Cardinal says political leadership should be brought to justice for ignoring attack warnings

In a commemorative message to mark the 1st year Anniversary of the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks, Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith blamed the then political leadership for its failure to act on prior intelligence warnings regarding an impending attack. 

In his message, the Archbishop said those of the country's political leadership, from the highest authority downwards, must be brought to justice for failing to act on information that an attack was imminent. 

The Archbishop also paid tribute to the people for coming together as one during the incident. "Those behind the attacks wanted to create chaos in this country. They conspired to create religious and communal strife. But we showed our brotherhood and unity and defeated their motives with patience." 

"Though a year has passed since the incident, we have still been unable to find those behind these attacks. This is a large network. We have a responsibility to find out who they are as otherwise, such an incident could occur again. We should not take into account their social status or political prowess," he asserted. 

"It is our responsibility to bring before the law all those responsible; from the Commander-in-Chief to the lowest ranked official, who received intelligence from foreign countries regarding an impending attack but who neglected taking action. No leader should be allowed to play with people's lives," the Cardinal noted.