Easter Sunday carnage: Quest for justice will continue – Cardinal

By Norman Palihawadana

Archbishop of Colombo Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith yesterday (21) said the leaders of all faiths had joined the Galle Face protest campaign, but the Catholics had been singled out for criticism.

Declaring that the protest campaign had been fueled by the economic crisis, the Cardinal emphasised that justice was yet to be served for the Easter Sunday victims.

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said so at special prayers held at St. Anthony’s Church, Kochchikade in memory of the Easter Sunday victims, both dead and the wounded.

Defending their decision to bring the failure on the part of Sri Lanka to address the grievances of the community to the notice of the Pope and the international community, the Cardinal found fault with the government for what he called unjust treatment.

The Cardinal said that the Catholics not only appreciated Buddhist culture but accepted their way of life, as well.

Demanding that the perpetrators of the Easter Sunday carnage should be dealt with without further delay, the Cardinal claimed that though Gotabaya Rajapaksa assured us in the run-up to the 2019 presidential poll that proper investigations would be conducted, once he became the President he acted differently.

The Cardinal alleged the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government had transferred policemen, inquiring into the Easter Sunday attacks, and placed the investigation under law enforcement officers close to the administration. He said that in spite of the change of government in July 2022, the incumbent administration, too, failed in its responsibilities.

Referring to the declaration made by Attorney General Dappula de Livera, PC, on the eve of his retirement in May 2021 that the Easter Sunday carnage was a grand conspiracy, the Cardinal asked whether the government took that statement into consideration. He said the quest for justice would continue.