Has General Fonseka done something wrong to President Mahinda Rajapaksa ?
Posted on November 21st, 2009
Vipula Gunawardena
As we all know, defeat of LTTE was a ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Team EffortƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ of many. President Mahinda Rajapaksa gave the political leadership, while Defense Secretary, Army Commander, Navy Commander, Air Force collectively worked tirelessly in the war-front to defeat LTTE. On propaganda front, Dr Palitha Kohona, Dr Dayan Jayatillake, Prof Rajiv Wijesignhe and several diplomats (not all) confronted the international mis-information campaign. In addition, several patriotic organisations, newspapers and websites discharged their responsibility to save mother lanka from LTTE. Above all, several thousands of soldiers made their supreme sacrifice to save Mother Lanka from LTTE. Indeed, it was a team effort of many.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Soon after the victory, President Mahinda Rajapaksa tried to gain a political mileage. As a politician, it is reasonable. However, in doing so, he ignored the tremendous contributions made by General Fonseka.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is understood that President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Defence Secretaty over-reacted and sidelined General Fonseka in fear of General FonsekaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s popularity among the people in Sri Lanka.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lanka Army was planning to celebrate the 60th Anniversary. Accordingly, a large number of troops had been brought in busses and trucks to the Sugathadasa stadium. This incident was mis-interpreted by some interested parties and was brought to the attention of President Rajapaksa. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Temple TreesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ was panic. President Mahinda Rajapaksa thought General Fonseka was getting ready for a Coup. Then, there was a talk of getting Indian help.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Then, General Fonseka was appointed a low-key position of Chief of Defence Staff, with immediate effect.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Later, he was offered the post of Secretary of the Ministry of Sports and Recreation under Minister Gamini Lokuge. Is this offer reasonable to a war-hero who commanded the entire Army of over 200,000 soldiers against LTTE?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ General Fonseka should have been allowed to work as the Commander of Army until the end of 2009. Then, he should have been promoted to the Deputy Defense Secretary or Advisor to the President, or similar post, not the Secretary to Minister Gamini Lokuge.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ If I was General Fonseka, I would do the same thing, ie: resign with immediate effect.
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ So, who is responsible for the resignation of General Fonseka ? General Fonseka or President Rajapaksa ?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Who created this mess, President Rajapaksa or General Fonseka ?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Has General Fonseka done something wrong to President Mahinda Rajapaksa ? Then, why bashing him over and over again, indiscriminately?
ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In fact, General FonsekaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢smilitary achievements helped lot President Rajapaksa to gain political mileage. Now, he is just a number.
President Rajapaksa did the biggest mistake in his 45-years long political history, by sidelining General Fonseka, in fear of his popularity among the general public.
November 21st, 2009 at 5:25 am
There is an obvious answer to the question you raised. To make it simple I quote here an e-mail I received recently ;
We all know the General has done his duty for the country by commanding the ground forces during the war. We have our respect for his great service. Likewise we also know that the commandant of the Navy and the Commandant of SL Air Force also did their duty to the motherland. So they all are heroes,
We also know that the General SF has been demanding the sole credit of the war. Even when the whole country respected him, during the victory speech he did not bothered to mention or appreciate the Navy & the Air Force.
I feel that he has been too ambitious and wanted to capitalize the victory of the war to claim the presidency of this country. This particular ambition has created all these unnecessary issues and it made the government to be extra careful when handling with the General.
When the speculations about General’s desire to be the President of this country came up just after the war Victory, many patriots have requested the General to maintain the respect he has gained as a war hero and not to mix up with the Politics. When the General started showing his desire to be the President, if Ranil or Premadasa is in the Power, I do not think they would leave this war hero to live in this world. We have such past experience with our past leaders. But MR has been keeping a cool profile against the undue situations created by the General.
If the General wants to be the President, he could have come for that after the 02nd term is over for MR. But he wanted to challenge the present President in his 02nd term. This country was freed from terrorism and now on the path of development, did not happen automatically, everything happened according to the great vision of the present president, so we must have the respect and appreciation. Further we must allow him to carry on with his vision at least for another 05 years, to accomplish the development process. But just after the war victory, here we have our beloved General challenging the president and dividing the patriot formations in this country that MR built up through his own vision, and we can see many foolish people are trying to fuel the situation by further dividing the patriots through their untimely support to the General, even if he comes forward with the arch enemies of this country and the traitors. That is the real turning point of this unpleasant environment we are experiencing today. Even if the General comes to power after creating a major division among the patriot formations, this country will not survive with the series of possible undue problems that the country will have to face in a most possible political chaos and political instability that will naturally force the country to drive backwards and towards destruction. The enemies and the traitors are working day & night to change the course of our mother land and reverse the great victory we achieved.
