Midweek Review

Does SF’s unexpected move portend confrontation?

Published

3 years ago

2023/08/23

Sarath Fonseka

During a violent protest campaign to oust President Gotabaya Rajapaksa last year, Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka threw his weight behind the project. Fonseka was the only parliamentarian allowed to address large crowds as they gathered near the President’s House on the morning of 09 July, 2022. The Field Marshal didn’t mince his words when he urged the military not to crack down on violent public protests, obviously staged by outside forces with financial and other resources, to oust the then government. Overwhelmed by the massive gathering, the Army quietly abandoned the President’s House, paving the way for Ranil Wickremesinghe’s succession, on whose orders the military then swiftly cleared the President’s House, Presidential Secretariat and other government buildings. Now Sarath Fonseka wants to take on the Wickremesinghe-Rajapaksa government. The People’s Revolution is meant to inspire a countrywide protest campaign. But the task seems difficult in the absence of an environment conducive for such a project without the clandestine backing of outside elements.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka, MP, recently declared his intention to chart a new political course amidst continuing turmoil in the Opposition. The war-winning Army Chief, 72, on 11 August, launched a campaign of his own, at the expense of the main Opposition Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB), as further differences emerged in the breakaway UNP faction. How could Gampaha District SJB lawmaker Fonseka, the current Chairman of the party, initiate a protest campaign, dubbed ‘People’s Revolution,’ targeting waste, corruption, irregularities and mismanagement?

The Sinha Regiment veteran declared that the national economy couldn’t be restored, under any circumstances, unless the utterly corrupt governance system was done away with.

The protest, held outside Viharamahadevi Park, drew a mixed crowd. The deployment of a sizable police contingent, backed by anti-riot squads and water cannons, was meant as a warning sign not to test the government’s will. The writer quite comfortably felt that the protesting group didn’t have the intention of blocking the road, or marching on any government building. Some displayed placards demanding proper implementation of the ‘Aswesuma’ social security scheme, leave EPF and ETF out of the debt-restructuring process, and media freedom.

The former Yahapalana minister Fonseka seemed alone in that crowd in the absence of any other known face. The SJB Chairman appeared to have lost faith in his own party, struggling to counter President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Regardless of his own party being reduced to just one National List slot (Wajira Abeywardena) at the last parliamentary election, Wickremesinghe has managed to consolidate his position in Parliament.

MP Fonseka’s move should be examined taking into consideration the presidential election due next year. Would parliamentarian Fonseka consider himself as a candidate at the next presidential election? Having served as Regional Development, as well as Minister of Wildlife and Sustainable Development, during the Yahapalana administration (January 2015-November 2019), is he really interested in another go at the presidency. Or will it be used as a bargaining chip to join the increasingly confident possible UNP-SLPP future government. Remember the old adage there are no permanent friends or permanent enemies in politics. Garadihewa, as his name denotes, is from a true warrior stock, and, with a sixth sense in battle, he no doubt proved his mettle by leading the fight to defeat the world’s most ruthless terror outfit against the advice of all pundits, and carried out the war even after the Tigers nearly killed him in his own den with a suicide bomber, who inflicted life threatening injuries on him.

In our humble opinion, may be Fonseka should have quit when he was far ahead with an almost unblemished record as a General. Now this once true lion, having jumped headlong into the political cesspit, is no longer fighting brave tigers, but many more two legged hyenas, jackals and whatnot.

Similarly, see what has happened to our erstwhile cunning comrades in the JVP, FSP and their trade union cabal. Remember they were ready to lay down their lives for the country, but are now more like kittens as if on cue from Uncle Sam, despite New Delhi and Washington clearly running roughshod over us. Even Comrade Kumar Gunaratnam seems to be enjoying the best of both worlds in Australia and Sri Lanka. We should not also forget the NGO quislings, who clearly know on which side their bread is buttered.

The protest at Viharamahadevi Park gravely underscored the war veteran’s dissatisfaction at the way the SJB is addressing the burning issues. The brief but fiery speech delivered there meant that he didn’t have faith in the top management of the party. It would be pertinent to mention that in the run-up to the last presidential election, in 2019, Fonseka, on numerous occasions, declared that he was prepared to contest that election if Ranil Wickremesinghe was not in the race. Then Speaker Karu Jayasuriya, too, indicated his desire and was chosen by a group of academics as the best challenger to SLPP candidate Gotabaya Rajapaksa. But MP Fonseka’s overtures were ignored. Maybe Fonseka felt he could contest the presidential poll.

Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka contested the January 2010 presidential election as the common candidate. Having spearheaded the Army-led all-out offensive to defeat Tiger terrorism, during a three-year-long campaign, backed by the Navy and Air Force, Fonseka declared his intention to contest the first national level election, after Sri Lanka’s triumph over the LTTE, in May 2009. Fonseka had the backing of a US-led coalition that consisted of the UNP, TNA, JVP and the SLMC. There hadn’t been a previous instance of the UNP and JVP forming a political alliance. In their haste to bring the Rajapaksa presidency to an end, they quite conveniently forgot that their partner, the TNA, served the separatist LTTE agenda until the very end. They disregarded how the TNA recognized the LTTE as the sole representative of the Tamil speaking people in 2001 and set the stage for the final showdown, eight years later.

