Birthday tribute to Dr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa:

Reflections of a patriotic legend of our times

Dr. Telli C. Rajaratnam

“Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them

-William Shakespeare ”

Dr Gotabhaya Rajapaksa

* Born - June 20, 1949

* Appointed Defence Secretary in 2005

* Joined Sri Lanka Army in 1971

* Commanded 1st Battalion of Gajaba Regiment in Vadamarachchi in 1987

* Awarded President’s commendation from President J R Jayewardene

* Awarded Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP) and Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP) by President R Premadasa and D B Wijetunga

Dr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa has been recognized as a ‘born leader’ as he has exercised effective leadership as Secretary of Defence. ‘Some achieve greatness’ denotes, above all, those whose greatness is self-made. But all of the really great leaders must be regarded as achievers, whatever their advantages of birth and training. Alexander the Great was born to kingship and inherited a strong army. With Aristotle as his tutor, he was perhaps the most privileged person, educationally, that there has ever been. Nevertheless, what he achieved in his short life was beyond anything that could remotely have been expected of him. Much the same is true of Julius Caesar.

He was a young Roman aristocrat whose career began as a demagogic politician, but who turned out to be a military commander of genius. The trajectory of his career could never have been predicted. Napoleon is the supreme example of the utterly self-made leader - the man who ‘achieved greatness’ by his own unaided efforts. When he was on his way to St Helena, he was still slightly younger than John F. Kennedy at the time of his assassination. And Napoleon was not a millionaire’s son.

Of course, he was privileged in another way, having the good luck to be born in a revolutionary period, when opportunity beckoned to a man of his phenomenal talents. But luck is a precondition of most human achievements. Natural leaders know how to exploit their luck.

Historical value

Most of those who achieve anything in the world are ambitious and some have exalted ambitions which they have never the chance to realize. A few rise higher than they or anyone else could have imagined, and then prove equal to the challenge. Like those born to great offices who prove, against the odds, worthy to hold them, such people have ‘greatness thrust upon them’.

Dr. Gotabhaya was born on June 20, 1949.

Of all the qualities needed for leadership, only one is indispensable - courage. Without it, all the others are more or less useless. Courage has been shown by all who we recognize as true leaders, from Alexander to Thatcher.

A leader must have the ability to take hard decisions and calculated risks. Leaders have to give courage to others, while creating the illusion that they know exactly what they are doing.

Dr. Gotabhaya was born great, achieved greatness and has greatness thrust upon him by his absolutely honesty which is not a popular notion. As all human beings, we have short memories. More so, for patriotism. People tend to forget the most important factors which have historical value. The most memorable historical factor was winning the war. The joint effort of the Armed Forces under the able directives of the Defence Secretary Dr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa was able to rescue the nation from the evils of terrorism.

We now have freedom of movement, development and more tourists coming into this beautiful isle. Citizens of Sri Lanka and the citizens of other countries whose citizenship of origin was Sri Lanka are coming into Sri Lanka after several years owing to the peaceful situation created by our Defence Secretary and President Mahinda Rajapaksa. He assumed duties as Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law and Order on November 25, 2005.

He joined the Sri Lanka Army in 1971, spent 20 years in service, and held the appointment of Deputy Commandant of Sir John Kotelawala Defence University in 1991 and, as a Lieutenant Colonel was Coordinating Officer of Welioya area from 1990 to 1991. Prior to that, he was the Coordinating Officer of Matale District and the Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Gajaba Regiment from 1989 to 1990. He has also held numerous other positions in the Sri Lanka Army such as Instructor, Adjutant and Staff officer to the Operations Officer commanding contingents.

During his military career, he has been awarded the President’s Commendation letter by former President J R Jayewardene and medals for valour in combat such as Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP), Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP) - by former Presidents R Premadasa and D B Wijetunga. He has also received a commendation from the Commander of the Army for his bravery in action.

Anti-terrorist operations

He has commanded many anti-terrorist operations in the North and East in different capacities. Among them was his Command of the 1st Battalion of the Gajaba Regiment in the important Vadamarachchi Operation in 1987 and Operation Thrividabalaya in 1990 respectively, to rescue Jaffna peninsula and the Jaffna Fort from terrorist control.

He completed his basic officer cadet training at prestigious Military Academy at Diyatalawa and proceeded to Pakistan to complete the Young Officers’ Course at Rawalpindi and later the mid-career course at Quetta. He had advanced training in Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare at Assam, India. Later in his career, he graduated in Advanced Infantry Training from Infantry School Fort Benning, USA.

As a staff officer, he completed his Staff Course at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, India in 1983. He obtained his Masters degree in Defence Studies from the University of Madras in 1983. He has also obtained a Postgraduate degree in Information Technology from the University of Colombo in 1992.

He is a revered figure in Sri Lanka for leading the military operation which drove out the opponents from the entire Eastern Province of the country.

He was the grundnorm for the victory of the 2009 war against the LTTE. In recognition to the services rendered to the nation, the University of Colombo conferred a Doctorate to him.

Victory at war

Our Air Force Pilots have returned to base. The air strikes have halted. The Naval boats have slowed their speed. The Army has slowed its pace. Aggression against innocent people by the LTTE and the terrorists have been halted.

When the President ordered our armed forces into combat as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, he had three clear goals: to enable the Tamil people, the victims of some of the most vicious atrocities in the North due to terrorists and militant groups, to return to their homes with safety; to destroy the LTTE; and to deploy our armed Forces to protect all the people of the North. Those goals were achieved.

Unnecessary conflict has been brought to a just and honourable conclusion. He survived an assassination attempt in December 2006. We have sent a message of determination and hope to the entire world.

To be continued