Michael Roberts: On the anniversary of the 21/4 devastation last Tuesday Cardinal Malcolm presented an incisive commentary on the 21/4 jihadist attacks in Easter 2019 in lucid Sinhala. The speech was as lucid and informative as statesmanlike. It was not a tale of fire and brimstone. Rather it was tinged with profound sadness and directed towards inter-religious cohabitation. But it also pinpointed horrible failures on the part of key personnel in the government of the day on the foundations of his personal chat with the Indian High Commissioner.
Readers are encouraged to seek out and dwell on You Tube versions of this talk. I present a BBC interview involving Cardinal Ranjith in June 2019 and some News Items as preliminary background. This BBC Chat is also a “Must Listen and Must Absorb “moment in the island’s history.
ONE: Cardinal Ranjith on the aftermath of Easter bombings – ENN – 2019-06-20
After a 2-minute silence, Church bells across Sri Lanka tolled on Tuesday, in commemoration of those killed in the suicide bomb attacks on 3 churches and 3 upscale hotels on Easter Sunday, exactly a year ago on April 21.
In a coordinated move, 9 suicide bombers affiliated to local Islamist group National Thowheed Jamath exploded themselves in the churches and hotels, killing at least 279 people, including 37 foreign nationals, and injuring at least 500. The attack left the nation of 21 million people shell-shocked and devastated.
“This is a moment to remember this senseless and meaningless tragedy that happened to us on Easter Sunday last year and which is completing one year today, 21 April,” recalled Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, the Archbishop of Colombo.
The first anniversary of the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka was a simplified version of a more elaborate commemoration event that was cancelled owing to the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
Even the country’s television channels went silent in tribute.
The bombed Catholic churches of St. Sebastian in Negombo, just north of Colombo, and St. Anthony’s Shrine Kochchikade were consecrated and reopened to the public but the Zion Church of Batticaloa, in the eastern coast, is still being renovated.
Listen to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith
“We are very keen to remember all these people who died in these bomb blasts and also those have been injured,” said Cardinal Ranjith, who had called for the moment of silence and the ringing of church and temple bells to remember their dead.
Nearly 300 people were killed and many more injured, many of them suffering even today, said the cardinal, under whose jurisdiction comes St. Anthony’s Shrine Kochchikade and St. Sebastian’s Church in Negombo, which had the highest number of deaths.
He told Vatican Radio that some of them were on wheelchairs, disabled for life, some were in bed, and that they need to think about them. He said it is a moment to remember and pray for all those who died. It is also an occasion to console the families who have lost their loved ones or who have injured members, so they can help and show their concern for them, he told Vatican Radio.
After the bombings, Sri Lanka’s public and religious leaders blamed politicians and government officials for failing to act on intelligence about the attacks. In his homily at Easter this year, the Cardinal Ranjith said that Christians had forgiven the killers. However, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka and the cardinal demanded that the perpetrators, their collaborators and supporters be brought to justice.
Relatives of victims react at a police mortuary, after bomb blasts ripped through churches and luxury hotels on Easter, in Colombo, Sri Lanka April 22, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