But, Sri Lanka’s greatest ever Army Commander couldn’t deprive Mahinda Rajapaksa of a second consecutive term. Rajapaksa polled 1.8 mn votes more than Fonseka, though the latter comfortably secured all the predominantly Tamil speaking districts, including Digamadulla, thanks to the TNA’s support. The SLMC also played a crucial role in the East on his behalf.

The then General Fonseka’s performance in the Northern and Eastern electoral districts proved beyond any doubt that unsubstantiated war crimes accusations, propagated by interested parties, didn’t hold water.

SJB’s woes

MP Fonseka seems to have distanced himself from the SJB, struggling to cope up with defections and its failure to reach consensus on a common strategy. The elevation of Ranil Wickremesinghe as the President, in July last year, to complete the remainder of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s five-year term, has undermined not only the SJB but the SLPP that elected him.

Wickremesinghe lured SJB MPs Manusha Nanayakkara (Galle district) and Harin Fernando (National List) to accept Cabinet portfolios in May 2022. They switched sides immediately after Wickremesinghe accepted the premiership from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. In spite of their treachery, the government couldn’t entice other members of the SJB parliamentary group. Nanayakkara and Fernando, having repeatedly accused Gotabaya Rajapaksa of being the direct beneficiary of the April 2019 Easter Sunday carnage, joined his government without qualms. In the wake of Gotabaya Rajapaksa being forced to flee the country, due to a well-organized violent campaign to oust him, with massive protests, while law enforcers merely stood by idly, in July 2020, Nanayakkara and Fernando joined Wickremesinghe’s Cabinet.

MP Fonseka has declared his intention to contemplate a different path in the wake of two more elected on the SJB ticket, namely Kumara Welgama (Kalutara district) and Patali Champila Ranawaka (Colombo district) seeking to chart their own courses. Welgama and Ranawaka launched the Nawa Lanka Nidahas Pakshaya and the United Republican Front in 2020 and May this year, respectively.

The SJB won 54 seats, including seven National List slots, at the parliamentary election. Even before the SJB settled down, as the main Opposition party, one of its NL members, first time entrant to Parliament, Diana Gamage, switched her allegiance to the SLPP. Diana Gamage didn’t even bother to hide her contempt for the top SJB leadership when she declared her support to the controversial 20th Amendment to the Constitution, enacted in late October 2020. She simply dismissed the SJB’s decision to vote against that Amendment, meant to further strengthen the executive, as irrelevant. Further deterioration of the SJB parliamentary group can be disastrous as Wickremesinghe steps up pressure on the breakaway faction, ahead of the presidential election.

Fonseka switched allegiance to Sajith Premadasa immediately after the UNP split that followed SP’s heavy defeat at the presidential election. Fonseka contested the last general election on the SJB ticket, amidst simmering controversy over the circumstances under which the then Election Commission allowed the Ape Jathika Peramuna to be named as Samagi Jana Balawegaya in 2020. Diana Gamage’s husband, Senaka de Silva formerly of the Army, had been a one-time influential member of General Fonseka’s staff when he contested the 2010 presidential poll. The cashiered junior Army officer had been the leader of Ape Jathika Peramuna at the time the breakaway UNP faction, under Sajith Premadasa’s leadership, negotiated for the taking over of that party. In the wake of MP Diana Gamage voting for the 20th Amendment, a major issue erupted after the SJB demanded an explanation from her as to why she voted for Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s amendment, regardless of the party decision to move against it. Diana Gamage threatened to take back the party. The bone of contention is whether Diana Gamage could have taken things for granted just because her husband gave up his party for the benefit of Sajith Premadasa’s group.

SP declares his prez candidature

In May this year, the SJB hurriedly named its leader, Sajith Premadasa, as its presidential candidate. The party announced the decision on May 16, following a meeting of its decision-making Working Committee. The announcement was made in the wake of speculation that President Wickremesinghe contemplated introducing a simple amendment to pave the way for presidential election. Declaring that there was no one they could have faith in, except party leader Sajith Premadasa, former UNP MP Sujeewa Senasinghe proposed their leader as the presidential candidate. One-time State Minister and SJB Gampaha District MP Harshana Rajakaruna made a joint proposal in this regard that received the unanimous approval of the Working Committee. A one-page statement, issued by the SJB soon after the meeting, said that MPs S.M. Marikkar and Chamindra Wijesiri, Rehan Jaywickrema and President’s Counsel Upul Jayasuriya and several others appreciated the Working Committee decision.

Did the SJB at least unofficially consult other political parties, which contested under its symbol at the last parliamentary poll, before the announcement on the 2024 presidential candidate was made? The SJB cannot afford to ignore efforts made by the SLMC and the Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) to pave the way for a consensus between the SJB and President Wickremesinghe. The SLMC and three political parties, represented in the TPA, contested the last general election on the SJB ticket, therefore the main Opposition party should be mindful of the interests of its constituents. Its failure to address the concerns of partners, as well as individual members, can be quite catastrophic ahead of the next presidential election.

