Sri Lankan Parliament discusses new allegations on 2019 Easter attacks, assures investigation
Sep 06, 2023
Colombo [Sri Lanka], September 6 : The Sri Lankan Parliament discussed the newly surfaced allegations about the 2019 Easter attacks, and the ruling government said that it will back an international investigation into the claims, Sri Lanka-based Colombo Gazette reported on Wednesday.
The Sri Lankan Parliament and the Cabinet discussed the latest allegations over the Easter Sunday attacks.
Sri Lankan Minister Manusha Nanayakkara told Parliament that the Cabinet which met with President Ranil Wickremesinghe discussed the allegations raised in the UK-based ‘Channel 4’ documentary.
The Minister said that the Government will back an international investigation into the claims, Colombo Gazette reported.
The main opposition alliance Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) told Parliament that an international investigation must be carried out.
Opposition Leader Sajith Premadasa said that an international investigation is required to investigate the Easter Sunday attacks.
SJB MP Nalin Bandara said that State Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan and head of the State Intelligence Service Suresh Sallay must be questioned over the allegations raised in the Channel 4 video, Colombo Gazette reported.
Responding to the allegations, MP Mahindananda Aluthgamage from the ruling party alleged that there was an attempt to divide the country using the new documentary.
In a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary, aired on Tuesday, on the British television station, Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pullikal (TMVP) party spokesperson Azad Maulana alleged that a meeting took place between Easter Sunday bomber Zahran Hashim and head of the State Intelligence Service Suresh Sallay, Colombo Gazette reported.
The former TMVP spokesman, who has now sought asylum overseas, has shared the information with the UN and the EU as well as other diplomatic missions.
Maulana has further alleged that military intelligence allowed the attack to go ahead to pave the way for Gotabaya Rajapaksa to win the Presidential election later that year.
Notably, nine suicide bombers belonging to the local Islamist extremist group National Thawheed Jamaat (NTJ) linked to ISIS carried out a series of devastating blasts that tore through three Catholic churches and as many luxury hotels on April 21, 2019, killing nearly 270 people, including 11 Indians, and injuring over 500, Colombo Gazette reported.
