ARMY COMMANDER FONSEKA'S SINHALA SRI LANKA

sandman

ARTICLE FROM THE SUNDAY LEADER :

Moderate garb

And if President Rajapakse was making a desperate bid to put on moderate garb for international consumption it was rent in two by Army Chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka who told the Canadian National Post the minorities of Sri Lanka should not make undue demands.

Fonseka insisting on continuing to play with numbers and dally with deadlines also told the Canadian media he believed the ongoing war would end in less than a year and the LTTE's destiny would be decided.

Earlier he vowed the war would be over by December but not before he had contradicted himself elsewhere in the media when he said it may take 20 years to crush the LTTE and the insurrection will probably go on forever.

Fonseka's Sinhala Sri Lanka

In a candid interview with Canada's National Post newspaper which revealed his personal mindset, Fonseka was to say the war was driven by Tamils who want a homeland and have chosen Sri Lanka as the place. But the country's Sinhalese majority he was to say would never allow the Tamil minority to break the country apart.

"I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people," he was reported as saying.

"We being the majority of the country, 75%, we will never give in and we have the right to protect this country. We are also a strong nation. They can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things," he was quoted as saying.

Children of a lesser god

While the archaic idiocy of these sentiments stand out like a nude hula dancer, it is a line of thinking that unfortunately for President Rajapakse, who in his own speech to the UNGA, stated he will not tolerate an undermining of the territorial integrity of the country, is designed to fuel the flames of separatism and give credence to the LTTE claim that Tamils are a distinct and separate nation.

Grist to the separatist mill

Fonseka's thinking only adds weight to the argument for self determination and must if pragmatic be immediately refuted by this government if it is to have any credibility in its claim that the war it is now waging is to liberate the Tamil people from the clutches of the LTTE.

Fonseka has also been blase about the loss of life be it civilian casualties or the lives of his own men stating in media interviews the government is willing to pay the price to win the war.

He has also dismissed concerns by international human rights groups denying many non combatants have died in the war while admitting civilian deaths are inevitable in war.

And while Fonseka on the one hand vows from time to time that the war will be won in from three months to a year; proving that hatred is in the heart and not in texts as they say, President Rajapakse on the other hand was to quote a stanza from the Dammapada in New York. "Victory breeds hatred, The defeated live in pain, Happily the calmed live, Having set victory and defeat aside.," he quoted as he ended his speech to the international community last Wednesday.

I AM BRAINLESS, SO PLEASE EXCUSE ME !!!!!!

sandman

ARTICLE FROM THE DAILY MIRROR :

Keheliya defends Army Chief

By Kurulu Kariyakarawana

Government defense spokesman Keheliya Rambukwella yesterday justified a controversial statement made by the Army Commander Sarath Fonseka by reiterating that nobody had a right to make “undue” demands.

Minister Rambukwella was responding to questions posed by journalists when they asked him whether it was fair for the Army Commander to make public statements discriminatory of minority communities.

He stressed that irrespective of whether a community was in the minority or in the majority, nobody had a right to make undue demands, especially at a time when the full focus was on eradicating terrorism.

“Not only the minority groups but even government employees demanding pay hikes of Rs.5,000 are also making undue demands. Sri Lanka is a sovereign nation where everybody can live without fear under the law according to the constitution. But it is unfair for them to make undue demands,” Mr. Ramukwella said.

But the Minister did not rule out the possibility that the Commander had stressed that as the country belonged to the majority Sinhala race others could also live with the majority community in peace and harmony.

Last week the Army Commander had in an interview to the Canadian National Post newspaper said: “We are also a strong nation. They can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things,” few days ago.

The comments by the Army Chief drew criticism from several political parties including the UNP and the SLMC.
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It is not surprising that a person of Keheliya Rambukwella's calibre has come out with such a statement !!! A politician who had the audacity to threaten the Principal of Royal College that he would get the Principal transfered to a godforsaken place, if he did not rescind the suspension of his son for having broken in, along with some others, into the office of the Sports Master of the school , to remove some files pertaining to the conduct of Rambukwella's son !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (and by the way - he got away with this threat and the son's suspension was indeed rescinded much to the disgust of all respectful Royalists past and present !!! - This country is in its present doldrums because of the past follies of Politicians like SWRD Bandaranaike etc., and down the line, who created this mess in the first place. It is best for the Army Commander to let this type of rhetoric be spouted form the mouths of politicians and get on with his job. We have had enough " foolish mouthings " from the Army Commander. Deal with the war and leave the talking to the politicians. We citizens fully well know which side "your bread is buttered ".

