Dr. Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s birthday today:

Reflections of a patriotic legend of our times

By Dr. Telli C RAJARATNAM

"Some men are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them"

- William Shakespeare

Born Great

Born great has two possible meanings: either being born to a great position, such as that of an hereditary monarch, or possessing natural talents and/or virtues of an exceptional kind. Clearly not everyone born to a great position is worthy of it, and relatively few have the qualities of a great leader. The greatness of certain offices can rub off on their occupants, who may not otherwise have qualities out of the ordinary. Some appear to have the gift of leadership, but are found to lack it when tested. Others are recognized as born leaders and exercise effective leadership up to a certain level, but prove disastrous failures beyond that level. It is very hard to judge the point beyond which a person will be over promoted.

Achieved greatness

Some achieve greatness denotes, above all, those whose greatness is self-made. But all of the really great leaders must be regarded as achievers, whatever their advantages of birth and training. Alexander the Great was born to kingship and inherited a strong army. With Aristotle as his tutor, he was perhaps the most privileged person, educationally, that there has ever been. Nevertheless, what he achieved in his short life was beyond anything that could remotely have been expected of him. Much the same is true of Julius Caesar. He was a young Roman aristocrat whose career began as a demagogic politician, but who turned out to be a military commander of genius. The trajectory of his career could never have been predicted.

Napoleon is the supreme example of the utterly self-made leader - the man who achieved greatness by his own unaided efforts. When he was on his way to St Helena, he was still slightly younger than John F. Kennedy at the time of his assassination. And Napoleon was not a millionaire's son. Of course, he was privileged in another way, having the good luck to be born in a revolutionary period, when opportunity beckoned to a man of his phenomenal talents. But luck is a precondition of most human achievements. Natural leaders know how to exploit their luck.

Greatness thrust upon him

Most of those who achieve anything in the world are ambitious, and some have very exalted ambitions which they have never the chance to realize. A few rise higher than they or anyone else could have imagined, and then prove equal to the challenge. Like those born to great offices who prove, against the odds, worthy to hold them, such people have greatness thrust upon them.

Of all the qualities needed for leadership, only one is indispensable - courage. Without it, all the others are more or less useless. Courage has been shown by all who we recognise as true leaders, from Alexander to Thatcher. A leader must have the ability to take hard decisions and calculated risks. Leaders have to give courage to others, while creating the illusion that they know exactly what they are doing.

The legend

Dr.Gotabhaya was born great, achieved greatness and has greatness thrust upon him. His absolute raw honesty is hated by terrorists and militants. He is a courageous Gentleman and knows no fear. Dr.Gotabaya Rajapaksa stands on par with Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Napoleon and even Julius Caesar. Under his leadership as Secretary of Defence the LTTE was eradicated. In no other country where terrorism exists have they been able to eradicate terrorism. As all human beings, we have short memories. More so, for patriotism. People tend to forget the most important factors which have historical value. The most memorable historical factor was winning the war against terrorism. The joint effort of the Armed Forces under the able directives of the Defence Secretary Dr.Gotabaya Rajapaksa and the leadership of President Mahinda Rajapaksa was able to rescue the Nation from the evils of Terrorism.

Dr.Gotabaya was born on 20 June 1949 and it is my privilege to pay tribute to the greatest defence secretary in this world who won the war against LTTE terrorism - a leader who liberated this country.

We now have freedom of movement, development and more tourists coming into this beautiful isle. Citizens of Sri Lanka and the citizens of other countries whose citizenship of origin was Sri Lanka are coming into Sri Lanka after several years owing to the peaceful situation created by our Defence Secretary and President Mahinda Rajapaksa. We as citizens of this country must remember that if not for Dr.Gotabaya Rajapaksa this country will be in disaster.

He assumed duties as Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Public Security, Law & Order on 25th November 2005.

He joined the Sri Lanka Army in 1971, spent twenty years in service, and held the appointment of Deputy Commandant of Sir John Kotelawala Defence University in 1991 and, as a Lieutenant Colonel was Coordinating Officer of Welioya area from 1990 to 1991. Prior to that, he was the Coordinating Officer of Matale District and the Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Gajaba Regiment from 1989 to 1990. He has also held numerous other positions in the Sri Lanka Army such as instructor, adjutant, and staff officer to the operations officer commanding contingents.

During his military career, he has been awarded the President's commendation letter by former President J. R. Jayewardene and medals for valour in combat, Rana Wickrama Padakkama (RWP), Rana Sura Padakkama (RSP) - by former Presidents R. Premadasa and D. B. Wijetunga. He has also received a commendation from the Commander of the Army for his bravery in action.

He has commanded many anti-terrorist operations in the North and East in different capacities. Among them was his Command of the 1st Battalion of the Gajaba Regiment in the important Vadamarachchi Operation in 1987 and Operation Thrividabalaya in 1990 respectively, to rescue Jaffna peninsula and the Jaffna Fort from terrorist control.

He completed his basic officer cadet training at prestigious Military Academy at Diyatalawa and proceeded to Pakistan to complete the Young Officers' Course at Rawalpindi and later the mid-carrier course at Quetta. He had advanced training in Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare at Assam, India. Later in his career, he graduated in advanced Infantry Training from Infantry School Fort Benning, USA.

As a staff officer, he completed his Staff Course at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, India in 1983. He obtained his Masters degree in Defence Studies from the University of Madras in 1983. He has also obtained a Postgraduate degree in Information Technology from the University of Colombo in 1992.

He is a revered figure in Sri Lanka for leading the military operation which drove out the opponents from the entire Eastern Province of the country.

He was the grundnorm for the victory of the 2009 war against the LTTE. In recognition to the services rendered to the Nation, The University of Colombo conferred a doctorate to him.

