Changes in defence sector and challenges ahead

by Ranil WIJAYAPALA

The sweeping changes that took place in the country’s defence structure following the new appointments made by the President last Sunday put the country on a new line of thinking about the national security in the post war scenario.

Although the entire nation was awaiting such changes in the high command of the Armed Forces, as two months have already gone following the victory achieved by the Security Forces against the LTTE, the sudden changes came as a surprise to the entire nation as they learnt about these new changes only after the President handed over the Acts of appointments to the new Chief of Defence Staff, Navy Commander and the Army Commander last Sunday.

Media was no exception as they too learnt about those changes only on Sunday as there was no definite report about these changes before the President’s House announcing the new changes around Sunday noon.

The President, as the Commander in Chief, appointed General Sarath Fonseka as the Chief of Defence Staff, the first to take this appointment after the Chief of Defence Staff Act was implemented after the Bill was unanimously passed in Parliament last month with amendments.

Navy Commander Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda was appointed as the National Security Advisor to the President.

Major General Jagath Jayasuriya and Rear Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe were appointed as the Commander of the Army and the Commander of the Navy respectively after promoting them to the ranks of Lt. General and Vice Admiral with effect from July 15, to succeed General Sarath Fonseka and Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda , the two war veterans who led the Sri Lanka Army and the Sri Lanka Navy to achieve this unprecedented victory against the LTTE under the leadership given by the President.

It was the command of General Sarath Fonseka which gave a tower of strength to the Sri Lanka Army due to the revolutionary structural changes made by him to transform Sri Lanka Army into a real battle oriented one that led to its historic and unparallel victory against the most ruthless terror outfit in the world.

He was a handpicked selection of President Mahinda Rajapaksa who had a broad vision to defeat LTTE terrorism in the country at the time he took over the leadership of the country in the year 2005, to replace Lt. General Shantha Kottegoda the then Army Commander.

General Fonseka throughout his career as the Army Commander fulfilled the task entrusted to him by the President eliminating the LTTE fully from the country along with all of its leaders including Velupillai Prabhakaran, which was considered an unachievable task by the local and international community.

At the same time Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda, who was commanding the Navy by the time President Rajapaksa came into power, also become a member of the winning team against the LTTE with his immense contribution towards the weakening of the maritime capabilities of the LTTE, largely to disable the arms smuggling network of the LTTE.

The destruction of the ten floating ware houses of the LTTE in the deep seas, was one of the major contributing factor towards weakening the LTTE.

The President also appointed Major General G.A. Chandrasiri as the Governor of the Northern Province and Dixon Dela as the Sri Lanka High Commissioner to Maldives.

The successors to command the Army and the Navy were also done by the President according to the powers vested with him as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces.

Major General Jagath Jayasuriya, who was seventh in the Army seniority list, was handpicked to command the Sri Lanka Army. An Armoured Corps officer hailing from southern town of Weligama and educated at Royal College, Colombo, Lt. General Jayasuriya held the key appointment as the Security Forces Commander Wanni, for the last two years during the Wanni liberation operation after holding several key appointments in operational and non operational areas during his 30 year long career.

By the end of the war 80,000 odd troops were under the command of the Security Forces Headquarters in Wanni, which was later separated into three Security Forces Headquarters, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu and Wanni with the appointment of Major General Channa Goonatilleka and Major General Nandana Udawatta as new Security Forces Commanders of Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu respectively.

During his career in the Army he had been intensely involved in military operations although he was not an infantry officer. He was seriously injured during the Jaya Sikuru Operation in Kolamadu after his vehicle was caught in a landmine blast in March 1998.

His exemplary service as the Wanni Security Forces Commander when there was an of fleeing civilians by the tens of thousands from the LTTE grip, has been highlighted as it was a daunting task entrusted on him as the Wanni Security Forces Commander.

Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, with an unblemished record in his career in the Navy , was well known for his academic qualifications and his ability to handle operational and non operational matters with his wide knowledge on the subject.

He was the Director General of Naval Operations by the time the Navy was destroying the LTTE floating warehouses in the deep seas. He had also earned a good reputation for handling things in a diplomatic way, showing his diplomatic qualities to clear the name of the Navy when Sri Lanka Navy was sailing through unfavourable conditions when it came was alleged of harassing and killing Indian fishermen.

Above all, he has earned a good reputation among his junior officers on his academic knowledge and also on his fatherly character.

As their new appointments came into effect on July 15, the Army Commander and the Navy Commander assumed their duties on Wednesday morning and was followed by the Chief of Defence Staff who assumed duties at the Joint Operation Headquarters.

General Sarath Fonseka relinquished his duties as the Army Commander on Tuesday morning following a brief ceremony to hand over the sword of the Army Commander to his successor. Admiral Wasantha Karanngoda also bade farewell to the Navy on the same day new Navy Commander Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe assumed duties in his new post.

All the three Forces Commanders and the Inspector General of Police were present at the Joint Operation Headquarters to welcome the new Chief of Defence Staff, General Sarath Fonskea.

