National organisations take govt to task over treatment of war heroes

Former Navy Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral (Rtd) Sarath Weerasekera yesterday accused the government of making every effort to make its dream of splitting the country a reality by going for a federal state.

The war hero and the man who transformed the Civil Defence Force into a worthy auxillary force alleged that Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was dancing to the tune of his western masters and the Tamil diaspora.

The government was determined to amend the Constitution to pave the way for a federal state, Weerasekera said.

Addressing a news conference organised by the Joint National Organisations at the National Library Services auditorium in Colombo, the retired Rear Admiral and former Digamadulla District Parliamentarian said: “The sudden and unwarranted transfer of war hero Maj Gen. Chagi Gallage from the North to Colombo for voicing his opinion is a case in point and the government has victimised those spoke against its actions inimical to the country’s interests.”

It could be the first time in the world that the Opposition had voted with the government for a budget and it clearly reflected that both the ruling party and the Opposition were being controlled by their western masters, Weerasekera said. “There is a government move to repeal the Prevention of Terrorism Act in order to release the LTTE suspects in custody.”

The former Navy Chief of Staff said that the government had no respect for the war heroes who had saved the country from terrorists in a war in which 29,000 soldiers had laid down their lives and many others had suffered injuries.

He flayed Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera for accepting the terms and conditions laid down by UNHRC High Commissioner Zeid Raad A l Hussein in Geneva for setting up a hybrid Court to try Sri Lanka’s war heroes.

Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera, Gevindu Kumaranatunga and Ven. Vitaraandeniye Medahananda Thera also spoke.

726 Viewers