Beginning of the end of the battle - Army Chief

Ranil WIJAYAPALA

Continued from Saturday

Q: The LTTE is now giving signals that they are willing to enter peace negotiations with the Government. Why they are making these statements at this point of time?

A: They have always done this in the past. When they are getting weakened they ask for a break by proposing a Ceasefire.

If we give them a Ceasefire they will regroup, rearm themselves, recruit more people, strengthen their cadres. Once they feel they are strong they will violate the Ceasefire on their own and start attacking us, like what they did in 2006. Their attempt is to get a break I think. The President has said that Ceasefire and talks will come when they lay down arms.

Q: What is the position of the LTTE leader Prabhakaran now according to your information?

A: Prabhakaran is sick now. He cannot maintain his position now. He does not have the same recognition. He cannot have the same leadership he had earlier. I don’t think that people appreciate his leadership now. He will die a natural death like Anton Balasingham.

Q: What is the situation on the Jaffna front. Don’t you have any plan to advance to Kilinochchi from that direction?

A: We do limited operations and kill terrorists on daily a basis. But we don’t want to make a big breakout there. Because it is a very narrow front where LTTE is making maximum use of their artillery.

We become very vulnerable to artillery. So we will continue limited operations until we see that their fire power is weakened due to the pressure on the other areas to certain level so that we can go through that area without unnecessary casualties.

Every time we move forward we inflicted on them a lot of casualties. We also suffered lot of casualties due to LTTE artillery in that area which they had collected during the Ceasefire time. They have collected lot of artillery guns during the Ceasefire. So we have no choice, we have to face their artillery.

Q: Colombo is becoming more vulnerable to terror attacks once offensive operations are going on in the North. What is the security situation in Colombo now?

A: They said they will have Eelam War fourth in Colombo or in South. Eelam War four was confined only to a couple of suicide attacks. They were unsuccessful. Now they are getting exposed. We can see lots of LTTE cadres operating Colombo being arrested in Colombo.

Everytime they had a bomb blast we have been able to capture the people who are responsible. LTTE networks have got disturbed altogether. What they have organised taking the cover of the Ceasefire has been totally disturbed. The LTTE likes to cause a big destruction in Colombo. But they are not capable of doing that. We have get them on the run in Colombo and other areas.

Q: According to your calculation, how long the LTTE can survive?

A: They have lost two third of LTTE capabilities. It can spread further. To predict I am not a soothsayer who can give exact days. But the way things are happening, we can compare what was happening during the past two years, they will not be able to maintain this for another one year.

But this is not for somebody to pick up the figures and calculations and marking dates in the calendar. Somebody who does not understand the reality might start try to rely only on figures, days and weeks.

Q: Can the country’s economy cope up with the expenditure of defence, in face of increasing cost of living?

A: There is no choice. You must decide whether you want the country or the Carnival in the South. The problem is you might think ok we will have a carnival in the South when the battle is going on in the North, Prabhakaran will never allow us to have a carnival in the South.

The LTTE agenda is to destroy the Sinhalese and to capture the whole country. That is why he has brought so much of Tiger cadres to interior South deep South and the up country and planted them among people to attack Sinhalese, destroy Sinhalese. The whole Sinhalese community will be panicking at some stage and we will have to live in fear for ever. That is his strategy.

The terrorists who have surrendered in Wanni two weeks ago have said that all what they have told was that they have to destroy Sinhalese. After 1983 communal clashes they thought that they must wipe out Sinhalese.

They are living with hatred. The 1983 clashes was no the only clashes we had. We have had clashes in 50’s 60’s. When I was a kid in Ampara in 1950’s the Sinhala people used to go and hide in the jungles.

During those times Tamils were coming to attack Sinhalese. Those things happened a long time ago. But the LTTE is trying to take 83 riots as an example and trying to wipe the Sinhalese out of the earth. That is not a realistic thing. So we have to ensure, despite cost of living is high, country have to go through hardships, we have to eradicate terrorism.

Otherwise the nation will not survive in the long term. Like any other country in the world where people have to fight wars to safeguard the territorial integrity of their countries they have to go through hardships.

They have to spent lot of money. They have to sacrifice. The Sinhala nation should have to sacrifice if you want to protect our country and survive. People are trying to mislead the nation because they want to may be topple the Government and get power into their hand.

So they are telling the people that there is no point in fighting a war. They have got assurance from Prabhakaran that even they kill all the Sinhalese they will not kill a couple of fellows.

