Professor Rohan Gunaratna presents a copy of his book Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre to Foreign Minister Ali Sabry, with Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardene looking on. Pictures by Gayan Pushpika
History always repeats itself. So much blood has been shed throughout history. And it will keep happening. This is because throughout history there have been liars and murderers. Murderers who thirst for blood. Liars who distort the truth to promote their cruel and twisted ideologies. This is the killing of the innocents.
This is the presence of evil. Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre is one of the world’s worst international terrorist attacks in history. We cannot forget what happened. We must not forget what happened. We cannot let that episode in Sri Lankan history repeat itself. This is why Prof Rohan Gunaratna has penned his book Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday Massacre. To remind us of that day of evil. Now all we can do is to prevent such an attack from happening again.
When we think of liars and murderers, to some of us a certain passage in the Bible comes to mind – “He was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth.”(John 8:44).
Navigating grief and unity
How many people died in that horrific attack on April, 21, 2019? Some say that it was 269 killed. Others say 275. There are others who say it was 253. Such horror. A day of sorrow. Losing someone you love is the hardest thing in the world to deal with. Can you imagine the trauma and the pain they must be going through? Such senseless killings and mindless violence. Prof Rohan Gunaratna’s book launch was held recently. The Guest of Honor was the Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry, while Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena was the Chief Guest.
If we do not learn from the past, these episodes in history will repeat itself. We must be cautious and vigilant. There is no need to go deep into history or go through stats and figures. One theme discussed during the book launch was that Islam is a religion of mercy and that it does not condone such acts.
“The Easter attacks in Sri Lanka shattered us all. We thought after the defeat of Terrorism in 2009, that it was all over. And on the particular day we were all shocked to the core. For so long we have been living peacefully with Muslims. They have never got into violence. When this book came out some people were a little concerned.
Will this book rekindle animosity? But my friend Prof Rohan Gunaratna is a humanist. He believes in Sri Lanka. If we want to create a Sri Lanka where everyone can live in peace and harmony, then that Sri Lanka must be devoid of all forms of extremism. Islamic extremism is one form. We have to learn from the past. We have to eradicate it and prevent it. How do we face this massive challenge? Dr Rohan Gunaratna is doing his utmost to play his part when it comes to creating a Sri Lanka where we can all live together in peace and harmony.
Therefore, I felt it was my duty to come here today and be a part of this. Some of these things are ugly and uncomfortable. But this uncomfortable truth has to be told. We need to face that. We need to learn lessons from the past. That is how we can create that country we all want to live in. A country where all Sri Lankans, irrespective of their race, religion, language and ethnicity can live in peace and harmony,” said Minister Ali Sabry.
Call for co-existence and vigilance
Minister Ali Sabry pointed out that until we create that, some segments will still feel that they are not part of this country. It is a feeling. “Sometimes when we learn lessons, these lessons have to be rational, inclusive, balanced and all inclusive. It is important that we quickly learn from the past. All these extreme ideologies are bad, destructive and harmful. And we need to guard against them. We must remember that this extremist Islamic ideology has absolutely nothing to do with the religion of Islam. Islam is a religion of mercy.
There are 1.8 billion Muslims in the whole world. There is a very small percentage of Muslims who have gotten into this extremist ideology. These are people with twisted minds. A set of megalomaniacs. They will find refuge in ideology. And Islam has nothing to do with it. I can say this with conviction. The 2019 perpetrators of violence are no different. They were a set of barbaric terrorists. They used religion for their senseless terrorist activities, which is totally against Islam and what Islam preaches. Once you read this book, you will be shocked to know how Zahran and his people have misinterpreted the scriptures.
The Quran is around 1400 years. Not a single word has been changed. One teaching is freedom of expression and freedom of thought. That is very clear. You cannot compel anyone. There is also freedom of belief. That is also stated very clearly in the Quran. It is so important that we understand this. The Quran is also completely against killing. All you have to do is read the Quran and see for yourself. We need to learn lessons, find a way to co-exist and fight these extremists,” explained Minister Ali Sabry.
Unveiling the unseen
Minister Ali Sabry emphasized greatly on the point that we need to fight against all sorts of extremism. He was adamant that we must not justify violence. Extremism is not good for anyone. “We need to create friendships and build bridges. There must be a line of communication. If the community comes forward, we can foil these attacks in the making. We must work together as a country and not try to find fault with each other. I am sure that Prof Rohan’s objective is to create that environment where all Sri Lankans live in peace, harmony, dignity and respect. There is no other way. We need to continue to work hard,” added Minister Ali Sabry.
At the book launch a video of Zahran and the suicide bombers never before seen publicly was released. “The reason I want you to see this video is because immediately after the Easter Sunday Attack, I personally witnessed that there was no sustained communication from the Government to the public. After every terrorist attack the government should issue a white paper.