President Wickremesinghe stands to gain by the SJB’s shoddy approach to the next presidential election, followed by parliamentary polls. Undeterred by being reduced to just one seat in the 225-member Parliament, the UNP leader seemed quite convinced of his chances at the next presidential election with the backing of a section of the SLPP parliamentary group. A debilitating SLPP split is now almost certain with Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera openly declaring his support for the UNP leader. The Matara district parliamentarian is on record as having said that the majority of the SLPP parliamentary group supported President Wickremesinghe’s candidature. Lawmaker Wijesekera has repeatedly declared that though the UNP and the SLPP currently carried out meetings separately, a tie-up between the SLPP and President Wickremesinghe is inevitable.

If Wijesekera is proved right, the main contenders at the next presidential election would be UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe and the former UNP Deputy Leader Sajith Premadasa. If that happened, the electors would face the challenging task of choosing one as essentially the two leaders’ economic strategies won’t clash. Would Wickremesinghe’s current policies be acceptable to the SLPP? Perhaps the UNP leader is not looking at a formal agreement with the SLPP but a consensus with a sizable breakaway group ready for its chances with the UNP leader. Whatever the bombastic declarations made by Wickremesinghe’s depleted group, the UNP hadn’t been able to engineer crossovers from the SJB as intended. Over a year after receiving the presidency, Wickremesinghe hadn’t been able to win over a single SJB MP. Manusha Nanayakkara and Harin Fernando switched allegiance to the government at a time Gotabaya Rajapaksa served as the President. Facts are stubborn. In fact, the President totally depends on the SLPP for his survival in Parliament. Their relations are in deepening crisis due to the inordinate delay on the part of the President to accommodate SLPP nominees in his Cabinet. That particular SLPP request has been on the backburner for over 11 months. That is the truth.

With the JVP-led Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB) certain to field a candidate of its own, the rebel SLPP group (Prof. G.L. Peiris-DA [Dallas Alahapperuma] led 12-member group) plus Uttara Lanka Sabhagaya, too, would be compelled to contest, thereby causing further setback to the Opposition effort. The decision-makers will have to examine two key issues: (1) can there be an understanding among the GL Peiris-DA led group and Uttara Lanka Sabhagaya? And (2) is there a likelihood of an alliance involving the SJB, SLPP rebels, including Uththara Lanka Sabhagaya?

Tough times

Having lost badly to Mahinda Rajapaksa at the 2010 presidential election, Fonseka sought to contest the general election on the UNP ticket on his terms. Wickremesinghe however swiftly rejected Fonseka’s move. That prompted Fonseka to contest the election, under the JVP-led Democratic National Alliance (DNA) ticket. It was nothing but an odd marriage of convenience. The DNA managed to secure seven seats. The DNA parliamentary group consisted of Sarath Fonseka, Arjuna Ranatunga (no longer in active politics), Tiran Alles (National List/the incumbent Public Security Minister) and four JVPers, including incumbent leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake. The subsequent arrest of Fonseka and denial of his parliamentary seat under questionable circumstances prompted the war hero to form the Democratic Party aka DP. That party suffered a catastrophic setback in its debut at the 2015 general election with its leader Sarath Fonseka failing to get elected from Colombo. The DP couldn’t poll 30,000 votes countrywide. Fonseka’s party couldn’t at least secure a National List seat and was relegated to history. However, Yahapalana Premier Ranil Wickremesinghe rescued the former Army Chief by accommodating him on his National List. Fonseka was brought into Parliament on the UNP National List, in early 2016, and accommodated in the Cabinet of Ministers, though Wickremesinghe simply ignored calls to appoint him the Law and Order Minister.

Could Fonseka have averted the 2019 Easter Sunday attack if he was tasked with the Law and Order Ministry? At the time of the Easter Sunday suicide attacks, Ranjith Madduma Bandara served as the Law and Order Minister. Fonseka suffered due to his running disputes with the then President Maithripala Sirisena who strongly opposed giving that particular portfolio to the wartime Army Chief under any circumstances. They failed to iron out differences though Sarath Fonseka was granted the Field Marshal’s rank during Sirisena’s tenure as the President. Sirisena owed a public apology for his failure to award the same to Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda and Air Marshal Roshan Goonatilleke.

The 2019 presidential poll campaign saw UNP candidate Sajith Premadasa declaring Fonseka as the Defence Minister, if he ended up victorious.

All News Advertisement

Related Topics:Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka Mp Sarath Fonseka

Up Next

Inner Man in Cold Storage

Don't Miss

Eastern and Western education

Click to comment

Midweek Review

Unexpected focus on ‘pieces of tin’ worn by military men

Published

4 days ago

2026/07/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

Maj. Lalith Jayasinghe with Kaushalya on his wedding day. Jayasinghe, receipient of Sri Lanka's highest military honour, has been credited with unprecedented raids behind the enemy lines. He died in late November, 2008, in the Vanni east.

