28 March, 2024

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Mr. President, Protect The Honour Of War Heroes, Not The Fraudsters In Uniform

By Arun Kumaresan

Arun Kumaresan - Air Vice Marshal (Ret'd)

Arun Kumaresan – Air Vice Marshal (Ret’d)

Lessons from the arrest of former Indian Air Chief

Recent utterances by President Maithripala Sirisena challenging the criminal inquiries raised many eye brows. Being the symbolic representation of the Yahapalana movement spearheaded by political and civil organizations, the said utterances appeared him back tracking on the positions once forcefully taken that led to the change of regime. Whilst respecting his concerns for war heroes (‘Ranaviru’)- who did a yeoman service in defeating terrorism, which Mr President has the absolute right and duty to protect – the question arises whether such right extends to protect the wrong doer.

Men and women in Sri Lanka join the profession of arms as it is considered a noble profession transcending history when even the Royalty thought it mandatory to be proficient in art of war and lead men in battle. The fighting elements have a special place in any society. Once these men and women join the respective arms they are proud and committed to uphold sovereignty of the nation. They are well aware that it also may be at the cost of their own lives or limbs. They are professionals they do not expect the sympathy or empathy of any one especially the politicians who attempt to make use of them to create emotions for the sake of votes. But one thing they expect from their leadership element in uniform is absolute honesty and integrity at all times.

Mr President, as this note being drafted, a former Indian Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal (ACM) Tyagi, who was arrested two weeks ago, is now languishing in a remand prison, subsequent to an investigation into a VVIP chopper purchasing scam. It is reiterated ACM Tyagi is presumed innocent and only after a due trial we will be able to see his culpability. ACM Tyagi has had an illustrious career culminating in as Air Chief, had actively participated in the 1965 and 71 Indo-Pak wars. But he could not take cover under the ‘war hero’ (Ranaviru) tag. Indian political leadership is strong to ensure the moral of the soldier is not affected by few fraudsters in uniform. Political leadership understands the importance of national security and the maintenance of the morale of rank and file that is closely linked to the honorable conduct of its military leadership.gotabaya

Like you Mr President, your two predecessors (CBK & MR) too came into power crying slogans in election platforms to eradicate fraud and corruption (Dushanaya haa wanchava!) in military procumbent and gave this solemn promise to the rank and file who were taking the brunt on the battlefield. However, both these leaders stumbled to some crook military leaders who convincingly placed an argument before the political leadership that any such investigation will demoralize the rank and file. No better word to surmise this argument – absolute Bull Shit!!! It was only a cunning cover to continue the corrupt practices partnered with some elements in the political hierarchy. The wheeler dealers acted as excellent match makers. These match makers had the unique ability to inter mingle with blue or greens and they know who to tap when either of them in power (Now it is much easier as both are together!).

Unfortunately, President CBK only realized the scale of the fraud when her uncle and the then State Minister of Defense’s safe containing cash were raided. This is only an example how the military leadership hand in glove with the political elite enriched whilst rank and file perished in the battlefield. President MR too, as promised appointed Presidential Commissions of Inquiry to look into the corruption in previous era. It shed deep insights into corrupt deals including the infamous order of three C130 aircraft placed with Marshall Aerospace UK and only two were delivered for the price of three. The outcome of this inquiry with other host of findings was handed over to President MR and it was shelved with no further action only to benefit the spiders to spin a cobweb. Interestingly, Marshall Aerospace had the audacity to come in with another unsolicited proposal to sell more C130 aircrafts even under your ‘Yahapalana’ regime.

Mr President your recent utterance against the former Director General Bribery Commission was due to the fact; three former Naval Chief being arraigned before the courts for purported offences related to Avant Garde transactions. These allegations against the Avant Garde, Mr President, if you remember, were made by you and your campaigners so convincingly that eventually led to the down fall of the Rajapaksa regime. The other was the MiG 27 purchases and there may be many more. Even your cabinet spokesman recently stated that USD 6.5m had been fraudulently taken from the MiG 27 purchases. Your utterances leads to a belief whether the same arguments that scuttled Presidents CBK’s & MR’s original intent to have a corrupt free military is affecting based on the false belief; innocently or on the advice of some wheeler dealers – ‘such inquires will demoralize rank and file’

Definitely it will not, Mr President unless you and your campaigners were lying on campaign stages. If not, please benchmark your thinking with the arrest and remand of the former Indian Air Chief. The fraudsters in uniform can only be equaled to traitors of Prabakaran likes- they earned black money whilst rank and file made the supreme sacrifice. Mr President as the supreme commander; be not be sympathetic to the persons in courts wearing medals. They have sufficient resources based on the earnings – as employees at Avant Garde after transferring percentage stake of the state to the said agency at the time of their respective retirement- to defend themselves and prove their innocence.

