Waterside Traps For Prabha and Fonseka: Nandhikadal lagoon and Beira Lake
by Upul Joseph Fernando
Nobody knew the room number of Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel where Gen. Fonseka was staying on the day of the recent Presidential election in Sri Lanka (SL).
Yet , after the results were announced , when the General learnt that his hotel has been surrounded by Army personnel, it was certain that he was subjected to great anxiety and fear .. He was distraught not knowing whether he can even leave the Hotel , according to information transmitted by a supporter of his to the media.
Some media even stated that he was in doubt whether he was going to be arrested and may make a suicide bid. Though this was not true , the General of course was in panic at that moment.
Behind the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel is the Beira Lake. Some Govt. sources even mockingly remarked that the General could have leapt into the Beira Lake. The other party leaders who were with him at that tense situation advised the General to inform the Foreign media and the Foreign Diplomatic missions of his precarious position and secure protection for his life.
Accordingly , the foreign media were summoned to the CinnamonLakeside Hotel. The General requested the foreign Diplomatic missions in SL to help protect his life which was apparently in grave danger. Some foreign media reported that he had sought political asylum in Australia. But ,the Australian Govt. denied this and stated that no such requests were received by it. It was learnt that India had spoken with President Mahinda Rajapaksa over the security of General’s life. Similarly , America too expressed that the latest developments involving the General had engaged its full attention.
No matter what , even the General at that time did not know what was in store for him the next moment. At all events , it would have been a matter of great surprise if the General who was trapped in a room in the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel when peering into the Beira lake through the window of his room was not reminded of the Nandikadal lagoon in Wanni where Prabhakaran died.
Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was trapped in the Nandikadal lagoon in the same way. Before Prabhakaran fled to the lagoon he was trapped in Vellimulikkaal . He too was uncertain as to what lay in store for him the next moment .
Gen. Fonseka who was the Army Commander at that time spoke thus to the foreign media . ‘ Prabhakaran the terrorist is now trapped . He can ‘jump’ into a foreign country . We receive information that he has sought assistance of foreign countries to flee from SL.. However , we have obstructed his attempts . I wont leave room for him to flee … …….’ , In what amount of fear of death Prabhakaran was at that stage was immeasurable.
Truly , Prabhakaran too had communicated with the foreign countries at that moment. The satellite phone close to him bore testimony. He had made the request to foreign countries through KP to save his life.
The latter had intimated this to the foreign media .Prabhakaran was told to surrender to the Sri Lankan Army by the foreign countries via KP. Though Prabhakaran did not wish to surrender to the Army , he had ordered the Tamil Tiger political wing leaders to surrender and save their lives.
Indeed a foreign media lady journalist intervened in this connection while holding discussions between the Tamil Tiger leaders of the political division and the United Nations (UN) Organization.
At that time , Prabhakaran must have also been in mortal fear for his life and safety. He was not alone. He was with his parents , wife and his children . Though his parents were dispatched earlier to the custody of the Army , his family stayed with him. He ought to have entertained monumental fear in regard to their safety. Many believed that he would commit suicide. But , he succeeded in fleeing to the Nandikadal lagoon.
Nevertheless , he could not save his life there. No sooner his body was discovered than the then Army commander Gen. Sarath Fonseka , announced proudly and loudly to the country and the world via the media of the great news.
It would be something very strange if General Fonseka had not experienced chilling fear and anxiety for his life while he was at the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel which same experience Prabhakaran faced during the final moments of his life. The General too was with his wife and children . He must have been more frightened about the lives and safety of his family than about his own.
Prabhakaran got down his family who were abroad to Wanni during the ceasefire period. The General got down his family who were abroad to SL to face the Presidential election as a Presidential candidate.
After the death of Prabhakaran in Nandikadal lagoon, when the whole country was eating kiribath , the General ate kiribath out of both hands of his wife. At that point of time , his place was second to none by any means among the National Heroes described in the Sri Lankan’s chronicle of historical stories ( the Mahavamsa ).
But , when he learnt that the very Army which he led to trap Prabhakaran laid siege to the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel where he was staying , it is inconceivable what memories and thoughts flitted through his mind . At that moment , the whole of Sri Lanka had organized kiribath ceremonies to celebrate the victory stemming from the defeat of the General.
It is an incredible phenomenon that President Rajapaksa who stood alongside General Fonseka and jointly celebrated with kiribath eating ceremonies to mark the defeat of Tamil Tigers and its leader Velupillai Prabahakaran in May 2009 , is now celebrating by eating kiribath without Fonseka after defeating the same General.
The same ‘patriots’ who then exclaimed ‘well done Fonseka’ and displayed his cutouts and posters at every public place and prominently too and celebrated his victory over the Tamil Tigers , and for saving the country, are today displaying posters with the words ‘ ‘sorry Fonseka’, and also clamouring to arrest him while wallowing in his defeat and swallowing kiribath. This is a clear illustration of what strange things fate can do when man’s sense of gratitude is lost . - courtesy: Dailymirror.lk -
11 Comments
Sri Lankans are peculiar types of charactors. The are nominal Buddhists and say the even occuring a thought aginst to any one wether he is a enimy or not is bad or unwholesome. In public they do whatever can to demolish the opponents. On the other hands the leaders of the country say that they are trying to establish democracy following undemocratics ways and means. How can they fulfill the dream? if someone talk in public he may take into custody teling that they have been organizing a conspiracy. Only thing we can do is stay repenting and looking on being a Sri Lankan.