Second Lieutenant S.U. Aladeniya, the first recipient of the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya, died fighting the LTTE in the second week of July, 1990. The young commanding officer of the isolated Kokavil Army detachment refused an opportunity to leave his wounded colleagues. Instead, he chose to set an extraordinary example. The fate of the Kokavil detachment, as well as the unprecedented military debacle that forced the Army to vacate the Kandy–Jaffna A9 road, north of Vavuniya, in 1990, happened due to the late President Ranasinghe Premadasa’s folly. Premadasa trusted the LTTE to such an extent, he ordered several hundred police officers, in the East, to surrender to appease the LTTE. The rest is history.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Additional Solicitor General Dileepa Peiris recently questioned in court as to why retired Air Force officer Shantha Jayathilake appeared in court wearing armed forces medals.

The highly decorated war hero Flight Lieutenant Jayathilake represented himself under Section 260 of the Criminal Procedure Code in the trial of Maj. Gen. Suresh Sallay, the alleged mastermind of the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage.

During his submission, Dileepa Pieris looked at the medals worn by the retired officer and said: “He comes wearing pieces of tin.”

When Jayathilake objected to the ASG’s remark, Magistrate Pasan Amarasena warned the ex-officer not to interrupt proceedings. Then Peiris said that he couldn’t see Jayathilake’s medals properly. Jayathilake is the recipient of Weewa Wickrema Vibhushanaya (WWV), the second highest gallantry medal awarded to Sri Lankan military. The PWV is the highest gallantry decoration that can be received by a living military man. Jayathilake who joined the Air Force in 1989 at the height of the JVP-led insurgency, retired in 1999, and was also the recipient of the Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP).

Senior President’s Counsel Maithree Gunaratne, who represented Sallay in court, said: “The problem is not with your eyes, but with the red-tinted glasses you are wearing. You wore blue-tinted glasses for a while, and now you wear red-tinted glasses, so the gallantry medals, earned with blood, sweat, and tears for the country, look like pieces of tin to you”

Gunaratne requested that Pieris’s comments on the ex-officer be formally recorded in court records. This happened in the Fort Magistrate’s court on 2 July, 2026. The court proceedings caused controversy with various interested parties expressing differing views on Jayathilake wearing medals to a courtroom.

Some found fault with him for wearing medals while others strongly backed him. The issue at hand received social media attention. Obviously some sought political advantage at the expense of the government and the Attorney General’s Department. Others lambasted the former State Intelligence Service (SIS) Chief Sallay (2029-2024) for causing unnecessary developments. However, the gallantry medals worn by military, both officers and men, cannot be ridiculed by anyone, regardless of his/her position in the society. Gallantry medals remind the country of immense and untold sacrifices made by the military, during the war, and any attempt to dilute them should be strongly opposed.

Those who silently backed or publicly take action against war-winning Army Chief General (retd.) Sarath Fonseka, in 2010, after his defeat at the 2010 January presidential election, shouldn’t see the incident at the Fort Magistrate court as an opportunity.

Although Sri Lanka has been deeply divided over investigations into the conduct of armed forces during the war and after, no issue caused controversy like the arrest of Sallay, a post-war head of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) over the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage. Sallay served as the Director of State Intelligence Service (SIS) from 2019 to 2024 before President Anura Kumara Dissanayake replaced him. Perhaps President Gotabaya Rajapaksa shouldn’t have brought Sallay as Director, SIS, contrary to the practice of SIS always being headed by a senior police officer or he was quite right in bringing in a serving military officer with a proven intelligence track record, knowing the shameful behaviour of responsible top police officers in the run up to the Easter Sunday suicide attacks, despite there having been adequate advance intelligence warnings to prevent them.

The intervention made by the retired Air Force officer triggered an unexpected reaction from the Attorney General’s top representative and the subsequent continuing controversy influenced The Island to discuss the awarding of gallantry medals, namely Parama Weera Vibhushanaya (PWV), the highest, followed by Weera Wickrema Vibhushanaya (WWV), Rana Wickrema Padakkama (RWP) and Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP). The fourth medal, Weeradhara Vibhushanaya, is awarded for bravery, regardless of the risks to one’s own life, but for voluntary interventions outside the battlefield.

Bravery of an exceptional kind

During the war, Sri Lanka awarded 32 PVWs posthumously. The Army, Navy and Air Force shared 29, 2 and 1, respectively. The PVW is awarded to all ranks of armed forces, both regular and volunteer, for individual acts of bravery in the face of enemy, disregarding the risks to one’s own life. Of the 32 recipients of the PVW, the extraordinary case of Maj. J.A.L. Jayasinghe (Lalith Jayasinghe), posthumously promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, captured unprecedented public attention.

On many occasions, PWVs were awarded posthumously for sacrifices made in defensive action, while the armed forces were responding to enemy action. However, Lalith had initiated action deep within the enemy-held territory and his efforts reflected the overall military strategy.

