Sunday Times 2
Winning the war and re-establishing peace
After winning the war, re-establishing peace is the responsibility of a victorious Army. Let us take the Allied Forces that defeated the German and Japanese armies in the Second World War. Did the Allied Forces withdraw immediately from Germany and Japan soon after the Second World War? Contingents of the Allied Forces mainly American are still stationed in both Germany and Japan even 69 years after winning the Second World War. Therefore, how can some western countries demand that Sri Lanka’s security forces withdraw from the Northern and Eastern provinces after just six years of defeating terrorism and separatism? A sovereign nation can deploy its security forces anywhere in its territory.
Soldiers taking part in rebuilding activities in the North as part of thier hearts-and-mind operation.
After a victory in a war against terrorism and separatism if permanent peace is to be reestablished it is imperative that the security forces should implement a strategy to win the hearts and minds of the civilian population living in the areas that were once under the control of terrorist and separatist forces. China’s former President Mao Zedong once said that terrorism could never be defeated without winning the support of the masses. The terrorists he said were like fish and the masses were like the water in which the fish live. If you want to kill the fish, he said that you need to remove the water. What he said emphasises the need for the security forces to win the support of the masses through hearts and minds operations to defeat terrorism and separatism in the long term.
There was a fairly good strategy carried out by the security forces in the Northern and Eastern provinces in the past: Getting actively involved in infrastructure development. The security forces got actively involved in projects not only in repairing buildings damaged during the war but also in constructing new houses for the people who were being resettled. The security forces also got involved in other infrastructure development projects to improve the educational, health, agriculture and irrigation facilities. They improved the road network and rebuilt places of worship that were damaged during the war. They organised self-employment projects to alleviate poverty. All these activities resulted in the security forces winning over the hearts and minds of the civilians living in the North and East.
To successfully defeat any enemy in conventional warfare, the friendly forces need to have a three to one superiority. Since the LTTE changed its tactics from guerilla to conventional warfare, the security forces too had to recruit more personnel to attain this three-to-one superiority. This they did and therefore succeeded in defeating the LTTE. After achieving victory in the war, the Government had two options — either demobilise and trim the size of the security forces or engage them in nation-building. The Government correctly chose the latter.
The decision taken by the Rajapaksa regime to use the security forces for nation building after defeating the LTTE is not different from the historical decision of King Dutugemunu to use his victorious army to cultivate land in Digamadulla and usher in prosperity. The security forces that were successfully winning over the people living in the North and East through the implementation of infrastructure development projects were subsequently engaged by the Government to implement urban development projects in other parts of the country as well.
These nation building projects became a constant source of worry for not only to the politicians supporting terrorist and separatist agendas but also to the politicians with the unwinnable war ideology who were supporting western vested interests having an agenda to destabilize Sri Lanka. It was therefore they who commenced a campaign to ridicule the use of the Security Forces for civilian infrastructural development and to demotivate Security Forces thus employed. If the security forces had not been employed in nation building and had been demobilized, not only would there have been a massive unemployment issue but also a possibility of some of these trained security forces personnel taking to organised crime for a livelihood.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa succeeded in giving political leadership in his first term of office to defeat LTTE terrorism and to regain the territorial integrity of this nation. However, soon after defeating separatism and reuniting the nation, President Rajapaksa failed to re-establish peace in the long term by revoking the 13th Amendment to the Constitution which, many in Sri Lanka believe, is a stepping stone to separatism. This Amendment was forced upon the J.R Jayewardene Government by the Rajiv Gandhi government in India.
Rajapaksa’s mistakes
President Rajapaksa used the security forces for nation building during his second term in office. However, he failed to stop corruption and nepotism and gradually lost the confidence the people had in him. Though he had a two thirds majority in parliament, all he did with that majority was to get the 18th Amendment approved to increase his executive powers and remove the limit of two terms in office for a President. His interference in the judiciary by removing the Chief Justice and appointing a political stooge also added to his growing unpopularity. His opponents — most of whom had subscribed to the view that the war against the LTTE was not winnable and were supported by vested interests in the West — capitalised on these mistakes. They persuaded his own Minister of Health Maithripala Sirisena to defect and contest as the common opposition candidate at the January 8 Presidential Election.
Sirisena becoming President by defeating Rajapaksa is now history. However, the events that have taken place subsequently will be of great concern to those who want to protect and preserve the unity and territorial integrity of this nation for posterity. The presidential election was held to elect a president but not to change the government. Many, therefore, question the validity of changing the government using the executive power vested in the President. The practice has been that the leader of the party or the coalition that won a general election was appointed the Prime Minister. However deviating from this practice, President Sirisena appointed Ranil Wickremesinghe, who was the leader of the opposition, as the Prime Minister. The UNP, which cannot command a majority in parliament, is now the governing party while the leader of the opposition has been appointed from the UPFA, a coalition of parties that has the majority of seats in the legislature. It could be argued that democracy has been made to stand on its head by this new arrangement. The new Cabinet also consists of many ministers who believed in the ideology that the war against the LTTE was not winnable.
When Thoppigala, an LTTE stronghold was taken by the army during the eastern campaign it was Ranil Wickremesinghe, the present Prime Minister, who said that Thoppigala was a hill covered by dense jungle that was of no tactical importance. During the northern campaign of the army, the present Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said that the army was moving to Madawachchi and saying they were advancing to Kilinochchi and that they were moving to Pamankada saying that they were advancing to Alimankada. Was it not the present foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera who said that General Sarath Fonseka was not fit even to command the Salvation Army? How can anyone with an ounce of commonsense expect a Cabinet with such ministers to protect the unity and territorial integrity of our nation for posterity?
Therefore it is not a surprise when the present government removed a retired Major General from the post of governor in the Northern Province and a retired Rear Admiral from the post of governor in the Eastern Province. Both of them knew the requirements of security for development after having been actively involved in the war against terrorism. They were replaced by two civilians who lack such knowledge and experience.
With little or no regard for security concerns the new Government also removed checkpoints and barriers in the North and further reduced the high security zone allowing human settlements in such strategic areas. The new Government also stopped the involvement of the security forces in projects aimed at nation building. All such decisions will only ultimately result in the victory achieved by the security forces against separatism with so much sacrifice being reversed. The defeated separatist elements and the western vested interests that are planning to destabilise this country must be indeed elated by the turn of events.