Q: General, with regard to the incident that took place last night there were reports that the Military Police had tried to take your security personnel and vehicles away from you. Can you tell us what really happened?
When I was in service I had a contingent of 600 men for my security and about 25 vehicles. The day I retired, I was informed that it had been reduced to three vehicles and 25 men. Even the wives of politicians [who lost their lives ] like Mrs.Kairigama have about 30 security personnel. But they thought that I didn’t even need that much security.
Then when I met the President on the day I was leaving I told him: “You have to increase my security–25 men are not enough,” adding that even people like Shavindra Silva, who was only a Colonel when I was commanding the war has Commandos for his security. The present Army number two has about 15 Commandos for his security and over 50 soldiers, but that I have been given only 25 men. I asked him for Commandos for my security. The President told me: “They are still in the Army and you are a civilian. So we can’t give you the Commandos and that much security.” So they thought that from the day I decided to remove my uniform their responsibility to look after my security was over. Most probably then that is the “Api Wenuwen Api” attitude. What can a “Ranaviruwa” expect in the future?
They continued to reduce my security but the President agreed to give me 50 men and 10 Commandos and I was expected to endorse it in writing. I sent it in writing quoting our conversation, and requesting that that security was provided as agreed. However, this was not my actual requirement or what I would be satisfied with. I wanted the security that I had [previously] because my security is most important to me. Even during the war the first suicide attack was on my life. Therefore everyone in the country knows that the threat to my life is real and great. I led the Army to win the war and obviously any terrorist will take revenge on me and not from those who sat in air-conditioned rooms in Colombo giving political speeches. However, they reduced my staff to 115 men which included about 14 motorcycle riders, 15 drivers plus administrative personnel. The number of vehicles allocated to me was also brought down to 15 from 25.
Four to five days ago I was informed by the President’s secretary that I could keep this staff till I left my house [official quarters]. They gave me only six days to vacate the house. But the Navy Commander who retired six months ago is still in the neighbouring house with 120 people guarding him and 15 vehicles. The secretary also told me to keep those I had with me till I left this house. I am trying my best to leave this house but people who promised me their houses on rent have been intimidated by government thugs who had also threatened to blast their houses and assassinate their families.
Now I’m finding it difficult to get a house but I am determined to leave this place the moment I get a one. I don’t want to live at the expense of the government or be a burden to the Army like others who have been hanging on. The previous Commander before me had lived in this house for three and a half months after his retirement, until he went to Brazil as our ambassador. The previous CDS lived in his house for three and a half months till he went to Israel as our ambassador. But they told me to vacate in six days. So you can see that there is no justice here.
What they are trying to do is reduce my security so that I become a target and they are waiting to see the day I get assassinated on the road. With three vehicles, even a child in this country will know, I can’t get enough security on the road. We are very vulnerable when we are travelling in traffic. If the President still needs 2000 people for security and if the Secretary of Defence needs 500 people for his security, how do they expect me to manage with 25 men and 3 vehicles? That is not enough even to guard my house.
Finally even this allocation of security personnel and vehicles was reduced and then I was left with 15 vehicles–administrative vehicles like trucks and buses for soldiers to move about. Last night they came at 12 o’clock to my house–a Lieutenant Colonel, six officers and 50 soldiers. They tried to enter the premises. This is against the Army norms and traditions and the law of the country. We don’t send people in such a manner not even to arrest a recruit who had deserted the Army.
They said they were following instructions of the Army Commanders and the Secretary of Defence. I was also told by some persons that they have taken these decisions at the Security Council meeting held yesterday (Wednesday). Now the Security Council is trying to cut my security to get me assassinated. When I was active in the Security Council we planned to assassinate Prabahkaran and destroy the LTTE. Now you see it had taken a different turn. Therefore under these circumstances I refused them entry and asked them to get out immediately because it was the middle of the night and only my wife and I were in the house.
This morning I released the vehicles because they keep on harassing my drivers and my people who are here. They are trying to block their salaries and reporting them as absent [from duty]. Due to this harassment I released most of the personnel allocated to me and I am managing with just the minimum numbers for my security. If anything happens to me the President has to take direct responsibility. It is not only the LTTE, but there are thugs who are manipulating things for the government like those who came and misbehaved at the temple when I was there. All these people are assassins and drug addicts and may be even tasked to do some harm to me. So if something happens to me the government must take responsibility and I expect the people to understand this–I know they are following all this. This is the way they put into practice their “Api Wenuwen Api” programme.
Q: General do you feel that you life has been put at risk directly by the Government and that you have literally been made a target?
If they are not aware of the security threats to VIP’s, then why is the President having 2000 people for security? The Army Commander in Vavuniya is not even commanding an offensive operation in the war. But why is he keeping 500 people to guard him? The last Security Council State Intelligence Services Head J B Galanayaka has said that when he attended the last Security Council meeting on the 11th of November, he had come to understood that an explosive laden van had come to Colombo to target a VIP. With all that if they reduce my security, obviously they are doing it intentionally to ensure that I get blasted on the road.
Q: There are various stories circulating that your were not in the country during the last stages of the war–that is from the 10th to the 17th of May. How do you respond to such rumours?
