By Norman Palihawadane in The Island, Oct 31, 2023
National Catholic Mass Communications Director Fr. Jude Krishantha Fernando said yesterday that Colombo Archbishop Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith had been shocked and dismayed by a recent statement made by SLMC Leader Rauff Hakeem that Israel had been behind the 2019 Easter Sunday terror attacks.
Addressing the media in Colombo, Rev. Fr. Fernando said that Cardinal Ranjith, who is currently in the Vatican, had contacted him and requested that the Church express its disappointment with Hakeem’s statement to Parliament.
In his statement, Hakeem suggested that the Cardinal had informed him that Israel was involved in the Easter Sunday attacks.
“This is untrue. The Cardinal informed me that he was deeply concerned about the way Hakeem had misused his parliamentary privileges to mislead the public. The Cardinal has never made any statements regarding an Israeli connection to the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks. He has not met with any political leaders, including those from Muslim political parties, in recent months. His interactions with political leaders took place shortly after the terror attacks, approximately four and a half years ago. The Cardinal firmly asserts that he never made such a statement,” Rev. Fr. Fernando said.
The Cardinal’s only statement on the matter was that the terror attacks were not carried out by the Muslim community in this country but by a small group of terrorists, influenced by political motives. “Our stance on this issue remains unchanged,” Rev. Fr. Fernando added.
“While there may be international factors at play, Israel is not among them,” he said.
Rev. Fr. Fernando condemned Hakim’s statement, labelling it as a blatant falsehood. He called on Hakim to refrain from using Parliament as a platform for spreading false information and urged him to retract his statement within the parliamentary setting. Rev. Fr. Fernando added that Hakim may have concerns about Israel due to identity politics, but such concerns should not lead him to associate the country with the tragic events that took place in this nation.
https://island.lk/church-clears-israel-of-having-any-hand-in-easter-sunday-carnage-in-sl/
