28 March, 2024

Blog

Fonseka Promotion: Sirisena Govt Is Similar To Its Predecessor

Kumaravadivel Guruparan – academic and Co-spokesperson of the Tamil Civil Society Forum (TCSF) expressing his disappointment over the government’s promotion of Sarath Fonseka into the Field Marshall title earlier this week, states that it appears the Sirisena government is following in the same footsteps of the Rajapaksa regime, in concluding that the Sri Lanka Army is not a guilty party to the human rights abuses that had occurred during the final phases of the war.

Kumaravadivel Guruparan

Kumaravadivel Guruparan

“The government has reached the conclusion of freeing the SLA of any blame with concern to the grave abuses that occurred during the conflict, even before they have completed the preliminary work to establish the domestic mechanism, which was promised in order get the OISL report deferral” Guruparan told Colombo Telegraph.

He points out the swiftness with which the government has acted in dismantling the cases against Fonseka – who was high in the chain of command responsible for the grave violations that took place during the conflict- is unmatched when it is compared with any of the other promises that were pledged in President Sirisena’s manifesto.

He has recalled that it was when Fonseka was the Jaffna Army Commander that he refused to reduce the size of the illegal high security zone in Valikamam North and in fact expanded it with a new buffer zone, beyond the existing boundaries during the Norwegian peace process.

“The President said its part of the government’s ‘quest for justice for the whole army’ and even his Foreign Minister recently stated in the Parliament that the internal inquiry would be held to clear the name for the Lankan armed forces,” he says while pointing out Fonseka’s promotion and the other changes made to the top army brass do not bode well with the commitment made regarding a credible domestic inquiry into the alleged abuses that occurred during the final phases of the war.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Latest comments

  • 15
    3

    Kumaravadivel Guruparan

    RE: Fonseka Promotion: Sirisena Govt Is Similar To Its Predecessor

    The Fact remains that “Maveeran” Velupillai Prabaksaran tried to kill Fonseka, but VP is no more, and Fonseka is a Field Marshal, and the 30-year war is over.

    Whether, one like it or not, General, noe Field Marshall SArath Fonseka played a major part in this outcome, whatever collateral damages were inflicted, base on the instructions of his bosses.

    Have you heard of Goyabaya Rajapaksa?

    • 9
      2

      Kumaravadivel Guruparan,

      Remember General Norman Schwarzkopf? He lead the Gulf War for USA.

      Hailed as a hero in USA. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth of UK in the aftermath.

      Have you registered you protest in Washington or London?

      Cheers!

      • 7
        2

        Ben Hurling

        Did you believe Norman also said that

        Good generalship is the realisation that you’ve got to figure out how to accomplish your mission with the minimum loss of human life.

        Norman Schwarzkopf

        • 6
          3

          Native,

          Heard about “Highway of death” at the end of Gulf War I?

          Where thousands and thousands of Iraqi conscripts in Saddam’s Army were bombed to death. Between Kuwait City and Bagdad. While they were runing away, back to Iraq in utter defeat.

          It was a ghastly war crime.

          Who’s grand idea was it? Could it be General Norman Schwarzkopf by any chance?

          Cheers!

          • 7
            1

            Ben Hurling

            “Heard about “Highway of death” at the end of Gulf War I? “

            It was described by one pilot as turkey shoot.

            Here is a clip

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhmXleZXAr0

            It is up to the Iraqis to take the war crime charges to UN. American should do it themselves.

            The only problem is that those Americans will be branded as traitors, ….. etc as they do in this island.

    • 2
      0

      Kumaravadivel Guruparan

      RE: Fonseka Promotion: Sirisena Govt Is Similar To Its Predecessor

      Bomb targets Sri Lanka army chief

      http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4941744.stm

      At least eight people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on Sri Lanka’s army headquarters, while the head of the army has been seriously injured.
      Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka is said to be in a stable condition after surgery in Colombo, where the attack happened.

      The military has blamed Tamil Tiger rebels for the attack and launched air strikes on their positions in the east.

      There has been a surge in violence in Sri Lanka recently, and the Tigers last week pulled out of planned peace talks.

      Responding to the latest attack, President Rajapakse said he would not be cowed by terrorism.

      “I emphasize and caution that one should avoid mistaking our desire for peace and our responsibility to achieve it as a government, as weakness,” he said in a televised address.

      This is the first suicide bombing in the Sri Lankan capital since July 2004, and the biggest attack blamed on the Tamil Tigers since they signed a truce with the government in 2002.

      Though the ceasefire still officially holds, Sri Lanka appears to be heading back to war, the BBC’s Dumeetha Luthra reports from Colombo.

      Fake identification

      Military officials say the attacker was a woman who made herself appear heavily pregnant to conceal the explosives.