Stop playing with the image of the General SF while keeping the great respect you all have for him. Try to understand the situation in a more broad manner, think about the future of our motherland after the great victory.
November 21st, 2009 at 5:56 am
I admire Lankaweb for its quality articles. Unfortunately, yours is one-sided, lacks the relevance of the content to the title and ignore even the publicly available facts to give a balanced view. This MR is a politician (an opportunist who can pretend to be at peace even with the dead at one end and with likes of Mervyn Silva on the other end) and the evidence lies in the composition of his political team. Neither MR is someone who gives the right place for the right people or welcome those who got superior capabilities. This man, MR, as typical of his subgroup, lives in fear of losing out and cares more about his personal survival than anything else. If not, our country would have been following the aspirations he vividly claim to follow in a realistic sense (There is nobody else who can vouch for this than me). Having seen what SF is made of, and his talents, I have no doubt that he was selected to lead the Army on the presumption that SF was not a threat to his interests. However what SF did behind his back is evident from what SF is receiving as mentioned by you. Now I believe that all the military successes were achieved by GR as neither MR nor SF have what it takes to do it quite contrary to popular myths. Sadly, SF himself is in contradiction in what he has achieved if his recent comments are anything to go by. Given my upbringing in the same local culture that shared by MR, though I got nothing in common as individuals, I can understand that SF has done an unpardonable betrayal turning MR on fire to do things that are not normally shown by MR during recent times. SF does a typical act attributable to those being promoted to a higher position who never deserved it (I have seen this kind of behaviour by myself after giving permanent employment to an individual who was never given the permanency by any other supervisor. Even now, I have that silly rage when writing this comment reminding his conduct after becoming permanent. There are many idioms in Sinhala on this behaviour). The coup story appears to be more realistic than many of us are made to believe, and apparently SF has done some dirty planing behind MR to that effect, and possibly with some alien influences. I cannot believe how smart GR is by his recent moves inside the military institutions largely affecting Sinha Regiment (that of SF). Why SF used his home regiment to guard all the important institutions including the Rupavahini demands serious consideration on this matter. Unfortunately, I have serious doubts about the sincerity of SF and his claims of ownership to the war victory given his own insane moves made recently. Those who have high moral values do not behave like prostitutes to either get revenge or to seek power. As an ex-MR supporter, I cannot believe that I would ever support RW. If I get a minute chance to dump Hakim and Mano in the middle of the ocean, I would do it twice because I have some idea of them. In case of SF, who may have had better access to what happened in the country during recent times, it is impossible to forgive or forget his recent monkey acts. If what SF has done to MR were any measure when understood, no one would see him with any respect in time to come.
November 21st, 2009 at 9:03 am
Mr. Sarath Fonseka is a good general, but he is not solely responsible for winning the war. We all know it was a Team effort with the President at the Helm. The bigger war was fought in the international Political Front than in the battlefront as there were many interested Powerful foreign parties who were trying to save the LTTE. The greatest credit should go to the President who did not bend to the Foreign Powers like Ranil would have done. The international battle is still not over.
If the Sri Lankans have ever heard of an American General in the second World War called General Patton who had a big ego like Sarath Fonseka, who helped America to defeat General Rommel in the Desert war, should remember what happened to him. Good Generals are not always good rulers. A good ruler should be a good Politician as he has to bend all different ways to please many and still achieve his goal.
Generals are used to giving orders and having them carried out unquestionably. General Fonseka will never be a successful leader especially as he is planning to join a group of Traitors from the UNP.
It is also a fact that General Fonseka is a US Permanent Resident visa holder and has to come to the USA every year for five years to be eligible for US citizenship. I am a Sri Lankan US citizen for the past 30 years and have received all the benefits of working as a professional and living here. At his age even if General Fonseka becomes a US citizen he will not be entitled to benefits such as Medicare and SS. as he has not paid 40 quarters of payroll taxes. We all know that he recently came to the USA to fulfill his resident visa requirement and nearly got questioned by the Homeland Security on war crimes. He was saved from answering embarassing questions by the Sri Lanka Government. How can Sri Lankans even think of considering a man who wants to swear allegiance to another country and give up his Sri Lankan Citizenship like I had to do on becoming a US citizen be considered for the Presidency of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankans should first think what this man wants, whether it is to spite Mahinda Rajapaksa by winning the elections if that is remotely possible, giving the reins to the Big Traitor Ranil Wickremasinghe and running off to the USA. I hope I do not ever have to set eyes on this individual.
