Fri, Mar 15, 2013, 12:41 pm SL Time, ColomboPage News Desk, Sri Lanka.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
Mar 15, Colombo: Sri Lanka Army Commander Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya says the Army is 'baffled' by the allegations made in Geneva now against its forces since at the time of the humanitarian operation in the North to eliminate the terrorists no single allegation was raised. Addressing the troops in the Wanni region, the Army Commander questioned why any military commander conducting humanitarian operations in the region at the time did not receive a single allegation.
"The vigorous unilateral allegations against the Army, now made in Geneva, baffle all of us who decisively waged the humanitarian operations in Wanni at that stage when I was the Wanni Commander because neither myself, nor any Security Force Commander or for that matter, any Division or Brigade Commander, to say the least, in the province, received a single complaint against the Army from any of those quarters, now screaming elsewhere. How come? Why no such complaints of this nature were made at that period against the Army or any specific ground commander, is really food for thought and incredibly confusing," Jayasuriya asked.
Jayasuriya said that since the culmination of the war various interested parties make a barrage of criticism against the troops, based on a rash of unfounded allegations, malice and ulterior motives.
"All these manifestations appear every year around the same time when UN Human Rights Council gathers for their sessions in Geneva," he pointed out.
He predicted it will be the practice, next year, too because "the LTTE rump does not want to see a promising and prosperous Sri Lanka and they want to thrive on those allegations until they re-emerge."
He said since the Western countries are now returning home more and more bogus asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, the only alternative left for those economic refugees seeking asylum is to make false claims against the troops and tarnish the country's image.
According to Jayasuriya, many of those critics never want to heap praise on the Sri Lanka Army for its decisive eradication of the world's most feared terrorist outfit, the LTTE at the expense of many heroic lives.
"Why is it so? Was it because they still could not contain or uproot their own terror cycles in their home fronts or just because of their mere hypocrisy?" the Commander asked.
In his address to the troops the Army Commander underscored the importance of being alert to malicious propaganda network against the Army and maintaining the highest degree of discipline while the Army is engaged in the challenging nation-building roles and reconciliatory moves.
