It’s mastermind, stupid

Thursday 20th May, 2021

The government is doing its darnedest to have the public believe that it has identified the mastermind behind the Easter Sunday carnage—Moulavi Naufer, who is already in custody. Public Security Minister Rear Admiral (retd.) Dr. Sarath Weerasekera reiterated the government’s position yesterday in Parliament. It was Naufer who had introduced the ISIS ideology here, the Minister said, noting that even the FBI had confirmed that he masterminded the terror attacks. True, Naufer has been a purveyor of the ISIS ideology, but he was below Zahran Hashim in the NTJ pecking order, and therefore, it is not possible that Zahran, who led the outfit, took part in a suicide attack at the behest of Naufer. Would Zahran have put in place a terror network complete with stockpiles of arms, ammunition and explosives, funds, brainwashed cadres ready to explode themselves, and, most of all, indoctrinated children, if his goal had been to carry out a series of attacks and perish therein?

Even if one accepts, for argument’s sake, the government’s claim that Naufer planned the Easter Sunday attacks and had them carried out, he, too, may have had a handler, who needs to be identified.

The PCoI report says SDIG Nilantha Jayawardena, who was the Head of the State Intelligence Service (SIS) implied in his testimony that the outfit which provided him with the intelligence in April 2019, about the impending terror strikes may have had a hand in the carnage. It also quotes an unnamed international expert on terrorism as having said that Zahran had reposed trust in a person named Abu Hind, who claimed to be the regional representative of the ISIS, and the latter had been in touch with Zahran’s brother Rilwan, and Naufer; the intelligence Jayewardene received was from Abu Hind, who was a character created by a section of a provincial intelligence apparatus of India; the operatives of this intelligence outfit operate on social media pretending to be Islamic State figures, and they are trained to run ‘virtual persona’. Thus, it is possible that Zahran was swayed by Abu Hind’s influence. Did ‘Abu Hind’ have Zahran carry out the terror attacks, claiming that orders had come from the ISIS? Did any foreign intelligence outfit use ‘Abu Hind’ and his organisation to make Zahran launch the Easter Sunday attacks?

SJB MP and SLMC leader Rauff Hakeem, a former Justice Minister, told Parliament yesterday that the Israeli intelligence had been behind the Easter Sunday attacks. We are not in a position to say whether his claim is true or false, but if he is telling the truth, then should the government go by what the FBI or the US says about the carnage? Interestingly, SJB MP Lakshman Kiriella has urged the government to enlist the support of the FBI to probe the Easter Sunday attacks, which Hakeem is blaming on Israel!

Minister Weerasekera cannot be unaware that the US tried to stop the Vanni war in a bid to save Prabhakaran. So, the question is how advisable it is for the government to seek assistance of the FBI in investigating terrorist activities against Sri Lanka.

Surprisingly, there has been no thorough probe, based on former SIS Director Jayawardena’s aforesaid claim, and the unnamed international expert’s statement. Is it that the government does not want any more problems to contend with on the diplomatic front, and, therefore, has chosen to lay all sins on Naufer, who however has to be brought to justice for his involvement in the carnage?

Meanwhile, it was ironical that the issue of the Easter Sunday terror happened to be discussed in Parliament during a debate on the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill, which the Opposition has dubbed a ‘complete sellout to China’. All Easter Sunday blasts, save one, were carried out along the Western littoral between Negombo and Dehiwala; four explosions took place near the Port City itself. The NTJ used two bombers for the attack on Shangri-La, one of them being Zahran himself. Did the mastermind behind the carnage seek to convey a special message through this particular attack? Were the bombings intended to destabilise Sri Lanka and make it unattractive as an investment destination so that the Port City project would suffer a huge setback? These are some of the angles from which the Easer Sunday carnage has to be investigated.