Q: Are you satisfied with the international community’s support towards the Government’s effort of eradicating terrorism?

A: We are very happy with the support given by India and other neighbours. Then other countries in the South Asia and South East, and East Asia who are our friendly countries, like China, Pakistan.

India is giving training for our people. Of course some Western countries are not happy with the way the LTTE is beaten irrespective of the fact how much the LTTE is attacking us.

They want to stop the war because they want the LTTE to survive. There are people NGOs and even from the diplomatic circles who are being bribed and looked after by the LTTE. So they have lot of sympathy for the LTTE.

The Sinhala nation has to decide our destiny and then we must decide what to do with them. LTTE is targeting the Sinhala nation. The Muslims also must understand that.

Q: There is criticism that you are engaged in a war to provide oxygen for the Government agenda. They are saying that there is no military interest in the ongoing war?

A: That is not the Government agenda. We are here to provide oxygen for the Government’s agenda on the national security. If any Government has prepared an agenda on the national security to safeguard the country, we are there to work according to that agenda.

If that agenda is a correct one and the people are accepting that, then the Government is automatically benefitting once we are giving oxygen to that agenda. No one cannot prevent it.

We are here not to provide oxygen for the Opposition agenda. We are providing oxygen for the agenda of the Government in power. As the Commander of the Army I have accept the fact that the programme initiated by this Government is for the benefit of the national security.

Not only me those who are in the Security Forces, those who have lost their limbs to this war too are accepting that. That is why they are fighting war with such a commitment.

Otherwise they are not fighting with this spirit. If this agenda is aimed at closing down the camps, and getting rid of High Security Zones in the name of Ceasefire, we will not support them. Haven’t I opposed such moves when they prepared to get rid of High Security Zones?

Q: The Chief Opposition Whip has made a statement in the Parliament that a group connected to Army Commander is behind the recent attacks on journalists. What do you have to say about his statement?

A: The Army is focusing fully on the war. We have not trained people to break teeth and behead people. Some people had to face some unfortunate incidents, might be because they are facing consequences of what they have done. We cannot take responsibility for those things.

I don’t know whether they have done any thing against the Army to think that they are facing such circumstances due to their acts.

That is why they are thinking that they are being targeted by the Army. But to make such a big utterance the person who made this statement would have woken from a dream or else he would have swallowed dead rope to make such an irresponsible statement.

If he is making genuine statement he could have acted according to the law of the country. I f he acted according to the law of the country I would have made a statement to the Police according to the law of the country.

Otherwise, any person can make any statement anywhere in the country. If not they should make such statements challenging us, at a place where we can reply them. So I don’t see any gentlemen quality in that person.

Q: How do you observe the media behaviour in the country?

A: As we heard the journalists are working according to ethics. They are bound to follow accepted ethics. If a journalist is writing against a person or an organisation they should check whether they are writing the correct thing.

They have to ask what they have to say about this situation. If they are following those ethics they are doing a right thing.

Then we can say they are genuine journalists. But in our country we used to accept any person who can write something and publish in the newspaper or a magazine or telecast or broadcast over television or radio, as a journalist.

There is a question mark before some journalists whether they are following those ethics. I am of the opinion that in any country there shouldn’t be different laws for journalists.

They have no right to go against the law of the country and sling mud and defame anybody. No one has given such right in the name of free media. Media freedom is there for them to point out the right thing.

They have not been given any right to distort things. If they are distorting things to mislead the public or seeking political advantages or other benefits, they are doing harm to the country and the nation. If they are trying to enjoy themselves after doing wrong things it is unfair.

Q: There is criticism that you are a strict Commander. What do you say about this?

A: If the Army Commander is ruling the Army weakly, he is not a good ruler. I have not taken law into my hand. I am ruling the Army according to the laws of the Army. There had been instance Army had not been ruled according to the stipulated laws. Due to that situation there was corruption, negligence of duty, deserters in the Army.

No action had been taken against them. No action has been taken when they lost battles. That means the Army has not been ruled properly I don’t think taking action against those defaulters is a strict rule.

That is what is expected by the President from me after appointing me as the Army Commander to make sure that things are happening in order. If I do these things in the same manner it had happened earlier, I don’t think people will approve that. I have to act sternly because our people had used to that situation. I have not told anybody to do what I cannot do.

(Concluded)