Traversing the road to victory!

Ishara JAYAWARDANE

On May 18, 2009, the war-weary people of Sri Lanka breathed a sigh of relief when it was announced that the war was finally over. Those were the days of terror: July 23, 1983 – May 18, 2009, when we all went through flames of grief and fear. The long period of darkness was over with the military defeat of the LTTE. Now almost three years after, we recall those times and analyze what led to the collapse of the LTTE. Daily News spoke to Sri Lanka Foundation Chairman Professor Ranjith Bandara about the road to victory.

The military defeat of the LTTE is a unique event in the history of war on terrorism. After the killing of Prabhakaran in May 2009, we did not hear about any terrorist attacks in the country. This shows that the military infrastructure of the LTTE and its organizational capacity within the country have been decisively destroyed. No other country has achieved such a decisive victory anywhere in the world.

Let’s try to understand the significance of this victory. It was acknowledged that the LTTE was one of the most ruthless terrorist organizations in the world. When President Mahinda Rajapaksa came to power in 2005, he was faced with a terrorist organization which was further strengthened as a result of the ceasefire agreement signed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe in 2002. The LTTE received several shipments of arms during the period of the ceasefire. The LTTE carried out several attacks in Colombo and killed several intelligence officers. Therefore, we have to understand that it was not a weak military organization that this government had to defeat.

Sri Lanka fought the war on terrorism over three decades under several governments. Only the government of President Rajapaksa was able to end the war with a clear victory. What was the “secret” of this military victory? It can be attributed to several factors.

The most decisive factor is the political leadership provided by His Excellency the President. He did it in a most sophisticated and intelligent way. When he came to power in 2005, he did not reject the idea of peace talks. In fact, he sent a delegation to Geneva for peace talks with the LTTE. It was the LTTE which refused to negotiate with the government. With the Mavil Aru incident, the government was able to demonstrate that the fight against the LTTE was a humanitarian operation and all the communities in the country would be beneficiaries of this liberation movement. Therefore, the government was able to justify that it had no option other than the war. Once he decided on the military path, he did not waver. During the last days of the war he had the courage to withstand pressures of many powerful foreign countries which asked him to stop the war.

Any other leader would have relented. That is the most decisive moment in the history of war and people of this country are eternally indebted to the President for the most decisive political leadership he provided.

I think the Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapksa also played a decisive role in this victory. There were several reasons which buttressed his position. He himself had fought in the war and he understood all about war. Nobody could fool him when it came to military strategy and other logistics of the war. The military forces had full confidence in him and they treated him as one of their people. Secondly, he enjoyed the full confidence of the President. It’s not merely that he was President’s own brother but also people knew that he was the most trusted Advisor to the President. This factor helped him to be the most effective Secretary of Defence and to coordinate the activities of three forces; the Army, Navy, and the Air force.

It is not a secret that there were some personality clashes among the leaders of the forces but the Defence Secretary could mobilize everybody for a common purpose because of his unenviable authority, partly coming from his relationship with the President. In a war situation this was a decisive factor. He is committed, focused, and he has a vision for the future of Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka’s sovereignty, Sri Lanka’s security, and Sri Lanka’s prosperity. Another important factor is that the Government was able to mobilize the people behind the war. In the past people suffered from a defeatist mentality.

Various people said that the LTTE cannot be militarily defeated. However, the President was able to convince the people of the inevitability of the victory over the LTTE. During some of the LTTE suicide bomb attacks, the President dared to walk into the crowds and share their grief. The government was able to recruit a large number of soldiers during the final phase of the war, because people had hopes of victory. The country was under war footing quite a few times.

Officially you could declare that the country is under war footing, but people’s mindset is not ready for it. Therefore it didn’t work but the current government succeeded in convincing the people. His Excellency the President allowed his second son to join the Sri Lankan navy. It is a symbolic gesture to show that “even my son is willing to sacrifice his life.” His Excellency the President, being a very experienced politician, was able to give the necessary political leadership. Standing in front of the people and the international community he could say: “We Will Win the War!” What he said was very simple. For him the motherland is the first, the second and the third. He practised what he preached.

The other important factor is that the government cleverly handled the India factor. The President maintained an excellent relationship with the Indian political leadership. Hon.

Basil Rajapaksa also visited India quite a few times and the government started a new era of cordial relations with India and this helped Sri Lanka, especially in handling the Tamilnadu factor.

After winning the war, the government has equally worked hard to establish peace in the country. It was also able to get the economy right. Infrastructure started developing. Two specific programs were introduced :Uthuru Wasanthaya and Nagenahira Navodaya , those are the area specific development programs to uplift the socio economic conditions of the ordinary people or the affected people.

The current government has won the war on three fronts: the Economic front, political front and the military front. The government has not forgotten those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of the country. There was a program established: “Api Wenuven Api”, in order to boost the morale.

A number of social welfare programmes have been established for those who were injured, those who have sacrificed their lives, and for families of those war heroes. This is a huge process of boosting the morale of the Rana Viruwa. And villages have been established exclusively for Rana Viruwas- Rana Viru gammana, hospitals and various centres to take care of people who need full time care.