Strategic Approches in Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism: a case study of the 2019 Easter Sunday Attakes in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Easter Sunday Attacks refers to several bomb blasts that took place in Christian and Catholic churches around Sri Lanka along with multiple grand-scale hotels around Colombo on 21 April 2019. The significance of the day which is the most sacred day for Catholics and Christians, and the fact that it took place in sacred worship places of Christians was undoubtedly symbolic of an anti-Christian factor proven later when the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) group announced its responsibility for the bombings. Further, the fact that the bombings took place in three of the best hotels in Sri Lanka was on the other hand a direct hit at Sri Lanka which at that time climb as a top global tourist destination.

This study looked at the primary reasons for the rise of violent extremism in the world and specifically focused on the impacts that were created by the Easter Sunday Attacks on Sri Lankan politics, socio-economics and the security sector. Further, it examined the strategic approaches that Sri Lanka took in managing the crisis that ensued subsequent to the attacks with a special focus on the approaches employed. Finally, the study proposes recommendations for Sri Lanka to prevent and counter future terrorist attacks related to Islamic fundamentalism.

The study used a mixed approach in gathering data. It used primary data and secondary data. Furthermore, the gathered data were both quantitative and qualitative.

The findings of the study manifested that the Easter Sunday Attacks impacted the national security sector in Sri Lanka, with the political sector as heavily affected in the long run. The economic sector was temporarily affected, and that there was an interlink between the political sector and the security sector, Further, the changes that occurred in the political sector ultimately impacted the security sector.

The findings manifested that many of the approaches taken by Sri Lanka subsequent to the attacks were successful and that the activity executed in the security sector overrode chaos which prevailed in the political sector. Moreover, the findings stressed on the need to implement the recommendations made by expert bodies and to translate these recommendations to be turned into policies, they were to be fruitful.