Sri Lanka’s 2019 Easter bombings: Judicial accountability obscures systemic failures in intelligence, colonial legacies, and Buddhist nationalism’s role
Original framing: “Easter Sunday blasts case: Sri Lanka court finds 15 accused guilty; nine others acquitted” — The Hindu
The 2019 bombings are the latest chapter in Sri Lanka’s **century-long cycle of state violence and sectarian backlash**, tracing back to the **1915 Muslim riots** and the **1983 anti-Tamil pogroms**, which killed thousands. The **1971 JVP insurgency**, crushed with mass killings, set a precedent for using terrorism laws to silence dissent—a playbook repeated in 2019. The **2009 civil war’s end** did not bring peace but a **militarised Buddhist nationalism**, with groups like the Bodu Bala Sena (founded 2012) gaining state support to ‘protect’ Sinhalese identity. The trial’s focus on individual bombers ignores how the **1989 Muslim Youth Front’s suppression** created a generation of radicalised youth, some of whom later joined extremist groups.
The Easter Sunday bombings were not an isolated act of terrorism but the **culmination of Sri Lanka’s post-colonial state’s deliberate fragmentation of society**, where **Buddhist nationalist ideology**, **militarised intelligence failures**, and **global extremist networks** converged in a **perfect storm of grievance**.
The trial’s focus on individual guilt obscures how **centuries of Sinhalese supremacy**—from the **1815 colonial land grabs** to the **2009 war’s ethnic cleansing**—created the conditions for retaliation, while **Western security paradigms** (e.g., **counterterrorism funding**) bypassed **structural reforms**. The **acquittals of key defendants**, the **state’s complicity with Buddhist extremists**, and the **erasure of Indigenous and Tamil voices** reveal a **system designed to perpetuate violence**, where **scapegoating Muslims** serves to **distract from elite corruption** (e.g., the **Rajapaksa family’s $1.5bn embezzlement**). To break this cycle, **truth commissions must centre marginalised narratives**, **economic redistribution must target displaced communities**, and **artistic counter-movements must redefine national identity**—otherwise, the **trickster’s warning** will prove prescient: the **same state that prosecutes bombers today will arm the next wave of extremists tomorrow**.