Who are the Real Traitors ?
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The commanders of
"Operation Liberation" commonly known as "Vadamarachchi
Operation". From left to right: Lt Col. Vipul Boteju, Lt Col.
Sarath Jayawardane, Col. Wijaya Wimalaratne, Brig. Denzil
Kobbekaduwa and Maj Gotabaya Rajapakse [1987, Jaffna] |
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The Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe when
he addressed the members of the Eastern Provincial Councilors yesterday
(04) stated that the media has the right to criticize military matters
and those who do cannot be considered as "traitors". He also stated that
the real "traitors" are those who abandoned their Units, Battalions and
the Army and left the country for the United States of America while the
others stayed behind and even sacrificed their lives to continue the war
to eliminate terrorism in Sri Lanka.
The statement of the Leader of the Opposition needs to
be clarified to avoid misconceptions and misunderstanding especially at
a time when the Secretary Defense is successfully providing the
leadership to eliminate terrorism in Sri Lanka . It has to be pointed
out that the real "traitors" are those in the then Governments as the
present Leader of the Opposition who gave support to provide weapons to
the LTTE and also made agreements with the terrorists for them to bring
in sophisticated electronic, communications equipment, heavy weapons and
ammunition to continue the armed conflict against the Armed Forces,
Police and the people of Sri Lanka. The then government of which the
leader of the Opposition was a Minister was also responsible for the
deaths of 600 policemen.
The present Secretary of Defense, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa
was commissioned on 25th May 1972 and was posted to the Sri Lanka Army
Signals Corps and after serving in the Sinha Regiment and Rajarata
Rifles he joined the Ist Battalion of the Gajaba Regiment (1GR) after it
was raised 14th October 1983. He was promoted as a Lieutenant Colonel on
15th December 1988 and was the Commanding Officer. He retired from the
Army after serving the stipulated 20 years as an Officer .
As an infantry officer , Mr. Gotabaya Rjapaksa
provided leadership for many historic battles fought by Sri Lanka Army
against LTTE terrorist. From the first ever major military operation
conducted in Jaffna - Operation Bash up during early 80s , he led his
men in many other battles including operation Liberation (Wadamarachchi
battle), and operation Trivida Balaya (Rescue of Jaffna fort). He was
awarded with gallantry meddles Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP) twice and
Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP) once for his gallant and meritorious acts in
the battlefield.
Following his retirement , he migrated to the USA ands
as a computer system analyst at prestigious Loyola University in Los
Angles.
The East has been "Liberated ". Provincial Council
elections have been conducted after nearly twenty years. The LTTE
"Floating" warehouses have been destroyed by the Navy. Many terrorist
targets have been successfully engaged by the Air Force. The present
operations are being successfully conducted under the leadership of His
Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Defence Secretary despite many
"doubters" , pessimists and critics as the Leader of the Opposition and
LTTE supporters stating that defeating the LTTE and eliminating
Terrorism was not possible .
It is inconceivable that the Leader of the Opposition
has made these remarks as Lt. Col N.G Rajapaksa was awarded the
gallantry medals in recognition of his bravery and participated in
military operations at a time he was a Government Minister and also as
Prime minister during the UNP regime when the Presidents were J.
R.Jayawardena, R.Premadasa and D.B Wijetunga .
Lt Col N.G Rajapaksa retired from the Army after
serving his period of twenty years service as an officer, a privilege
used by many officers even today.
Courtesy : MCNS Related
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