The Catholic Church claimed that it is in doubt as to whether President Ranil Wickremesinghe is allowing Public Security Minister Tiran Alles to continue making baseless accusations against Colombo Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith and the Catholic Church with the aim of undermining their (the Church’s) programme to demand justice for the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 2019.

In the recent past, Alles was seen criticising Cardinal Ranjith and the Catholic Church based on two key matters – the Church’s allegation that the Government had not properly investigated the said terror attacks and the Church’s opposition when the Government was earmarking Senior Deputy Inspectors General of Police (SDIGs) Nilantha Jayawardena and Deshabandu Tennakoon for the post of Inspector General of Police (IGP).

Speaking to The Daily Morning, Catholic Bishops Conference of Sri Lanka National Director of Communications Rev. Fr. Jude Chrishantha Fernando said that they had reasonable grounds to accuse the Government of not investigating the Easter Sunday terror attacks properly. 

“The Presidential Commission of Inquiry (CoI) that investigated the terror attacks has made a set of recommendations including action against several individuals, but the Government has not implemented any of those recommendations. There are several aspects that the Police and other related agencies have not looked into. If the situation is as such, how can we say that we are satisfied with the investigations?”

In response to Alles’ criticism of the Church over their opposition to appointing Jayawardena and Tennakoon as the IGP, Rev. Fernando said that they had objected to the duo over nothing but their failure to prevent the terror attacks in 2019. 

“If you look at the list of police officers who are to be appointed as the IGP, there is not a single Catholic officer. We have never asked the Government to appoint a Catholic as the IGP. What we always say is that the CoI report clearly mentions that Jayawardena and Tennakoon have neglected their responsibilities. It states that the terror attacks could have been prevented if they worked properly. That is the reason for our opposition to their appointment as the IGP.”

Commenting on a recent statement made by Alles that there are religious leaders who even maintain links with organised criminal gangs, and in turn, make remarks critical of the police crackdown on suspected criminals, Rev. Fernando said that the Church had been launching various programmes to help eliminate drugs and criminal activities in the country. 

“We even organised two peaceful protest marches before the terror attacks in 2019 in order to urge the Government to eliminate drugs and criminal activities. In addition, the Archbishop has appointed a Catholic priest to look into drug addicts, and to help them. The Church is also maintaining two rehabilitation centres in Colombo for drug addicts. While doing all these things, why should we have links with criminals?”

Noting that Alles has made critical remarks against Cardinal Ranjith and the Church on several occasions in the past few months, Rev. Fernando said that President Wickremesinghe is doing nothing to stop the former from doing so. 

“Wickremesinghe does nothing and allows Alles to make critical remarks against the Cardinal and the Church. We have a doubt that what Alles is doing is fulfilling a contract given by the President with the aim of disrupting our struggle to seek justice for the victims of the Easter Sunday terror attacks.”

The Catholic Church and Cardinal Ranjith have been subjected to various criticisms by pro-Government parties including Parliamentarians and Ministers as a result of their (the Church’s) programme to seek justice for the victims of the terror attacks. The Church has been emphasising that the relevant investigations have not been conducted properly, while the Government, particularly Alles, has been asserting that almost 90% of the related investigations have been concluded. In addition, critical remarks have also been exchanged by the Church and Alles over Tennakoon’s appointment as the Acting IGP.