“I didn’t feel the year pass by because I think about them every day. It is as if they never left,” Chandima Niranjali Yasawardena says over the phone.
Sometimes, the 45-year-old resident of Negombo, out of habit, wakes up early in the morning and ‘jumps’ out of bed to wake her eldest daughter to study. Her eldest child who was 16 years old last year was preparing to sit the G.C.E Ordinary Level examination. But she never did.
Life is on pause for Niranjali now. Her husband, Sampath, and two ‘beautiful’ daughters Nethmi and Vishmi died a year ago at St. Sebastian’s Church, Negombo, when terrorists targeted worshippers and tourists in churches and luxury hotels claiming over 250 lives and leaving over 500 others injured. Niranjali is the sole survivor of her family.
St. Anthony’s Shrine in Colombo, St. Sebastian’s Church and the Zion Church in Batticaloa were the prime targets of the terrorists.Suicide bombers simultaneously detonated bombs in the restaurants of three hotels in Colombo- the Kingsbury, theShangri-La and the Cinnamon Grand.Two explosions were triggered in a lodge in Dehiwala and a house belonging to two of the terrorists in Dematagoda between 2p.m. and 2.15p.m.
This Tuesday (21) marked the first anniversary of the bombings. Despite a series of events being scheduled over a period of a week, they were forced to be cancelled owing to the ongoing health crisis. The Archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith urged all citizens to take part in the event, a more simplified version of the former, from their homes.
So, bells tolled in every church across the island remembering the carnage the terrorist attached to the Islamist group, National Thowheeth Jama’ath left behind.
“They were telling the world about what happened on that dark day,” Niranjali said.
The sound was not easy for her to bear. “Parents see their lives through their children. My children are gone, but I thank the Lord everyday for giving them to me,” she said.
It was after her two daughters died that Niranjali was told by their friends that their ambition was to be ‘good’ citizens, just like how their mother wanted them to.
A two minutes silence followed the tolling of the bells at 8.45 a.m. on Tuesday which was the time that the first bomb was detonated. At St. Anthony’s Shrine in Kochchikade, several church-goers and family members of victims held candles as they prayed for their loved ones a few metres away from the church premises.
At 8.47a.m. candles and lamps were lit.
“This is a moment to remember this senseless and meaningless tragedy that happened to us on Easter Sunday last year and which is completing one year today, April 21,” Cardinal Ranjith said.
“We honour all those who lost their lives, those who were seriously injured, and all those who lost their loved ones,families which have been broken up and those who are suffering. Because, with a lot of resolve, they decided to be magnanimous on that occasion,” Malcolm Cardinal Ranjith said in a message sent via electronic media.
He also said during a press conference last week that they have ‘spiritually forgiven’ the bombers but stressed the importance of bringing their supporters to justice.
Niranjali wants justice too. “Even today we do not know what happened. Why we were targeted. These people must be punished for what they did,” Niranjali said adding that the pain is near impossible to bear.
Nearly 200 suspects were arrested in connection with the bombings. The Criminal Investigation Department and the Terrorist Investigation Division are interrogating most of them. Police spokesperson, SP Jaliya Senaratne said they expectto conclude the investigations soon. As the investigations are still ongoing court proceedings have not yet begun.
Forty-one-year-old K. Wimalendran who lost his younger brother, sister-in-law and two nieces in the St. Anthony’s Shrine bombing, was hoping to give 200 parcels of dry rations to families in need. He couldn’t do it as a police permit was not given because of the increasing number of COVID 19 patients in Colombo. By last afternoon (24) there were 373 confirmed coronavirus cases in the country and 259 patients are still under treatment.
“We planned it because it would have been what my brother would have done during a time like this,” Wimalendran said. He understands the health risks and has postponed the distribution of the parcels.
Niranjali in Negombo was one of the few who were able to visit the mass grave where her loved ones were buried. On Tuesday, she went to the grave abiding by the social distancing laws imposed to tackle the spread of COVID-19.
“I am grateful for the opportunity. The grave where my husband and daughters are buried is the happiest place on earth for me now,” she said.