Victory at war

Our Air Force pilots have returned to base. The air strikes have halted. The Naval boats have slowed their speed. The Army has slowed its pace. Aggression against innocent people by the LTTE and the terrorists have been halted. When the President ordered our armed forces into combat as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, he had three clear goals: to enable the Tamil people, the victims of some of the most vicious atrocities in the North due to terrorists and militant groups, to return to their homes with safety; to destroy the LTTE; and to deploy our armed Forces to protect all the people of the North. Those goals were achieved. Unnecessary conflict has been brought to a just and honourable conclusion. He survived an assassination attempt in December 2006.

Duty towards nation

We have sent a message of determination and hope to the entire world. Think of all the millions of innocent people who died in this bloody century because democracies reacted too late to evil and aggression. Because, the duty of the Defence Secretary was well performed, the past is gone not with helpless indignation, but with a hopeful affirmation of human dignity and human rights for the 2010. In a world too divided by fear among people of different racial, ethnic and religious groups, he has given confidence to the friends of freedom and pause to those who would exploit human difference for inhuman purposes.

Challenges

Sri Lanka still faces great challenges in this world, but the Defence Secretary will meet them. He can successfully maintain the territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.

The current trends in international affairs relating to Sri Lanka with the war against terrorism and how the world looks at us owing to the accusations made against us by vested interests and whether we have overcome the difficulties and convinced the world that we were justified in doing what we had to do is yet to be seen. The recurring problem of accusations is a result of the frustrated Tamil militants overseas trying to revive the LTTE for their own survival.

Dr.Gotabaya Rajapaksa has taken effective measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the developing nations and work towards a new international political and economic order that is fair and rational. To respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all countries and resolve internal conflicts. The affairs of each and every country should be left to its own people to decide. Global challenges should be tackled through international co-operation and co-ordination.

All countries should foster a new security concept featuring mutual trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation and fully respect the diversity of world civilizations, and should seek consensus through dialogue, co-operation through consultation and development through exchanges.

Solidarity is strength

History tells us that solidarity means strength, progress and success. Peace, co-operation, development and progress are what the entire international community is hoping and striving for. The developing nations must continue to work closely together in the spirit of solidarity and co-operation and raise their voice and strengthen their position in international affairs if they are to secure their fundamental interests.

One of the magnificent achievements of the UN has been the transformation that has taken place in global opinion on the relationship that should form between the governing and the governed, between the government and the citizen. It was on the basis of the moral authority of the General Assembly's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the determined endeavors of the Commission on Human Rights, that this transformation was achieved. The dignity of the individual has now, largely as a result of United Nations leadership in the field of human rights, been placed, as it should be, among the priorities of national and international attention.

The Universal Declaration on Human Rights is not limited in scope to ensuring the observance of human rights by Governments alone.

The Declaration has a far wider purpose: the observance of human rights by all governmental and non-governmental parties alike.

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration, which requires that everyone has the right to life; and the provisions of Article 30 of the Declaration prescribes that: "Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms setforth herein".

An act of terrorism by a non-governmental entity against civilians is surely a violation of the human rights of its victims and, surely, a crime against humanity as well.

We know the horrific consequences of terrorism: the horror; the thousands of unsuspecting innocent lives lost or maimed, the thousands of families then left to grieve; the countless personal tragedies that terrorism leaves. The horrors of terrorism have devastated the country and have cast a heavy burden on successive governments and the nation including all of us and on humanity as a whole. There are also the larger disruptions of national stability and order as well: of the economy and the customary ways of life.

We remember the bombing of the Central Bank, the adjacent buildings, the Temple of the Tooth Relic and other temples, the buses and trains in Sri Lanka where numerous people of all communities were killed, injured, the numerous innocent civilians who were killed and each of us would have a story to tell about the injuries sustained or the deaths of our loved ones. All LTTE militants terrorised their own people. They never changed - they earned money and still are marketing the ultimate objectives of terrorism by slandering the Government. We will always be affected by the memories of the damage caused by the terrorists- this we shall carry with us for as long as we live.

The terrorism of September 11, 2001, in the USA gave rise to a "coming-together" of the people, in the finest traditions of humanity. On September 12, the Security Council and the General Assembly convened to express: their collective condolences; an unqualified condemnation of terrorism: a determination that those responsible should not go unpunished; and firm concurrence that terrorism threatened the foundations of human society and order and would need to be, and must be, globally removed.

The late Lakshman Kadirgamar is remembered to have said "A criminal organization - whether involved in rebellion against a State or not - must depend for its sustenance outside the law. For its massive operations and massive weaponry, massive collections of funds are continually required.

As funds available for criminal activities within a State, especially a developing State, are inevitably small, and the monitoring of their collection and disbursement relatively simple, fund collection for such activities is carried out abroad - through international criminal networks, of course - and also, as in all criminal enterprises, through knowing or unknowing front organisations or other entities that now proliferate in many forms, in many countries - often in the guise, sadly, of charitable groups or groups ostensibly concerned with human rights, ethnic cultural or social matters.....The many disparate forces for international terrorism do not come together in one monolithic whole.

They are variously inter-connected in numerous ways and their international networks are extensive. They are mutually supportive and communicate through the global underworld of crime when special missions are afoot. If international terrorism is to be ever removed from our midst, we must begin with the recognition that international terrorism is a form of global criminality. We must not let ourselves be deceived by the artfully crafted cloaks of false pretensions. It is the method of terrorism as in the murder of innocent civilians and the defiance of the sanctity of life - that defines terrorism."

(The writer is the author of Selected Essays of President Mahinda Rajapaksa and The Dawn of Sri Lanka: The Miracle of Asia. Selected Essays of the Patriotic Legacy of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.([email protected])