Someone
robs a bank. Now, obviously, it is not always the case that those who
carry out such heists do all the planning themselves. The brains prefer
not to get their hands dirtied. Also, in case things go wrong, they
would obviously want the out of ‘not being involved,’ which of course
would be tough if they were caught with their hands in the kitty. It is
the same with terrorists and terrorism. The leaders let others handle
the doing and dying.
There’s a difference though. While all
organisations, right and left, fundamentalist or otherwise, can be used,
the very nature of terrorism, especially in operations involving
suicide attacks, such manipulation by ‘outside forces’ is a tad
difficult. However, it could be argued that to the extend that terrorism
and terrorists have their financial backers there is some form of nudge
involved. The USA, for example, does it all the time (think,
‘Afghanistan’ from at least since 1980). That said, it would be silly to
claim that the financial backers set the agenda right down to the
finest detail. Typically, such outfits are set up and/or funded and even
armed and trained to tilt a political equation in a particular
direction. It is the terrorist on the ground who picks targets, does the
homework, designs strategy and executes.
There’s only so much
juice, then, that one can extract from that particular useful political
orange called ‘brains.’ Those who love conspiracy theories can backtrack
several decades or even the beginning of recorded history or even
beyond. Prabhakaran was a construct of Sinhala Buddhist Chauvinism, it
has been argued. He is also the issue of Tamil Chauvinism that predates
Sinhala Buddhist equivalents by several decades, it can be argued. No,
it was the British, did someone say? No, Raja Raja 1, the Chola brigand,
sacker of cities and plunderer of wealth, right?
So, can we
argue that the attack on the Central Bank building or the Sri Maha Bodhi
or the Dalada Maligawa or the assassination of Appapillai Amirthaligam
was the handiwork of Anagarika Dharmapala or Arumugam Navalar? No.
That’s how silly the conspiracy theories being floated about a
‘mahamolakaru’ (mastermind or ‘brains’) associated with the Easter
Sunday attacks are.
That said, there can be accomplices,
accessories after the fact of terrorism. Those who have aided and
abetted or helped set things up. The negligent, it could be argued,
belong to that group of individuals. Negligence on the part of those
mandated to keep eyes open and take necessary action is a serious
matter. The negligent in such cases are friends of the enemy, even
though they may not have broken bread with the likes of Zahran Hashim.
Negligence
is the word. It implies incompetence. Its colour is even more
pronounced when the person in question is supposed to be an expert. So
if the then president, Maithripala Sirisena (not an intelligence officer
and not an investigator) and then Minister of Public Administration and
Management and Law and Order Ranjith Maddumabandara (not an
intelligence officer and not an investigator) were negligent (yes, they
were both aware of the warnings), what could one say of the pin-up boy
in charge of investigation during the Yahapalana years, Shani
Abeysekera?
Shani ‘I am the Man’ Abeysekera (as per his FR
affidavit) was the then government’s go-to guy. Remember that this was a
period in which the military was sidelined by a political regime that
believed anything or anyone associated with the Army was a threat to
their version of peace, reconciliation and all such things. Intelligence
was not just ignored, the relevant apparatuses were all but dismantled.
The intelligence agencies, crippled though they were, still did
their job. They are mandated to report and report they did. They do not
have investigative power nor such mandates. During those years it was
the CID that led. Others had to watch from the sidelines.
What
happened? On the 19th of February, 2019 (just two months before the
attack), the CID visited Zahran’s house in Kekunagolla, Kuliyapitiya. A
statement was recorded. That’s it. Now if Shani’s CID was such a stellar
outfit they would have known or at least found out that Sara Jasmine
(wife of Hasthoon, the Katuwapitiya Church suicide member) and Ferosa
(wife of Azath, Batticaloa Zion Church suicide member) were in that
house at that very moment? They didn’t search. They just left.
In
December 2021, a petition was submitted to the Secretary, Public
Security, regarding the above. It was referred to the AG for advice and a
case was filed in the Magistrate’s Court Kuliyapitiya. That’s the
context for Shani’s FR application.
What is he claiming? He’s
essentially saying that he was misled by intelligence reports. He cites
the investigation regarding the Vavunathivu attack and others, claiming
in essence that intelligence agencies had offered red herrings. Well, if
he’s such a star, he would have noticed the fact quickly and called on
his political friends for punitive action against these miscreants.
Anyway, chasing red herrings is no excuse to let the big fish get away,
especially considering the resources at his disposal and the political
backing he enjoyed. The CID, moreover, is not an adjunct of the DMI or
SIS.
Shani led the investigations into 11 incidents related to
extremist activity prior to Easter Sunday, but failed to identify
suspects or take action that could have prevented the attacks. Even if,
as he claims, he was led astray by the intelligence agencies, who may or
may not have mentioned several possible groups involved in the
Vavunathivu attack, in the first week of April 2019, the DMI
specifically informed the CID that Zahran was responsible. That’s not
mentioned in the FR. Why not, one wonders.
Anyway, there’s a
simple fact that’s missing in Shani’s story. It’s called responsibility.
Investigation is his business. If the CID’s work is done by
intelligence agencies, then why should we have a CID? It’s police work.
They need to investigate. They need to find evidence. They play a key
role in law enforcement and public security. What we see here, then, is a
cheap attempt to get others to share the blame. Well, you can’t have it
both ways: you can’t in one instance say ‘I am the Man, all seeing, all
powerful, competent beyond belief etc., etc.’ and then say ‘some idiots
in the intelligence agencies played me for a sucker and I went along
with them.’ You cannot be THE pin-up boy and when things go wrong say ‘I
was just one among many on that stage; in fact I was in a corner and
made to twiddle my thumbs.’
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