      She presented fake identification and said she had an ante-natal appointment at the army hospital inside the complex, unnamed officials told the Associated Press news agency.

      Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka
      Lt Gen Sarath Fonseka has taken a hard line against the Tigers
      A Sri Lankan military spokesman who spoke to the BBC said the attacker blew herself up as Lt Gen Fonseka was leaving his office “just in front of the army hospital”.

      Twenty-seven people were wounded in the attack, the army said.

      It is not clear if the bomber was included among the eight people said by the military to have been killed in the blast.

      The army headquarters are in a heavily guarded compound in central Colombo.

      Lt Gen Fonseka is reported to have suffered severe abdominal injuries and was taken to hospital.

      A team of 10 surgeons operated on him and he is now said to be in a stable condition.

      Lt Gen Fonseka was appointed head of the army shortly after the election of President Mahinda Rajapakse last November and has taken a hard line against the Tamil Tigers.

      The Sri Lankan military says it has begun an aerial assault on rebel positions in north-eastern Sri Lanka, telling the BBC it could not stand by after the attack on its headquarters.

      The military said the Tigers had earlier attacked Sri Lankan naval positions in the north-eastern district of Trincomalee.

      A Tamil Tiger leader in Trincomalee, Mr Ezhilan, told the BBC that civilians in the area had been fleeing shelling by the army.

      COLOMBO ATTACKS
      August 2005: Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar shot dead at his home
      July 2004: Woman suicide bomber tries to kill government minister
      July 2001: 18 people killed and planes destroyed in attack on Colombo airport

      In pictures: Sri Lanka blast
      Police said the explosion in Colombo bears all the hallmarks of the Tigers.

      Tamil Tiger rebels frequently use suicide bombers in their operations – and are thought to have carried out nearly 200 attacks since the first suicide bombing in July 1987, when a bomber in a truck filled with explosives killed 40 soldiers.

      The rebels have denied being behind recent attacks.

      Talks on hold

      Escalating violence in the north and east of the country has left about 100 people dead in the past three weeks.

      The Tigers began their armed campaign for a separate homeland for the island’s Tamil minority in the 1970s.

      Efforts are continuing to persuade the rebels to return to peace talks in Switzerland. Last week they pulled out of negotiations, accusing the government of attacks on ethnic Tamil civilians.

      The team of Norwegian envoys acting as mediators in the conflict has condemned the latest bombing, but said it was not drawing “any immediate conclusions about the possible perpetrators”.

  • 5
    8

    The new government went give a slap to MR by reinstate SF and went to far it gave them back the same slap in the face for giving field. Marshall for a criminal

    • 15
      5

      If SF is a criminal then how you categorise LTTE goons like Rudra , that Priest bugger , Adela and many others who massacred many sinhalese , tamils , Muslims cold blooded – may be as cannibals ??

      • 5
        4

        Rabok

        “If SF is a criminal then how you categorise LTTE goons like Rudra , that Priest bugger , Adela and many others who massacred many sinhalese , tamils , Muslims cold blooded – may be as cannibals ??”

        It is also for an independent investigation to find out.

    • 1
      5

      It was not a slap to any one. It was to stop Fonseka becoming political threat to other inefficient leaders.

      for ever losers are chasing their dream.

  • 10
    2

    Will he change his attitude towards minorities after his promotion? Or will it now get even worse?

  • 8
    3

    His promotion was long due – be it was not okay or not – his management brought end to brutal civil war in which tamils, sinhalese, muslims and all suffered years long. But this means not that free and fair investigations on the war should be stopped – we are all srilankens and we all need to have been respected by prevailing laws. Today tamil srilankens enjoy -no war situation as the majority and other minorites would do. That is the bottomline of all this. But ifcivilians were deliberately targeted by the war (end phase) that should be investigated by any leaders giving it the priority.

  • 8
    3

    Not surprised that it hurts LTTE promoters like you. [Edited out]! Go and wash your hands off the blood of your own kind.

  • 9
    2

    Why the F… are you talking about HR violation by SL Army when the gangster Praba is the worst violator of human rights in the history of Sri Lankan – if the inhuman goon Praba did not use innocent tamils as cannon fodder then there wouldn’t have been many innocent tamil deaths – So start a campaign to catch leaders of present tamil Diaspora gov. and punish them –

    • 0
      7

      next stop for Marshall Field SF is The Hague …an elected government must respect international law during conflicts ….not the so called terrorists this is the different got it???

    • 3
      1

      Rabok

      “So start a campaign to catch leaders of present tamil Diaspora gov. and punish them”

      You are right why don’t you campaign for an independent investigation unearth truth whatever had happened in the period from 5th April 1971 to date?

