Would the much respected general become a scapegoat for the bankrput politicians?
Posted on October 31st, 2009
Jay Deshabandu
Today, our country is at a cross-road. No one is sure where it would head at this point of time. Unfortunately, our country is full of joker-politicians, like those in Tamil Nadu, who put the country down the ditch before himself. People of this country must show gratitude to President Rajapaksha for providing the correct leadership in eliminating the terrorists bringing hopes for peace in Sri-Lanka. Today, the country is under the curse of the West who indirectly supported the LTTE for simple reasons that our common people may not understand.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The West requested that Prbhakaran be saved in the final movements of the battle which they would never do to Osama Bin Laden. Fabricated stories of our forces shelling into hospitals, schools and into civilians in the no fire zone were published in various media. One after another, concocted videos showing how Sri-Lanka soldiers executed naked LTTE terrorists were generated in many websites.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ To add to this disgrace, even Hilary Clinton accused and attempted to include Sri Lanka in a short listed of countries that used rape as a war tactic. She even conveniently forgot to name even the true facts that in 1990s, rape was used as an instrument of ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia and as a means of genocide in Rwanda. In the former case, women belonging to subjugated ethnic groups were intentionally impregnated through rape by enemy soldiers. Then, there were news that her election campaign was partly supported by terroristsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ money and she had returned this money back to the terrorists. She even threatened the people of Sri-Lanka by blocking the IMF loan being approved. Why does she hate people of Sri-Lanka?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Now the recent threat is the GSP+ concessions from the EU which seeks to destabilize our economy affecting thousands of livelihoods of poorest of the poor people, and its threats of resolutions on Human rights violations and war crimes by the Sri Lankan government. They pretend to understand what can happen when a terrorist group bieng fought, which doesnot have to adhere to any rule. This also helps other terrorists behind citizens, schools, places of wrships and in many places around the world. Even the ex-former US president called for the arrest of Bin Laden dead or alive! We did not have war against a country but only a war against the ruthless terrorists who did not see any limits or boudaries!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Our history has ample evidence of how local disunity or divisions along political, racial and even on religious lines were used by the West as instruments for realizing of their goals of gaining economic and political control in the East. The division and regional conflicts among Pakistan, India, and China is a classic prime example.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In this context, there is no wonder why they add fuel to the present saga of political race for presidency. They wish to have a puppet president that would be aligned to Western interests that seek keeping poor the poor, and, a man that would help them with our natural and chief human resources. Power hungry and greedy opposition political leaders are now coming forward to pacify their own personal agenda as well as of Western interests.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In this back drop, I am reluctant to indicate the general Sarath Fonseka in to this political unrest. What would be the possible implications of this? It is clear that General Sarath Fonseka was made general by the present President. He was given the right leadership with weapons and correct plans including where the terrorists leader was. He did not have to think about International pressure. But now he is under the pressure of our opposition leaders to be only as a scapegoat to cover up of their own political bankruptcy. Even the Mangala who compared him to a person of no caliber, disqualifying him even to be a leader in the Salvation Army, expects him to be their leader as a common candidate for the presidential race. Even those corrupted politicians who said we only could liberate Thoppigla jungle, Parmankada or Madawachhia want him to be their scapegoat. Now will the general do exactly that? I am of the firm belief that he would not do that in the best interest of the country and he would keep his name written in gold in our history rather than a scapegoat for the corrupted and greedy local politicians and for the shellfish economic & political interests of the West.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ But no one can be sure. If he comes into the presidential race, obviously, a considerable number of votes for Mahinda would go to him instead. But then, could the general become the president? My humble opinion is No! It is normal to think that all vested interested politicians are up to do anything to become a president for them. They would only lure the general to be in the race and would drop him as a common candidate a few weaks before the election day citing many reasons. Being embarrassed, the general Sarath Fonseka finally would be compelled to end up with being an independent candidate. At the last moment, Ranil would come forward to be the presidential candidate from the UNP lead-alliance. In this scenario, it is likely that Ranil would get the maximum number of votes per candidate even though the majority of the votes would be against him. The unrest in the country would prevail with some calling for UN intervention which would eventually help the West control our country. DonƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢t forget that this same group had in many occasions called for UN intervention during the intense fighting of our gallant soldiers against the terrorists. And, that is a serious betrayal of our own country, my brothers and sisters!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ I hope our general and all well whishes would put the country first and come to their senses. No one can claim the sole credit in wining the war. The credit should go to that entire team that win the war. We believe that our country eventually becomes victorious from foreign and local threats with blessings of living Saman & other Gods and of Triple Gems. May a permanent sustainable peace would dawn to our people and land!
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Jay Deshabandu
October 31st, 2009 at 6:14 am
A mistake we commonly make is to fall prey to the ‘halo principle – that is, to assume that a person who displays excellence in one particular field will do so in other fields as well. Time and again it has been demonstrated that this simply does not happen.
