Secretary Defence - the man of the hour

Maj. Gen. H. V. Athukorale (Retd)

Patriotic citizen: I have read with great interest the article written by Chandragupth S. Mudannayake titled “Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa: An icon of dedication, commitment and service to the Nation” which appeared in the Daily News of Monday April 09, 2007.

At the outset I wish to emphatically state that I totally agree with the sentiments expressed by Mudannayake in this article which obviously is devoid of any political affiliations, and is an exercise by a patriotic citizen who has put down his thoughts in a very clear logical and concise manner so that the ignorant and biased critics who have demanded Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s removal and resignation have been unobtrusively put to shame.

The military gains we have witnessed recently is centred around two paragraph’s of his article which I quote “He is uniquely placed in that being the brother of the President, Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa could talk to the Commander in Chief unreservedly and forthrightly on matters concerning the military.

He does not have to sugar coat defence policies, concerns of service Commanders or mellow down disappointing news enamating from the battle field to appease the Head of State. He can be open and forthright, and he is.

The previous Secretaries did not have that privilege. Unreservedly they had to be cautious in saying things politically unsavoury or unpleasant. Thus the truth was sometimes not conveyed as it should have been.

“Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is ought to be commended for successfully exploiting the unique military political advantages he has for the benefit of the Armed Forces and the nation.”

The average reader must be convinced that the writer possess the knowledge experience and the stature to express his views on a subject which is now being bandied around by disgruntled politicians and all and sundry to suit their own political agenda’s and that of the political party they represent.

Sad to say they belong to two political camps - the LTTE represented by the TNA and the UNP who are closely linked by common interests with the LTTE.

I joined the Army way back in 1950 during the first year of its formation (1949-1950) and is a recipient of the Ceylon Armed Services Inauguration Medal, there being less than ten Officers who are amongst the living - is a product of the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst UK and was commissioned as a Second Lt.enant in the prestigious Regiment, The Ceylon Light Infantry in 1950.

I retired as a Major General in 1985 having served 35 years in every operational Station including Jaffna once as Commander Security Forces - is a recipient of the Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya awarded for “Exceptional, Distinguished and Loyal service in the Sri Lanka Army where I have had an unblemished record of moral and military conduct during a period of 33 years of continuous and uninterrupted service”.

During my period of service I have had the privilege and the good fortune of witnessing the performance of Defence Secretaries since the Premiership of the late Rt. D. S. Senanayake to President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Many distinguished personalities from Sir Kanthiah Vaithanadan, Gunasena de Soysa, Ratnavale and N.Q. Dias have occupied this chair - one of whom looked after the interests of the minority communities to the detriment of the majority community whilst another was destined to reverse this position after the UNP sponsored attempted coup in 1962.

With J. R. Jayewardene coming to power in 1978 the country witnessed the appointment of a former Volunteer Force Colonel and Ex MP from the South as the Secretary Defence.

To sustain him in this appointment there was a former volunteer Force Colonel whose main duty was to answer the Telephone, and a former Army Commander who was well known as a man for all seasons answering for the Secretary Defence who by all accounts was a mere figure head.

Thus began the politicalisation of the Army and the creation of an Army mafia whose main task was to identify and eliminate everybody whom they thought were an obstacle to their progress and who were not openly supportive of their political role. Only “Yes” men were tolerated.

Those who conducted themselves as professional soldiers were labelled as Anti-Govt. and undependable and banished to appointments in “Siberia”. During our time Siberia was located in Jaffna, Mannar and Diyatalawa. Anybody with even remote connections to an opposition politician was banished forthwith.

At about this time my batchmate, the ever smiling, genial officer and Gentleman the late Brig. S. B. Miyanadeniya whispered to me that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa a young and upcoming officer was being or has been posted to Diyatalawa - a “Siberian” appointment in keeping with UNP policy which boastfully they proclaim never changes.

May be Gotabhaya Rajapaksa was too young (23 years) and inexperienced to realize what happened to him. This may be news to him even today.

The branding of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as a man to be dispensed commenced when he was posted to Diyatalawa as a Captain and the UNP, in keeping with its policy, which reportedly never changes, at present calls for his resignation and the removal.

Gotabhaya Rajapaksa is no longer young and inexperienced. He has been a frontline soldier tried and tested in the battlefield unlike perhaps all his predecessors. He is indeed a real threat to the LTTE and more so the UNP who will never be able to achieve their treacherous and unpatriotic objectives as long as Gotabhaya Rajapaksa continues as of Secretary Defence.

The Defence Establishment during the J. R. Jayewardene and R. Premadasa rule could easily be described as the darkest period of its existence since Independence - torture, killings, abductions, disappearances were the order of the day.

A Deputy Minister of Defence who was a Volunteer Force Lt. Colonel belonging to the Plantation Community took the Law into his own hands and eliminated all opposition to the Govt. in power.

He went from camp to camp with lists of those to be eliminated. The lists had been provided by Govt. MPs. The officers-in-charge of the Camps were ordered to eliminate all those named in these lists. We know some who refused to carry out these illegal orders and instead decided to quit the Army in disgust.

The Army lost a sizeable lot of middle rung officers most of whom were above average and highly qualified. I distinctly remember one of them being transferred to Maduru Oya, a God forsaken place then almost overnight. The Secretary Defence at the time Lt. General D. S. Attygalle was silent. This exercise would have been carried out either with his connivance or with his knowledge.

Those eliminated were political opponents mainly from the SLFP, JVP and other leftist oriented parties.

