A triumph that can never be forgotten

The Army's transformation from largely a ceremonial role to a fighting force cannot be examined without taking into consideration the ongoing controversy over the alleged involvement of the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) in the 2019 Easter Sunday carnage.

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Every effort should be made to ascertain the truth and punish those responsible in case the then Brigadier Suresh Sally, who had not been with DMI at the time of the near simultaneous suicide attacks, and stationed in our mission in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, engineered the project to facilitate Gotabaya Rajapaksa's victory at the presidential election as asserted by their enemies. Sally, who later served as the head of State

gations investigated. Instead, Parliament, in early February 2023, honoured Ban Ki-moon who, in his capacity as the Secretary General of the United Nations, set the stage for the planned attack on Sri Lanka by producing a hatchet report that found fault with the Army by his handpicked panel of experts with no chance given to either the Army or the country to reply.

In spite of wild allegations levelled against our victorious armed forces, as the war was brought to a successful conclusion, the UN had faith in the capabilities of our battle-tested military by continuing to deploy Sri Lankan troops, under its command, in several countries. That is an achievement the country can be proud of. Even during the height of war, the Army remained committed to UN deployments.

It would be pertinent to mention those who commanded the Army, after Fonseka's retirement (December 6, 2006 to July 15, 2009). Lt. Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya (July 15, 2009, to July 31, 2013, Lt. Gen. Daya Ratnayake (August 1, 2013, to February 21, 2015), Lt. Gen. C de Silva (February 22, 2015, to June 26, 2017), Lt. Gen. Mahesh Senanayake (June 27, 2017, to August 18, 2019), Lt. Gen. Shavendra Silva (August 19, 2019, to May 31, 2022), Lt. Gen. Vikum Liyanage (June 1, 2022, to December 30, 2024) and the incumbent is Lt. Gen. Lasantha Rodrigo. Of those who commanded fighting Divisions on the northern front, during Eelam War IV, only Shavendra Silva received the opportunity to command the proud Army.