Hi,
As Lord Buddha said every thing depends on the Karma which is the way we do, act, talk and decide what is good and bad.Prapha had been a hero for tamils but traitor for sinhalese. Also Fonseka has been a hero for sinhalese as long as he was alongside with MR.Since he decided to come to the precidential election he has been labled as a traitor.What we have to understand is , every one is labled according to others will- not according to the real behaviour.
Remember our ancesters were "yaksha" and "naga".
Great Article, according to Parakaran sinhalese forget things easily. Also, not in any mean that Gen lost election, it was the whole country who lost democracy.
Mr. Upul J. Fernando's article is very good light reading, but it lacks total political understanding. Mr. F'do is a simple story teller. Therefore Mr. F'do think its a loss of gratitude that Gen SF had to face such a situation.
But there is politics plain and hard in what happened.
The Opposition UNP that Mr. F'do often backs was crestfallen, not knowing what their political identity should be. JVP was in a quandary, unable to contest an election on their own. Mangala S never wanted to contest as an Elephant candidate and support it. Gen SF was power hungry Commander and was Sinhala hero who thought he owns the war victory. So they all had good reasons to come together to defeat President MR.
But what they did not understand was that they can not compete against President MR on his own grounds. They did not have any alternative programme either. The election then turned into a low level campaign each trying to be the best Sinhala warrior.
End of the day, what ever Gen SF said, the Sinhala voters decided it was President MR who is the rightful owner of the Sinhala victory in war. Gen SF was thus seen as an intruder. As some one who had come to rob the due credit from President MR. That was why Pres MR got more votes than perhaps he didn't even expect.
Such social perceptions don't allow space for gratitude towards the "robber". That gratitude is for the man who owns the credit as people understand politics. Because Mr. Fernando's favourite UNP was not doing politics with the people.
Amarnath
As peace-loving Sri Lnakan, we all know that without both President MR and General SF, we never got rid off from terrorism. That is the truth, and all should accept it. Its not the truth that one says that only either MR or SF is the real hero. Its both. Sad thing is why we devided? Why we cannot do an election without violence and cheating? We Sri Lankan cannot think indepedently: its always though " blue. green and red glasses. On top of that we have religious extremists too (They are insulting to the oneof the greatest reliogins, Buddhism, too). Our civil society is divided. Government mechanism is politicised ( Eg; Police, Army, Judiciary). Sri Lanka is aclssic example for every thing... Heros, corrupted politicians/gov officers/, and ..... most importantly the public, who are so irresponsible for any of their act.
"At that moment , the whole of Sri Lanka had organized kiribath ceremonies to celebrate the victory stemming from the defeat of the General."
I think you should review this sentence. Remember over 4 million people voted for him.
The parallels are very well described and well done.
This also illustrates a mute point (to most of us) of actions and fruits of our actions, the vicious cycle continues.
In the past (like Mahavamsa), the history was written solely by the victor, but thanks to the likes of Internet, the concurrent history is written by people representing opposing views (i.e. perhaps people can gather more facts from the historical events).
This brings a novel aspects of life histories of people, i.e. we should be able to analyse the karma/vipaka (actions and fruits of these actions) in the event histories of the wholes life spans of people.
Some might even pick up their previous lives (i.e. the histories) when they are reborn again (if they managed to be fortunate enough to be rebourn as a human being -- given the actions they have performed).
It will be interesting to keep a watchful eye on the other victors of this (tragedy of lanka) and what events will unfold in their own lives when their actions come to frution.
We know Mr. Fonseka canot win the election His capebel Armi OK. but as polition his experince is under zero he canot rule the country. people's of Srilanka Know He got vot's 40% This vot's not his personal collection party vot's..If he contest as a indipendent candidet he canot take at least 5000, vot's himself.. Opposition party learder's encourage him for contest because they could not find proper candidet for the election. The unfavourable.
Very good comparison!!! You can take this as a hint for things to emerge!!! It is a disgrace to the animals to compare the Sri Lankan politicians to animals!!! Animals don't kill for "nothing" they kill either to defend their territory or when they are hungry or if they are threatened!!! All those people who killed 30,000+ innocent Tamils, maimed them and ruined their life will pay the price one day or other!!! The killing spree wil continue to hide their previous crimes against humanity!!! This is only the beginning!!!
Dear Upul,
Thank you Upul. You speak the reality of life. In simple terms,
"What goes around comes around"
"Every action has an equal and opposite reaction"
“Karma”
SF experienced the anxiety, pain and suffering of tamils which he inflicted on them in his lifetime within a short time span.
MR & Bros will also go through the same in their lifetime.
This a response to what Nandasena has written about 30,000+ Tamils. Do not forget there were more Sinhalese. You are a fake when you call yourself with a Sinhala name and then forget about Sinhalese people who went through the same agony during the thirty year war.
For me, in war, VP's killing is acceptable but what is not acceptable is killing his young son, daughter and wife if there not in combat. As much as I protest about suicide bombers being used to kill and maim innocents people, if they were put to death as civilians, then "action-reaction" will bear fruit, for those people.