Outspoken Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith has broken his silence over former President Maithripala Sirisena’s secret of knowing who the mystery mastermind of the Easter Sunday bombers was and once again lashed out at the country’s political leadership for its failure to investigate the killing of more than 250 Christians on April 21, 2019.
Former President Sirisena said last month that he knew the identity of the mastermind of the Easter Sunday bombings but the country is yet to know under whose orders the massacre was carried out.
With just under three days to go before surviving victims and family members of the deceased can commemorate the tragedy that marks five years, Cardinal Ranjith also admitted he was taken for a ride by investigators with no hint of a through probe to date.
“The former President (Maithripala Sirisena) said he knew who the mastermind of the bombers were. Then he must reveal who they are. How can they say the investigation is over and I must admit I too fell for their antics. We have already burnt our fingers,” said Cardinal Ranjith.
The Catholic clergy of several parishes in and around Colombo have called on their flock to come out in numbers in silent protests after Sunday mass on April 21 while marching to the two churches that were bombed in Colombo and Negombo.
In yet another hilarious development in the long line of probes, Father Cyril Gamini Fernando the editor of the Catholic weekly The Messenger has been told to reveal to police sleuths what he knows about the bombings.
It is not the first time that Fr. Cyril Gamini had been summoned to the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to make a statement.
Last month in a talk show with a private television channel, Fr Cyril Gamini declared that the mastermind of the Easter Sunday bombings was the former ousted President Gotabaya Rajapaksa who used the massacre to successfully campaign for the presidency.
Two of the country’s leading front-runners for the presidency the Samagi Jana Balawegaya headed by Sajith Premadasa and the Jathika Jana Balawegaya led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake have already given pledges to Cardinal Ranjith that they will conduct a thorough investigation of who the mastermind was after the election slated for October.
