18 April 2021 10:51 pm
Colombo’s Archbishop Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said today the brutal attacks on Easter Sunday in 2019 was unleashed by a group, which tried to consolidate their political power by using religious extremism as a tool.
The Cardinal made these remarks during the unveiling of a monument constructed at General Cemetery in Borella, in memory of nine persons, who died in the attacks and buried at the cemetery.
The Cardinal said no one should harm anyone who does not belong to his religious or ethnic group. “Easter Sunday attack was not as a result of a craze of over religion but an attempt to capture and safeguard power,” he said.
“No one should harm anyone belonging to another religious group or ethnic group to achieve his or her personal goals. This is common to people who belong to all ethnic and religious groups," the Archbishop said.
"This world will become an unfortunate place to live if such things happen,” he added.
He said the whole country is waiting till justice is meted out to those who were affected by the Easter Sunday attacks.
Two weeks back Cardinal Ranjith made a scathing attack on former President Maithripala Sirisena saying the latter is responsible for the Easter Sunday attacks. (Yohan Perera)
Pix by Nisal Baduge