Defence Secretary denounces attempts to belittle Forces

Rohan MATHES

COLOMBO: Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa denounced attempts of reactionary forces seeking to underestimate the unprecedented battle-field victories in the East achieved by the Armed Forces, by land, air and the sea.

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa addressing the Maha Sangha on the current situation in the North East at the Presidential Secretariat last Thursday opined that the LTTE which has suffered severe setbacks in the battle field, will obviously strive to utilise diverse strategies to undermine and misinterpret the situation to both the local and the international community.

As it has been the norm, the LTTE will in the wake of defeat, invariably bounce back and use its well-established media machinery to propagate and plant baseless allegations to destroy the will power, self-confidence and the morale of the Armed Forces.

They allege of human rights violations, political instability and instill fear and panic in to the civilian polity within the country by their recent air power offensives and isolated bomb blasts in certain selected locations. The pressure exerted on the general public by this situation will in turn impact on the President and the Armed Forces.

The Defence Secretary was of the firm view that as learnt from past experience, weakening the LTTE militarily was inevitable for a political solution. This time around, they have recorded an unprecedented victory in the East, even transcending that achieved by the IPKF.

"Victory was in the psyche of the soldier and that if there was dissonance in it, then the soldier and his colleagues will have to pay the price of sacrificing their dear lives. The Armed Forces undergo a very hard life for the sake of their motherland and nation", he noted.

The Defence Secretary ruled out alleged corruption in the procurement of arms and ammunition for the Armed Forces, stating that he had established a separate institution for the purpose.

"A third party was not required as such purchases were based solely on necessity and on the terms of the three forces. Although we cannot eliminate corruption 100 percent on such deals, we are confident that we have definitely minimised them. Unfounded allegations in this regard would only fortify Prabhakaran", he said.

He added that they have consolidated their links with the United States, the UK, India, China and Pakistan and in no way isolated. He himself had served the Army for 22 years and was in battle with the LTTE, under the UNP regime, when his brother President Mahinda Rajapaksa was in the Opposition.

"Politics was never an issue then and my brother consistently encouraged me to fight on to the best of my abilities", he said.