One of the often made allegations against the present government of its critics is that how the former army commander Sarath Foneska who is considered to be a true war hero is treated with many years of prison terms while at the same time how Karuna or Vinyagamoorty Muralitharan, the former Eastern Commander of LTTE who is accused of carrying out several civilian massacres and fought against the armed forces for many years is treated with a deputy minister position of the present government being offered with all the privileges. A fair and neutral assessment is needed to judge how valid this allegation against the government is. In order to do a balanced assessment we shouldn't confine not only to the contribution made by the each individual for the final war against terrorism but also to the contribution they made after the war for the wellbeing of the country.
It is an undisputable fact the defection of Karuana who was an asset to Prabhakran to fight against Sri Lanka's armed forces was a monumental loss to LTTE's war machine in terms of losing a successful leader, falling into the hands of the enemy his knowledge about in and out about the organization and the area he was controlling and eventually losing sizable number of combatants along with a large stock of arms. The contribution made by Karuna, a diehard and deadly leader of the most ruthless terrorist organization by renouncing the violence and joining the democratic process of the country which was rejected by his former organization as Tamil people's oppressor is also monumental. Even a diehard LTTE supporter must have taken aback by his move thinking how outside world would think about the futility and the relevancy of the fight that they were waging at an enormous cost to their people. This must have certainly prompted to think many an outside people who matter to Sri Lankan affaires that the desire that some of the LTTE fighters and Tamil people were yearning for to live under a democratic system of governance. So the Karuna's defection and then his joining to Sri Lanka's democratic process have indeed been a turning point in Sri Lanka's successful war against terrorism. Karuna is indeed responsible for many crimes. So are the many Ex-LTTE combatants released and being rehabilitated. Who knows whether some of those former LTTE carders will become ministers of the country in the future?
Former army commander Sartha Fonseka indeed took the reins of the army at a very critical juncture when Sri Lankan armed forces finally decided to push the military option to win the peace when LTTE rejected other 'peaceful solutions'. While his contribution as the army commander in the successful war against terrorism can never be underestimated the contributions made by many other individuals may perhaps many times bigger than what Fonseka did. First and foremost, it is the correct political leadership given by the president Rajapaksha that made the war possible. His all predecessors succumbed to the so called international pressure and had almost given half of the country to a terrorist organization in a platter for more than two decades. The wars his predecessors waged were half –hearted that ultimately resulted in losing many lives and property. It was his rock solid political leadership and the determination that gave demoralized armed forces a fresh breathing air which resulted in swelling in the numbers for recruitment to form almost 08 divisions in the army in less than one year time. The strategic leadership and guidance given by the Defense Secretary while being the connecting chord between the armed forces and the president have indeed been legendry. Army would have never even imagined in winning a war had the contribution from the Navy, Air Force and the Police not been at the country's disposal. It was the Navy with extremely limited resources that caused a massive hemorrhage to the LTTE: destroying the LTTE's massive well-oiled arms supply machine. It was indeed one of the turning points of the war against terrorism. No need of elaborating the mammoth and legendry role played by the air force with again extremely less resources. And again the both forces were headed by battle hardened highly successful officers. So it was a galaxy of factors that led to the war victory. Sarath Fonseka was not alone 'The Factor' as many claim for the victory. So the conditions were such that absence of Sarath Fonseka as the army commander would have not made a big difference.
Now it is pertinent to assess the role played by SF after the war with regard to country's wellbeing. How have some of his actions contributed to the country's future? SF's 'White Flag' charge was indeed life giving oxygen to the LTTE rump which had been literally down with the LTTE's decimation. The international witch hunt for alleged 'war crimes' sat in motion with this false 'White Flag' charge. The massive propaganda machine of the LTTE with its huge resources at its disposal was fully activated to rally against Sri Lanka in several fronts: from buying the anti-Sri Lankan politicians from the West and the USA to produce fabricated films by media organizations who were waiting to settle some scores with the Sri Lankan government. All sundry of anti Sri Lankan characters led by INGO bosses whose terms in the country were not extended due to their shady deals with the LTTE have been forefront in their campaign against Sri Lanka. The 'White Flag' charge was the stepping stone for the 'Darusman Report'. The massive effort being made to haul up Sri Lankan leaders and the armed forces members in the international war crime tribunals is at the full swing. The negative image that Sri Lankan has to bear due to SF's antics is massive and will continue to go on for many years to come.
So the damage caused by the SF to his motherland after the war has undone in many folds what he has done for contributing to winning the war. Many machinations by anti-Sri Lankan forces are well underway to make use SF to destabilize the country. Karuna who joined the democratic process of the country continue to help his community in particular and the country in general for their wellbeing.
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