Speaking to the media, Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith claimed he was tricked by ousted former President, and accused war criminal, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, into extending support for his candidacy in 2019 under the promise that he would investigate the Easter Sunday Bombings, which claimed the lives of over 250 individuals.

The cardinal's support for the Sinhala chauvanist candidate came despite a report by Sri Lanka's Parliamentary Select Committee, released a few months after the attack, which maintained that Sri Lanka's security forces may have allowed the bombings to proceed in order to “create chaos and instil fear” ahead of presidential elections. The report highlights that Sri Lanka’s intelligence officials had known the names of five of the 6 suicide bombers but failed to act to prevent the atrocities.

It went on to state;

“Such a situation would then lead to the call for a change of regime to contain such acts of terrorism. Coincidently or not so coincidentally, the security situation and fear would be unleashed months away from the Presidential Election… These are extremely serious observations that can impact the democratic governance, electoral processes and security of Sri Lanka and must require urgent attention.”

“We have to admit, we burnt our fingers once,” Malcolm told reporters during a media briefing at the  Colombo Archbishop’s House in Colombo adding that he was given a promise by Gotabaya Rajapaksa that once they came into power they would promptly investigate the 2019 terror attacks on Easter Sunday. “I was tricked by the ousted President".

He said that Rajapaksa once coming into power, indefinitely postponed the probe after accepting the report of the Commission appointed by the former President Maithripala Sirisena into the Easter attacks. 

A change of heart?

Since the Easter Sunday attacks Malcolm has been campaigning for an international investigation into the incident and has appealed to the United Nation's Human Rights Council. This is a marked shift in his position, given his previous staunch opposiiton to any international investigation into the war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan state against Eelam Tamils.

In 2012, as Bishop of Mannar, Rayappu Joseph and other members of the wrote to the UN Human Rights Council, Cardinal Ranjith said the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka rejected any moves for an international accountability mechanism and claimed "such efforts by western powers is an insult on the intelligence of the people of Sri Lanka".

In 2013, Ranjith, slammed any notion of foreign intervention in Sri Lanka, writing

"Foreigners should not tell us what to do... We are not a pack of fools".

 

Last month, he delivered a statement before the UNHRC, calling for an investigation into the Easter Sunday attack and -for the first time – spoke of accountability “for the atrocities in the North-East.”

“We remain concerned over the failure of a transparent, independent, and accountability process for victims of the terror attacks on Easter Sunday as well as the atrocities in the North-East,” he said Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, a former Rajapaksa ally.

 Looking towards the opposition

Speaking to the media, the cardinal noted that the was not raising the issue simply because the 5th anniversary of the Easter Sunday attack is on the horizion. “This is something that should have been done then and there,” he told reporters referring to the need for a probe.

“I have been sent a written pledge by Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) that they would resolve the issue should they be voted into power. The National People’s Power (NPP) has verbally pledged to investigate the matter. Although they have not sent me anything in writing, they have requested for an appointment to meet me. I too look forward to what they will have to say.”

“We should not make pledges because it is close to the Elections, instead steps should be taken to resolve incidences when they occur,”  he said. Adding that the Christian community hopes that the country’s political leaders would abide by the pledges they make, he said.  

This look to further promises made by political elites should be treated with caution given that the SJB has routinely denied the need for an international investigation into the war crimes committed by the Sri Lankan state against Eelam Tamils.