What other option has Lt General Sarath Fonseka?



‘So why is Lt General Sarath Fonseka procrastinating and dragging his feet? He should have promptly gone to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and offered his resignation. This is even more important because he is involved in leading the forces in areas where the Tamils live.’

by Satchi Sithananthan

(October 03, Frankfurt, Sri Lanka Guardian) The issue concerning the Lt General Sarath Fonseka has raised wide reaction in Sri Lanka and overseas. There was a great deal of healthy views shared if those expressed by Charles Perera in France can be overlooked. Even his views are in a way good though he is so hooked and blinkered on Sinhala racism in Sri Lanka where he himself preferred not to live!

A Sri Lanka Guardian reader from Vancouver BC says “every Sinhalese” feels the way Lt General Sarath Fonseka has observed. But this is not true. Some of the Sri Lanka Diaspora community, Tamils or Sinhalese do have strange views often far, far away from ground realities in Sri Lanka.

A Sinhalese journalist said the comments of the army general were odious. The views of those with gains for themselves from the industry developed from Sri Lanka’s politics of the day are bound to have opinions injurious to the well being of the country and its people. Today corruption is king in Sri Lanka.

Many years ago an Indian Minister of the Railways resigned his office because there was a terrible train accident in Tamil Nadu. He was no other than Lal Bahadur Shastri who later became one of the country’s best loved prime ministers. Conservative Party’s budding scion John Profumo who was tipped as a probable British Prime Minister, resigned over the Keeler-Mandy Rice scandal. There was never ever reluctance on the part of either Shastri or Profumo.

So why is Lt General Sarath Fonseka procrastinating and dragging his feet? He should have promptly gone to President Mahinda Rajapaksa and offered his resignation. This is even more important because he is involved in leading the forces in areas where the Tamils live.

What guarantee do we have that if he is placed in a tight situation that may require crucial and decisive action that he would not go for it if the civilians are at great risk and withdraw?

It is better to lose a good officer rather than risking large scale loss of civilian lives. It was most unfortunate that Lt General Sarath Fonseka made such an observation as giving an impression that Sri Lanka is principally a land of the Sinhalese to Canada’s The National Post, already a paper that is hardly popular among the Canadian Sri Lankan Tamils.

But this officer has no option but to resign and it is better that he does it on his own. Action on the field can be delayed but not a nation's integrity and an army general's standing. These have to be given top preference for in it depends lives, lives of innocent civilians. This governs the people of Sri Lanka. They are Sri Lankans.
- Sri Lanka Guardian