SL Army, an elite fighting force now

by Shanika SRIYANANDA

"From the 4th of next month", he said in his gruff voice, " we shall be responsible for our own defence". His teeth showed white beneath the iron grey walrus moustache. The sides of his eyes crinkled but he was not smiling.

"Actually as a matter of fact, we may have help against foreign aggressions, but we will have to handle any enemy within the country". His eyes became penetrating. "Have you ever thought what could happen to us".

"Communism ad Marxist terrorism as a prelude to a general uprising to seize power by force, such as occurred in Singapore and Malaya", I readily replied.

"Exactly", the Prime Minister replied and "how has the British government tackled the problem". "By sending General Sir Gerald Templar and Gurkhas out there", I responded. "We have neither a Templar nor Gurkhas", the Prime Minister observed. Every trace of a smile had vanished from his craggy face. " We must create our own". He raised a stubby forefinger. He had large, capable hands, I noticed.

"I want one thousand men under arms six months from the 4th February. He leaned back in his chair. This is how the idea of having our own army was mooted.

This is an excerpt from the article written by Colin de Silva who was the first Assistant Secretary to the Ministry of Defence in Ceylon that has been mentioned in the book released to mark Sri Lanka Army's 60th Anniversary.

Just after an year of gaining independence, the idea of Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake to have an indigenous army ripened into giving birth to Ceylon Army on October 10, 1949. People would have perhaps laughed at the Prime Minister when he pronounced his desire to have an Army to defend the country. But, the wise leader had smelled the volcanic issue brewing silently!

Addressing the first batch of recruits of the 1st Battalion of the Ceylon Light Infantry (CLI) at Diyatalawa the Prime Minister said :" You have joined the Army to serve your country in peace and war; therefore you must train yourselves to a high standard of efficiency and with personnel zest, be prepared to meet all contingencies, may even to lay down your life for the love and honour of our country.

I am confident that in the Army the government in power will own a body of strong disciplined men, who will not hesitate to come to Lanka's aid in her hour of the need".

The young soldiers who joined the Army since 1949 kept his wish and came forward to protect the Mother Lanka in each time her sovereignty is threatened. Bravely holding their heads straight, the soldiers of the Sri Lanka Army after defeating a ruthless group of terrorists, the LTTE, which was said to be invincible, is celebrating their hard earned victory marking the Army's 60th Anniversary yesterday.

While the Sri Lanka Army celebrated its 60th anniversary, the soldiers who underwent training in the 1st Battalion of the CLI in 1950 and became the Army Chief in 1977 has also celebrated his 79th birthday yesterday.

"As the leader of the country D.S. Senanayake foresaw the internal problems that would prop up", the eighth Army Commander of the Sri Lanka Army Lt. Gen. Denis Perera said.

Recalling the early days of the Sri Lanka Army , the first Sandhurst trained Army Commander who led the infantry during the Northern insurgency said that if not for the Army's surveillance the situation would have resulted in an imbalance in the country's population.

While the main task of the newly formed Army was to crack down on illicit immigration, the soldiers were assigned for ceremonial duties, prevention of illicit timber transport, cyclone relief duties and training of youth for the national development service.

" The illicit immigration was going on at a terrific rate and the Army set up the Task Force Illicit Immigration to tackle the problem. We knew if that was not controlled there would be more Indians than Sri Lankans. They came here for employment in estate sector. The kakais used to smuggle people", he said.

Lt. Gen. Perera said that he realised the real gravity of illicit immigration when he was serving as the High Commissioner in Australia where he saw how the Fijians were outnumbered by the Indians who came to work in sugar cane cultivations.

"Fiji is 9000 miles away from India but there are only nine miles from Sri Lanka to India. At that time there were one million Indian Tamils and seven million Sinhalese in Sri Lanka. Imagine if they were allowed to come into our soil"... he asked. While the Sri Lanka Navy guarded the waters, the SLA kept a close eye on those illicit immigrants trying to enter Sri Lanka. The former Army chief, who is dead against the Army being called a ceremonial Army, recalling incident after incident to prove Army's interactions to maintain law and order in the country, said that the taking part in ceremonies was only a part of military training.

It was in the 1953 Hartal that the young Lieutenant Perera was asked to deploy 50 soldiers clad in 'kakhi' uniforms at Pettah to control the anti-government protestors. Without resorting to military action, the military officer started marching along the Main Street giving orders loudly. "Panjabiyo Avilla... Panjabiyo Avilla...(Punjabi soldiers have come ...)," the protestors started running.

That was the first time the people of Sri Lanka saw the SLA soldiers were in full action and they thought the soldiers were from Punjab as they recalled how the British deployed Punjabi soldiers to quell the riots between Buddhists and Muslims in Mawanella in 1915.

The SLA originally had two major units - Artillery Regiment and Ceylon Light Infantry and later it was expanded into the Armoured Corps, the Sinha Regiment and the Gemunu Watch. Other units were established subsequently.

Captain Perera was given another task in 1958 when he was ordered to prevent a 'red procession' coming into Colombo. Dr. Colvin R. De Silva and Dr. N.M. Perera were leading a group of protestors with red banners marching along the High Level Road from Nugegoda. "Duddlige bade masala vade" (There is vade in Dudley's stomach), they carried the slogan.

