The Oddusudan adventure

In the mid - eighties when servicemen travelling in vehicles in the North and East were falling victim to landmines, the then Minister of National Security, Mr. Lalilth Athulathmudali, announced to the media that orders had been issued where the number of soldiers travelling in a single vehicle were kept to a bare minimum. This would have been a difficult order to comply with but it was issued because the authorities realised the dangers to which serviceman were exposed to when they were grouped together.

The nation was grief stricken when Sri Lanka’s most loved soldier Gen. Denzil Kobbekaduwe and another outstanding field commander Gen. Vijaya Wimalaratne were killed when the vehicle in which they were travelling was blown up.

On December 6, 1996 a helicopter loaded with military top brass including Deputy Defence Minister Anuruddha Ratwatte, former Northern Commander Asoka Jayawardene, Army commander Lt. Gen. Rohan Daluwatte and former IGP W. B. Wanaguru, was forced to make an emergency landing in an LTTE controlled area in the Wanni jungles. They had to trek through thick jungle for about 10Km to reach safety in the army controlled Vavuniya area. The helicopter was blown up lest it fell into the hands of the terrorists.

But learning from history appears to be quite a difficult task for our military top brass. On Sunday, exactly two years after the forced landing of the helicopter—- Gen. Ratwatte and the three service commanders Lt. Gen. Rohan Daluwatte, Navy Commander Vice Admiral Cecil Tissera , Air Force Commander Air Marshal Jayalath Weerakoddy, Wanni Security Forces Commander Maj. Gen. Lionel Balagalle and DIG Operational Command Lionel Karunasena, missed death by a few feet when mortars exploded a few feet from them as they were coming out of a Kovil in Oddusudan. where the LTTE is still very active. Four soldiers were killed on the spot and 48 wounded. Deputy Wanni Security Commander Major Gen. Neil Dias was injured.

Quite obviously these gentlemen who are responsible for the security of the nation had thrown caution to the winds by exposing themselves collectively to terrorists in an unsecured area. In another country, if the service commanders had been responsible for such a security lapse they would probably be court martialled but this is Sri Lanka where those responsible for military disasters have been rewarded and promoted.

Had the LTTE been able to achieve their objective of killing the highest ranking officers in the security forces and the de facto commander- in Chief of the armed forces, it would have been their biggest ever success in their terrorism history. Worse, it would have been, had the terrorists injured them , carried then away and held them hostage. If that happened the nation would have been in grave peril. While those near and dear to these gentlemen will be offering prayers to the deities for saving their lives, the fact that they exposed the nation in a very reckless manner has to be taken cognizance of.

The public is entitled to know why this mission of all service chiefs was undertaken. The incident occurred in the precincts of a place of worship and not at a military outpost. In a country where military operations are launched on auspicious times predicted by astrologers, we could well believe in the military top brass seeking the assistance of deities but this should be done in a way that the roof of the shrine does not fall on their heads as expressed by the Sinhala idiom: Wadinda giye devale vahale oluwata kadagene watuna.

Generals and war ministers do visit civilian areas and military outposts to keep up the morale of the civilians as well as servicemen. but is done in a way where lives of the visitors are not endangered. Winston Churchill with his cigar and walking stick examining the rubble of bombed out London during World War 11 or visiting military outposts in North Africa may have inspired local counter parts here to do the same but it should be pointed out that Churchill did not expose himself to dangers such as by trying to examine bombed out sites in Germany and endanger the security of the Britain.

It is also of interest that a friendly press corps had been just a kilo meter or two away from where the incident took place. Thus, it may well have been a public relations exercise on opening up of a new war front. As we pointed out in our editorial yesterday, which was written well before the news reached us of the Oddusudan incident, the impending provincial councils polls maybe linked to various policy decisions of government. If it was a public relations exercise, it was one of the most risky PR exercises ever undertaken.

The Sri Lankan public who have to undergo much inconvenience and even harassment because of the security measures taken to protect these gentlemen and other VIPs will want to know whether such security measures are called for when VIPs expose themselves to such risks.