Following, the change in the command of the Army the Army Headquarters made sweeping changes with a three - page list of new appointments released from the Army Headquarters on Friday.

Accordingly Major General Mendaka Samarasinghe has been appointed as the new Chief of Staff of the Army, while Major General Jammika Liyanage has been appointed as the Commander of the Volunteer Forces Headquarters.

Major General Rajitha de Silva has been appointed as the Jaffna, Security Forces Commander whilst appointing Major General D.R.A.B Jayatilleka as the Director General Services of the Army Headquarters. The GOC of the 53 Division Major General Kamal Gunaratne has been appointed as the Security Forces Commander Wanni whilst appointing 59 GOC Brigadier Chagie Gallage as the 53 Division Commander. Brigadier Keppetivalana has been appointed as the GOC of the 59 Division.

The GOC of the 58 Division Brigadier Shavendra Silva has been appointed as the Director Operations whilst appointing Brigadier D.D.A. Perera as the GOC of the 58 Division. Brigadier Kumudu Perera has been appointed as the GOC of the 51 Division and Brigadier Prasad Samarasinghe as the Chief Signal Officer.

Former Director Operations Colonel Aruna Jayasekara has been appointed as the Operations Commander, Colombo and the Deputy GOC of the 57 Division Colonel Mahinda Weerasuirya as the Brigade Commander 112 Brigade.

Meanwhile, Major General Anura Jayatilleka, the most senior officer of the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment, takes over as the Colonel of the Sri Lanka Sinha Regiment after General Sarath Fonseka relinquished his duties as the Army Commander.

Major General Daya Ratnayaka has also been appointed as the Colonel of the Sri Lanka Light Infantry Regiment whilst appointing Major General Daulugala as the Colonel of the Gajaba Regiment.

They were among the key changes in the Army after Lt. General Jagath Jayasuriya took over the command of the Sri Lanka Army. Key appointments in the Joint Operation headquarters are yet to be announced by the Ministry of Defence.

However, no major changes have taken place in the Sri Lanka Navy after Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe took over.

With all these changes in the defence structure, the Government aims to bring normality to the country very soon to make the unprecedented victory achieved by the Security Forces defeating the world’s most ruthless terror outfit, a more meaningful one as sustaining that victory is a bigger challenge than achieving that victory.

As the nation had to make greater sacrifices to achieve this victory, it is incumbent on the new commanders to sustain that victory for ever without letting any terror elements to raise their ugly heads once again in this country. So, the requirement of the day is much more stronger Security Force to defend the nation to face any eventuality. In the perspective of national economy, the investment in defence sector has overall impact on the flow of investment to the country as those investor are also concerned about the security of the country.

Sri Lanka had its worst experience by the impact of terrorism on the national economy when the LTTE launched terror attacks on economic targets, the Central Bank, Katunayake Airport, the Galle Harbour and few other economic targets. In the aftermath of these terror attacks, what the investors wanted was a security guarantee to resume their investment and the Government had to present a feasible security plan to build up their confidence towards the security network of the country.

So it is a prerequisite on the part of the Government to maintain high standards in the national security despite the fact, that LTTE has been defeated fully in the country.

Above all, the LTTE elements still exists in the international arena and will undoubtedly use it for their propaganda purposes to prove their existence in the country.

Under these circumstances sustaining this victory will be a much bigger challenge for the Security Forces as it is a matter of reputation of the country which had set an example to the entire world in how to defeat terror organizations.

So any increase in the Security Forces at this juncture is aimed at sustaining that unprecedented victory achieved by the Security Forces.

Although things seem to be very easy for them it would rise as a big challenge for the Security Forces once 300,000 civilians now living in welfare villages in Vavuniya, Mannar districts are back at their villages as Tiger elements clandestinely operating at international level, awaiting till the civilians are resettled in their villages.

Until these civilians are kept in welfare villages they are not in a position to think of a strategy to reach them to accomplice their operations. That is why the Tamil Diaspora sponsored media are continuing their adverse propaganda against the Government run welfare villages to exert pressure on the Government to expedite the process resettling civilians.

That was why the London Times last week carried a false report saying that 1,400 civilians living in welfare camps are dying weekly due to poor health conditions. However, it has been proved that it was a mere lie by the London based media about the situation of the civilians living in welfare villages, as the Health Ministry categorically stated that only 163 people have died within the past two month period in those welfare villages.

So, the situation will change very fast once the civilians are resettled in their villages. The Sri Lanka Army along with the Police will have to take more pro-active measures to put a stop to the raising of ugly head of terrorism once again in the North.

At the same time the Sri Lanka Navy has to take up the biggest challenge of patrolling the Sri Lankan territorial waters now with thousands of fishing boats freely engaging in fishing in the sea. With the expansion of the sea area under Sri Lankan control the responsibility of the Navy will also increase rapidly.

Therefore, the three Armed Forces will have to evolve new mechanisms in the sphere of defending the nation’s security interests, especially aiming to sustain that victory and to face the challenge of not allowing any terror organisation to raise its ugly head once again. It was the prime objective of the Government to make those changes in the defence sector in the post - war scenario.