The options before Fonseka

The activities of former Army Commander General Sarath Fonseka continue to be a source of controversy evoking mixed feelings in the eyes of the public. The public increasingly entertain scruple in hating the man they hailed as a hero just a few months ago but Fonseka with his latest role as a betrayer of the country’s cause is not helping the public to retain at least a modicum of gratitude in their hearts for his role in eliminating the menace of terror from this country.

The decision to eliminate terrorism through military means was a difficult and courageous one taken by the Government against powerful national and international opinion makers who for years advocated accommodation and appeasement of LTTE subversion. Fonseka was not part of that crucial political decision.

After having made that decision, the Government took stock of its resources and regrouped Security personnel who shared that positive vision of the Government that LTTE should be spoken to in the only language that they understood; militarily. It is as a result of those decisions that Fonseka, a man who was otherwise to retire, was made to take over the Army jettisoning the previous Commander whose record in warfare was not impressive enough. Hence Fonseka has to acknowledge that his role in this mission was only supportive and if not for the policy decisions of the Government, he would have been no more than just another retired officer of the Army by now.

He also has to remember that during the entirety of the period when he was discharging his duties, those anti national forces dubbed him as a ‘power on to himself’ and ‘a threat to democracy’ (Ref. Ranil Wickremesinghe, Joseph Michael, Kiriella and Ravi Karunanayake in the Hanzard).

The irony however is that soon after the war was successfully concluded these same forces that denigrated and besmirched him made a turn for their own political survival and started hailing him as the hero who saved the nation.

Men who consider themselves to be strong often forget that their own bumptiousness often make them more vulnerable. Fonseka fell for the guile and artifice of the political chicanery of his onetime enemies. He crossed the political rubicon saying that ‘politics has no permanent enemies’. Little did he realize that the majority in this country expect politicians to have some ‘permanent policies’ in their politics.

Then, as if that move was not enough, Fonseka camped with all the local and international forces that perpetrated terrorism up to then in this country, apparently on Ranil’s advice. After having done all that, Fonseka paradoxically expected the people to vote for him to become the country’s President. The people in this country quite wisely told Fonseka that eventhough they recognized his role in eliminating terror, his politics prompted by the pro terror camps were not acceptable.

The Government made Fonseka a national hero but his political friends have now made him almost a fugitive. Hence Fonseka’s reverie with the pro-terror forces have now turned out to be a nightmare to him and his family. He can not expect the Government to treat him the same way while he metamorphosed himself from a ‘rose’ to a ‘thorn’. He may have the political right to contest the Government but he has no moral right to contest the present Government and no right whatsoever to continue to betray the country and those very officers who fought in the front.

Fonseka has no political base and he is increasingly becoming irrelevant to the Opposition that sought refuge in his ‘national hero image’. Today, he is a mere pawn in the hands of those forces that are determined to rouse fresh controversies.

He has to realize that these forces that have aligned with him are not the forces that cherish democracy in Sri Lanka but rather those forces that supported the most undemocratic LTTE. We have to face the reality that there are forces in this world that support devious means in disguise because they are bent on holding on to the colonial economic order and the present world power balance.

Hence, it is in the interest of those forces to keep some countries mired in violence and instability so that they could continue to sell arms while enjoying the present world status quo unchallenged.

Apart from the international forces, there are arms dealers and ‘peace brokers’ who made money from the absence of peace. Prabhakaran exit has been a big drawback to their activities and hence they are on the look out to adopt a man with similar traits to spearhead their agenda. Last time it was ‘Tamil grievances’ but this time it could even be ‘lack of democracy’.

If Fonseka wished to become an MP he could have easily become one through the Government rather than by going against it. The war cost the country hundred and thousand of lives and more than US$ 25 billion worth of collateral damage, not to speak of its ‘opportunity cost’ to the country.

Fonseka should bear in mind that it is to rid the country of separatism about 35,000 soldiers died, rather than to make him the President and start separatism all over again. If Fonseka in his obduracy fails to appreciate that position even at this belated stage and continue to betray the country in the garb of a national hero, soon he will become a national enemy surpassing Prabhakaran. It is time for the retired General to evaluate the options before him. It is better late than never!

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