A tragedy that could have been averted
The news reports on the most tragic incidents on Easter Sunday indicate that by April 11, 2019, through intelligence information, the Police Chief was made aware of possible attacks on churches in Sri Lanka and that in turn he passed the same to his deputies.
It is now very clear that the Police Chief and his deputies took no action at all on this warning as no national alert was publicized. There was a time gap of almost 10 days till Easter Sunday, the D-day in this instance, and there was no follow-up action which should logically have been to first make the church authorities aware and then arrange for strong security around churches in consultation with Church authorities, during the Good Friday-Easter Sunday period when devotees throng these places for worship.
Nothing of the sort happened and the bombers had a field day and easy access to their targets, sans any security checks as is usual in churches, to which there is free access for anyone. A CCTV recording at the St.Sebastian’s Church, Katuwapitiya, clearly showed the suspected bomber walking into the church through a side door with a heavy backpack which probably had the lethal bomb for detonation and the onlookers said that just after the entry of this man, the dreaded explosion occurred. Had there been tight security, this man could not have gained access to the church that easily. In fact, genuine worshippers never walk in like that to church with heavy backpacks and even the people in and around the church at that time would definitely have prevented him from walking in, had there been a national alert published well in advance.
Based on the foregoing, it is most apparent that there has been a major lapse on the part of the Police Chief and his Deputies, as they have miserably failed to perform their relevant duties, either purposely or through negligence. Had they quickly acted on the advance information they had, at least the tragedy in the churches could have been avoided or minimized.
Now in the aftermath of this tragedy when Sri Lanka is once again in the spotlight worldwide, for bombings targeting innocent civilians after a lapse of almost 10 years of calm and peace, it will be interesting to find out whether the Police Chief and his deputies will not be held accountable. Of course, given the fact that in this country, where people in authority boast of the responsibilities they hold, and accountability for lapses is mostly unheard of and passing the buck is mostly the order of the day, it is probable that the same situation will prevail with no change, unless there is a drastic change in the approach to administration, at least now.
We have to only wait and see.
A.Bedgar Perera Moragolla, Imbulgasdeniya