Sri Lankan Buddhist monks have demanded justice for victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks as several demonstrations were held in European countries highlighting the government’s failure to nab the culprits, says a report published by the UCA News service.
The report said: Ven. Professor Agalakada Sirisumana Thera said on Sept. 26 that not only Sri Lankans but the whole world is waiting for justice to be done for the Easter attacks.
“People did not receive the complete copy of the report of the Presidential Commission,” said Ven. Sirisumana Thera, who added that the absence of parts of the report had caused suspicion among Catholics.
The presidential commission of inquiry was ordered into the deadly attacks by former president Maithripala Sirisena.
Ven. Sirisumana Thera said that it was because of the failure of the previous government to ensure justice that people voted for the current government. But protests greeted the Prime Minister in Italy and the President in the United States recently due to their failure to provide results.
Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to Italy on Sept. 10 was also mired in controversy when Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith called it an attempt to mislead the Vatican on the progress of the probe into the attacks.
Protests were also held in the US while President Gotabaya Rajapaksa attended the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week, where he assured the world that terrorist violence would never happen again in Sri Lanka.
“Similar protests will be held in the future wherever the leaders of the country go,” warned Ven. Sirisumana Thera while calling on the government to come up with a solution that is acceptable to both Catholics and Buddhists.
He said that some Buddhist monks were unnecessarily indulging in heated arguments that threatened to destroy the harmony between Catholics and Buddhists. “Our responsibility today is to provide the guidance needed to resolve those issues without making impulsive comments in a divisive manner,” he said.
Ven. Omalpe Sobitha Thera, the chief patron of the Hela Bodu Saviya, said: “Catholic people have every right to go international if the issue can’t be resolved at the national level.”
He further said that it should not be perceived as an insult to the country. “As Buddhists, let us support the Catholics,” Ven. Sobitha Thera said.
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