Insight By Sunil Kumar

August 9th 2012

A recent report in a somewhat renegade faction of the local media terms Former Gen Sarath Fonseka as ” the war winning former army commander” which seems somewhat of a misnomer given the fact that it took more than just his efforts alone to overwhelm the LTTE which is a fact of life and now etched in stone regardless of who does the huffing and puffing! It was the combined effort of all the Armed Forces where his charges did indeed play a pivotal role undeniably but never should it be said the this was Sarath Fonseka’s war as it decidedly was not!

And somewhat unfortunately for him however he did not entitled himself to post war glory insamuch as he probably deserved and fell out of grace with the Rajapaksa Administration by the manner in which he con
ducted himself in post war Sri Lanka as he attempted to throw in his lot with the enemies of the State and
use his previous clout by virtue of high military office to join forces with the opposition towards an overthrow attempt which failed rather than lending support to the incumbent regime of President Mahinda Rajapaksa where he now says ” President Mahinda Rajapaksa is robbing the sovereignty of his people, ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”just like an 18th century sea pirate who looted shipsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…- Rhetoric typical of a defeated political activist for all the wrong reasons, somewhat childish and laughable from a disillussioned and dejected former military leader who has fallen from glory due to his own bad judgements and choices who somehow believes that the people of Sri Lanka are a bunch of fools (which they are not !) to believe such apathetic jargon when the accomplishments of the present regime have spilled out to catch the attention of a greater part of the discerning world where he looks pitifully frustrated and does not carry the trappings that would grant him any stake towards ever leading Sri Lanka with his present mentality laced more in frustrations than any patriotic yearning to lead Sri lanka towards progress and prosperity.

That entitlement seems fairly safely secured by the President who to all accounts has delivered the Nation from its enemies but still appears to have to encounter a few more before his task is accomplished which appears even partially to be personified by the likes of Gen Fonseka who continues to attempt placing hurdles towards national progress which hopefully is through his cacaphonous outbursts only and not towards any significant ursurpance of what is now a fairly secure Sri Lanka whose people recognize the greater good this present administration is laudable for despite some adversities which prevail and will take time towards resolving.

The Fonseka ineptitude towards national leadership in the opinions of many who associated with him
closely during his tenure as General suggests a track record of a a somewhat draonian and ruthless type of individual which served his tour de force well in the demolition of the LTTE where the chance of this resurging in a national leadership role does not befit acquitably as credentials towards the title and a risk the Nation of Sri Lanka simply cannot take in the face of the many positive transitions initiated towards posterity by
the present Administration in making Sri Lanka a commendable and safe place for her people although economic difficulties do prevail and will take time to be realised. What Fonseka presents appears to be a Bull In A Chinashop mentality and the last thing Sri Lanka needs today.

Expressions such as ” our objective is to topple this despotic government and chase away this corrupt ruler. I have always maintained that to accomplish that objective we need a unified opposition. I have not wavered from that position. We should forget party differences and internal party rivalries and join hands to defeat this corrupt government, which actually had won only one-third of the total votes, out of the total number of million registered voters. Though they (government) claim they have a two- third majority in parliament, thanks to MPs who have been bought over, two-thirds of voters have rejected this government. Even those who voted no longer endorse the conduct of this government: family rule, dictatorial governance, the ttth Amendment, interference of judiciary, etc.” are all well and good towards promoting his case for the job of national leadership through lip service but what does the man have as his agenda that will serve the Nation better in a more tangible manner beyond his wordplay which is typical of any power hungry politician in a quest to wrest the leadership from an incumbent Administration?

Sadly Gen.Fonseka towards his own detriment and apart from the incarcerations he faced due to his lack of insight to preserve his integrity seems to believe that by throwing in his lot with the UNP which has long since lost its lustre based on the ineptitude of another visionless leader who simply clings to the leadership through the will of cronyism and jingoism within the party, as well as carrying placards for the merits of the JVP who were once steeped in terrorism themselves now having come clean based on the futilities of their questionable past also hampered by a somewhat directionless albeit verbose leader and to a degree tolerated within Sri Lanka as a political entity, seems to be going nowhere other than perhaps another run in with the law of the land which could easily interpret his attempts to unseat the Administration as an attempt at revolt and anarchy and should perhaps tone down his rhetoric and maybe re-think his option of joining the ruling party which despite sounding near impossible in the overall could probably serve him and the nation very well!