In other countries, entire Govt would have resigned - Fonseka

If carnage of the likes of Easter Sunday's attacks occurred anywhere else, the entire Government would have resigned but such things won't happen here, Parliamentarian Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told Parliament today (24). 

By Sandun Jayawardana

If carnage of the likes of Easter Sunday's attacks occurred anywhere else, the entire Government would have resigned but such things won't happen here, Parliamentarian Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka told Parliament today (24). 

In a hard hitting speech in Parliament during the proclamation declaring a state of emergency, Field Marshal Fonseka severely criticized both the Government and the Opposition for allowing the deterioration of intelligence services.

"Governments that have been in power during the past 10 years need to take responsibility for this failure. Immediately after the war, the then Government used intelligence services as instruments of political revenge. They used them to spy on us and our children. Even the new Government did not do what should have been done," he stressed. 

It is clear now that the National Security Council and Defence Secretary had neglected their responsibilities, he told Parliament.  As such, no one could escape responsibility for what happened, he insisted. 

He pointed out that it took the LTTE years to mount such large scale attacks that were carried out on Easter Sunday. The LTTE's terrorism was markedly different as it was an organization fighting to divide the country. It's motives were political, whereas this group is pushing a religious agenda. 

"Whatever's said and done, we are now back to an era where people's lives are uncertain. We will see security barriers coming up again. Even those with beards will be subjected to more stringent checks. Tourists will stop coming and our economy will suffer. Even if a new Government comes to power, they will face the same challenges," he warned. 

Field Marshal Fonseka questioned why some Opposition MPs were reportedly sitting in the National Security Council (NSC) while both the PM and State Defence Minister were excluded. 

He also criticized the PM and State Defence Minister for not publicly raising the matter of their exclusion prior to the Easter Sunday atrocities. Even they could not escape responsibility for what happened, he added. 

He further took aim at President Maithripala Sirisena. "I have nothing personal against the President, but he only returned to the country from Singapore at midnight on the day following Easter Sunday attacks. There were flights from Singapore which landed in Sri Lanka at 3.00pm and 9.00pm that day. Yet, he did not choose to take an earlier flight even after such an incident."

Fonseka said he regretted that the intelligence reports on the impending attacks were seemingly not given even a fraction of the consideration given to information provided by Namal Kumara.