03/16/2022 (International Christian Concern) – The third anniversary of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka is approaching. Very little has been done to bring the true perpetrators to justice, despite efforts and appeals from the Christian community in Sri Lanka. Cardinal Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo who has been leading the call for justice, is still convinced that the government is inept and “are covering for each other’s cronies.” He is now calling for international support to pressure the Sri Lankan government into properly investigating the bombing and those accountable.
The attacks were originally blamed on homegrown terrorist organizations, but the cardinal has reasons to believe that ISIS and even Sri Lankan government officials are implicated in the attack. The cardinal’s theory is that the attack was more than the government let on, which may be evidenced by the government’s interest in distancing themselves and their incompetence and/or potential involvement with the attack. Cardinal Ranjith spoke on Monday saying, “We don’t know what truly happened. We have to find answers. The first impression of this massacre was that it was purely the work of a few Islamic extremists. However, subsequent investigations indicate that this massacre was part of a grand political plot.”
Four judges, three expert committees, and two separate commissions have been investigating the case for almost three years. Their report came with recommendations such as banning Islamic extremist organizations but saying nothing of the Hindu or Buddhist organizations. Cardinal Ranjith has exhausted his power to find the truth.
The cardinal appeared in front of the UN Human Rights Council on March 7th, where he made his case and ultimately asked for international support to bring justice to those responsible for the 267 dead. He claimed that the Church in Sri Lanka had done all it could, to little avail. “And after this violence took place, we were very keen to know who really carried out these attacks,” Ranjith said. “So we kept on insisting with the government of that time that there should be a transparent inquiry.” Hopefully, the international community can pressure positive change in Sri Lanka.
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