Let us avoid man made traps
Posted on August 10th, 2012
Ranjith Soysa
Sri Lanka’s position with regard to the stationing of her armed forces had been forcefully articulated by the SL External Affairs Minister and the Defence Secretary at a recent confab in Colombo in reply to a query by a senior Indian army officer who was with the IPKF. It is indeed ironic that the former IPKF member required such an explanation after experiencing in Sri Lanka the ferocity of the armed LTTE and loosing ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ hundreds of his soldiers in Sri Lanka. Or, is it that this Major General -formerly of the IPKF – is interested in anticipatingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Sri Lankan forcesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to be in the same boat as the IPKF was , in a future date? If there is no suchƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ulterior motive on the part of the Major General or hisƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ country, India, one cannot comprehend why such questions are directed at the Sri Lankan government.
India’sƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ stationing ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ forces in disputed Jammu -Kashmir or in the North-East India and her armed forces’ responses to the ‘anti- govt’ activities are not questioned by the SAARC countries or even by the well known NGOs as India insists that these are internal issues. The UK and the USAƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ who along with India questioning the decisions made by Sri Lankan government’s with regard to the stationing of her forces especially in the North and the East have thousands of their defense force members all over world in spite of the opposition expressed by the locals.
Hence , the response articulated by Prof G.L.Peiris and Mr Gotabhya Rajapkase to loaded questions about the Sri Lankan forces deserve the appreciation of all peace loving Sri Lankans. It is the firm belief of all Sri Lankans that the Government will never give up the right to decide how and where her forces will be stationed and mobilized. Thirty five years of war fueled by India and the West which was overcome by the supreme sacrifices made by tens of thousands of men and women should give the courage to the Nation and her leaders to be firm and avoid man made traps.
August 10th, 2012 at 4:51 pm
RANJITH !!! THIS IS JUST ANOTHER INDIAN MAJOR DONKEY, BRAYING. HE GOT IT WELL FROM GR AND GL.
August 11th, 2012 at 3:33 pm
We can still trust the president. Well said Mr President.
“In the strongest reaction yet to India’s contentious support to a US sponsored resolution at the UNHRC against Sri Lanka earlier this year, President Mahinda Rajapaksa has broken his silence by calling upon the Indian government to have a relook at its dealings with its neighbours.
In a freewheeling interaction with TOI at Temple Trees in Colombo, his first full-length interview since India’s vote for the resolution in March, Rajapaksa suggested that India could be abdicating its leadership role in the region.
Rajapaksa, in fact, did not fully agree with India’s contention that it had helped tone down the resolution against alleged human rights abuses, saying that if India had continued with its support to Sri Lanka, there may not have been any resolution against his country at all.
“Any good intentions and actions are always appreciated. But I must add that if India stood by us and supported Sri Lanka’s request for more time and space, who knows, there may not have been a resolution at all,” the president said when told how Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had himself intervened to make the resolution “non-intrusive”.”
– Adaderana.lk