The most convoluted political issue of recent times

It did seem that Gadihewage Sarath Chandralal Fonseka’s brief foray into politics would eventually come to this kind of grief. In the last few weeks the General had upped the ante against the government, acquired a permanent scowl, and vowed that he is the real president.
This is called hubris.
Though it is a human condition first cited in the bible, it is not an offense for which a person could be arrested, and incarcerated.
Did the government of Sri Lanka have good reasons to arrest him, with the president, a civilian political leader though the commander-in-chief, now having defended Fonseka’s detention in a Navy chalet in Colombo — despite the fact that the arrest is said to be purely in terms of the Army act?
From opposition statements to foreign newspaper editorials and foreign government press releases, concern has been voiced over the General’s arrest, and on whether its key motivation is to stifle dissent and enlarge an already complex political vendetta being played out in the public space over the last three months.
But if one considers the standoff of Fonseka vs. the Regime, there are certain issues that could have disturbed the government to an enormous degree, especially vis-a-vis security and defence related matters related to the war, concluded last year against the LTTE.
On the morning of his arrest, apparently, General Fonseka told BBC that he would not hesitate to name names in any war crimes investigation likely to take place against the Sri Lankan armed forces.
His statement may have been a now characteristic loose-trigger-finger announcement that the General is identified with from the time he said that he is ready to fund his election campaign with “Prabhakaran’s father’s or mother’s money’’.
‘The Hindu’ has characterized the General as politically frustrated, therefore now being given to loud mouthed loquaciousness.
However, the war crimes warning issued by the General to the effect that he would divulge sensitive military information to any investigative arm or war crimes tribunal, could have caused serious convulsions within the Sri Lankan armed forces, which could have led to the army asking for immediate reactions and corrective measures from the civilian political leadership.
This would be expected from armed forces now feeling increasingly besieged by the tantrums of its ex-commander.
It could be surmised that the government had no option but to apprehend the General on the basis of the concerns of the Sri Lanka army or the tri-forces.
But the story is layered, and given that the General’s statements about war crimes could possibly enmesh the country’s civilian political leadership also in legal wrangles possibly involving trumped-up war crimes charges, it is possible that the Rajapaksa regime had a compelling vested interest in detaining the General, and essentially keeping him incommunicado so that he cannot talk to any international war crimes investigators at a future date.
However what’s a complex issue becomes still more complicated with the defence secretary stating that General Fonseka was definitely planning a coup. He said this to the Straits Times Singapore, and the article is reproduced elsewhere in this newspaper.
There is also the issue of military discipline, and the government’s avowed intent to maintain a cohesive undivided army, navy and air force.
What’s more intriguing about this layered story however is that all of the foregoing reasons do not necessarily rule out the possibility that the General may have been arrested as a result of purely political apprehensions, or as a result of a progressing political vendetta that has nothing to do with military discipline or combat related issues.
There is no doubt however that of all the possible reasons for the events of last week, the most relevant and troubling would be the issue that concerns the General’s possible involvement in an international effort to involve the armed forces in possible war crimes charges.
The rest of the General’s outpourings on recent issues could be considered eccentric and motivated by a desire for settling political scores, but the recent talk about his being in possession of information that could implicate the Sri Lankan army are diabolical, and are possibly indicative of treacherous tendencies —— especially if the information he has in his possession or purports to have, is motivated by considerations of inveigling the civilian political leadership —— including the defence secretary —- in war crimes accusations.
General Fonseka’s statements to BBC have been savagely audacious, and if he is quoted accurately, they would be repulsive to a majority of Sri Lankans who consider the war that got rid of Prabhakaran and his bloodthirsty LTTE a success story despite all its considerable negatives.
To seek to undermine that war and to deploy military secrets gained while in service to do so, is diabolical on the part of a former army commander, who led some of the men who could thus be implicated.
However the country and indeed the concerned global community quickly needs proof that the ex army commander is being court-martialed for genuine reasons that concerns possible war crimes investigations etc., and not in order that a convenient story can be created, that would afford blanket cover to settle political scores with the General, and keep him out of the political arena for as long as it is convenient.