The Hon. Hector Appuhamy

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I regret that we have to keep revisiting a topic we said we would not speak about again, and it is distressing. We remember what this Government said when it came to power. In the past, there were groups who traded on the Easter attack, and you were part of those groups. You said before taking office and after, and even last year by 21 April, that you would reveal the mastermind. But now, up to this 21 April, you have failed to say who the mastermind is.

¶ 02 We saw the groups that nurtured the Rajapaksas – those with Udaya Gammanpila – now shamelessly saying they were with the Rajapaksas and Udaya. We were not with them. From your speeches, it seems the mastermind is the Government itself that helped print Gammanpila’s book. Because in the end you say Gammanpila did right. Then we must ask whether the person invited as chief guest was part of that plan. However much you laugh, if the Government helped print that book, remember you did so over the dead bodies of those who died. Now, after printing a book for Rs. 1,500, you try to print another book naming another mastermind – our MP Mujibur Rahuman. We have confidence in him.

¶ 03 If he had done such a thing, would people have kept silent all this time? If so, why did you not call him the mastermind then? Why didn’t the security forces act then? From all this manipulation, it is clear you are running this through your coordination.

¶ 04 You told blatant lies here today. What lies? That Pillayan was remanded over the Easter attack. But he was remanded over the abduction and disappearance of Prof. Subramaniam Ravindranath, not Easter. If you say otherwise, how can we trust you?

¶ 05 You also said the investigation was derailed then. If so, the area then under the present Deputy Minister of Defence, Mr. Aruna Jayasekera – did he derail it? Ask your own Deputy Minister sitting behind you whether he too was part of derailing. Understand what you say before you say it.

¶ 06 You spoke about Sara Jasmin; you said Sara was in India. You have now signed seven or eight agreements with India, going and bowing there. Have you asked India whether Sara is there? Did you repeat your earlier claim? Did you have the backbone to ask? Or was it a lie then, and now something else?

¶ 07 The Government now only talks about Sajith Premadasa. Why? What has he done? He rebuilt the churches after Easter. While you coordinated the destruction of Muslim property, he paid compensation to rebuild. That he attended the book launch is another matter. He has clearly said that after seeing what is in the book, he considers it wholly unnecessary and does not accept it. But first, keep your backbone straight.

¶ 08 You say most of the funds for the Easter attack came from Ibrahim’s house – your National List MP. Then say now with a backbone what you have done to Ibrahim. You hide behind excuses, not even asking about Sara Jasmin, and try to save your side. Remember it was the SJB that spoke for Shani and Ravi when they were attacked by the governments then. We have never tried to unduly influence the security services. The Easter attack brutally killed innocent Catholics and also gravely harmed innocent Muslims, making them victims. Remember that when you speak.

¶ 09 We still believe there is a group above the perpetrators who managed this attack. We do not know who. It is your duty to find them. We are speaking today because the President himself, after taking office, said he would reveal the mastermind before last April 21.

¶ 10 We pay our respects to the innocent people killed, and pray they rest in peace. But please do not do your politics over their graves. We tell Gammanpila and the rest as well: do not do this greedy, cursed, cruel politics over the bodies of those innocents.

¶ 11 We also oppose the title of that book. As a Catholic and a representative in this Parliament, I object to it.

¶ 12 [Interjection by Hon. Mahinda Jayasinghe, Deputy Minister of Labour]

¶ 13 If so, why did your leader go to the launch?

¶ 14 [Hon. Hector Appuhamy]

¶ 15 He went as Leader of the Opposition. What is the problem with that?

¶ 16 [Hon. Mahinda Jayasinghe]

¶ 17 We will speak about that in our speech.

¶ 18 [Hon. Presiding Member]

¶ 19 Time is over, Hon. Member.

¶ 20 [Hon. Hector Appuhamy]

¶ 21 Now the power is in your hands. Then go and find the mastermind. Find and reveal the mastermind. This Government has had a year and a half. By the end of this year, do not shamelessly come and say the mastermind is Zaharan.