If the minorities are stifled after the subjucation of the LTTE to a great extent (which is the thinking behind the extremist elements in the majority community already !!!) then another problem is on the way. Since the minority communities also would no longer be willing to be pushed around. If it continues then they also would have no alternative than to start something. We have had more than our fair share of calamaties in this wonderful country of ours. Lets hope that sanity would prevail and that all this mindless rhetoric would stop and fruitful plans to revive this country from its economy upwards is taken immediately.

I AM BRAINLESS, SO PLEASE EXCUSE ME !!!!!!

sandman

ARTICLE FROM THE EDITORIAL OF THE DAILY MIRROR :

Combustible remarks should have been avoided

Sri Lanka’s political culture is such that the flimsiest reason is sufficient for rival political parties to magnify it for political gain. They are quick to pounce on whatever issue thus presented to score political points regardless of the country’s situation or the resulting consequences.

It is against this backdrop of politics that the remark that Army Commander Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka is reported to have made in an interview with Stewart Bell of the National Post newspaper of Canada, published on September 23, 2008 is being used today by various interested parties. He has said, "I strongly believe that this country belongs to the Sinhalese but there are minority communities and we treat them like our people. We being the majority of the country, 75%, we will never give in and we have the right to protect this country. We are also a strong nation. They can live in this country with us. But they must not try to, under the pretext of being a minority, demand undue things."

It has to be conceded that the Army Commander should have been a little more cautious to avoid remarks of a sensitive nature at this crucial time when the unity of all communities and sections of people is needed to carry forward the campaign against terrorism. A cautious approach is all the more necessary in view of the important position he holds. It is also unfortunate that these sensitive remarks have been made at a time when President Mahinda Rajapaksa is making a valiant effort to give the world the impression that the country’s effort is to eradicate terrorism to provide equal rights, freedoms and opportunities for all sections of people to live in peace and harmony in this country.

These remarks have provided a chance for parties holding extreme views to justify their claims and assert their positions, thus robbing the country of the opportunity of mustering maximum unity among people to complete the present campaign as quickly as possible. While some have hastened to endorse the army commander’s remarks, others have swiftly denounced them, some going to the extent of demanding the army commander’s resignation. Among these groups are those who are genuinely concerned about the damage caused to unity among communities on the one hand and those who had opposed the campaign from the beginning either because of their support for the LTTE or their humanitarian concerns, on the other. This has indeed provided a whip to hardcore LTTE supporters to chastise the army commander whose moves they have always resented. They have begun to condemn him as a visceral communalist.

Meanwhile, Minister Keheliya Rambukwella has come forward to perform his customary duty of washing soiled linen. Justifying the army commander’s remarks in response to a question posed on the matter at the media conference, he has said there was nothing wrong in the army commander’s statement. He has pointed out that nobody, irrespective of whether a person belonged to the majority community or to a minority community, had a right to present undue demands, particularly at a time when full attention is focused on the campaign against terrorism. He has not forgotten to add that Sri Lanka is a sovereign nation where everybody can live without fear under the law according to the constitution.

In any event, on a balanced assessment of the army commander’s remarks, one cannot find them so objectionable. His remarks per se are based on factual matters. That the majority of people in this country are Sinhala, that all communities could live in harmony and that it is wrong to present undue demands taking advantage of belonging to a minority community, are not things that could be contested. What has provided ammunition to the critics, however, is his assertion that the country belongs to Sinhala people. It is this remark that makes people belonging to other communities feel alienated in the land of their birth.

Although some tend to treat this remark as a slip of the tongue others find that they are sentiments that the army commander has persistently expressed. However, those belonging to minority communities need not be unduly hurt or concerned because the highest in the land, namely President Rajapaksa, the ministers of his government as well as those belonging to most other political parties do not subscribe to the contention that this country exclusively belongs to a particular community. This view is held by some even now but their numbers are declining fast.

Sinhala, the language of the majority and Buddhism, the religion of the majority are given their due place not only in the country’s constitution but in the conduct of most state functions and events without any objection or hindrance from the discerning sections in minority communities. They are reasonable enough to come to terms with ground realities. They feel assured by constitutional provision that guarantees the right to equality to all citizens.

I AM BRAINLESS, SO PLEASE EXCUSE ME !!!!!!