Captain Perera, who had the orders to 'shoot the leader', saw the leading politicians from his binoculars and instructed a Sergeant to tell the leader not to step beyond the Kirulapone Bridge. Capt Perera heard that Dr. Colvin asking in a strong tone " Where is your officer". The officer explained to the politician about the government order but the leader asked what happened if he would defy the order.

"I have to shoot you, sir", the officer said and the leader ordered the procession to turn away.

Years later the two met at a cocktail in Colombo. The Captain as the Commander of the Army and the politician as a Minister. The Commander reminded the incident humbly. " Ah.. you are the fellow who wanted to shoot me", Minister said.

"If you did not obey me, you would not have been the Minister and I would not have been the Army Commander", the Commander said.

The 1958 riots engaged the Army to support the Police to maintain law and order. Captain Perera with his troops was stationed in Ampara after the riots and in 1959 the Ceylon School of Military Engineering was established at Kondawattuwa.

The security in the North and East was at stake and the Police alone could not handle the situation.With the killing of the Jaffna Mayor Alfred Dorayappa, the 'volcanic' conflict started to explode.

After the major shocking assassination, the youth started robbing the banks. According to a book written by Maj.Gen. Sarath Munasinghe there were only 65 weapons including shot guns in Jaffna in 1970s but the politics made the 'rat into a Tiger'.

"Gradually we found this Movement by the Tamil youth was developing. The government enacted the Prevention of Terrorism Act in 1979 and Brig. Tissa Weeratunge was appointed the Competent Authority to contain all terrorist activities in the peninsula. He was my batchmate but unfortunately he adopted the wrong policy when he chased out these youth to India.

he said he had cleared Jaffna and said nothing further would take place. Meanwhile, the youth gained sympathy of Mrs. Gandhi and started their training camps. They were preparing to attack us", he said.

Lt. Gen. Perera said that the way the 1983 riots were handled fuelled the situation into a three decade long battle. "What the Army could do was just to send the 13 bodies to their villages instead of having a ceremonial funeral at Kanatte. It was a big mistake. People got restless and forces including politicians with ulterior motives took the incident for granted. I think that was one of a root causes of the 30-year long suffering inflicted by the LTTE. The other biggest mistake was sending the Indian Peace Keeping Force back during President Premadasa's regime", he pointed out.

With the gradual increase of military tasks the Army got expanded. The male dominated Army recruited its first batch of female officers in 1979 amidst opposition within the Army. "I found that a large number of men who could be employed in a combat role were tied down to work which could easily be handled by women. There was opposition against the idea but when President Jayewardene gave the final nod, every one started praising the move", Lt. Gen. Perera giggled.

The Commandos were the next addition to the SLA. Hijacking of aircraft was rampant at that time and President Jayewardene was worried about the security as the Katunayake Airport was to be upgraded into an international airport. "When he asked for my solution my only answer was that a group of soldiers be trained as commandos. He agreed and we established the Commando Training School at Ganemulla as it is in close proximity to the Katunayake Airport and Colombo. With 200 soldiers and Maj. Sunil Peiris as the Commander of the Unit we started the first batch". recalled Lt. Gen. Perera. He also recalled his days at Diyatalawe Training School where the Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa and Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Sarath Fonseka had their initial military training.

It was in 1978. The Army Commander Lt. Gen. Perera visited the Kandawala Walauwa, the residence of the Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala, who was the President of the Ex-Servicemen Association to invite him for a function. The charming environs of the Walauwa robbed the heart of the Army Chief, who was looking for a peaceful environment to start the National Defence Academy - a proposal approved by the President himself.

"Sir John made a 'mistake' by taking me around the place while he was feeding the birds and squirrels in the garden. I slowly put the idea to him. His initial plan was to give the land to a children's home but later he dropped the idea due to possible communist leanings. Then he said you can come after my death. However, later he signed the documents but we never touched the land until his death. But one day he called me and discussed the plan. But that evening he got a heart attack and was admitted to the hospital. The doctor told us his survival was unsure. That day President Jayewardene and myself visited him to induct him as General, the honorary title that was proposed to bestow on him on the opening day of the Academy", he recalled.

President Jayewardene said: "Sir John, I am making you a General". He took the papers and gave it to the Army Chief and mumbled something. " I think what he mumbled was to keep it in the Academy Museum", Lt. Gen. Perera said adding that the SLA had started constructing the Academy in the 50 acre land. Commenting on the defeat of the LTTE, Lt. Gen Perera said that the entire credit should go to the government for its correct leadership and uninterrupted political support in addition to appointing capable military officers like Lt. Gen Sarath Fonseka to lead the Army.

"The other factor is that the Defence Secretary is the younger brother of the President, who always has direct access in any matter. I know Gotabhaya since he was an 18-year-old boy", he said.The former Army Chief who contributed vastly to the development of the SLA said that the LTTE became a formidable force, and therefore, there was a need for another formidable force to bring the former down to its knees. " That is why the government had to make the SLA such a large force and hats off to the dedication and commitment of the soldiers they swept the menace", he said adding that he strongly believes that the LTTE shouldn't have been allowed to mature for 30-long years.

He cautioned to be watchful and take concrete and meaningful steps to see that the LTTE does not raise its head again. " Until then we have to have a strong armed force. The British Army had over two million soldiers but later it was reduced to 100,000. Because they could not maintain such a large army as it was a costly affair. The SLA needs to have 300,000 until the defence of the country is consolidated", he said.