JUNE 3, 2021
The head of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka is complaining that the Government has failed to investigate swirling allegations about an entity called “Sonic” and claims that one of the Easter Sunday bombers had been in touch with army officers shortly before the final explosion on April 21, 2019.
Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, a staunch backer of the Rajapaksa family came out swinging at his latest press briefing on Wednesday (2). He issued a strong condemnation of the failures of the present government, and even wondered out loud about whether the country was experiencing the effects of a curse.
Those who had swept to power pledging to protect the country were engaged in destroying it, the Head of the Catholic Church charged.
“Even nature seems to be turning against the rulers,” the Cardinal claimed.
The Cardinal continued to question speculation surrounding a grand conspiracy behind the Easter Sunday attacks at Wednesday’s briefing.
“The former Attorney General said there was a grand conspiracy but never specified what it was. There are certain elements in the Easter Sunday attacks which have not been investigated thoroughly,” he claimed in televised remarks.
He said insinuations that politicians were also involved in the bombing plot had never been investigated. “There were statements made at the Commission that were never investigated further,” the Cardinal charged.
Cardinal Ranjith claimed that the Dehiwala bomber Jameel who set off the final explosion had met an “army person” called Sonic.
It was former IGP Pujith Jayasundara who first revealed that the Dehiwala bomber had received a phone call from a military intelligence officer 45 minutes before he detonated himself. Strangely, the Easter Sunday Commission never investigated the matter further, or studied the Dehiwala bomber’s cellphone data records.
The Commission never investigated who had been in contact with the suicide bomber Jameel, the Cardinal charged.
Observers said the Cardinal would probably retract his remarks in 24 hours, after phone calls and appeals from powerful sections of the ruling administration.
On the eve of the anniversary of the Easter Sunday bombings this year, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith claimed the attacks were “politically driven” and had nothing to do with Islamic extremism, only to walk the remarks back the next day after they agitated the high echelons of the Gotabaya Rajapaksa Government.
The Cardinal exercises significant influence with his Catholic flock because of his persistent calls for justice for victims of the Easter blasts two years ago. The majority of those who were killed in the bombings were worshippers at Easter Sunday mass in churches in Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa.
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