By Ministers Harin Fernando & Manusha Nanayakkara
A lot of information is coming to the fore about the Easter Sunday attacks which happened four years ago. Some say, there is a hidden conspiracy behind the attacks. All those revelations are similar to the statements we made since the Easter attacks.
Therefore, the need for a more comprehensive and impartial investigation has emerged, more strongly than ever before.
Earlier, in the parliament and outside, we raised our voice that those responsible for the Easter attacks and its masterminds should be brought to justice.
In the face of that outcry, we had to face many threats and slander against us from various parties then.
Moreover, even some of the leaders of the opposition that we represented at that time, were keeping their mouths shut, which caused us deep regret.
However, we recall that MPs like Nalin Bandara, Hector Appuhami, Kavinda Jayawardena, Mujibur Rahuman, Eran Wickramaratne also struggled together with us to expose the truth of these attacks.
And even some religious leaders, whom we trusted the most, leveled baseless allegations against us.
But we did not waver in the face of any of that and our struggle continued. Due to the anti-government struggle that started from it, a change of government even took place in the end.
Saint Paul has said, “If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple”.
Even nature has proved, that no one who has gained power by creating a crisis, can maintain that power.
Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe accepted the challenge to revive the country, when some leaders were afraid to accept that challenge when every sector collapsed due to bankruptcy.
We are happy that those challenges have been met and overcome within a short period of one year.
On that day, we joined Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe based on seven unique conditions and demands. Six of those conditions have already been fulfilled and what remains is to bring all the accused of the “Easter attacks” to justice and hand out the maximum punishment to them. We requested an international investigation for that and we will make that request again.
Although we united with the government to overcome the challenges in the country, we continued to present the said request to the President while staying within the government.
Now that the issue has been discussed once again, an environment has been created to make strong demands in this regard once again.
However, it is a pity that even when we present our demands while being in the government, the opposition does not raise any voice in this regard.
The masterminds of the attacks should be found and punished. The truth cannot be hidden under the pretext of falsehoods. No one can violate the laws of nature. Ultimately the truth will prevail.
Harin Fernando – Minister of Tourism and Lands & Manusha Nanayakkara – Minister of Foreign Employment and Labour