Dr. Punsara Amarasinghe 7 September 2023
The recent video documentary released by Channel 4 in the UK is akin to a good tale told by a storyteller full of sound and fury, but signifying nothing. It is a basic principle in media ethics that one should always disclose the sources of their information to verify the authenticity of their story, if not it is likely to be a narrative grounded on imagination. As a matter of fact, the theory developed by Channel 4 in the UK suggesting that Sri Lanka’s Easter attacks were carried out as a clandestine operation to bring Gotabaya Rajapaksa to power contains no sources, but only the whistle-blowers’ testimony. It further suggests the links that existed between the Rajapaksa family and National Tawhid Jammath as a dirty ploy to trigger an event, which would pave the path for an ethnic rift in Sri Lanka. The biggest surprising story in Channel 4’s documentary comes from an asylum seeker called “ Asad Maulana”, who currently resides in Switzerland his patchy story that reveals the role of RAW ( Research and Analysis Wing ) as one of the conspirators in staging the Easter massacre along with Sri Lankan security forces to polarize the deteriorated Sri Lankan society to boost the return of Rajapaksa family to power.
Such an allegation based on no evidence is a fascinating story for those who dwell in the conspiracy theories as Channel 4 video harboured by Maulana’s testimony tells a provoking tale. But, in reality, Maulana’s story is far away from the truth. He claims that he set up a meeting between a senior military intelligence officer, Suresh Salley and IS-affiliated attackers to hatch a plot to create chaos in Sri Lanka to fasten Rajapakasa’s return. Maulana states “The meeting finished, Suresh Salley came to me and told the Rajapaksa’s need an unsafe situation in Sri Lanka s that’s the only way for Gotabaya to become president”. Furthermore, Maulana describes himself as an ally of Rajapkasa’s inner circle for nearly twenty years, but his conspiracy theory does not provide the slightest clue on the evidence he gathered. However, Maulana’s dubious identity has been unfolded by Prof.Rohan Gunarathne as a person from Zaharan’s ( the chief perpetrator of the Easter attacks) inner network, who later later went to Switzerland.
The allegations against RAW are more fragile as they lie beyond reality. The intelligence sharing between RAW and SIS (State Intelligence Service ) remained solid in the aftermath of the Sri Lankan civil war, especially the information exchanged between the two intelligence services regarding the spread of Islamic extremism in South India was vital. Since the first reported case of IS fighters in Sri Lanka in 2015, Indian intelligence services have been vigilant on the possible contacts between Islamic jihadist cells in South India and Sri Lanka. In the year 2016, Intelligence Beauru of India monitored a Sri Lankan software engineer named Addhil AX, who propagated IS ideology on online platforms and was involved in inspiring South Indian IS activists to attack a Jewish synagogue in Ahamedabad. There was a stir in the Indian intelligence circles regarding Sri Lankan connections with IS cells and fellow Islamic jihadi groups in South India. In particular, the robust development of IS ideology in the state of Kerala was an alarming factor for RAW and IB to keep a rapport with the Sri Lankan intelligence as they suspected a strong affinity between the terrorist networks of the two states. This conjuncture reached a valid point after authorities found how a youth named Yiyas Aboobacker in Palakand in Kerala was inspired to become a jihadist after watching the online propaganda of Zaharan Hashim.
A few months prior to the Easter attacks, Indian intelligence raided some IS sites in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. This discovery revealed many contacts between Zaharan Hashim and IS followers in South India. Contrary to the bizarre story narrated by Maulana in the Channel 4 documentary, the Indian intelligence agencies, mainly RAW played a pivotal role in monitoring the IS development in Sri Lanka. On the 4th of April, just two weeks before the attacks Indian intelligence alarmed Nilanatha Jayewardene the chief of the State Intelligence Service in Sri Lanka about impending attacks and a RAW representative in Colombo that that the information was received by the SIS chief of Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, the senior DIG Latheef commandant of the STF communicated with two diplomats from the Indian High Commission of Colombo regarding the security arrangements for the Indian High Commission and India House in response to the letter issued by RAW warning of an attack.
All in all, the Indian intelligence agencies were aware of the Easter attack and their intelligence sharing with Sri Lankan intelligence simply intended to impede the terrorist attack from its brutal execution, but their motives were thwarted due to the sheer apathy shown by the then government of Sri Lanka. The Easter carnage on the 21st of April 2019 in Sri Lanka was not a failure of the intelligence services, but it was rather an operation failure that opened up avenues for a dozen conspiracy theorists.
The dubious documentary released by Channel 4 commits no justice to those who lost their lives from the Easter attacks or their beloveds as the story portrayed in the documentary constitutes mere imagination without evidence. It may be true to critique the Rajapaksa family and their nepotistic policies filled with corruption during the height of their power, but the Channel 4 documentary, which relates Rajapaksa as a part of the Easter attack is a despicable attempt to deny the existence of the IS ideology in Sri Lanka. Above all, it is a dishonour for the officers in both Indian and Sri Lankan intelligence who worked tirelessly in uncovering the Islamic jihadist movements in the Sub-Continent.