Check-ups
Although he has produced some documentation to support the claim of medical checkups, these documents have not been independently verified. There have been reports that he was shopping with his family in Singapore and he failed to take an immediate flight to Sri Lanka and came after some time, and he had not made any acting arrangements for defense prior to leaving the country. He had instructed the higher-ups in the security establishment to refrain from taking orders from then-Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.
As soon as he was in Colombo, he claimed to international media that this was the job of the IS and that for a long time, there have been Sri Lankans connected to Islamic extremists of the IS. He never mentioned an Indian connection. The former President says that he received the information regarding the current revelation only three weeks ago. All along, the former President has maintained that while many of his security chiefs were aware of the attacks, he knew about a possible attack but was never made aware of such an attack, neither has he mentioned Indian connection to the attack ever before. Former President Sirisena was well aware that the first warning of an attack on Easter Sunday came from India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), their external intelligence agency.
The intelligence agencies of the United States, France, and Germany, who gathered information, have somewhat established IS connections, and in the United States, two Sri Lankans have been convicted for their role in the bombings. However, the Catholic Church and many others argue that there is a hidden hand within this crime that masterminded the attack. Accusations have been pointed out towards Sri Lankan politicians who were looking for a big incident that would ensure a comfortable win at the elections by promoting national security as a key issue.
Now, Former President Sirisena is challenged with the task of coming with evidence to prove the Indian connection. Mere hearsay to claim that some Indian official told him of an Indian connection may not suffice in a court of law.
Visit of the Diplomat
As the Sunday Times columnist explains, “It appears that Sirisena has not appreciated the seriousness of the accusations he is making. Unless one is out of his mind, a diplomat of any country is not going to walk into a former President’s residence and claim ‘we were behind the Easter Sunday attacks.’ So, the question is did he build a story around after the diplomat visited him?” The statement made by Maithripala Sirisena will undoubtedly have a bearing on President Ranil Wickramasingha’s dealings with India. Maithripala Sirisena has been already fined 100 million by the Supreme Court, and things may not end there with the current statement that is very much speculative at the first look.
The Opposition
It may take a few days for the country to know if Maithripala Sirisena could substantiate his claim or not. Meanwhile, Samagi Jana Balavegaya (SJB) Parliamentarian Dr. Harsha de Silva alleges that former President Maithripala Sirisena’s controversial statement linking India to the Easter Sunday terror attacks will likely cause a critical diplomatic crisis.
Against this backdrop, MP Patali Champika Ranawaka said, “Keep in mind that the ‘Easter Attacks drama’ was a well-organized performance carried out by a ‘corrupted group’ who lost power in 2015. They carried out this act in a well-planned manner for five years. Mr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s appointment occurred only after a five-year conspiracy,” Ranawaka claimed.
