SHATTERED BOND OF CONFIDENCE IN HUMANITY

April 21, 2019 will forever remain as one of the most tragic days in the history of Sri Lanka. Explosions that took place almost simultaneously in several locations of the country's capital city, Colombo, and other cities led to mass casualties. As a result of nine explosions, 359 people were killed and about 500 were injured. But the main victim of that morning was a shattered faith in humanity.

Chronology of explosions

The first six explosions occurred between 8-9 am local time. Apparently, the timing of events was planned well in advance: the night service on Easter night is a widespread ritual in Christian tradition. It is believed that on this night, physical dream turns into a spiritual one, and by the morning, the believer is in a state of blissful relaxation. In the morning, parishioners join the Sunday night prayers for those who have served the night service. This is the time when Christian churches are extremely crowded. The largest number of people died because of the first three explosions: one in the church of St. Anthony in Colombo, the second - in the church of St. Sebastian in Negombo, the third - in the Catholic church in the city of Batticaloa.

This was followed by explosions in the central hotels of Colombo, that is Shangri-La, Cinnamon Grand and Kingsbury. The law enforcement agencies started to work immediately after the explosions. But during the police raids, two more bombs exploded — in the suburb of Colombo Dehiwale and in the Dematagoda area, where three policemen were killed. After that, another homemade bomb was found and defused near the Colombo airport - the terrorists completely filled a 1.8 m long piece of pipe with an improvised explosive.

The last, ninth explosion took place on the following day near one of the churches of Colombo, this time without casualties: during the cleaning operation, a wagon filled with explosives detonated.

Ignored warnings

A day after the explosions, it became known that the Sri Lankan authorities had received several warnings about impending attacks before a series of terrorist attacks.

First such information appeared on April 4, after which the Ministry of Defence sent a detailed report to the police chief, and on April 11, warnings were sent to the heads of security divisions.

India was named as the source of intelligence. Although the Sri Lankan security services kept a group of jihadists from the Jamaat al-Tawhid al-Watania movement under surveillance, there were no arrests or any other action by special services. Outdoor surveillance cameras recorded suicide bombers with large backpacks behind their backs, “peacefully” strolling through the streets of cities and freely penetrating into the church.

Authorities did not even notified the top leadership of the country. President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena openly expressed his bewilderment by accusing the heads of the police and special services of complete incompetence and demanded their immediate resignation. As can be seen from the consequences, the negligence of the special services turned into a real tragedy. Depressed, Sri Lankans locked themselves in their homes watching news on TV.

The state of emergency imposed by the authorities immediately after the events allows the suspects to be detained and interrogated without a court order. The last time the police used such powers during the fights with extremists of the Tigers of the Liberation of Tamil Elam.

As a result of the raids of law enforcement officers, 40 suspects were detained, and explosives and detonators were discovered. Interpol joined the investigation. The states whose citizens died in the terrorist attacks sent their representatives to assist in the investigation.

War of radical ideas

Sri Lanka is a home to four large religious denominations: the majority of the population are Buddhist (more than 70%), followed by Hindus, Muslims and Christians almost equal in number. The most important point here is that the Sri Lankans, regardless of their confessions, are distinguished by excessive religiosity. During public opinion polls, 99% of citizens said that religion plays a major role in their lives. Residents of Sri Lanka consistently maintain religious traditions of their ancestors by holding ceremonies, honouring traditions and passing them to next generation.

As soon as the Tamil Tigers went off the stage, the nationalist impulse of the Sri Lankans gave way to religious intolerance. In 2014, a series of anti-Muslim pogroms swept across the country. Sinhalese Buddhists from the Boda Bal Sena organization provoked clashes. Nevertheless, the Sri Lankan authorities blamed the Muslim community, leaving the organisers of the pogroms free of responsibility. Since then, Muslims in the country have harboured a hidden resentment, which has created favourable conditions for radical Muslim preachers. Jamaat al-Tawhid al-Watania emerged almost at this time and soon became a local cell of al-Qaida. However, the “righteous” wrath of the radicals did not fall on Buddhists, who actually control all the country's power structures, but on defenceless Christians. The size of the island's Christian community, which once constituted up to a third of the population of Sri Lanka, began to decline sharply after Sri Lanka declared its independence, as Sri Lankans saw them as representatives of European colonialists and oppressed them in every way. According to preliminary results of the investigation, the organisers of the recent bombings called it a revenge for the attack on mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

On the other hand, such a small organisation as Jamaat al-Tawhid al-Watania could not make such a big terrorist attack without external assistance. That is why suspicions fell on the so-called Islamic State, which did not wait long and published a video claiming the responsibility for the attacks.

International community undermined

The majority of victims on that Easter day are local residents, but there are also foreigners among the dead, including more than 30 citizens from Great Britain, India, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Spain, the USA, Australia and Turkey, which made the tragedy on this island nation international.

Sri Lanka is famous for its coast, which is a multi-kilometre strip of sandy beaches with palm trees and crystal clear waters. Many of the foreign nationals have come to rest in this virtually untouched paradise with their entire families, unaware of the danger.

According to world media, Ben Nicholson from Great Britain lost his entire family during the tragedy: his wife Anita Nicholson, their 14-year-old son Alex and 11-year-old daughter Annabel during the explosion at the restaurant of the Shangri-La hotel.

Father of the deceased Turkish engineer Serhat Narici tells with tears in his eyes that his son sent a WhatsApp message to his father at five in the morning, wishing him good morning. That was the last message from him.

According to UNICEF, at least 45 children were victims of the explosions. Among them, three out of four children of Danish billionaire Anders Holh Povlsen, co-owner of the British online store Asos. On the other side of the barricade were the two sons of local billionaire Mohammed Ibrahim, who blew themselves up that morning in Christian churches. This fact also indicates an international scale of the tragedy.

The global war of radical ideas seriously affected Sri Lanka. Terror caused by the desire to avenge co-religionists throws humanity a few centuries back. Disputes about whose blood was shed first are completely pointless, as there is no definite answer, like in a chicken or an egg problem. Only the common sense, which once isolated Homo sapiens from the cruel animal world, can stop the terror.