November 21st, 2009 at 11:58 am
Priyantha Abeywickrama is very wrong and is still in the pre May 18th 2009 era. What the author, Vipula is presenting is a question and he is giving a partial answer. What average Sinhala do not want to talk about is INDIA and Tamil Madu. Give all the credit to SF, this is the only greneral who stood straight and called Thalathel Karay’s across sea; Karunanidhi and Jayalalitha Jokers! Now who started this Coup-De-Etat alart. INDIA makes sure that the main stream media never writes any negative articles about them. So, this the answer it is up to the reader to believe it or not. When the troops were brought to the Sugathadasa Stdium, the Indian high commissioner Asoke Prasard was waiting for the opportunity. He first called Gotabhaya, and told him that if he does not remove SF and General Dias, right away, the fate of President Rajapakse will be the same as Honduran president. Every one at all levels of the administration paniced. Prasad, a fully traind and qualified espionage agent did not stop from there, he demanded that he speak to President Rajapakse and he got it. He advised MR to stop the Army’s 60th celibration, some brain wave came to MR and he did not do it. Immediately prasad was promoted! Where did he take office? To be the deputy to Anderea, alias M.K. Narayanan the national security advisor. Until Sinhala understands who the visible enemy INDIA is and who the invisible enimy, BRITISH is, this scnerio will play over and over again. Evolution is a painstakingly slow process for the Sinhala since 1815. This change happend at speed of light and no one could comprehend the change. The sustainability of this victory is on the hands of the young. Without knowing who the visible and invisible enemy is; it is a difficult senerio to follow. If you state this every night before you go to bed “INDIA IS THE VISIBLE ENIMY and THE INVISIBLE ENIMY IS the BRITISH” you will come to pre May 18th 2009 state of mind.
Kithsiri, Florida, USA
November 21st, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Dear Kithsiri, your comment is another story. I am not sure pre and post 18th May 2009 has any significance to my thinking because late VP was the weakest link in Tamil barbarity. In fact, I travel back and forth in time close to sixty thousand years (or more) and it is logical to presume that I might be capable of jumping forward the same years in time. What you say is correct. I hope you have read my past comments. My understanding is that Sinhala people do not have any friends among other ethnic groups and neither needs any friends for their survival if you could figure out the evolution of ethnic groups over time. I read the full letter written by SF and am surprised by his own recent conduct. I do not see any difference between SF and MR or for that matter the whole subgroup including SA (JVP) and RW. SF is shooting himself in the foot and he is proving one of the well-established characteristics of humanity, the behavioural change of individuals who claim ownership for something they have not seriously contributed for. Even MR is showing some of these signs. You should try it yourself to understand this. His popularity is a direct result of government propaganda presumably to keep army morals high while incurring huge losses behind the public gaze. We already know who created LTTE. What most of us do not understand is what happens to those within and without who act against the wishes of the ancient Sinhala leaders. To say in simple terms, they have never survived for long. Hindus are jittery because we have the options to burn them alive if we wish to. It goes the same for Tamils. Though many of you do not understand thanks to Buddhist indoctrination of your minds, a pilli send by Hindus, both Hindus and Tamils know who we were in the past. Have you wondered why they are so different these days? Frankly I am more interested in wiping out every type of scum who crossed our beaches during the past bringing so much misery to our people. In that respect, none of these self-appointed guardians of our people, whether MR, SF, RW, SA or any other scum, has any value to be even mentioned. You need to tap into your hidden conscience to understand more about reality and truth, which decides most of our behaviour and responses though we do only a very small number of deeds using our piyavi conscience. I am not sure what I said is relevant to judge me wrong as all the content I used is public material. Please do not underestimate the capabilities of Hindus, one of the major reasons for the collapse of our great ancient civilisation within. These days they are more worried about their own future than that of any others, may be they got some astrological predictions. The astrology is an ancient intellectual marvel achieved by our ancient fore parents, now confused and contaminated by the acts of less-intelligent and confused idiots behaving like snake oil vendors who brought disrepute to this highly advanced technology. I am sure very soon they will be part of the history and we will have our country back. This Tamil Nadu is a Tamil eelam like thing built by replacing Sinhala people who lived there. Nadu might be a Tamilised word Doowa (Island), a creation of word from people who moved from south to north, I mean land beyond sea to the north of Lanka. If you think SF is on the same wavelength as you are, just read what he spits out from his own mouth during recent times. By the way he seems to be the guy from Lanka who fits the description of Challabies of Iraq and Karsais of Afghanistan. You better look for the answers to current turmoil in your own backyard, as there is a typical pattern to the unfolding events. If it were the case, these Hindus would not hesitate to annexe our country, to protect us, or more preciously to protect them in the worst possible belief, as it will be their end. If this scenario occurs, your general SF will be remembered by all for something very different, but not for the war victory that he claimed to have won by himself alone presumably using his magic wand held as part of his formal apparel. Have you heard of JVP holding meetings with Chinese communist party members in Lanka? Why more Muslims vigorously support SF?