Rev. Father Rohan Silva of the Centre for Society and Religion (CSR) has called on the government to remove Deputy Minister of Defence Aruna Jayasekera from his post until investigations into the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks are concluded.
The demand was made at the launch of a special report titled “Memory, Pain and Hope: Seeking Justice Seven Years On,” marking seven years since the bombings that killed over 260 people at churches and hotels across Sri Lanka.
Father Silva said Jayasekera served as Eastern Province Commander during the “controversial Sainthamaruthu incidents” — a reference to alleged security force operations against Muslim communities in the Eastern Province following the attacks. The CSR argues that his continued role in the defence establishment could compromise the fairness and impartiality of the ongoing inquiry.
The demand represents a new political pressure point for the NPP government, which has positioned itself as committed to accountability for the Easter attacks. Investigations are reportedly “progressing in a positive direction after seven years,” but civil society groups maintain that structural conflicts of interest must be addressed.
The CSR report adds to the growing body of Easter attack accountability efforts, which have intensified in recent months with new parliamentary revelations about pre-attack intelligence failures and the arrest of former SIS chief Suresh Sallay under the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
