Birthday tribute to Dr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa:
Reflections on a War Hero and patriotic legend of our times
Dr. Telli C. Rajaratnam
Dr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is a ‘born leader’ as he has exercised
effective leadership as Secretary of Defence and Urban Development.
‘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.
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Defence and Urban Development Ministry
Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa being conferred a Doctorate by
Chancellor of the University of Colombo, Emeritus Archbishop
Most Rev. Dr. Oswald Gomis |
Courage, fearless speech and absolute honesty are the tenets of Dr.
Gotabhaya’s success. He cannot pretend. He is forthright with raw
honesty and speaks his mind and heart. This has been advantageous as
well as disadvantageous to him. Of all the qualities required 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 has 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.
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 a 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.
The doctrine
The doctrine of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is discipline, honesty, effective
strategies, straight talk, courage, wisdom and above all love for the
country before self.
Think of all the millions of innocent people who died in this bloody
century because democracies reacted too late to evil and aggression.
Because, the duty of the Defence Secretary was well performed, the past
is gone not with helpless indignation, but with a hopeful affirmation of
human dignity and human rights for the 2010. In a world too divided by
fear among people of different racial, ethnic and religious groups, he
has given confidence to the friends of freedom and pause to those who
would exploit human difference for inhuman purposes.
History tells us that solidarity means strength, progress and
success. Peace, co-operation, development and progress are what the
entire international community is hoping and striving for. The
developing nations must continue to work closely together in the spirit
of solidarity and co-operation and raise their voice and strengthen
their position in international affairs if they are to secure their
fundamental interests.
Over 30 years or more, we have not been able to solve this problem.
We required a balance between the need to achieve a military victory and
the needs of humanity. In this sense, necessity has been viewed as a
limitation to unbridled barbarity.
The application of the doctrine of military necessity makes use of
the principle of proportionality as a mechanism for determining the
positioning of a fulcrum between these competing poles. Using
proportionality thus gives effect to the recognition that the choice of
methods and means of conducting war or armed conflict are not unlimited.
The means and methods of conducting war operate to achieve a
particular military objective, which consequently assists in achieving a
larger political objective.
While necessity might determine the legitimacy of the armed attack,
proportionality determines the amount of force that might be used. In a
sense, necessity operates at a macro level, while international
humanitarian law operates at a micro level, though both might lie on the
same continuum given the difficulties in the transition.
This difficulty is most apparent when the principles of necessity and
proportionality have been incorporated into conventional international
law, particularly international humanitarian conventions.
The development of these conventions and the application of these
principles require some consideration if one is to arrive at an
understanding of their application in a modern armed conflict. Military
necessity has been described as “a basic principle of the law of war, so
basic, indeed, that without it there could be no law of war at all.”
The acceptance that, while the object of warfare is to achieve the
submission of the enemy, which may require the disabling of as many
enemy combatants as possible, this should only be achieved in a manner
that does not cause any unnecessary suffering or damage.
The UDA
The Urban Development Authority now comes under the purview of the
Defence Ministry. ‘The Development Plan for the City of Colombo,’ the
theme of the Sujatha Jayewardena Memorial Speech by Dr. Ghotabhaya
Rajapaksa at the Sri Lankan Foundation Institute, was presented in a
coherent and scholarly manner and was well-received and ably
strengthened public aspiration for the transformation. Desire to move
toward a sustainable eco-city to optimize quality of life for its
community gained significant momentum soon after the end of the war
against terrorism and dividends of peace in Sri Lanka.
By encouraging the innovation of green architecture and technology,
he lucidly clarified the way in which a coherent framework for applying
sustainable design to all sector of society in developing Colombo city
would enhance the quality of life of the community, in consequence by
making the city vibrant and modern.
The rate of unprecedented population growth over years increased the
urban population while thinning the rural population.
Planning, developing and managing our urban environments more wisely
will benefit health and improve environmental outcomes: Public health
intervention to reduce dependence on motor vehicles thus improves air
quality, locating jobs, services, schools and shops close to where
people live, promoting active modes of transport (walking and cycling)
and providing mass transit options. Good for the environment because it
reduces carbon dioxide emissions and good for business because it
reduces the cost of traffic congestion. Mass transit is particularly
good for young people, the elderly and the disabled, who may not have
access to a motor vehicle.
The profile of our population and their needs and aspirations will
also be very different in the future. How can Colombo continue to be a
special place for its community, a home that offers hope and
opportunities, a home that offers a high standard of living and above
all, a city that is socially inclusive, where no one is left out?
Concluding his deliberation, Dr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa appealed for
national consensus to make that vision a reality. This is the moment
when we must come together. Let’s commit to share our knowledge in order
to build the ‘Grand City’. The scale of our challenge is great. With
courage, with heart and hand and let us all combine to take Sri Lanka
forward.
Happy Birthday Dr. Gotabhaya Rajapaksa!
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