Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Sri Lanka bans 11 Muslim groups ahead of Easter attacks anniversary

Sri Lanka bans 11 Muslim groups ahead of Easter attacks anniversary

Sri Lanka on Wednesday banned 11 Muslim organisations, including the Islamic State group and Al-Qaeda, a week ahead of the second anniversary of the Easter Sunday suicide bombings which killed 279 people.

Anyone linked to the groups -- the other nine of which are local religious and social organisations -- faces up to 20 years in jail, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said in a gazette notification.


Ahead of the anniversary, the country's Roman Catholics had threatened to take to the streets over what they say is the government's failure to act against those responsible for the attacks.

Some of the groups banned Wednesday had previously been linked to the lead bomber.

The move, made under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, was "in furtherance of the efforts of the government of Sri Lanka made in good faith for the purpose of ensuring the continuance of peace within the country," Rajapaksa said.

The seven Sri Lankans who attacked three churches and three hotels in April 2019 had pledged allegiance to the IS leader at the time, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

However, investigators said they had found no evidence of direct links to IS.

Two local groups said to be directly linked to the attacks were banned in 2019, but a presidential investigation into the bombings wanted similar Islamic groups outlawed too.

All seven bombers died and no other suspects have been charged.

The head of the Roman Catholic church in Sri Lanka, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, has demanded swift action not just against those responsible, but against the politicians and officials who failed to stop them.

The investigation found that then president Maithripala Sirisena and his intelligence leaders were warned by India about the attacks 17 days before they were staged.

The United States has filed action against three Sri Lankans over the bombings. Five US nationals were among 45 foreigners killed in the blasts.

The inquiry, whose report was released earlier this year, also recommended that Buddhist organisations accused of instigating intercommunal unrest before and after the bombings be banned, but none were named in Wednesday's decree.

More For You

King Charles

King Charles, wearing a black armband to pay respects to the victims of Air India plane crash, attends the Trooping the Colour parade on his official birthday in London. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Victims remembered during King Charles's birthday parade

A MINUTE's silence for the victims of the Air India plane crash was observed on Saturday during the Trooping the Colour parade in London marking King Charles's official birthday. Some members of the royal family wore black armbands during the ceremony.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said King Charles, 76, had requested changes to the parade “as a mark of respect for the lives lost, the families in mourning and all the communities affected by this awful tragedy”.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rochdale grooming case

They were all remanded in custody, except Bashir, who absconded before the trial began. (Photo: Greater Manchester Police)

Seven men convicted of raping 13-year-old girls in Rochdale grooming case

SEVEN men were convicted on Friday in the UK’s latest grooming trial, after a jury heard that two girl victims were forced to have sex “with multiple men on the same day, in filthy flats and on rancid mattresses”.

Jurors at the court in Manchester, northwest England, deliberated for three weeks before finding the seven men, all of whom are of South Asian descent, guilty of rape.

Keep ReadingShow less
karan-thakar

Karun Thakar is a leading textile collector with a lifelong focus on Asian and African textiles

Karun Collection

Karun Thakar Fund to support textile research with scholarships and grants

THE KARUN THAKAR FUND, established by textile collector Karun Thakar in collaboration with the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A), supports the study of Asian and African textiles and dress through scholarships and project grants.

The fund offers one-time Scholarship Awards of up to £10,000 for university students worldwide focusing on any aspect of Asian or African textiles and dress. Undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate students from any accredited university are eligible, provided their research or practice is clearly linked to these areas. The next round of Scholarship Award applications opens on 1 May 2025 and closes at 23:59 on July 15, 2025.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India

A view shows the wreckage of the tail section of an Air India aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, which crashed during take-off from airport in Ahmedabad. (Photo: Reuters)

Air India crash: Probe focuses on engine and flaps; safety checks ordered for 787 fleet

THE INVESTIGATION into the Air India crash that killed more than 240 people is focusing on the aircraft's engine, flaps, and landing gear.

The Indian aviation regulator has ordered safety checks on the airline’s entire Boeing 787 fleet, reported Reuters.

Keep ReadingShow less