Ranil's insinuation - Tomfoolery at its peak!

by Deepal Warnakulasuriya

"Any fool can criticise, condemn and complain and most fools do", said Dale Carnegie. This bring to mind the demand made by the UNP and Opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe to remove Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa's from his position.

It could have been ignored if he had not repeated it at the Trade Union Federation meeting at Sirikotha last week.

Wickremesinghe reiterating that the present Defence Secretary should resign from the post as he was not capable of preventing the LTTE air attacks on the Katunayake Airbase. At the same time Wickremesinghe also proposes Major General Janaka Perera for the Post of Defence Secretary. No one is ready to accept the UNP leader's demand. All allied parties to the government have placed their confidence on Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and therefore, the comments of the Opposition Leader should be taken only as an individual comment.

The Opposition Leader has forgotten a major issue. When he accuses the Defence Secretary or the Defence Ministry on the LTTE attack on the Katunayake airbase, the same could be made on the UNP since the LTTE had acquired light aircraft, heavy weapons and artillery etc during the UNP tenure of 2001-03.

It is obvious, no one would question the qualifications of Janaka Perera.

No doubt he was a brilliant warrior and a trustworthy officer who led his soldiers in the battlefield to safeguard the motherland. Why did Wickremesinghe forget Janaka Perera when he formed a government in 2001? Why did he suddenly remember the General. By dragging Major General Perera into this scene, Wickremesinghe tried to gain his political mileage.

After all, a clear indication of the Opposition Leader's demand is that there could be a credible consensus between the UNP and the LTTE as they are the only groups which demand Gotabhaya's removal. It is significant because almost all political parties in South have placed their confidence on the Defence Secretary and they want him to continue the humanitarian work in the North and East.

Will the brutal incidents or air attacks come to an end by appointing Major General Perera as the Defence Secretary. Wickremesinghe does not say how Major General Perera is going to prevent such incidents in the future. Instead of making baseless statements what is required is to find ways to neutralise the LTTE's air-capability. It would be the country's and its citizens misfortune, if the politicians failed to perceive the need of the hour. The same reason will put the country at the threshold of destabilisation. Meanwhile, political parties from the South have presented their proposals to the All Party Representatives Committee (APRC) for a political solution to the burning issues.

That is the accepted way to put an end to the North East problem and not by being the mouthpiece of the LTTE. If any political leader is satisfying the country's enemy, his future will be decided soon.

The Opposition Leader may need to show the World that he is not promoting war. This kind of statements would do nothing but bring shame on him. This is not the right time to replace a new Defence Secretary.

On the other hand, The LTTE has lost ground in the East during the recent confrontations with the forces. The people who suffered under the LTTE now have a sigh of relief with the Government's humanitarian activities.

While the LTTE terrorism is being eliminated under the directive of Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, the LTTE wants a catspaw to stop the operations. Unfortunately, the Opposition Leader was there and willingly or unwillingly he had to eat the carrot. Just vomiting it, instead of mapping out major surgeries, things would be indigestible for Wickremesinghe.

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