General Sarath Fonseka is without doubt a very, very popular Sri Lankan right now, and the chances are that if he presented himself as a candidate at the next Presidential Election, he will fare extremely well, in fact, he may well win it. It seems Mahinda Rajapakse, will re nominate for the position? But what guarantee is there that Sarath Fonseka will make a better President than Mahinda Rajapakse? There is none. General Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces at the end of World War II went on to win two US Presidential elections, and from all accounts, did not do too badly at the Oval Office. But it needs to be borne in mind that the US and SL political systems are vastly different and the Congress in the US is much more effective on curbing the powers of the US President than the parliament in SL is in keeping the SL President in rein. Other examples of former military personnel going into politics are less impressive.
Of course, General Fonseka has the right to present himself as a candidate at the Presidential Elections. But I would hope that he gives the matter very good thought and consideration before making up his mind. He has rendered the country a great service in the role he played to defeat militarily, the LTTE. For this, the nation will always hold him in the highest regard and remember him with gratitude. The chances are that if he chooses to enter politics, he will most likely go on to lose all the goodwill he has thus far earned.
Is there not a Sinhala saying about drawing water from a well throughout the day, only to drop the pot and break it at the end of the day? General Fonseka may well care to ponder the wisdom of this homely idiom.
The British – for all the criticism we may care to make of them – have been very imaginative in some areas. And one of these concerns a respectable way of dealing with national heroes like Army Generals. They don’t simply let these people go to pasture when they come to the end of their commissions, they ‘kick them upstairs’ and make them members of the House of Lords! And here, the ex service men cannot make a nuisance of themselves but in all the glory of their new surroundings, they are made to feel extremely important! It is a pity there is no institution in Sri Lanka similar to the House of Lords. If there was, former Army Generals may have something other than politics to offer them a satisfying role.
October 31st, 2009 at 7:55 am
With all due respect, it will be a terrible mistake if Gen Fonseka enters the politics of Sri Lanka, due to relentless pressure from the opposition parties, which by the way rediculed him when he was leading the Military Campaign against the LTTE. Like many Sri Lankans, I respect and thank him for leading the fight, as the top soldier. Unfortunately, should he decide to enter politics as an oppostion party member, I think that is the day he is going to lose his well-deserved respect he earned as the top General.
He must never forget the fact – which he himselfed mentioned many times in the past – that the military success against the LTTE was possible mainly due to the right leadership of President Rajapaksa, and the support from the DS Gothabaya. Now to turn around and go against Presdent Rajapasa, is the biggest damage Gen Fonseka can do to himself, no matter how popular he is right now, with the Sri Lankans.
I hope Gen Fonseka will think hard and deep about his decision, and realise that getting into politics will be the death of his grand legacy, as the most successful General in the history of the Sri Lankan Army. Also, ex-army Generals NEVER make good politicians. Just look at our neighbor Pakistan, where the ex-army Generals (Zia, Musharif, etc,) led governments have been nothing but major disasters for the country.
Do we need Sri Lanka to become the next Pakistan..??? I rest my case.
Does he want to jeopadise this legacy, for the sake of becoming just another politician – used by the oppostion parties in order to drumup thier sagging support..???
October 31st, 2009 at 3:16 pm
I think we are overvaluing our political and military leadership that defeated the homegrown Tamil Terrorists. They have said many times how they won the war and none seems to take notice. As individuals, these two are nobodies just like every other clown trying to lead our people. The so-called “halo principle” has an ancient Sinhala origin. I hope you have heard of God Viswakarma (He was a real human who lived in the northern part of Sinhale’), someone who had excelled in many arts and tasks. None of these people have a world leading position on their own right, except taking credit for a task done by frontline fighters according to their own words. Unfortunately, those who have accomplished world leading achievements in one field have excelled in many other fields because at that level, knowledge they possess is very generic and can not be describable using known words that reflect already established knowledge. The simple test for verification of such achievements is to check whether they can do something that nobody else could do by their own right. Comparison of such achievements with these two guys is like saying gold is as good as cow dung. As individuals, their long term plight will be similar to that of Chandrika who lead the PA (from Heroes to Neros).
Why we bother too much about US, the super villain. These desperados who find it impossible to dominate the world are now trying to do the next best thing, to stop others. They want the world to get rid of nuclear arms so that they can retain their dominance using conventional weapons. Under the guise of introducing their version of democracy (Cannibalism is better than it), they are picking weaker nations and are on rampage to build military bases around the world in the hope that they can retain influence over the world. This was a tactic used during medieval times. Instead of pleading and going down on knees, this should be answered in simple terms. We should just tell the other powers in the world not to get distracted by their ploys like accusing us with pre-planned concocted stories to hide their agendas, but to focus on what these villains are doing in their backyards and to act now to support those weaker nations to fight back turning tables over to ensure a rapid and a more painful decline, which is good for everyone else.