  • 10
    3

    We understand the feelings of LTTE human rights violaters. You guys killed more Tamils than The army. You killed mostly civilians in buses, trains and villages! You used human shields! Now a guy who saves the Tamils from further torment becomes a criminal? White flag issue by the Rajapakse BROTHER’S, not Fonseka! Also remember the documented instances when white flag bearers exploded themselves?

    It is bitter to realize your almighty was killed! He was destined to die like that for the crimes he committed! Sorry boy swallow the bitter pill!

    • 4
      3

      moderate

      “You guys killed more Tamils than The army.”

      I love to see your evidence.

  • 4
    0

    The fact that Piraphakaran was a fascist does not absolve us of the need for an inquiry into whether war crimes were or were not committed both by the armed forces and the rebels.

    No one wants war criminals running around and certainly no one wants them running our country. There are several suspected war criminals in the TNA and there are several such suspects in the armed forces of the Sri Lankan state as well.

    There is a need for an objective inquiry into what war crimes were committed and by whom they were committed and upon whom they were committed. This will involve having to define what exactly constitutes a “war crime” given the fact that there was an irregular army involved in the fighting that was not bound by the rules of war and was not even obliged to identify itself by wearing a uniform.

    The political justifications and legitimizations upon which the war was launched must also be looked into and the politicians and judiciary responsible for this basis of the war may also be held responsible for the war crimes if any that ensued. Sight must not be lost of the fact that the armed forces were carrying out orders issued by the government based on its perception of real or delusional threats to the state.

    Any war crimes will have to be actions in excess of what the politicians ordered and will have to be clearly demonstrated as having been such. If not it is the politicians and not the armed forces who should be liable for any actions arising out of their orders and policies that may be defines as a wara crime.

    War crimes or not Fonseka deserves to the rank of Field marshal because he commanded the forces that destroyed the armed rebal forces bringing the rebellion back within the constraints of democratic practice and process. It is important so that it will be clear that it was he – and not the defense secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa – who accomplished this task on the orders of Mahinda Rajapaksa.

    The question of war crimes and their punishment has little to do with the parties to the war. It is the task of an independent body and its objective is to discern whether war was carried out professionally on the basis of political necessity and that what occurred was not a passionate slaughter in pursuit of an ideological agenda.

  • 0
    0

    The Grand Old Field Marshal
    Oh, the grand old Field Marshal
    He had ten thousand men
    He marched them up to the top of the hill,
    And marched them down again.
    And when they were up, they were up,
    And when they were down, they were down,
    And when they were only half-way up,
    They were neither up nor down.
    Oh, he marched them to the left
    He marched them to the right
    He even marched them upside-down
    Oh, what a grand sight!
    And, he marched them to the left
    He marched them to the right
    He marched them ’round and ’round again
    And then marched them out of sight.

  • 1
    0

    At last! The Salvation Army Commander won his day. At least now he can rest assured that when he dies he will be given a State funeral with full military honours, a brass band and trumpets sounding the last post.

    • 0
      0

      “At least now he can rest assured that when he dies he will be given a State funeral with full military honours…….”
      So, so; Even when he dies he will be a burden to the country eh?

  • 2
    1

    Thanks to over riding the then PM Ranil on the Jaffna issue that we had a strong footing in Jaffna to effectively conduct and win the war so we can now debate in peace time.

    Was happy to see the old soldier in the pedestal he deserves, even happier to see Prez Sirisena pleased.
    Fonseka looks good as the FM, carries it well and looks the part.

    Sri Lanka boasted to the world that they militarily defeated the invincible tigers. India that had two Field Marshals referred to the man as the Greatest General of our times. MR wanted him to cut the cake calling him the Hero of the war. HAD SF BEEN COMMANDER OF EELAM WAR 1, HE WOULD HAVE DEFIED JR AND RAJIV AND CONCLUDED THE EPISODE. In the 89 JVP insurrection Fonseka’s ares were free of mass graves. He captured Kumar Gunaratnam (now FSP leader) and others who are yet alive. (The Pakistani FM had not even won a war, even Cariappa. The Air Force played a major role in the 71 war to create Bangladesh, however only the army commander Manekshaw was made Field Marshal.)

  • 2
    0

    Sarath Fonseka is now retired.Whatever interpretation is given to this title, Field Marshal, one thing is clear.He is now ‘retired Field Marshal’.Matter ends there!

  • 3
    0

    Kumaravadivel Guruparan,

    Would you like Prabhakaran to be promoted to Field Marshal instead?

    Is he not a guilty party to the Human Rights abuses that had occurred during the final phases of the war, when he used Tamil Civilians as a Human Shield, against the Army Attack?

Leave A Comment

Comments should not exceed 200 words. Embedding external links and writing in capital letters are discouraged. Commenting is automatically disabled after 5 days and approval may take up to 24 hours. Please read our Comments Policy for further details. Your email address will not be published.