By Dr M D P DISSANAYAKE

On 17 December 2009, the Lankaweb under the above caption, had proposed the Court Martial proceedings against former General Mr Sarath Fonseka. On 13 August, 2010 the first Court Martial has found General Fonseka guilty of the serious breaches of the Sri Lankan Army code of conduct and stripped him of all status he has gained as a first-class Non Commissioned Officer and a Commissioned Officer of the Army. This dis-honourable discharge was most appropriate and has been in line with the standards applied in similar cases internationally.

As we recall, during the last Presidential Elections, Mr Sarath Fonseka was chosen as the common candidate by Mr Ranil Wickremasinghe of the UNP. Therefore, to a great extent RW is responsible for conspiring with SF whilst he was in active service to engage in political activities. It was a great relief for Mother Lanka that SF did not win the Presidential Elections. The unfolding events after the Presidential and Parliamentary Elections clearly shows the disintegration within the political alliances of the opposition . If the people of Sri Lanka had trusted this bunch of ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”absent ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” minded ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…” political gurus, what would have been the plight of Sri Lankans today?

We hear from the Parliamentary proceedings about the complaints from SF regarding lack of democracy, transparency, corporate governance and lawlessness in the country. But SF is dead silent on issues such as money laundering, forgeries, harbouring Army deserters and whereabouts of his great son-in-law Danuna Tillekeratne. This has been a great lesson for Sri Lankans for their braveness and the ability to distinguish friends and enemies of Sri Lanka. The timely actions of the Defence Secretary Mr Gotabhaya Rajapakse and the President Mr Mahinda Rajapakse have saved the nation not only from Prabhakaran led LTTE, but also from rogue Sinhalese.

It will be few more months before the Masks from Ambalangoda are completely removed from Sarath FonsekaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s face.

For purpose of clarity, I re-produce the article published on 17 December, 2009 in the Lanka Web.

ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-General Sarath Fonseka has betrayed the country in style. Living in a dreamland to become the President, he has spoken out of turn, conducted himself to bring disgrace to the entire Army, its serving men, women and breached the Oath as an ex-Army Officer, He has divulged the most sensitive information and thus need to be disciplined forthwith.

The Court Martial proceedings against this ex-Army Officer must begin immediately. There has been several such Court Martial proceedings world wide, including India, against ex-Army Officers for breach of conduct and the Oath. SF is no doubt a high security threat to Sri Lanka. If an ex-Army Officer behaved in this manner in developed countries, Court Martial proceedings would have already begun. In our part of the world, eg. Singapore would have found a nice little cage for ex-officers like SF in the maximum security Changi Prison without trial for an indefinite period.

At the end of Court Martial proceedings, if SF is found guilty, he deserve to be given a dis-honourable discharge from Sri Lankan Army plus a prison sentence.

As far as Prabhakaran was concerned, we all knew he was an Enemy of innocent Tamils and Sri Lankan nation as a whole. But now it is abundantly clear SF is worse than Prabha.

There is also a lesson from this episode for the President Mahinda Rajapakse. The President must have realized by now that others who are close to him are not as honest and trustworthy.

Enemies are easily identifiable, but identifying who are loyal and trustworthy can be most difficult. This can happen to a President at political level. It can happen to any ordinary citizen, a family member, Father or Mother in a family. Life-time experience of everyone must re-shape the future thinking. Who can be trusted today?

Digahayu Sri Lanka, Dirgahayu President Mahinda RajapakseƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.