MR PRESIDENT, IT IS YOUR BOUNDED DUTY IDENTIFY AND PROSECUTE THE FEW FRAUDSTARS IN UNFORM – THEN YOU CAN BE PROUD THAT YOU HAVE PROTECTED THE HONOUR OF THE 99+% MEN AND WOMEN IN UNIFORM.

This is the best way you can show your allegiance with the rank and file who are ready go to the battle front on your legitimate orders. Zero corruption in military will lead to a loyal and professional military. It will also send a clear message to other in the military leadership – serving or retired – who earned illegally under the pretext of conduct of war for past three decades that they too are criminals and fraudsters and to enable them to be judged by their own conscious as ‘GUILTY’ of corruption. May they repent rest of their lives to reduce the resultant curse from the materialistic benefit they accrued at the cost of life, limbs and hard labor of the rank and file of brave men and women of ‘Mother Lanka’.

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Latest comments

  • 14
    3

    War heroes?

    Did you mean war criminals?

  • 11
    0

    This assumes the President is incorruptible. Is it so? How does a grama sevaka afford to educate children in England?

    • 8
      0

      Dear pakis pettiya,

      Maithripala has seriously disappointed us recently. However, that disappointment has to be expressed rationally and without throwing random insults.

      He was a Grama Sevaka for a few years as he began adult life. There’s nothing wrong with that. He has displayed considerable intelligence to get where he has, and he’s well-read.

      That he does not come from an English-speaking background is true, and so he is still diffident about speaking in public. None of that is blameworthy, and we who are so comfortable using a foreign language should appreciate that his rural background helped him get a lot of votes from decent Sinhala villagers.

      He certainly seems to have a problem with his son, and it would be good if he faced up to that. I instinctively sympathise with the father, but admittedly he has not displayed the best judgement in dealing with the problem. Daham probably needs psychiatric treatment. Is he really educting the guy in England? I don’t know.

      These are things that we can live with. What he has lost is the nerve to act on principle in more public matters. He should NOT now start competing with the Ranil-led UNP, and the faction of the SLFP led by the Rajapaksas. He should stop being obsessed with keeping the allegiance of corrupt SLFP Members of Parliament. It was a terrible mistake appointing some whom we rejected at the hustings through the National List. I don’t know whether he can undo all that.

      The enthusiasm that I had for the guy two years ago, is gone. Let’s make him understand that if he still completes his five year term adhering to the principles he was enunciating during the Presidential campaign he would be able to look back on a successful life. If we doesn’t, things like this shocking speech are going to get fished out:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIoqholH508&feature=youtu.be

      I heard it today in a link provided by Soma responding to Sarath de Alwis’ current article.

      “pakis pettiya”, I understand the temptation to throw insults at the man now, because we had such high hopes for him. But let us not do so in ways in which we create more rifts and complexes in our society.

      • 2
        0

        He is smart and well read and I respect him for breaking with the one family rule of the Rajapakses. But the question is how does he make enough money to send his son and daughter(low school) in England like the Aristocrats? Same way Premedasa sent his kids out? Where do we expect accountability and where does it start?

        • 2
          0

          One starts by appealing to good sense.

          If he is studying Law, don’t tell us that he is in “low school” Snide comments do more harm than we imagine.

      • 0
        0

        Sinhala_Man

        Every word what Sirisena said was true to me and I voted for Rajapaksha.

        Who wouldn’t get convinced?

        Soma

    • 1
      0

      Dear “pakis pettiya”,

      During the last week I’ve got even more fed up with our “Yahapalanaya” government, but unlike Soma (who voted for Rajapaksa), I don’t want to see the Rajapaksas returning either. I’m in Bandarawela, which will soon be a ghost town; I don’t know whether stopping this Uma Oya Scheme is as impossible as they say: they’ve begun the tunneling again and almost ALL wells have run dry. I know that the relative drought, too, is unprecedented, but it is probably the mad Rajapaksa Scheme to take water to Hambantota that is to most to blame.

      The incumbent President educating his son in England when that son doesn’t seem able to fit in to any place here is understandable and excusable even, although I think that what he needs is psychiatric treatment. Has he diverted some of our public money for this purpose? – who knows, and if so, I say it is WRONG.

      But there are degrees of culpability. This is NOT as bad as what the Rajapaksa playboys and what the various de Silvas (Duminda, Malaka etc) were up to. There has to be a degree of social mobility; let our objections not stem from from our personal frustrations.