The perpetrator of this crime himself was eliminated on the high road by the LTTE near the BRC grounds along Havelock Road. For the services rendered by this Deputy Minister who was a Lt. Col. in the Volunteer Force was posthumously promoted to a Four Star General an unusual and unprecedented step in the Army’s 50 year old history at the time - five steps up the ladder.

Lt. Col. to Colonel, to Brigadier, to Maj Gen, to Lt. General and four Star General - a world record. I remember very clearly a former Army Commander who commended the Army after Weeratunga openly disagreeing with his move. Fortunately we still have amongst us a handful of such persons who will continue calling a spade a spade.

Reading the Daily News of April 9, I gathered some important information which otherwise I would have missed. In an article titled “some bleeding hypocrites” written by Maj Gen. Lalin Fernando (Retd) a former colleague, he states “Army officers including three Generals were responsible for handing over weapons and ammo to the LTTE.

According to the Army Act this is treachery and the punishment is death. What happened? The three continued without hindrance to hold State posts and even got appointments after leaving State service. They appear at select Military functions without any sense of shame. Some are even called Sir.”

Two of them were rewarded with Diplomatic appointments. How many are aware that these three Generals were Defence Secretaries during UNP rule.

Siripathy reportedly a Danapathy with his Military (Naval) knowledge which could not fill even the nail of his little finger after a tryst with a failed conspiracy to oust Mahinda Rajapaksa attempted to display his total ignorance of how the war effort should be executed.

A person no less than Gotabhaya Rajapaksa himself took Siripathy to task and demolished his theories in a very simple and effective manner at Temple Trees recently when the President met the media to brief the country on the progress made by the Government over the last year.

The other critic a UNP politician from the Kurunegala District cut a very poor figure when he too called for the resignation and removal of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa as Secretary Defence after the Air attack by the LTTE.

The latest critic is none other than the Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickramasinghe who has called for the resignation and removal of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. His flirtations with the LTTE and how supportive he is of LTTE is known by all and sundry.

Enough has been written about him by HLD Mahindapala and nothing more adverse could be written by anyone else. Ranil Wickremasinghe of course is free to call for the resignation of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa although he is not qualified in any way to do so. The giddy limit however is that he has taken upon himself the liberty of naming a successor.

May be he is guided by his horoscope which apparently predicts the fall of the Government in April, 2007. Although April is still not over he has jumped the gun and thinks he is already in the saddle. He has however not stated how the Govt. will fall.

Anyway he could hope to come to power only through a conspiracy with the assistance of Prabhakaran and not by popular vote. The people have rejected him at 13 or 14 Elections and he has the brass to name Gotabhaya’s successor.

The successor he has named is Maj. Gen. Janaka Perera who he states is well experienced and talented. When he was in a position to do so as Prime Minister in 2001 he opted for retired Civil Servant Austin Fernando as Secretary Defence who has not fired a shot even in anger.

Janaka Perera is no fool to realise this and as a professional soldier would realise that this is not the time to dislodge somebody equally experienced and talented and who has proved himself as a very capable Defence Secretary. Gone are the days when we heard of only reversals of the Security Forces be it the Army, Navy, Air Force or the STF.

The LTTE was depicted as an invincible Force capable of overrunning the Armed Forces in all areas of conflict. The Govt. has identified the enemy and all steps are being taken to neutralise and defeat them in all areas of conflict.

Retaliatory action is being taken in all instances of LTTE attacks. The Security Forces are being deployed to pursue the Enemy compelling them to withdraw to tiny pockets.

The morale of the Security Forces is very high. The troops are aware that they are being looked after. The Navy and the Air Force are performing in a highly professional manner not to mention the Army and this has been possible only because of the leadership extended by the Secretary Defence and the Defence Establishment.

Those who demand the resignation and removal of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa have their own vested interest and agendas. The people by and large are very appreciative of the manner in which the war is being prosecuted.

In passing I would like to state that I had my third posting to Diyatalawa in the appointment of Commander South East Command and Commandant Army Training Centre.

When I moved to my office in Diyatalawa I found Gotabhaya Rajapaksa in my HQ as a Staff Captain. Nobody could say that I have no knowledge of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa. From Diyatalawa I was appointed Inspector General of Field Forces a unique appointment in that I could be moved to any location where there is trouble.

The only other place where there could be trouble was Jaffna where I found myself. I retired prematurely having been deprived of my due place as Chief of Staff and Commander of the Army.

Although these injustices could have been corrected certain higher ups in the Defence Establishment in the PA Govt. that followed found it inimical to their interests if they were corrected, although it is not too late to do so even now.

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga retained all the UNP appointed Senior Assistant Secretaries in all the Ministries hoping that they would reform themselves.

The Deputy Ministers chaired the Political Victimisation Investigating Committees. Most of them relied entirely on the UNP appointed Senior Assistant Secretaries to help them to sort out cases of political victimisation when in fact these cases should have been investigated by impartial Judicial Committees.

Instead these crimes and injustices were investigated by perpetrators of these crimes themselves. These officials who were retained by Chandrika were found to be sabotaging all activities of the Govt. and they were all removed.

I have attempted to trace the history of the Defence Establishment since Independence and in particular the performances of the major personalities who have occupied the chair of Secretary Defence.

It is my considered opinion that Gotabhaya Rajapaksa outshines all his predecessors as being the best Defence Secretary we have had since Independence and is imminently suited to continue to hold office as the elected President Mahinda Rajapaksa wishes.