Otherwise various theories emerge and people come to various conclusions. I thought it prudent and important to release this particular video. Immediately after the Easter Sunday Attack I was asked to come to Sri Lanka and assist. When I came I spent one year, and during that one year I took the decision to release this video that Zahran filmed the day before the attack. Now I thought to release a very significant portion of this video. I have interviewed almost everyone who was in detention. I interviewed the mastermind of the deadly Easter Sunday attacks in 2019, NauferMoulavi. I extensively interviewed Zahran’s widow Hadiya and many others,” said Prof Rohan Gunaratna.
The video clip certainly was enlightening. It showed just how warped and wicked Zahran’s way of thinking was.
“His ideology does not reflect Islam. I myself have read the Quran. Every chapter of the Quran starts with the word ‘Mercy’. It is also a reality that this extremist ideology has come to our country. If we do not address this ideology, if we do not build a terrorist rehabilitation programme of those who are currently in custody, when those people are released, they will go and spread the same ideology that Zahran spoke of.
Comprehensive rehabilitation to counter extremism
The same terrorists will infect others with that ideology. And not only that, Zahran and his group will be hailed as heroes. That is the danger. I am very disappointed with the current Government! And with the previous Government. Four years have passed. We have not yet built a rehabilitation programme. The honorable Minister is here, honorable Speaker is here, honorable Attorney General is here and Justice of our Supreme Court is also here. There are also many Muslim leaders here. It is in your interest to build such a programme.
This is the message I want to give you. I have served in Iraq. I have served in Afghanistan. I have served in many conflict zones. I have interviewed hundreds of terrorists. And wherever governments did not build effective programmes, terrorism surged. So this programme, we should get this going. Let me share with you another two dimensions. The terrorism here did not emerge organically from the Muslim community. Islam in this country has been described throughout history as an idyllic form of Islam. It means a very beautiful form of Islam. Islam in Sri Lanka grew with Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity.
Even if you take the two suicide bombers, the Shangri-La bomber and the Cinnamon Grand bomber, their father gave donations to Buddhist temples. But his sons are not like that. The sons were radicalised by the same ideology. So we need observatories. We need mosques to be observatories to monitor radicalization. Law enforcement, military and intelligence cannot fight this threat alone. There are many Muslim elite leaders here. It is a battle that you have to fight. It is a battle you have to fight to protect your faith from being misinterpreted by people like Zahran. It is a battle that you have to fight to protect the faithful Muslims.
Because if you don’t do that, what is going to happen? This distorted ideology where Islamic concepts are being deliberately misinterpreted or misunderstood will be circulated. It will indoctrinate the current generation. I want to address one other point. Terrorism is a vicious by product of extremism. With the ideology that extremism grows, a very small percentage will become terrorists,” said Prof Gunaratna.
Prof Gunaratna then moved onto another subject – How does one become an extremist? It is called Exclusivism he said.
“On the day of the Easter Attack a woman called Fatimah exploded herself. She was pregnant. I personally investigated this case. She brought her two children with her and then detonated, taking the life of the unborn child and those other two children. Her husband was the Shangri-La bomber.
He specifically requested that the bomber/bomb maker of the Katuwapitiya Church (very intelligent but also radicalised) make a special bomb for her, because she believed that she would also go to heaven with the children. I have reviewed the documentation of the parents (Fatimah’s parents). They had such a brilliant relationship with the Buddhist temple and with the Sinhalese.
Roots of extremism
Fatimah herself was indoctrinated by the Shangri-La bomber – that you should not make any donations to non-Muslims. It is the ideology that is the driver of terrorism. Not only here but anywhere in the world. It is not only with regard to Muslim groups. There are these groups all over the world. There are so many of these groups,” he said.
One event that gave Zahran the opportunity to preach his distorted views and convince the bombers was the Christchurch Attack in New Zealand.On 15 March 2019, two consecutive mass shootings occurred in a terrorist attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. This was a Christian extremist. All Faiths have been misinterpreted from time to time.“Zahran’s radicalisation happened because he was indoctrinated by someone who came to Sri Lanka. Incidentally Zahran had been expelled for his extremist views from the institute he belonged to.”
Prof Gunaratna made an appeal asking those in power not to lift the ban on radical foreign preachers. “Under no circumstance should it happen. Zahran was radicalized by a preacher. If you want to create another Zahran in 10 or 20 years then lift the ban on the foreign preachers.”
The only way to stop this bloodshed recurring is to learn the lessons. So what we will regret is that over 200 people had to die in order for us to learn this lesson. There is no place for violence in a civilized society and in a civilized world.
Ishara Jayawardane