The 29 recipients consisted of 27 Army: Second Lieutenant S.U Aladeniya, Lance Corporal (LC) Y.G.G. Kularatne (Hasalaka Gamini), Second Lt. K.W.T. Nishshanka, Staff Sgt. H.P.B. Gunasekera, LC W.I.M. Seneviratne, Lt. Col. A.F Lafir, Capt. G.S. Jayanath, Maj. J.A.L. Jayasinghe, Maj. K.A. Gamage, Capt. U.G.A.S. Samaranayake, H.G.M.K.I. Megawarna, Sgt H.G.S. Bandara, Corporal P.N. Suranga, Corporal P.M.N. Pushpakumara, Corporal D.N\M.S. Chandrasiri Bandara, LC K. Chandana, Private R.M.D.M. Ratnayake, LC A.M.M.P. Abeysinghe, recruit A.M.B.H.G. Abeyratne Banda, private T.G.R. Dayananda, Lt. P.N. Punsiri, Second Lt W.D. Jayathilake, Sgt. K.G.N.L.R. Perera, Corporal K.P.D.T. Gunasekera, LC H.A. Nilantha Kumara, LC S.V.A.M. Pushpamal. Navy: Lt. J.L.D.S. Wijetunga, Petty Officer K.G. Shantha and Air Force: Squadron Leader T.D.S. Silvapulle.

Although Jayasinghe paid the supreme sacrifice, while serving the Special Forces, he had been a proud member of the Gemunu Watch (GW). GW veteran Maj. Gen. K.B. Egodawele in his Hewayekuge Mathaka Satahan (Memories of a soldier), first launched in 2012, declared that Jayasinghe had been among four GW personnel, namely Captain U.G.A.S. Samaranayake, Captain H.P.M.K. Meghawardena and Corporal D.M.A.M. Pushpakumara to receive the PWV, posthumously.

All of them received the highest gallantry award for actions on the Vanni east region during Eelam War IV (2006 August to 2009 May).

Jayasinghe’s wife Kaushalya accepted the PVW on 19 May, 2012, at the annual Victory Day parade. Maj. Gen. Kamal Gunaratne read the awardee’s official citation. Kaushalya had been five months pregnant at the time Jayasinghe mounted a raid deep inside the LTTE-held territory in the Vanni east region. Gunaratne, the wartime General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the 53 Division declared that Jayasinghe had been in command of an LRRP (Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol)/Deep Penetration Unit tasked to eliminate LTTE leaders. That unit had moved about 40 kms into the enemy held territory in Oddusuddan and was positioned alongside the Mankulam-Oddusuddan road to kill LTTE leaders, on 26 November, 2008.

Suddenly, Jayasinghe had fallen sick but joined other members of the LLRP to fight the enemy after fierce fighting erupted between the two sides. In spite of having an opportunity to retreat, Jayasinghe, hero of many previous battles, suffered grievous injuries during the battle and succumbed to his injuries.

Jayasinghe had been an extraordinary soldier and was the recipient of the second highest gallantry medal, WWV, on three or four occasions. In one such occasion, Jayasinghe had received two WWVs at one ceremony and recalled retired Maj. Gen. Dhammi Hewage, who received the RSP at the same event. Hewage spoke admirably about what he called high risk and extraordinary LRRP operations undertaken by Jayasinghe over a period of time. Let me give you an opportunity to know more about Hewage whose no holds barred examination of the Army during the war received public attention ( https://island.lk/a-special-forces-officers-narrative/)

Those who risked their lives to earn battlefield recognition played a significant role in transforming the armed forces, particularly the Army. Gallantry medals had been earned by armed forces officers and men in various circumstances but the deadly LRRP strikes, deep within the LTTE held territory, made quite a difference in the overall direction of the war. Those who operated in enemy territory in a way functioned as suicide cadres/units as the probability of them being intercepted by the LTTE was very high. But, regardless of severe risks, they ventured out of government-held areas to infiltrate deep inside enemy held territory to carry out operations. The LRRP team, led by Jayasinghe, is a case in point.

Clandestine operations received public attention in the run-up to the 2001 December parliamentary election when UNP leader Ranil Wickremesinghe all of a sudden alleged that the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) was planning to assassinate him. Within weeks after the UNP victory at the parliamentary election, the UNP unleashed the police on the DMI. The police raided the DMI safe house at Millennium City, Athurugiriya. In spite of Army Chief, the late Lt. Gen. Lionel Balagalle, personally assuring the UNP that there was absolutely no basis for such claims, Wickremesinghe was not prepared to change his political strategy. He gave Minister John Amaratunga in charge of police the go ahead for planned action.

The January 2, 2002, raid led to the arrest of Captain Mohamed Nilam, Staff Sgt. P. Ananda Udulagama, Staff Sergeant I. Edirisinghe Jayamanne, Corporal H.M. Nissanka Herath, Lance Corporal H. Mohamed Hilmy and an LTTE operative identified as Niyaz/Subashkaran. Others involved in that particular operation had been living in the East and were called into join operations, depending on the requirement. On the instructions of Lt. Gen. Balagalle, those tasked with carrying out attacks on selected targets received the opportunity to train under Special Forces instructors from Maduru Oya. They underwent training at the Panaluwa Test Firing Range, where firing special weapons was a key element in the training schedule.

