LankaWeb Weekly Editorial

November 23rdƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 2011ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 
They may be Priests of many denominations, Opposition politicians. Attorneys at LawƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and various activists from many spheres but what they are calling for in realistic terms to sanctify the actions of Fmr. Army Commander Lieut. Gen. Sarath FonsekaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and grant him his freedom is a far cry from what he truly portrayed himself to be after he stepped down from his Military command and attempted to enter public life. In his contestations for the highest office of the land the Presidency he showed himself in his true colours as a power hungry, status greedy, selfish individual spurred on by an Opposition who probably distorted his vision as toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ how he needed to conduct himself as a patriotic son of Lanka where he lost it all and went for broke.A wrong move on his part as he would have held his dignity and been truly compensated for his servicesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  and real patriotism had he thrown in his support behind the Rajapaksa Administration which he did not an paid the price. This seems to be uncannily similar to the course of actions of another Fmr. Major General albeit not to the same intensity where the motivational direction seemed to come from the same sources of inspiration and a price was paid for it sadly.
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As a soldier in command he conducted himself with dignity, resourcefulness and cunning military strategy it needs to be acknowledged but at the end of itƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  he lost it all as he attempted to bring down his Superior Administrators as well as the entire AdministrationƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ through unsubstantiatable accusations and in doing so confused an entire world where the accusations were so harmful that it brought on a furore of ludicrous calls for investigations into war crimes where in all probabilities he tried to pass the buck to others when he himself was the Commander who gave out orders and called most of the shots!. It was eventually discovered that he was not the sanctimonious, patriotic Army general he was portrayedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  to be as investigations revealed his attempts at a failedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ coup on the eve of the Presidential Elections, his hand in the arms procurement scandal, his surreptitious liasons with the UNP and all the covert activities which compromised his integrity andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ aroused the suspicions of the Ruling Party and the President.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The rest today is history where the calls for his release seem somewhat sentimentally motivated through a lack of understaning about the real individualƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ .
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Of course there were denials and pleas for his innocence and that he was wrongfully incarcerated but the fact of the matter is he by way of all the circumstantial evidence presentedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ broke the rules of the code of conductƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  expected of a person of his stature and the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka did not have too much difficulty in evaluating and making their final ruling where his trial had it been conducted by the rules of a Military Court may have delivered aƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  more severe verdict. In essence the General has only the UNP and his gullibility to blame for his woes today.

Perhaps it’sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  high time the bickering about Fmr Gen.Sarath Fonseka and his so called impeccable image is identified in realistic terms. Civic activists and religious leaders have accused the Government of using the judiciary as a political tool after the High Court jailed the countryƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s “most distinguished soldier” for three years on Friday.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It may be argued ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by way of his actions in his post military ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ days ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ (despite his role in the liberation of Sri Lanka from the Tamil Tigers which was by no means single handed as it involved all the armed forces and its adjudicators at a much higher level than Fonseka) he cannot be deemed the most distinguished soldier as he has betrayed his responsibilities to his superiors by trying to drag them down resultingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in the accusations levelled at them throughƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ many foreign powers, and that with hardly any tangible evidence to go by. There is no distinction deserving of a soldier who resorts to this who isƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ deemable a traitor.
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General Sarath Fonseka, who is already serving a 30-month term for irregularities in military procurement, was jailed for having ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-spread disaffectionƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ by backing, in a newspaper interview, allegations that the defense minister ordered the shooting of Tamil Tiger rebels who were trying to surrender.

The Defense minister was Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the PresidentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s brother and the accusationsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ which in many terms, not only military seems a sacrilege and clearly indicative of a betrayal ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the General’sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ allegiance to the Nation without any proof orƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ hard evidence (ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and in essence similar toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ doctored videos and false statements which followed from various LTTE sympathetic diasporaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ sources) and done with the intentions of malice in the manner he has chosen where itƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  has had severe reprisals for the Nation in the long term by way of Foreign Aid sanctions and needless anguish pre-meditated and motivated by malfeasance. These actions alone demand a far severe penalty in no uncertain terms!
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It seems relatively easy given the idiosyncracies which take place in this tiny Island Nation that, following the court case, a meeting of activists including religious leaders, journalists and lawyers haveƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ said “the trial was politically motivated and called for judicial reform forgetting the greater implications of what may have transpired had the General and his consorts had their way as the Nation could easily have tumbled into turmoil, anarchy and a worse plight than what the Tamil Tigers were capable of even in aƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ hypothetical sense where today sanity prevails, people are free from terrorism and the Nation in the process of re-building where the actions of the likes of the imprisoned General could have been an impediment towards progress.
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“At times the tase ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  power has motivated the likes of many inƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ recordedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ History who strove to control and overwhelm the very principles they may have been fighting to preserve the identity of a nation.”