      I’ve never been outside Asia myself, although I served the government for so long. Most people are amazed, because I have such a detailed knowledge of Europe, and England in particular. I challenge you to devise some way of testing that statement of mine. Yes, I’m resentful of the fact that others seem to get opportunities that haven’t come my way. There’s a guy called Dr Gnana Sangaralingam who has been taunting me on my supposed lack of “International Experience”.

      Object to nepotism, by all means, but let us maintain our balance, and not become petty ourselves.

  • 9
    1

    The President himself looks like a fraudster as he has not met a single of the objectives he promised to come to power. He is hiding behind the saffron cloth and the military uniform protecting criminals that used these garments as cover for their crime.

    Does this guy even know the meaning of “Yahapalanaya”?

    Sad part is Sri Lankans do not have a choice. Majority is Sinhala Buddhists and they are inherently racists and crooks.

  • 4
    0

    Kumaresan,

    It is good to dream occasionally – else, we the Lankans will lose our sanity.
    What did you expect from the uniformed killers who slaughtered thousands since independence, under the pretext of ‘serving/saving the nation’?
    They got medals for it too.

  • 1
    0

    It is still not late for the president to get on the side of the people who voted him to bring corruption to book.
    it is understandable the power blocks behind the scene to make him reluctant in the performance of such action. It is time that he took a closer look at what’s happening around him and make up his mind which way to go. with or without the people, who are the building blocks of the nation. failure by him as the president will go down as the worst president in our post independent history. time to silence the critics by taking drastic action to bring justice to the nation and steer the country from a failed state status. I commend the article that throws light to the pathetic state the country is.

    • 0
      0

      LAW

      “It is still not late for the president to get on the side of the people who voted him to bring corruption to book”

      He will ‘do’ that again in ‘words’ as he did just before his election which he won. He will once again at the time of reelection ‘promise’ to the minority people (with whose votes he came to power last time) “not to protect any criminals in uniform, and not prevent anyone from taking action and such people have to stand on their own” but later after winning shout against those who take action on these criminals in uniform and stop them. This will happen again as he did previously.

  • 1
    0

    It is still not late for the president to get on the side of the people who voted him to bring corruption to book.
    it is understandable the power blocks behind the scene to make him reluctant in the performance of such action. It is time that he took a closer look at what’s happening around him and make up his mind which way to go. with or without the people, who are the building blocks of the nation. failure by him as the president will go down as the worst president in our post independent history. time to silence the critics by taking drastic action to bring justice to the nation and steer the country from a failed state status. I commend the article that throws light to the pathetic state the country is.

  • 0
    0

    This comment was removed by a moderator because it didn’t abide by our Comment policy.For more detail see our Comment policy https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/comments-policy-2/

  • 1
    1

    The President is fully scared of the armed forces because he is a villager & secondly he thinks there will be a overthrow of his Govt. unless he helps the armed forces, he must save the real War Heroes & not the criminals in the forces. The presidents days are numbered, he has not done a single thing he promised in his election campaign. MR is a Thousand times better than this Bafoon.

  • 0
    0

    The “Honorable”, “Credible” behavior and “Leadership” the people who voted to bring down the MR Regime expected from this Government have reached its peak of stinking levels. The latest was the “felicitation ceremony” our Prime Minister held at Temple Tree to recognize the “services” rendered by the Navy Chief who ruthlessly quelled a labour unrest at Hambantota Port. This was followed after the President questioned and made those “irresponsible” statements relating to the ongoing investigations that involve very many High Ranking personnel in Armed Forces and the “Elite”. I am of opinion, that the Prime Minister got a carte blanche to use the Armed Forces in suppressing labor uprisings and assumed himself to be another Commander-in-Chief next to the President of the country. Those pictures of the “felicitation ceremonies” posted in Media speak that stark truth. Then the manner in which both the Prime Minister, the President and the Speaker of the House presently handling the Central Bank Bond “Crime” speaks volumes on their dishonorable commitment to Good Governance that the PEOPLE expected and wanted these two Leaders to institute in the country. In the economic front, their traitorous intentions are in display in the way they direct to manage the National Resources by way of a “Disastrous Leasing” method, those that must be in large part be the responsibility of an elected Government. With all these ill-considered, disastrous decisions and actions are taken, the Media, both print and electronic that expose the “Doings” are threatened with a “raised finger” and in that endeavor, no lesser persons than the President, the Prime Minister and Minister of Justice take the lead. Isn’t this the “Back Ground” the PEOPLE are compelled to make a “Performance Assessment” and CONCLUDE the OUTCOME.? I believe, the PEOPLE have already started making that “Performance Appraisal”; but disgustingly these two Leaders and their groups have chosen to IGNORE that FEELING of the people and fast tracking to oblivion – the OUTCOME.

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