The Hon. Harshana Nanayakkara, Attorney-at-Law - Minister of Justice and National Integration

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I will not take nine minutes. Brother, I am coming—please wait a bit. All right, thank you. Coming, reading, running—quite a task!

¶ 02 Hon. Presiding Member, this debate today was requested not by us, but by Hon. Sajith Premadasa. He kept saying, “Seek the truth, seek the truth.” The incident happened during the Yahapalana Government when he was a Cabinet Minister of Housing, Construction and Cultural Affairs. For so long he did not seek the truth; now suddenly he has a craving to seek it. We can only get burned with our mouths; if we had another place to burn from, we would get burned there too. As for “Nawas”—shock! They say we freed him and released his properties. We were not in Government on 25 May 2022. He was freed then—not by us.

¶ 03 I thank Members who spoke today. Except for a few know-alls and their flock, most Opposition Members spoke according to conscience. They acknowledged that stalled investigations are now moving forward successfully under this Government. On the 2019-04-21 incident, 274 were killed, 564 injured. More than that, our Muslim brothers and sisters living here were harmed afterwards—demonized as wicked and terrorist. Our party has no racism; we stood only against extremism. We stood with our Muslim brethren. Those who ate and drank with us did not come out of their homes. We deeply regret that. The Rajapaksas who sowed racism and religious hatred in this country should understand this. That is why people said then too that there was a mastermind behind it. We have no desire to do politics with this. We did not even want this debate today.

¶ 04 However, a daily trial-at-bar is hearing the cases regarding the chain of explosions of 2019-04-21, against 25 accused—one has since died. Those trials are proceeding daily; thus we expect judgments this year.

¶ 05 People have long said the problem lies elsewhere. Minister Ananda Wijepala clarified it today. There has been a public view that there was a mastermind behind this; that it was a plan by the Rajapaksas to gain power. Udaya Gammanpila and others were all there at that time.

¶ 06 The 2018 Vavunativu double policeman murder was, at the time, diverted to say “rehabilitated LTTE” did it, shoving it under the “jacket box.” After we came to power, our Government has uncovered that it was in fact by Zaharan’s group.

¶ 07 So what happened? A set of people operated to protect the mastermind, diverting investigations. Now, investigations on that diversion have begun and arrests have been made. Had the 2018 attack been properly investigated, the 2019 Easter attack would not have occurred, as we now reveal that Zaharan’s group committed the 2018 attack as well. If those investigations had not been diverted then, there would have been no Easter attack in 2019. We are uncovering that now.

¶ 08 This Parliament has debated the Easter attack 13 times. Why did the Leader of the Opposition suddenly ask for a 14th debate? Because of the arrest of “Saleh.” After Saleh’s arrest, politicians in the Rajapaksa camp and others issued media statements and wrote books, claiming the mastermind was none other than Zaharan Hashim. The current commotion comes from there. Due to that commotion following Saleh’s arrest, Hon. Sajith Premadasa sought another debate. That is my inference. Was his presence at the book launch an accident, or is he someone who aligns with the organized masterminds? We have to wonder again and again. I am saddened that several SJB MPs spent the whole day trying to whitewash their Leader. We did not send him there. We did not tell him to attend the book launch. Having gone and got entangled, first they said it was not Sajith but someone fabricated by AI; another said he went; a third said he went unknowingly. For a month, Udaya Gammanpila kept saying the masterminds would be revealed that day—Zaharan Hashim—and he sat in the front row. We saw it. I am astonished and saddened: the real issue lies far away, but Hon. Sajith Premadasa runs and jumps into the mud pit and shouts that the NPP threw him into the mud. Do not swallow us and eat us. We neither asked you to go nor advised you to go. We are not here to talk about those things today. These investigations are proceeding rapidly and successfully. I thank the majority of Members who spoke today. On the Opposition side, only Hon. Bathiudeen is seated now. Yes, we are doing this task; we are delivering justice. Hon. Mujibur is also in the House—apologies, I did not notice you earlier. The others have left the Chamber—because they had other business. You remained and acted according to your conscience.