In a bid to ensure secrecy, those operatives mostly operated on their own, and had their own arsenal, which included a range of weapons, including claymore mines. In fact, those involved in such operations functioned on a need-to-know basis. Even senior DMI officials, as well as the Army top brass, except a few, hadn’t been aware of what was going on. Even the then powerful Deputy Defence Minister, the late Anuruddha Ratwatte, hadn’t been told of the Millennium City safe-house, though he knew of the ongoing hits behind enemy lines.

Shortly after the exposure of the DMI operation, Balagalle met Premier Wickremesinghe to explain the secret operations undertaken against the LTTE. The Army chief had been accompanied by officials, including Hendarawithana, while one-time Attorney General Tilak Marapana, National List MP holding the Defence portfolio, and Minister Milinda Moragoda, too, were present.

“Except for Minister Moragoda, the others obviously didn’t realise what we were doing. They acted as if we were conspiring to do away with the political leadership so as to undermine the Norwegian initiative,” a source familiar with the dynamics of the project said. “We quickly realised we were up against a government, which simply wanted to negotiate a deal with the LTTE at any cost. The LTTE and the Norwegians exploited the situation to the hilt.”

Success in the East

Hitting the enemy in the area under its control had been Balagalle’s idea. The DMI hadn’t been successful in its first and the second attempts to take two specific targets. The targeted area had been Batticaloa south and the first and the second operations were mounted on 18 July 2001 and 12 September 2001. But both actions went awry and the targeted men identified as Jim Kelly (commander of Jeyanthan regiment) and Jeevan escaped death.

But, they succeeded on 17 September 2001. Operatives carried out a successful attack on ‘Major’ Mano Master, who was at that time in charge of the communications network in the Ampara-Batticaloa area.

But immediately after the UNP’s victory, the government terminated all such operations. The treacherous government betrayed those who risked their lives for the country. Ex-LTTEers and others who worked for the Army were exposed and the LTTE hunted them down. Scores of men were killed. Some were tortured and killed.

Apart from Mano Master, the secret raids claimed the lives of Batticaloa District Intelligence Head Lt. Col Nizam and Capt. Thevathasan.

Among those killed in the north were LTTE Air Wing Head Col. Shankar (Vaithilingam Sornalingam) and Sea Tiger Deputy Commander Lt. Col Kangai Amaran.

S.P. Thamilselvan, his Deputy Major S. Thangan, Vavuniya Special Commander Col. Jeyam and Deputy Military Chief Col. Balraj were believed to have been targeted in the North but escaped. In the East, among those who escaped targeted killings, were Col. Karuna, Karikalan, Jim Kelly and Intelligence Chief Lt. Col. Ramanan.

In spite of the LTTEers, particularly its leaders on a heightened state of alert, the Army ambushed Karikalan’s vehicle on 18 October, 2001. The destruction of the vehicle fuelled speculation of Karikalan’s demise, with a section of the media reporting him killed in a special operation. Shortly before the attack on Karikalan’s vehicle, the Army intercepted a radio conversation between Karikalan and his wife, a medical doctor by profession, serving in the Northern Province. “She simply begged him to leave Batticaloa and take refuge in the North to avoid the Army’s deep penetration operations,” a source familiar with LRRP operations told the writer many years ago.

The Army struck again on 26 November, 2001. ‘Major’ Swarnaseelan and ‘Captain’ Devadas were eliminated in the Pulipanjikkal area. It was the last operation before the December 5 General Election.

The UNP terminated the operation. But, the Army revived the strategy after the eruption of hostilities in 2005.

It would be pertinent to mention that hit and run attacks, deep within the LTTE held territory, troubled them to such an extent, they took up the issue with Norway. Fearing a relentless campaign, the LTTE got Norway to include LRRP operations in their negotiations, leading to a one-sided Ceasefire Agreement (CFA) signed in February 2002 by the Wickremesinghe regime. That CFA revealed the existence of a secret Army project to target the LTTE in their own area. The CFA called for termination of LRRP operations.

Three PVWs

Lieutenant J.L.D.S. Wijetunga was the first Navy recipient of the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya (PWV), Sri Lanka’s highest gallantry award given posthumously. Wijetunga, Commanding Officer of the Israeli built Dvora Fast Attack Craft (FAC), maneuvered his vessel to intercept an explosives-laden Sea Tiger suicide boat approaching a troop transport ship off Point Pedro on 30 March, 1996. Wijetunga, in spite of knowing his action was suicidal, went ahead with the risky maneuver that saved the lives of a large contingent of off duty servicemen on their way to Trincomalee from Kankesanthurai (KKS).

The Navy earned its second PWV on 1 November, 2008, off Point Pedro, during the Eelam war IV. A Petty Officer of elite Special Boat Squadron K.G. Shantha rammed an explosives-laden Sea Tiger suicide craft with his Arrow boat (Z-142 ). Shantha and his three SBS colleagues were blasted to smithereens, though their action saved an Inshore Patrol Craft (IPC) carrying a dozen SBS personnel.

