'Our soldiers' misery was exploited' - Anoma

By Ranil Wijayapala

The Misery of the disable soldiers has been exploited and they have not been given due recognition for the service rendered towards the motherland, says Anoma Fonseka, who has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Ranaviru Seva Authority. She says that it is her prime duty to serve the war heroes who have been subjected to injustice during the previous regime.

Pic: Rukmal Gamage

Q: You and your family were subjected to injustice during the previous regime. With the change of government do you believe that justice has been done to your family?

A: I believe justice has been done to General Fonseka, my husband, and my family. But it was not only my husband and my family who were subjected to injustice. There are so many others, in the military, my family members, members of my husband's family and our supporters who were subjected to injustice under the previous regime. Therefore justice has to be done for them also if we are to satisfy ourselves as a family.

Q: Compared to the hard times you and your family had how do feel the difference now?

A: I feel the joy of freedom now. I should be thankful to President Maithripala Sirisena who enabled us to enjoy this type of freedom. I know people voted him to become the President. But unlike other politicians who gave thousand promises to us, he and his government kept to his word. That should be appreciated wholeheartedly.

Q: Many people expected that actions would be taken against those who have done injustice to General Sarath Fonseka and your family. But nothing of this nature has happened so far. Did you also expect speedy action against them?

A: We don't want to become yet another Mahinda Rajapaksa and a Rajapaksa family.

They put my husband under arrest who became a challenge to Rajapaksa family without any charges and then filed charges illegally and in a totally unacceptable way. If they followed correct legal procedures, they couldn't have done anything against my husband. They did all these things out of hatred to punish the man who became a challenge for them.

As a Buddhist I always believed that truth will prevail one day because we have not done any harm to anybody. But, I always expected that truth should come out within our lifetime and not after our death. I believe that has become a reality. We don't want to do things hastily. Things should be done correctly and according to the law and the rules and regulations of the country. That is our wish.

Q: With all these changes people also expected that your husband General Sarath Fonseka, apart from being reinstated in his military ranks, medals and decorations and other privileges, politically also would be given good position. Why is this not happening?

A: That is not a fault of the present government. MP Jayantha Ketagoda should take full responsibility for this. I say it because he is there in the parliament riding on the votes General Fonseka obtained. Now we are paying for the sin of associating with ungrateful people.

Therefore, we can't point a finger at the government. But we are not worried because there is an upcoming general election in a few months and General Fonseka would be able to enter parliament after contesting the election as he still enjoys the public support.

If he was inside the parliament, I am confident that the President and the Prime Minister would offer him a Ministerial portfolio.

Q: Now you have been appointed as the Chairperson of the Ranaviru Seva Authority. What is your prime target when serving in this post as you earlier also held this post for a brief period?

A: Yes, I held this post previously too. My prime expectation is to serve the war heroes who were subjected to injustice and give due dignity for them. I am saying this because there is a segment who had enjoyed all the perks and privileges under the previous regime after becoming henchmen and bootlickers.

So I have to look after those who had been subjected to injustices after making their contribution to win the war. Though we were not directly working with them, we had a close rapport with them. The military personnel were worried as their pride and dignity was totally disregarded and their welfare has been disregarded.

There was no one to look after the needs of the Ranaviru families, the widows of the fallen war heroes and the children and the disabled soldiers. Although all the subjects do not come under my purview I would be in a position to influence the relevant authorities to look into the grievances of all these requirements.

Q: But a lot of publicity was given to the measures taken by the previous regime to look after the welfare of the war heroes and their families?

A: Whatever, said and done, I don't believe that all three Armed Forces had a good time during the past four to five years. They treated all those military men who had not contributed to the war. All perks and top positions were given to their henchmen and those who carry tales against the genuine officers and other rankers. Although I was not in the military, I learnt all these facts from my husband and other military personnel. Many of the military personnel who were subjected to injustices rallied round us wherever we went. I have a duty and responsibility to look into their grievance and also to serve all the military personnel as a whole.

Q: What were your priority areas when serving war heroes and their families?

A: Earlier also I had plans to serve the parents of the war heroes. They received some allowance from the Ranaviru Seva Authority which was not sufficient even to cover their bus fare to attend a meeting or even a ceremony to commemorate war heroes.

I wanted to change that and give a sufficient allowance for them. Therefore I submitted a concept and prepared proposals. That programme was later implemented for the benefit of the parents of the war heroes after I left my position as the Chairperson. I was in the process of changing all these concepts to serve the war heroes and their families.

Q: But there were lot of abuse of funds and other resources in the Ranaviru Seva Authority. Were you aware of these things?

