
CHARNIKA IMBULANA MUNASINGHE
COLOMBO: “Sri Lanka will thrive and realize its full potential only if we focus on building a common Sri Lankan identity devoid of race, ethnic and political divisions” said Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Ali Sabry at the launch of the Penguin book titled “Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre- Lessons for the International Community” at the Bandarenaike Centre for International Studies on Friday, July 28.
Presided by the Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, Mahinde Yapa Abeywardena, the book launch event was organized by Sarasavi bookshop.
Reiterating on the importance of building trust and harmony amongst the communities, Guest of Honour at the event, Minister Sabry said “tragedies such as this arise due to unchecked extremist ideologies which has the ability to cause widespread damage to any nation”. The Government and community has a responsibility to work together to mitigate threats” said Minister Sabry adding, “we in this nation has learnt bitter lessons from falling prey to the agenda of a few who claim to represent the majority. We must not forget the victims of our tragedies, and we must not allow the dark events of our past stand in the way of true national reconciliation”.
Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday massacre is the world’s worst International terrorist carnage after Al Qaeda 9/11 attack. Religious fanatics killed 202 in Bali in 2002, 193 in Madrid in 2003, 56 in London in 2005, 175 in Mumbai in 2008 and 137 in Paris in 2015 and 275 in Sri Lanka.
A global trend in religiously motivated violence, Easter Sunday attackers killed and injured 1067 Sri Lankans and foreigners and of the 792 injured 564 were locals and 28 foreigners.
Author Prof. Rohan Guneratna, a prominent scholar in Security Studies and an expert on International terror released a hitherto unseen video of Zahran Hashim and his attackers.
He said that the formation of Islamic State Sri Lanka Branch was influenced by the global, regional and domestic political developments. After interviewing the Islamic state rank and file, he opined that state violence and terrorism are vicious by-products by extremist and exclusivist ideologies from overseas. He called upon Government to develop a legal and policy framework to empower authorities to decisively act against entities that separate communities.
Emphasizing on the need of religious organizations and educational institutions to counter distorted religious concepts, he called for the protection of the religious space, a sacred treasure.
To resolve inter-and intra-communal disputes in a formative phase, Prof. Gunaratna urged Government to establish Presidential Council of Religious Leaders (PCRL) where representatives of denominations meet monthly; an Ethnic and Religious Harmony Act (ERHA) to promote moderation, toleration and co-existence; and Muslim Community leaders to develop a zero tolerance policy against current and emerging threats. He said Government should not permit foreign preachers advocating divisive ideologies to enter Sri Lanka, ban books promoting exclusivist and extreme ideologies, and not to delist exclusivist and extreme Groups prescribed by the Presidential Commission on the Easter Sunday Attack.
If Sri Lanka is to prevent the next attack, Prof. Gunaratna added “Sri Lankan Muslim clerical community should partner with government to develop a rehabilitation programme to de-radicalize the terrorists, build an engagement programme to address community radicalization, and create a culture of resilience by strengthening inter- religious relations” he added.
The special guests were Attorney General Sanjay Rajeratnam, Supreme Court Justice Yasantha Kadagoda, Sectoral Oversight Committee on National Security, Admiral Sarath Weerasekera, Additional Solicitor general, Nerin Pulle, Lakshman Kadirgame Institute of International Relations Executive Director Ravinatha Ariyasinghe and Institute of National Security Studies Acting Director General Rear Admiral Dimuthu Gunewardena.
