SF and his saviours
October 6, 2010, 7:45 pm
October 6, 2010, 7:45 pm
[SIZE=+0]UNP and Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe's letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa seeking Gen. Sarath Fonseka's release from prison is of great interest. He has said he is making that appeal in his capacity as the Opposition Leader because Gen. Fonseka is an Opposition MP. At the last presidential election, Gen. Fonseka became Ranil's saviour in that the latter managed to avoid a crushing defeat by hiding behind the former, who got routed. Today, there has been a reversal of roles; Ranil is projecting himself as Gen. Fonseka's saviour! It is a supreme irony that Gen. Fonseka, who took to politics, not wanting to play second fiddle to the Rajapaksas, finds himself under Ranil in Parliament.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0](Ranil is one of those who claimed, immediately after the last presidential election, that President Mahinda Rajapaksa had rigged the polls, and declared Gen. Fonseka 'the people's president' at the Campbell Park in Colombo. Eight months on, Ranil has dropped that 'title' and calls Gen. Fonseka just an Opposition MP!)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]The Opposition Leader's letter as well as his recent statements on Gen. Fonseka is riddled with glaring contradictions. He says Gen. Fonseka was responsible for ‘defeating the LTTE on the ground’. One cannot but agree with him on this score. But, the question is why he refrained from giving Gen. Fonseka the credit for the battlefield successes of the ground forces when they took Kilinochchi after fierce fighting in January 2009, marking the end of the LTTE.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]When all his attempts to scuttle the war by toppling the government failed and he realised, after the capture of Kilinochchi, that his was an exercise in futility, Ranil had no alternative but to praise the armed forces. Still, he chose to address his congratulatory message not to Gen. Fonseka, who commanded the army but to the then Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshall Donald Perera (and the then IGP Jayantha Wickremaratne)! We pointed out editorially at that time that Ranil should have congratulated Gen. Fonseka himself. When the army took back Thoppigala banishing the LTTE from the East prior to the Vanni onslaught, Ranil pooh-poohed that historic victory achieved under Gen. Fonseka's command. He said Thoppigala was only a patch of jungle sans any strategic importance and questioned the map reading skills of the ground commanders responsible for liberating the area. Today, he is praising Gen. Fonseka as it suits his purpose.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]Neither Ranil nor the UNP had a civil word to say about Gen. Fonseka until he fell out with the government and took on the President. When the media came under a spate of attacks, Chief Opposition Whip and UNP MP Joseph Michael Perera speaking in Parliament in July 2008 held the then Army Commander Lt. Gen. Fonseka responsible for them. BBC said on July 28, 2008:[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]"Sri Lanka's main opposition party has accused the country's most senior army officer of being behind violent attacks on reporters. Opposition MP Joseph Michael Perera told parliament that the attacks were carried out by a 'special team' controlled by Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka. Mr. Perera said the government should arrest the offenders and 'immediately bring them to justice'. The army has denied that it is any way involved in attacks on journalists.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]"We are told by those in the army itself that journalists are abducted and subjected to grievous injury by none other than a special unit under the army commander," Mr. Perera, a former parliamentary speaker, said."[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]What has Ranil got to say to this? He shouldn't have allowed a war hero to be vilified in this manner by the UNP in Parliament.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]When the government presented a bill to Parliament last year to enhance the powers of the CDS in a bid to appease Gen. Fonseka disgruntled with having to retire as army chief, the JVP opposed it to the hilt claiming that those powers might pave the way for a military dictatorship. But, a few months later, the JVP wanted Gen. Fonseka as President cum Commander-in-Chief![/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]Gen. Fonseka may have thought of using the UNP and the JVP to realise his political ambitions but he got used by them in the process. Having ditched him at the parliamentary polls, the UNP is now shedding crocodile tears for him and the JVPers always need something to cling on to in politics. They have got hold of Gen. Fonseka’s sarong/jumper. The UNP will let him down again before long.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]Gen. Fonseka may be described as a lion surrounded by a pack of hyenas, most of whom once went behind the Tigers. They are too bankrupt and impotent to force the government to release him.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]The only way to prevent the unfolding drama having a sad ending is for some politically neutral, respected, patriotic leaders acceptable to the warring parties to step in to ensure that saner counsel will prevail and both Gen. Fonseka and the government soften their stands. Together they defeated terrorism and together they must be able to enjoy the dividends of peace.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=+0]The Island[/SIZE]