I had got an invitation from this Chinese company from which we buy APC’s mainly. We bought about 100 armored vehicles from them. I am not the one who made the deals: it was the Secretary of Defence and the LankaLogistics company of which he is the Chairman. They do the negotiations; they do the payments; and they buy the equipment. We only do the vehicle evaluation. And that is not done by me–Brigadiers and various people we do following the usual procedure. These companies had invited me to come and inspect some armored vehicles.The invitation was two years overdue. I didn’t go out of the country for two years after I took over command. I went out only for medical treatment to Singapore. Then in 2008 I visited the Indian Army Commander, the Pakistani Army Commander and the Bangladesh Army Commander–visits I should have done two years before.
Then I had to respond to this invitation and the Secretary of Defence approved it. The date was fixed about 5 months before and if I had cancelled the tickets at the last minute it would have been a loss for the Government. And it just wasn’t me about 5 others went with me. In any case I had won the war by that time. By the 10th of May there were only five or six kilometers to go. So I got the troops to move 150 kilometres and when I was doing that, I was not sitting in Vavuniya. I was running the war with maps, communication equipment and satellite phones. That is how I monitored the war. The orders are given; whether I am in Colombo or China or in USA–I knew those commands will be followed. I knew this war would be over in the next couple of days. This trip was planned, everything was arranged and the Secretary of Defence himself approved it and told me to go.
Because I had studied the plans for the next ten days, the plans were in operation without any interruption during the period I was out, but I retuned before the war was over. The war was finally over on the 19th May so at the crucial time I was here. They can’t say that because I went out, the Army will turn back without moving forward the next five kilometers.
But I knew that during that week, certain irregular things happened. For example I had kept a special battalion in reserve. But the Secretary of Defence forced this battalion to battle without even keeping me informed. Unnecessarily that battalion lost 25 soldiers. Eighty soldiers were injured. Other than that there was no damage or delay caused and the battle went as per planned. The only mishap during my absence was the Secretary of Defence forcing this battalion to go into the battle. Otherwise the war was won exactly on the day that I planned and I was there to control the final battle.
Q: One other report that came out is that when you were in the United States recently, you were never asked to appear for an interview with the State Department. In fact Sri Lanka’s ambassador at the UN, Dr. Palitha Kohona told the Daily Mirror Hot Seat that no request was made for such an interview. What is your response to this?
There have been enough letters being sent up and down from the Government to the ambassador there. I have copies of all these letters. So the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing! These two ambassadors, that is at the UN Palitha Kohona and the American ambassador live about one and a half hours away from each other. So I don’t understand how they can coordinate a thing like this and give the same opinion and the same version?
Q: To ask you a personal question, General. The Secretary of Defence, the President and the present Army Commander are people you worked very closely with. They were essentially your friends and people you trusted. Now you have retired, how do you feel when you see them not caring about your security and almost turning on you? Further, you might be a General but yet you are human. So can you tell us how you feel emotionally?
It may be the “Api Wenuwen Api” attitude. I have the courage and guts to face similar situations. I know they can’t push me down or demoralize me and finish me or ruin me. But I feel sorry about the others who will face the same consequences one day. They might not have the same courage or the position or the status to face a situation like that; that is my concern.
But the people don’t realize who our enemy is; if Prabakaran was there, he would have realized it.
Q: Everyone is talking about your entrance into politics. If you are to contest the Presidential election, can you tell us whether you have decided under which party you are going to contest?
Any future aspirations and ambitions I will comment on at a media conference I have on Sunday.
Q: General, it is widely believed that you will run for President. If you do run for President, what is the promise you will give the people?
I believe that if anybody who wants to hold high office in this country or do politics at a higher level, considering the present circumstances, should give priority for democracy, national security, including the people in the North and East, the plight of the people who were displaced, communal harmony, justice to all communities in the country and corruption. The country is corrupt and of course the responsibility lies in the hands of political heads. There is no justice; you can see that people can’t receive justice even if they go to the police or any other place. People are not satisfied with the treatment they are getting. Then politicizing the police has weakened the system to a certain extent.
There is [the subject of] media freedom. There are a lot of allegations regarding this. People in defence circles try to point the finger at me [as been responsible] for the difficulties and the problems the media had in the past. If that is the case, they should have taken action during the time I was under them. All this pointing fingers started on the day that I retired from the Army.
What I have to say is that I had a disciplined army under me and if I did anything to the media I have got the army to do it. I can’t go with a pistol or a dagger and go and attack anybody. So if they think that the army did this then they are insulting the Army that brought the grace and respect to the whole country by wining the war. That is ungrateful and against the “Api Wenuwen Api” policies. With regards to allegations of corruption what I can say is that if they can have investigations with regard to every deal done in the defence circles I will give my fullest support. All war materials are in a gazetted list. In that list, everything has been purchased with the approval of the Secretary of Defence and the LankaLogistics Company of which the Secretary of Defence is one. We don’t do purchasing, we only do the technical evaluation. They do the negotiation of price and everything else, so if there is any corruption the Secretary of Defence, the President, and the tender board must take responsibility.
Q: You said that we need to give space for democracy. But if you run for President what will your stance be with the minorities. How will you win their support?
Forget about running for Presidency. My personal approach is that minorities in this country have lived for many years with a Sinhala majority and you can see are a lot of similarities between them. I have a lot of regard for the Tamil culture especially and the Muslim culture, although I am a Sinhala Buddhist. The cultures have a lot of similarities so I think that they can live together as one nation. Some people try to say that there are no minorities. The reality is that there are minorities and there is a majority but we must all live in one country as brothers. This is a small country and I have said that the majority must treat the minorities like their own people.