Wing Commander T.D.S. Silvapulle received the nation’s highest gallantry award PWV for attacking Sea Tiger boats firing at Army defences south-east of Elephant Pass on 19 December, 1999. Silvapulle, flying a Mi 24 helicopter gunship in adverse weather conditions, regardless of the threat posed by surface-to-air missiles, engaged the enemy craft. Silvapulle compelled the enemy to flee but was hit during the confrontation. His individual act of gallantry was recognized in 2012, four years after the eradication of the LTTE. The then President Mahinda Rajapaksa conferred the PWV at a ceremony held on 19 May, 2012. Maj. Lalith Jayasinghe received his PWV at the same ceremony.

The betrayal of the armed forces in October, 2015, at the Geneva-based Human Rights Council, by the treacherous Sirisena-Wickremesinghe regime, underscored the mentality of those who wielded political power. The calling of gallantry medals ‘pieces of tin’ reminded the country of the pathetic and disgraceful state of affairs.

Midweek Review

Poor, little upper-middle income country

Published

4 days ago

2026/07/8

Sahan Weerasooriya

“Sri Lanka has been ranked among the least happy countries in the latest World Happiness Report 2026…standing alongside Ethiopia”- The Sunday Island March 2026

Sri Lanka was officially declared an Upper-Middle Income country by the World Bank in July 2026, regaining the classification it had in 2019.

On the 30th of June, the IMF delegation meeting the President at the Presidential Secretariat praised the government: “…IMF praised the government’s economic programme and noted that Sri Lanka has made greater progress than many other countries implementing IMF-supported programmes. The delegation commended the government for maintaining macroeconomic stability despite a series of external shocks and for remaining firmly committed to its reform agenda…” (Presidential Media Division, 30 June 2026)

Meanwhile, a UN-backed World Happiness Report 2026 compiled by the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, ranked Sri Lanka 134th out of 147 nations. A daily newspaper which ran the story on the 19th of March 2026, added that the report showed that “Sri Lanka has slipped one place from its 133rd ranking in 2025, now standing alongside Ethiopia. The country also trails behind its South Asian neighbours, with India ranked 116th, Pakistan and Bangladesh positioned significantly higher.”

Good News, Bad News

The Upper-Middle Income classification was declared by the World Bank during the Yahapalana government in July 2019. 6 months later, the Yahapalana government was swept out at elections.

Only 2 years later, in April 2022, the country was declared bankrupt, and by July that year the newly elected President was toppled by a people’s uprising for the first time in the country’s history.

To fill the vacuum, an unlikely combination of an unelected MP from the Opposition who was made President by the Parliament and an unpopular government that had barely survived the uprising, governed the country together. It was massively defeated by the people only 2 years later in 2024, despite ‘stabilising’ the economy.

An Upper-Middle Income status may give the impression of a prosperous people, but prosperous people are not an unhappy people. The World Bank report 2026 (World Bank, Sri Lanka Development Update) notes the anomaly: “the recovery is unfinished and has not translated into widespread improvements in welfare.”

The report adds:

* Real output remains below 2018 levels.

* Although poverty is projected to decline in 2025, it remains double the 2019 levels.

* Vulnerability remains high with an additional 10 percent of the population living just above the poverty line.

* Malnutrition continues to be elevated.

* The labour market recovery is slow with real wages and labor force participation well below 2019 levels.

The World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Brief (October 2025) sheds further light:

* Poverty is projected at 22.3-22.4 percent in 2025 and around 20 percent until 2027 without stronger inclusive growth.

* Real earnings remain below pre-crisis levels.

So, are Top of the Class in the IMF index and almost Bottom of the Class in the Happiness Index related?

As a friend who is a highly-placed economist explained to me, if people are poorer, undernourished, indebted, and insecure after stabilisation, then reserves, inflation, and primary balances alone cannot be relied on to judge the next IMF programme. Sri Lanka needs a national programme whose success metric is household recovery, jobs, nutrition, and productive capacity.

From the praise heaped on the President and this government’s strong leadership by the IMF for their performance thus far, sticking closely to the IMF conditionalities, we can only infer that things for the unhappy citizens will hardly get better as they negotiate the 18th IMF programme.

The AKD administration doesn’t haggle on behalf of the people. They see the rewards of that approach in fiscal consolidation and macroeconomic stability. This however, is not the only kind of stability they have to bear in mind, given recent history.

By the People, But Not for the People?

The new or renewed (from July 2019) ‘Upper-Middle Income’ classification has served to remind people where the government has failed, been weak, as much as where it has been strong and succeeded. The economy in the abstract is better off, but the majority of the people who gave the government a two thirds majority, are much worse off in material reality.

To return to my top economist friend, she explained that Sri Lanka should not reject fiscal discipline, but it must own the design of fiscal adjustment. The country needs a fairer tax mix, better tax administration, public investment discipline, and protection of health, education, nutrition, and climate-resilient infrastructure. Otherwise, fiscal discipline becomes socially brittle and growth-reducing.

The direction she recommended is hardly where the government is heading. The World Bank warns that the on-going reliance on regressive indirect taxes could worsen the poverty outlook, while the primary expenditure ceiling of 13 percent of GDP can constrain public investment and service delivery.

