Rajitha’s remarks cause deep concern in the Army

It’s the week when Sri Lanka marks the ninth year of the military defeat of Tiger guerrillas.

Even if the Government, committed to a stepped-up reconciliation programme, marked it with an armed forces parade, Tamil diaspora groups are observing the event in different world capitals. Perhaps the yahapalana Government did not want to follow suit with a national event first marked by the former regime.

If that is understandable though not acceptable over a national event where the security forces, the nation’s sentinel, gained a historic victory, there was something bizarre.

Official government spokes- person and Health Minister Rajitha Senaratne, known for his gaffes, told this week’s post-Cabinet news briefing that troops had not used heavy weapons and that was the reason why a lot of them (soldiers) died.

Little wonder, top officers in the Sri Lanka Army are asking their genial Commander Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake to raise issue over the matter with government higher ups. Trained for many years to become a formidable force, they point out, that the prerogative of using which weapon is entirely theirs. They point out that the indiscriminate use of heavy weapons would have led to heavy civilian casualties and enormous collateral damage. This is not to say heavy weapons, like artillery, were not used after enemy targets were identified.

This is not like asking a person to open his mouth so a bad tooth can be pulled out. We were dealing with civilian lives and had to be very cautious. Despite this we are now facing allegations

“This is not like asking a person to open his mouth so a bad tooth can be pulled out. We were dealing with civilian lives and had to be very cautious. Despite this we are now facing allegations,” a high ranking Army official said. Such remarks, he added, not only affected the morale of troops but were also a reflection of “how much our efforts have been appreciated.”

One would have accepted those in the ‘Joint Opposition,’ whose leaders were in power during the military defeat of the Tiger guerrillas, to raise issue. However, it fell on the shoulders of only its Kandy District MP Dilum Amunugama.

He told a news conference that in the light of Minister Senaratne’s remarks, the Military Spokesperson should not participate in future news briefings. The fact that the military is a disciplined service and the spokesperson is only following orders f rom his Commander was lost on Amunugama. He likened it to some trade union or political party that could have boycotted the event on such occasions and certainly not an officer in the military.

For the Tamil diaspora, Britain’s Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and Canada’s Prime Minister Ju s t i n Trudeau also issued statements of support.