Sri Lanka’s Insurgency

The ‘Commander-in-Chief’ of the Armed Forces Disgracefully Bolts from the Besieged Fortress Deserting His Troops and the Country at the Height of Battle

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The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, in a disgraceful spectacle of cowardice in the face of an insurgent attack, bolted from the Colombo Fortress deserting his Forces and abandoning his responsibility to the Country.

In 2019, Nandasena Rajapakse was elected President of Sri Lanka with the votes of a near 7 million people who delegated their Executive Sovereign Power, for a period of 5 years, to a man who they believed, would strive to do what he had promised to do in his election Manifesto and campaign.

On taking office, Nandasena, by virtue of Article 4b of the Constitution, assumed the role of Commander-in- Chief of the Sri Lanka Army, the Navy and the Air Force and with it the responsibility for the security of the Country and her people.

An American woman, Ayoma Rajapakse, stood beside Sri Lanka’s leading Public Servant at the oath-taking ceremony.

Two years thereon, the country was ablaze and in dire peril with a full-blown American – backed insurgency raging inside the Galle-Face square, challenging and defying the government’s edict; anarchism prevailed and the subversives, were successful in unseating undemocratically, on the 09th of May ‘22, the democratically selected Prime Minister, Mahinda Rajapakse.

The unbridled insurrection raged-on. The insurrectionists – resorting to violence, looting, terror and arson – were confronted by a courageous and professional Police and Military whose authority was frequently undermined by the vacillation of their Commander-in-Chief.

While the situation worsened by the day – houses torched, insurrectionists breaking en masse into government departments –there remained a conspicuous silence at the highest echelon of power.

When the need of the hour was for the Commander-in-Chief to give a clear concept of the ‘then-current’ political situation to the Military leadership for the latter to formulate their plans to tackle the insurgency, Nandasena seemingly muddied the water by asserting that the anarchical village at Galle Face must continue.

It was almost as though – like the energy and power crises and the fertiliser hara-kiri – the country was being deliberately set-up for anarchy and the eventual transfer of Executive power to the man, brought-in surprisingly into the power-equation, from out of the blues, by Nandasena, following the false flag drama and coup of 09 May 22.

When, what was needed was astute leadership and courage to steer the country safely through troubled waters, the Commander-in Chief and his wife suddenly went missing.

As it transpired, in the face of a fresh offensive launched by the insurgents at Galle Face, the Commander-in-Chief of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces had taken to his heels, abandoning his troops, his people and the country.

What a disgrace to a valorous Army!

Nandasena, displaying extreme cowardice in the face of an insurgent offensive, had literally run-away from the battlefield, deserting his troops, his army and the country.

Nandasena gave not a rap about his responsibilities to the country, not a whit about his troops tackling the insurrection nor a damn for the desperate plight he had plunged the people into.

When epic demands that the captain of a sinking ship goes down with honour with his ship, Nandasena and his wife, like rats, were the first to jump ship.  

As a retired officer of the Army and the serving C in-C of the Armed Forces Captain ‘Coward’ is a disgrace to the Military and his conduct demands that he be court-martialed, publicly cashiered, awarded appropriate punishment, stripped-of his rank and his medals and all pensions withdrawn.

Deserting the military is a serious and ‘jailable’ offense.

But abandoning one’s troops, running away from the scene of battle, delivering up any fortification and abandoning one’s post when under enemy attack are unatonable acts of cowardice punishable with death.  This is covered by the Army Act No. 14 of 1949.

To the rank and file, the Commander-in-Chief has set an ignoble example and his punishment therefore must serve as a deterrent and example to the present and future generations to come.

What was pointed out by Professor Suri Ratnapala, an authority in constitutional law, is indeed relevant; during the time Nandasena was in self-imposed isolation, he ceased to function as President, he was not performing executive or diplomatic functions overseas, he was not on vacation (if he were he had not informed any responsible authority of that fact), he had not gone overseas for medical attention (if he had, he had not so informed anyone),  he had left the country in secrecy for the Republic of Maldives, he did not disclose his future movements or programme and he had left the nation in the dark about his future intentions.

Professor Ratnapala asserts, ‘Mr. Rajapakse had self-vacated his office and abandoned his constitutional responsibilities; he had left the country and this is a case of dereliction of constitutional duties’.

This is not the first instance of Nandasena literally taking to his heels.

In the mid-seventies at the Army camp in Sudukanda at Minneriya, Lieutenant Nandasena ran for dear life when soldiers mutinied and assaulted him; on his orders a sick soldier was dragged along the ground to be brought before him; Nandasena had then proceeded to kick the hapless soldier lying on the ground. That soldier died.

Nandasena had gone AWOL for over a month, hiding in fear. There was a Court of Inquiry on the incident.

Subsequently, not too long after the aforementioned incident, soldiers based at Echelon Square in Fort, stormed the Sinha Regiment Officers’ Mess, conduct unheard of in the history of the military; the soldiers   targeted Nandasena for assault. Nandasena ran.

The next time, Captain ‘Coward’ deserted the Army was when the terrorist war recommenced in 1991 with the Army facing a shortfall of officers; those officers eligible to retire were not permitted to do so, based on the principle ‘that an Officer holds his Commission at the will and pleasure of the President’ .

On completing the minimum number of years  required to qualify for an Army pension, viz twenty years, Nandasena did not report for duty when his application for retirement was rejected.  He was declared a deserter. There was a warrant out for his arrest.

He escaped a Court Martial, a jail sentence, a withdrawal of Commission and the forfeiture of his pension by sobbingly prostrating and pleading in front of Ranjan Wijeratne, the then Secretary of Defence.

Nandasena joined his wife in the US, only seven years later; during that time, he worked in a private Company, while the terrorist war raged-on and officers and men in the Army were sacrificing their lives.

Nandasena needs to be apprehended immediately and brought back to the country to be tried by a Court Martial for high TREASON.

Ayoma Rajapakse in the meantime needs to be investigated and tried for leaving the country illegally, without Customs and Immigration declarations and checks.

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Articles by: Citizen Perera

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