A leading financial daily (6 July) reported that at the CA Sri Lanka’s 5th Annual Economic and Tax Symposium, both the Government’s tax policies and the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) “came under sustained criticism from leading private sector tax professionals”. Gajma & Co. Senior Partner N.R. Gajendran argued that “…higher revenues had come largely from imposing a heavier burden on existing taxpayers rather than widening the tax base.”

He said that “When taxes become excessive and unbearable, and it is not coming from the widening of the base, it is coming from the same taxpayer, it erodes expenditure capabilities, it erodes saving capabilities, and it erodes investment capabilities,” warning that “sustained over-taxation ultimately weakens consumption, investment, and long-term economic growth.”

Sri Lanka has already lost a large number of skilled professionals who migrated in droves in the last two years. Factum reports (April 2026) that the annual departures for foreign employment have hovered above the 310,000 mark. This includes Healthcare Professionals (Doctors, nurses), Academics and Researchers (including 80-90% of State University graduates), Technologists and Engineers.

Will the Lawyers be next? The Island editorial of 6 July 2026 strongly supports the stand that the BASL has taken, (endorsed by the Colombo Law Society, Colombo High Court Lawyers Association, LAWASIA and the Commonwealth Lawyers Association) opposing the government’s effort to move a constitutional amendment to extend the retirement age of judges of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, denouncing political interference in the judiciary and urging the government to avoid a Zimbabwean crisis.

None of this makes for a happy citizen, stability notwithstanding.

By the People, for the Creditors

So, what of all those promises made with such passion to do better than all previous governments since Independence in 1948?

The World Food Programme has this to report:

* Households unable to meet essential food needs increased from 14 percent in 2024 to 20 percent in 2026.

* If price trends continue, another 1.3 million people could be unable to afford essential food needs, including nearly 300,000 urban poor.

* Child nutrition remains worrying: stunting 10.1 percent, wasting 8.6 percent, and underweight 16.1 percent. (WFP, Food Security Under Pressure)

Economists warn that a programme that ‘stabilises’ the economy while households sell assets, cut food, reduce education and health spending, and slide into coping strategies, i.e., de-stabilises the household economy and lives, will not be socially, politically or developmentally sustainable.

Those who care for the people recommend that Sri Lanka’s own programme must place adaptive social protection, nutrition, and livelihoods at the very centre.

The promised re-negotiation of the 17th IMF package to make the necessary economic recovery less taxing (pun intended) for the people, less painful, and more sustainable overall, never happened. The government acted as if it was elected by the People for the Creditors.

We have been warned that Sri Lanka’s shift toward commercial borrowing and ISBs changed the debt-risk profile, with ISBs carrying high interest rates and short maturities. The government’s promised negotiations didn’t resemble anything like what was expected by the people, and went the way of the ISB holders who celebrated the victory in Canary Wharf toasting our President in absentia.

IMF Country Report No 26/111 indicates that even after restructuring, debt sustainability risks remain high. Public debt is projected at around 100.1 percent of GDP in 2026, with central government gross financing needs at 19.8 percent of GDP.

Economists remind us that Sri Lanka’s recent graduation to the Upper Middle-Income classification means that we will have to pay more in debt repayments as per the macro-linked bond of the debt restructuring settlement with the creditors.

IMF 18, going on 19?

Who’d have thought it? In the last 77 years, the most pro-people, pro-poor administration has certainly not been the AKD government. There were much better ones, even during the 30 year war, when policies were more enlightened and served the people; were undertaken with confidence and determination, and some still continue to provide the foreign exchange to pay for subsequent errors of judgment. And with the courage of their convictions and confidence in their capacity to deliver, those leaders didn’t feel the need to postpone any elections.

Stabilisation was an immediate necessity. But my economist friend spoke for us all when she told me “Sri Lanka cannot stabilise its way to prosperity. It should not risk turning emergency discipline into a permanent development model”.

With the current state of play, is that what we are looking at? There is little evidence that this administration has the capacity to design an independent programme, not subject to the whims and fancies of IFIs, but as my friend put it, “our own programme: fiscally responsible, socially protective, production-oriented, climate-resilient, and politically owned. The IMF can support that programme, but it cannot be the programme.”

An unhappy people is surely as much of an indicator of the real health of the economy, as the Gross National Income per capita calculated in US dollars by the World Bank. A Sunday newspaper quoted a young economist, Rehana Thowfeek, co-founder/director at Arutha Research, who says: “There is no point in celebrating becoming an upper-middle-income country while 1 in 4 of our people is in poverty, two out of every 5 Sri Lankans cannot afford a healthy diet and 1 out of 3 of our children under 5 years is malnourished.”

This is not a situation that should be allowed to prevail by an allegedly pro-people government, or indeed any government that has been granted the privilege to govern, through the people’s vote. The planning, the policy choices are all in the hands of the government. Will they choose a better path?

People are not unhappy because they are too mean to acknowledge what a wonderful job this government is doing, and give praise to this administration like the IMF at the Presidential Secretariat. It is because they are in pain, they are suffering, they are hungry, they cannot pay the bills, and they are looking at a future where none of these things are going away, but is set to get much worse, as the government slouches towards its next IMF programme and the next debt repayment.