Death to democracy and road to dictatorship - Part 3:

Greatest humanist of post independence Sri Lanka

A.A.M. Nizam

Sri Lanka was able to defeat the terrorist menace since the country was gifted with a right leader at the right time who is politically matured, who is devoid of a communal mindset, who respects all communities alike, who has the flair to convince anyone and turn even the foe to become a friend, who respects the women folk as the fountain of motherhood, who dearly adores the children - the posterity of our nation, who esteem family values, who is dedicated to safeguard the cultural heritage and religious ethics, who are conscious of the important roles being played by the farmers, fisherfolk, and the workers for developing the nation,

who understands the heartbeat of the ordinary people, who knows the aura of the environment and the surroundings, and more than everything who dearly and truly love the country before the self and more than anything in the world.

PC elections

It was due to the enormous respect reposed by the people in him that the Government was able to win all Provincial Council Elections from the Eastern Province to the Southern Province, and many with over 2/3 majority something considered as an impossible scenario under the present electoral system. During these elections, it was a common feature that many who had been traditional supporters of Opposition parties leaving their parties and expressing support to President’s program of work.

The combined anti-patriotic cabal, a hodgepodge of communalists, racists, foreign lackeys, underground mafiosis, agents of defeated terrorists, elite urbanites, Western puppets, political bandits and political desperados in order to execute hidden agendas and serve the vicious scheme of Western imperialists has brought forward the Retired General Sarath Fonseka, a person proven to lack human qualities and possessed with dictatorial tendencies, as their candidate to oppose the greatest humanist of post independent Sri Lanka. The pro-UNP weekly Sunday Leader in an unusual manner, drifting from its normal stance warned the UNP through its political column on November 8, 2009 about the mistake being done by that party to bring Sarath Fonseka as a common candidate. Writing under the caption ‘Democracy Expended by Opposition’, it explained that the democracy we now enjoy, however lop-sided it may appear to be at times, is far better than being ruled by a military man.

The possible election or the very consideration of giving an unqualified person from a totally different background the opportunity to take Sri Lanka into its next phase of development, is a notion that is preposterous in the extreme and sets a deadly precedent for the future, the political columnist emphasized. Similar to the Sunday Leader Political Column writing, a few moons ago, those active in the anti-patriotic cabal hodgepodge were fervently critical of the very same person they present as their candidate, and condemned him with various names and mocked him as a racist, an ugly American, and even alleged as the very person responsible for attacks on journalists and media personnel.

For instance, UNP MPs John Ameratunge and Joseph Michael Perera accused that attacks on reporters were carried out by a ‘Special Team’ controlled by Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka.

Mangala Samaraweera whom Sarath Fonseka has chosen as one of his spokesman surpassed all decent norms in criticizing Sarath Fonseka. He said that Sarath Fonseka was coming after him during the period of 2004 and 2005 appealing him to be appointed to the Army Commander post. But he was not given it since he had no vision to hold the post.

Credit for victory

He added that Sarath Fonseka had worked for 30 years under many Army Commanders who never awarded him with the Vishishta Seva Vibhushana, and claimed that Fonseka was penalized on disciplinary grounds in 1975 when General Cyril Ranathunga was the Army Commander.

He also said that as soon as Fonseka assumed duty as the Army Commander he recommended himself for the Vishishta Seva Vibhushana and alleged that they are the persons who handle death squads on behalf of Rajapaksas and therefore, he should be punished for breach of discipline. He pointed out that Sarath Fonseka had allocated for him a cost of Rs. 45 million for a Benz car instead of providing for the soldiers (Lanka-e-News, November 28, 2009).

Sarath Fonseka, on the other hand, had shown within a short period of time that he is not in consistent with his views and self contradictory on many matters. In an interview with Sunday Observer on July 20, 2008 he said the President of the country being the Commander in Chief is entitled to get the credit for all military victories.

Major offenses

Fonseka pointed out that President is the one who takes decisions and responsibilities of launching major offensives. Contrary to what he said he now claims that the war was won because of him and all the credit of the war victory is due only to him. In this context, we must find out what Sarath Fonseka could have done in the following scenarios.

If President Rajapaksa after assuming office on November 19, 2008, under the recommendation of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, and overlooking seniority, did not extend the services of Sarath Fonseka and did not appoint him as Army Commander, and did not give the same extension of service on subsequent years. (If his current strange bedfellow Ranil Wickremesinghe won the election, the first act he would have definitely denied any extension to Sarath Fonseka and packed him off to the United States thus enabling him to serve as a mercenary in Iraq or Afghanistan).

The former Army Commander Shantha Kottegoda had to more years to serve and if the President, the Commander-in-Chief allowed Shantha Kottegoda to continue with relevant extensions of service and functioned as the Army Commander during the liberation period where would have been Sarath Fonseka? He will of course be a nonentity in such a scenario and would have been sent on retirement on December 1, 2005. To be continued ....