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Former State Minister and Eastern Province Chief Minister Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, widely known as Pillayan, has made a shocking claim in his recently released book Easter Massacre: Harmony, Understanding, and Coexistence Between Races and Religions. In it, he alleges that Zahran Hashim—the mastermind behind the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks—conducted a covert training program in December 2018 in Kattankudy to train women for suicide bombings.
According to Pillayan, approximately 15 women participated in these training sessions led by Zahran. This revelation, he says, surfaced following the arrest of a 24-year-old woman, Mohamed Ibrahim Saida from Mawanella. During her interrogation, Saida reportedly confessed that she was among the 15 women who had been trained and had pledged an oath to Zahran to carry out suicide attacks.
The book cites then Police Media Spokesman Ajith Rohana, who described Saida’s testimony as one of the most crucial pieces of intelligence obtained during the investigation. It further reveals that during a follow-up operation in the Saindamarudu area shortly after the Easter Sunday attacks, five of the 15 women were killed in a blast while three were taken into custody. The remaining seven are still under investigation by the Terrorism Investigation Division (TID).
Pillayan uses the publication not only to reveal these insights but also to firmly distance himself from the attacks. “The Easter attack was an incident that took place during my imprisonment without my involvement,” he writes. “I categorically reject the baseless allegations linking me to such a horrific incident, which I believe were made with political motives.”
In his broader analysis, Pillayan also explores the spread of Wahhabism in Sri Lanka, particularly noting its emergence in the Eastern Province during the 1990s. He alleges that Wahhabi-inspired groups have played a role in various violent activities, drawing attention to their rise as a contributing factor to extremist violence in the region.
The 2019 Easter Sunday bombings targeted churches and luxury hotels across Sri Lanka, killing 269 people and injuring more than 500. The coordinated suicide attacks were carried out by members of the National Thowheed Jamaath (NTJ), under the leadership of Zahran Hashim. The attacks shocked the nation and prompted both local and international investigations into radicalization and extremist networks in the country.
As Pillayan’s claims add another layer to the ongoing discourse around the Easter attacks, the revelations in his book are likely to reignite public and political debate around accountability, security failures, and the enduring threat of religious extremism in Sri Lanka.
