SF’s claim must be probed

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka has been denied a visa to attend the UN sessions in New York, in the company of President Maithripala Sirisena, it is being reported. Fonseka told journalists, in Kelaniya, on Monday, that the fallout from human rights violations, during the war, by a few personnel in military, apparently has taken a toll on him as well, being denied a visa to travel to the US.

He stood by his comments, made a few days ago, that those who committed atrocities and human rights violations in the military should be brought to justice, by the local courts, as against any international court of justice or war crimes tribunal. He said, the misconduct by a few (in the military) has obviously blackened the image of the entire army. It was only a handful of officers who engaged in misdemeanours, with the rest of the military, numbering several thousands, too being painted with the same brush and made to suffer the consequences.

Fonseka's comments, of course, set the cat among the pigeons, with members of the Joint Opposition, and sections of the Sangha, rushing with their knives out, accusing Fonseka of betraying the ‘war heroes'. The protesters also charged Fonseka with playing to the agenda of the Tamil diaspora and that his comments were calculated to coincide with the UN sessions in Geneva.

Why, pray, have these groups got so excited, for a comment, which could have been made by any rational individual,with a sense of justice, and, who valued the rule of law. Fonseka could not have made his allegation lightly and without good reasons. As army commander, he, no doubt, would have been privy to certain goings on by certain lower ranking officers down the command chain. Fonseka, it was, who came out with the revelation of safe houses manned by military officers, operating in the city, to carry out abductions and target journalists. Then too there was a huge ‘betrayal’ outcry by the same elements, who are at it again, over the former army commander's remark. Are they insisting that the law look the other way, for no other reasons than that these perpetrators of heinous crimes are ‘war heroes’ and should necessarily be out of the law's reach? Are there groups and individuals in this country who are more equal before the law than others?

There are media reports, almost daily, of some ex-serviceman or other being involved in murder, rape, gang robbery and other crimes. Are those who have taken exception to Fonseka's comments insisting that these criminals be left to their own devices, because they waged war against the LTTE and protected the country's sovereignty? Will this not lead to a state of anarchy, with the complete breakdown of the rule of law?

None of those who are today in the vanguard, protesting the ‘betrayal of war heroes’, anywhere to be seen, when the war winning army commander was dragged away like a common criminal and thrown behind bars, after being hauled before a kangaroo court. Nor was there a whimper of protest, when, members of the military were forced to kneel on the driveway of a hotel, where Sarath Fonseka was billeted, after his Presidential Election defeat, for the crime of offering protection to their one-time commander. Where were these great patriots, today weeping buckets for the ‘betrayal of war heroes’, when scores of military officers of the Sinha Regiment took flight to foreign countries, being hunted by Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, including the present army commander?

These pseudo patriots are wrong if they think the public could be fooled by their gimmicks. They (the public) have not forgotten how army personnel were made to sell vegetables and clean drains in the city beautification project of Gota. Not only that, the promised retirement benefits to the disabled soldiers too were left in abeyance, leaving the Yahapalanaya government saddled with the problem, with the JO not losing an opportunity to bring these hapless souls onto the streets, in a bid to whip up public emotion.

Sarath Fonseka should be commended for his bold stand, although he had obviously not won many friends, even among the government ranks. Criminals in uniform should be exposed and punished, if for no other reason than to hold the scales of justice even. We often hear of rogue police officers being brought before the law and punished for their criminal acts. The army cannot be an exception.

The police too played a not inconsiderable part in defeating terrorism and made immense sacrifices. In fact it was the police who were the first on the firing line in the nascent stages of the Eelam war and suffered many casualties when police stations were overrun by the terrorists.

The government, on its part, should pursue investigations in earnest against complaints of serious crimes and human rights violations directed at any military officer, irrespective of rank. This, while ensuring justice to the aggrieved, would also obviate the need for any foreign courts in the country.