Sarath Fonseka – On his march to the failed politico-militery coup

26 Feb 2010

The failed politico-militery coup attempt of 2010 has left plenty of points for us to think  ranging from importance of identifying possible culprits early to close motoring and controlling of vicious foreign activities in meddling Sri Lankan politics. The more you analyse the history of character of Sarth Fonseka, clearer the true picture of failed coup.

Ill-disciplined History
Sarath Fonseka had bad records of discipline ever since he joined Army in 1970. On November 29, asiantribune.com reported following;

He is crazy of women. Many women soldiers were molested. A case in point is of Nanda Menike. Sarath Fonseka repeatedly raped this woman solider and fathered two children. Before leaving from the Army he arranged pension and other benefits to her.

Asian Tribune is willing to arrange a genetic test to prove the charge.

As a Lieutenant, Sarath Fonseka was charge sheeted and punished. The offence: rape of a domestic (servant woman) on 25 December 1975, at the Army Training centre in Diayatalawa.

Foneska was given a severe reprimand on Feb 20, 1976 (See the document)………

(Ref- Sarath Fonseka – The megalomaniac’s tryst with fame and flame @ Asiantribune)

Because of his stained military career, he was always kept at arms length. His evil character was known not only to the top ranks of the army but also to the helm of the politics.

Thought only as a necessary evil at times
Throughout the history Sarath Fonseka was only utilesed at crucial do or die instances where ruthless counter attacking was the only mode of survival. The near succumbed debacle of Jaffna was one such instance where Sarath Fonseka was given authority to counter attack ruthless surge of LTTE attacks during CBK era.

Immediately after accomplishment of the task, Fonseka was agin pushed back to secondary level. He was never a trusted and enchanting military leader like General Kobbakaduwa or Wijaya Wimalarathna, but a necessary evil at crucial times.

The decision of Gotabaya that almost risked his own brother’s life
The first allegations that Fonseka was plotting against the political leadership of the country came in late 2005 when he was chosen and subsequently appointed Army Commander. These allegations were made by some top-ranking Army officers.

While a good section of President Rajapakse's close aides took it seriously, Secretary Defence Gotabhaya Rajapakse vetoed the allegations and defended Fonseka. His argument was Fonseka was a necessary evil, an equal matching force to route the LTTE.


The role of Sinha regiment Vs Gajaba regiment
Defence Secratery Gotabaya Rajapaksa was one of the starting members of the Gajaba Regiment which was pioneered by late Major General Wijaya Wimalarathne. It was well known fact that officers from Gajaba regiment played pivoted roles in winning the fight against terrorism in Wanni battle field. Major General Shavendra Silva (commanding in 58 Division), Major General Jagath Dias (commanding in 57 Division), Major General Kamal Gunaratne (commanding in 53 Division), C. Gallage (commanding in 55 Division) are among well known war heroes of Gajaba Regiment.

While Gajaba Regiment (with support of other regiments) was active in the battlefield fighting against LTTE terrorists, the Sinha Regiment which Army commander Sarath Fonseka belonged was deployed mostly in Colombo suburbs and key positions like Army Head Quarters, Rupavahini corporation etc.

It is irony that while retired General Sarath Fonseka claiming sole ownership of fight against terrorism, his own regiment played very minimal role in the battlefield!

President’s Corp to counter possible threats from Sinha Regiment
Fonseka was again suspected of planning a coup when he brought his Sinha Regiment to guard vital installations in Colombo. The greatest fear of a coup arose when he attempted to change the security at the Presidential Palace. Subsequently the President's Corp was created to provide security to the President, his family and other dignitaries.

The white flag saga
The third allegation of a coup arose when some members of the Special Forces and Military Intelligence who were reporting directly to Fonseka provided information to Fonseka above a particular Brigadier and the Secretary Defence on the demise of Prabhakaran and other top-ranking Tigers.

The American intervention
It is well known fact that USA and its allied western countries are unease of some of the progressive conducts of Mahinda Rajapaksa government. Since Mahinda Rajapaksa is very popular leader among the majority, America effectively utilized the character of Sarath Fonseka to hit him in both ends. The tried a democratic-military combined strategy of ‘Regime change’ in Sri Lanka. But they pathetically failed firstly in the hand of the common people in the election and subsequently by the prompt actions by the government and the current military leadership.

The cleanup operation
Immediately after the main suspect retired General Sarath Fonseka was taken into military custody,  government took a decision to prematually retire 5 Majors General, 5 Brigadiers and about 10 other officers and other rankers (NCOs) with effect from January 30th 2010.

These officers and men have been charged and in some cases found guilty of canvassing for the candidacy of Retired General Sarath Fonseka, even openly urging their men to vote for General Fonseka violating the law of the army.

Among them are Major General Rajitha Silva (VIR) and Major General Jayanath Perera (Sinha), who are the splitting image of their Commander in more ways than one.

Except one officer, Major General Mahesh Senanayake, all others did not perform any pivotal operational duties during the war.

It is a well known fact in the Army that a number of battle-hardened officers who performed a yeoman service during the war like Prasanna Silva, Chagi Gallage, Shavendra Silva, Kamal Gunaratne etc. were to be sent home under a Sarath Fonseka Regime. This regime never materialized and now General Fonseka's politico-militery "Team" is at the receiving end of the stick.

References:
- Some exclusives on Fonseka Coup, HICORP et
- Special Forces without Prasanna de Silva? (May 2007)
- Defence Secretary meets war heroes of Army Gajaba Regiment
- Sarath Fonseka – The megalomaniac’s tryst with fame and flame