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Army reels under government’s coup allegations

By our Defence Correspondent
The Sri Lanka Army is reeling under the heaviest assault it has faced in its 50-year history.

Incredibly, the attack came not from the LTTE, but from the government of Sri Lanka, and indirectly from President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga herself.

The attack came in the form of an accusation that several army officers had to seize power and install a military regime in Sri Lanka, if the president had been killed in the December 18 bomb blast at the Town Hall People’s Alliance election rally.

The accusation came in the lead story of the Daily News last Monday.

"There are also reports that several army personnel too are linked to this alleged plot and there had been plans to capture power through a military coup if the president was killed in the Town Hall bomb blast," the article says.

The entire army is aghast at the accusation.

The Sri Lanka Army has had an exemplary record of non-interference in the governing of the country. Indeed, the armies of India and Sri Lanka are among the few in the Third World which have always been loyal to their governments.

While the militaries of other nations, such as Pakistan and Bangladesh, have literally held their civilian governments to ransom with the threat of toppling the civilian rulers, and have actually done so on several occasions. The Sri Lanka Army has been one of the main guardians of democracy in this country.

Our army has consistently refused to ally itself with any group trying to oust the ruling party, be it the PA or the UNP, and has crushed the two attempts by the JVP to bring about revolutions.

Although many officers have their political leanings, and some actively work for one party or the other after leaving service, it has always been taken for granted that the few black sheep, if any, would be powerless to influence the main body of officers and soldiers. Thus, any plans for a military coup," which are the Daily News’ own words, would be doomed from the start, since the army would be expected to crush it.

Incredibly, no-one has bothered to deny the accusations of the Daily News.

Army Commander Lieutenant General Sirilal Weerasooriya has been silent. So has Joint operations Chief General Rohan Daluwatte, himself Weerasooriya’s predecessor as army chief. The army has not ordered any internal inquiry into the alleged plot.

The Ministry of Defence has also not commented on the issue. The Minister of Media, Mangala Samaraweera, has also not queried the article with the newspaper. Neither has the Government Information Department.

Worst of all, the President, who is Minister of Defence and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, has not publicly appeared and quashed the allegation.

The president’s inaction supporter backing of the that the accusations against the army have the backing of the governmental hierarchy.

It is the president who reappointed Mangala Samaraweera as the Minister of Media, who in effect appoints the Board of Directors of Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (commonly known as Lake House). They in turn appoint the editor of the Daily News.

Even more damning is the common knowledge that the appointment of every editor of every major Lake House Newspaper, is either done on the president’s instructions, or with the president’s approval.

Never before has there been an accusation that army personnel in service had plotted to seize power. The recent allegations against Major General Lucky Algama did not concern the army very much, since Algama retired several years ago.

The government’s attacks have tarnished the image of the army, both in Sri Lanka and abroad, and caused irreparable damage, with international news agencies giving wide coverage to the Daily News article. The government recently freed the foreign media from the shackles of censorship, although local journalists still have their hands tied.

The Daily News concluded the article with the ominous words ‘’CID investigations are continuing into this alleged conspiracy and more startling revelations are expected within the next few days"

However, nothing more has been said about the military coup plot. Amazingly, no army officer has even been questioned regarding this, so far. If they have, then both the CID and the army have been very clever to hide it from the public.

What is most noticeable is that the coup allegations are not directed at any particular officer or group of officers. No-one has been named, and the article doesn’t even try to hint at the identity of anyone through innuendo, which is a standard practice at the Daily News in other articles.

Perhaps it is to the army’s credit that the army has not commented on the allegations. The Army Chief would surely have to deny the accusations, which would put him and the army on a confrontational course with the government.

The army has been battered in recent months by allegations of plotting together with both the UNP and the LTTE, against the government. What all this is doing to morale among the troops can be imagined. What it will do to recruitment, which is already struggling, is also a serious issue.

The government’s attacks began soon after the debacle in the Wanni last November, when the Daily News accused Maj. Gen. Algama of plotting with the LTTE and the UNP, and somehow influencing frontline troops to run away from the Tiger attacks. The implicit accusation that serving officers and soldiers had co-operated with Algama, greatly tarnished the army’s image.

However, a triservices court of inquiry comprising the Chiefs of Staff of the army, Navy and Air Force, found no evidence in this regard. But this finding has been swept under the carpet by the government.

Given the fact that the president is now relying on the army to win the war? Since the LTTE is refusing to start peace talks, it is time for these accusations to stop. If army officers have misbehaved in any way, they should be investigated and court-martialed. Scurrilous articles in the Daily News do nothing but smash what morale there is among the troops.

Meanwhile, the censor (officially called the Competent Authority) has shown his displeasure with the writings of this column, by exceeding his authority in chopping off large parts of last week’s article.

Our reporting of the president’s public speeches, which were aired on Rupavahini and published in the state newspapers, has been chopped. This shows a clear double standard.

Our description of the geographical location of Elephant Pass, and the consequences of the attack on it, have also been chopped.

Our comments on the likelihood of a solution to the war in the near future have also been chopped, clearly showing that the censor is protecting the government’s effort to hoodwink the public on this issue.

The reporting of the purchase of some items to the navy, which has been widely reported in other newspapers, also was not allowed, once again showing double standards.

Our comment that the spate of bomb attacks in Colombo indicated a breach in security, which any fool can see, were also not allowed. Apparently the censor doesn’t consider three suicide bomb attacks in three weeks, which have left sixty people killed, the president without sight in an eye, and nearly two hundred wounded, to be a breach in security!

Our comment that giving extensions to officers who are due to retire, causes blocks down the line for other officers, was also not allowed.

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