General Sarath Fonseka, who was stripped of his rank, pension and medal after leading Sri Lanka’s army to victory in the Eelam War -IV (2006-2009), has been made Field Marshal. President Maithripala Sirisena conferred the honour on him at a ceremony in Colombo on Mar 22.
Fonseka is the fourth South Asian General to be made Field Marshal, the others being General Sam Maneckshaw and K.M.Cariappa of India, and Gen.Mohd.Ayub Khan of Pakistan.
Dressed in his uniform, the 64-year old walked to a special red-carpeted stage in front of Sirisena to hear the reading of his 40 years of military achievements and receive the field marshal baton. The ceremony included the raising of a flag with a new symbol for five-star field marshal.
There was much symbolism in the decoration. And it shows the Sirisena government is looking beyond the immediate. The post-retirement promotion for Fonseka, who is still popular in the Army could help President Sirisena gain the confidence of the military and strengthen his position vis-à-vis Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has begun to work overtime for staging a comeback on the political scene. His camp has already filed the first shot by holding a rally in a Colombo suburb this month.
With this elevation, Sirisena has neutralized one possible source of opposition. In fact the move may ensure that Fonseka or the Army does not back Rajapaksa in a future election as and when Rajapaksa returns to active politics, according to a political analyst.
Rajapaksa had humiliated Fonseka after the Eelam War ended. He was sidelined and made Chief of Defence Staff. And thirteen days after his retirement in November 2009, Fonseka entered politics, and challenged Rajapaksa in the 2010 Presidential election with the support of the main opposition parties. He lost the election and Rajapaksa got him arrested, court martialed him and sent him to jail for three years.
On his part, Fonseka has rejected allegations that he was responsible for war crimes during the final phase of the Eelam War; He also stated he is willing to testify in any international court.
After more than 2 years in jail, Fonseka was released in May 2012. And on Jan 22 this year, honouring a pre-poll commitment, President Sirisena granted to him “Complete Presidential Pardon and acquitted him of all charges.
According to Asian Tribune, the Presidential pardon is not the last word for Fonseka’s legal troubles. “Though he was pardoned by President Maithripala Sirisena and his political rights were restored, the issue of guilty verdicts still remains and still he remains guilty all those accusations levelled against him at the court martialed inquiry, the highest army court in the country”, the on-line daily known for its Pro-Rajapaksa leanings wrote.
The report also said that several retired Army and other Forces officers who were invited to the special investiture held to bestow Field Marshal rank on Fonseka boycotted the function to mark their “silent protest”.
At the investiture ceremony, President Sirisena praised the leadership Fonseka provided to the Army during the Eelam War -IV. And remarked: "We should construct the future while taking the past as an example".
Though unrelated to Fonseka’s elevation, a significant development was the questioning of Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the defence secretary he used to report to, by the police Criminal Investigations Department (CID). The examination was on the weapons armoury maintained by a security firm Avant-Garde that Gotabhaya had launched while he was in office, and its alleged links with Rakna Lanka Ltd.
Avant-Garde and Rakna Lanka, both based in Sri Lanka, provide security to ships against Somali pirates. The companies were formed in 2012 to replace the foreign companies which ran these services. Their weapons were also stored in the armoury of the Sri Lanka Navy.
The police in February seized 3000 weapons found inside 12 containers on ‘Mahanuwara Naukawa’ ship in the southern part of the island and investigations revealed that the weapons belonged to the Avant-Garde. The ship is registered in Sri Lanka.
–Rama Rao, Poreg