A: Yes, I knew there were a lot of irregularities. There was no proper channelling of funds flowing to the Authority. Though there was lot of vehicles under it they were not available for the use when required. There were lot of misappropriation of funds. I did my best to streamline those things during my tenure. I wanted to do so because I really wanted to serve the war heroes and their families as a wife of a great militaryman. So I would consider all these facts when serving as the Chairperson of the Ranaviru Seva Authority.

Q: The program you have in your mind is big. Do you think that the position given to you is sufficient enough to implement this programme?

A: I am not worried about my position. I am happy that a path has been cleared for me to serve the war heroes, specially to serve the war heroes who were subjected to injustices.

I admire the path cleared for me rather than the position I have been given. We should not shine because of the position but we should shine the position by serving in that post properly.

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Q: We hear that problems of the war heroes, their families and disabled war heroes are being discussed in political platforms. They are being used as political tools during elections. Do you think that there is a way to put an end to this trend?

A: I know that they are being used as political tools. My husband General Fonseka is vehemently against using war heroes as a political tool. I believe that there is a way for us to put a stop to this trend.

Q: Apart from this we also see that war heroes, their family members and the disabled soldiers becoming exhibitors in certain ceremonies and functions. This is an inhumane situation when considering the plight of the disabled soldiers. What is your opinion on this?

A: I am totally against this. Their misery has been exploited for other purposes. This has to be stopped. It is not the sympathy of the people they need. They should be appreciated for what they have done on behalf of the country. Myself and my husband is totally committed to put an end to these unfair practices and give due recognition to the war heroes. We are committed to this because we don't have any targets such as building a dynasty or something else. We should be committed to assist them, rather than taking advantage out of them.

The disabled soldiers are not even given a seat in a bus or priority in essential services. We have to give them that recognition because they contributed to the victory of war which was considered invincible and unwinnable and we are enjoying this freedom today because of them. We also give that recognition to the parents of the war heroes also. This has not happened in the past. What I have observed is that they were being used to raise funds. Therefore we should change these practices. I know that President Maithripala Sirisena, State Minister of Defence is committed towards this. There was a very good response from people and donors to assist them earlier. Therefore, we should make use of those donors to assist them, not to get the war heroes to raise funds.

Q: As you mentioned, there was a big response from the donors and civil organisation to serve the war heroes during the war and lot of funds were raised under Api Venuven Api program. Do you think that those funds were fairly used to serve the war heroes and their families?

A: Those who handled those funds know what has happened. But I am not satisfied with the way those funds have been used. Not only me those who are in the military also not happy with it. They constructed houses for the sake of constructing them. There was no space for them to have fresh air or secured fence. They are like flats. I told them those days also that there should be a space between the houses for them to have free mentality when they are at home, because they always live in camps. They may say that the official residences in Army cantonments are also like this. But these are houses they are going to reside permanently. So it has to be different from the official residences. In countries such as India and Pakistan the governments are bound to provide them a house. We should also adopt such a program in this country also or else we have to give mental freedom for the war heroes whilst they are out from service.

Q: As you mentioned, when there is no privacy or security mainly the widows of the war heroes are subjected to abuse. There are lot of problems faced by them when they wanted to get something from relevant officials. What program do you have in mind for them?

A: There are lot of incidents relating to the widows of the fallen heroes. They are facing a lot of difficulties when there is no proper social security for them. A lot of women have told me about their stories. But this is not limited to the widows of the fallen war heroes. When I was exposed to politics, I learnt it was common to all women. Therefore, we must take action to change the attitude of the men towards women. Now we have a woman as a Minister in charge of Women Affairs. I hope she would take action to change the plight of the women facing such harassment. We should look at this problem in a wider perspective and should take action to empower not only war widows but all women in the country. This should not be confined to us but should be a national program.

Q: Switched in to your political life, what is your agenda in politics as the leader of the Women's Organisation of the Democratic Party. There is an upcoming general election. Do you expect to contest it?

A: I will do whatever is necessary for the Democratic Party when there is a necessity. But as a whole I hate politics. I hate politicians who are saying one thing and doing completely opposing things.

Hatred is always inside their minds. I always like to associate with open hearted people. But if there is a requirement that something should be done to bring General Fonseka's political party to the fore, I will do whatever I can for the party. Other than that as a woman I do not approve politics for women.

Q: But there are lot of challenges the Democratic party has to face if it is contesting alone in the general election. If that situation arises what would be your position?

A: That is why I said, if there is any requirement to assist General Fonseka I would come forward and do that for the party.

I am not going to abandon the people who supported us. That is my position. But I prefer to refrain from politics because I believe am not a woman suitable for politics.