(Ravi Velloor of The Strait Times, Malaysia speaks to General Sarath Fonseka’s wife in Colombo)
Last Wednesday, Sri Lankan defence secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa gave me a telephone interview in which he detailed why he and older brother Mahinda, the country’s president, felt a need to act so strongly against the military hero who delivered peace to the island after a quarter century’s bloody insurgency.
For Gen Sarath Fonseka was no ordinary commander.
The victim of two assassination attempts, one of which needed him to evacuated to Singapore for treatment, Fonseka’s relentless drive, fierceness and military cunning, combined with the political and material support he received from the Rajapaksas ensured the victory over what Sri Lankans call ‘terrorism’. Others may not agree, of course, particularly the Tamils, who have a long history of grievances against the state, many of them legitimate.
The Gotabaya comments to the Straits Times were widely reproduced around the world and continue to reverberate. But unable to get through to the Fonseka camp at the time, I was eager to get the other side’s story into the picture. With the general in military custody and under prodding from my editors, the only option was to talk to his wife.
When I reached the Fonseka residence on Queens Avenue, Mrs Anoma Fonseka was on Skype, chatting with her daughters in the US. Outside, Jerfy, the Dalmatian was howling away and I was told he’d been that way since Sri Lanka’s war hero, now facing charges of treason, had been arrested last Monday.
When I went up to pet Jerfy I was warned by Mrs Fonseka’s sister that this was no friendly dog. Aside from the general and his wife, said Mrs Chandana Peiris, Jerfy had gone for everyone else in the household, including the Fonseka girls. So I turned from admiring Jerfy to admiring the flowers in the garden.
Colombowas tense and unhappy about the treatment being meted out their war hero, but you couldn’t tell from the tropical beauty that surrounds me here everywhere. ‘Lands of charm and cruelty’ -- the title of a book on Southeast Asia, kept coming back to my mind again and again as I inhaled deeply, savouring the moment.
Presently, Mrs Fonseka showed up, accompanied by her own pet, a Dachshund named Tutu. Tutu curled up at my feet and lay down, occasionally stirring to chase away a butterfly, as we talked for an hour.
THE INTERVIEW
WHAT WENT WRONT BETWEEN YOU AND THE RAJAPAKSAS?
I cannot understand. We were very good friends. After the war ended, I began to feel it a bit. There were some misunderstandings. There was some ill-treatment just after the war. Sarath wanted to stay on as army commander, he didn’t want to be Chief of Defence Staff. He wanted to work on the welfare of the war heroes. They didn’t allow that. He asked Gotabaya if he could stay as army chief, but they didn’t allow it. That was the main thing. He used to talk about it at night.
About the other things I do not know, but this was the main thing: he wanted to make sure that the soldiers had a home and were not living under trees.
IS IT TRUE HE WAS PLOTTING HIS POLITICAL CAREER WHILE IN OFFICE?
He entered politics after removing his uniform. He came very decently to politics. He is a civilian since he retired in November and now they are threatening him under the Army Act.
WERE YOU AWARE THAT HE HAD PLANS TO MOUNT A COUP?
If he wanted to do that he could have done it much earlier. He could have easily done that soon after Prabhakaran was killed. At that time, Sarath was the hero. These are made up stories. He gave full respect for the president and the defence secretary -- not any others. He obeyed them and trusted them 100 per cent. Afterwards he was disappointed. People around the president and the secretary bred suspicion.
WHAT ABOUT THE ALLEGATION THAT HE WAS INVOLVED IN MURDERING AND HURTING JOURNALISTS OPPOSED TO HIM?
That never happened. At the time of (Lasantha Wickrematunge’s murder in Jan. 2009) he was directly involved in the war and had no time for other things. I can assure you that. He was too involved with operations. He was always with maps. There were maps on the floor, he was looking at maps while eating, walking... all the time. And there was a map in his mind. Nobody can fight a war and be plotting murder of civilians at the same time. They have taken one of his young officers and forced him to give evidence. These officers did a good job for my husband during the war. I can say with hundred percent certainty the murder charge is false.
WHAT ABOUT THAT ABOUT-TURN HE MADE ON THE IDP (INTERNALLY DISPLACED PEOPLE) ISSUE? HE OPPOSED QUICK RESETTLEMENT OF TAMILS THEN CHANGED HIS MIND ONCE HE ENTERED POLITICS.
The north was full of mines. He wanted 100 per cent demining to be done. That would have taken time -- that is why he asked for the Tamils to continue to be housed in the IDP camps. Even now he tells me they are resettling in too much of a hurry. It still bothers him. They did it quickly because of the elections. That is not the way to do it.
WHAT IS HIS MENTAL SHAPE?
He is very brave. Mentally, he is 100 per cent okay. He has tremendous will power and his morale is very high. No one can take that away from him.
WHAT ARE HIS PRISON CONDITIONS?
It is a normal quarters given to junior married officers. Not the luxurious apartment that they are talking about. I know because I am a military wife. There are two rooms, no air conditioning. Only fans. There is a common toilet.
WHAT DOES HE EAT?
Well, rice, curries, pol sambal... He likes jakfruit, fish curry -- seer fish and cod. And I take skimmed milk for him because he cannot take regular milk after his last assassination attempt.
I have to give my thanks to Singapore (for saving his life). Otherwise, he will not be here. We were there for a month while he was being treated in Singapore General Hospital. There is one mortar piece in his lungs. A second shrapnel is near his kidneys and his bowels were damaged in the third accident, which was a suicide attempt on his life.
IS THERE A CHANCE OF THE RAJAPAKSAS AND YOU CALLING A TRUCE?
He wants a reasonable way to come out. The law will give the correct answer. He has done no wrong. Why should we beg from them? Even I will not agree to that. The truth will come out some day.
IS HE A TAMIL HATER?
We have very good Tamil friends. They even give us our meals. In childhood, he was in Amparai with lots of Muslims (whose language is Tamil). My father had very good friends in Jaffna. During our courtship we used to eat in Tamil restaurants like Greenland and Saraswati Lodge in Colombo. I was a student then and he was a lieutenant in the Singha regiment.
IS IT TRUE YOU SPOKE TO MRS RAJAPAKSA AFTER HE WAS ARRESTED?
Yes, we were good friends. She was in Moscow when I called her and she called me back in two hours. I told her he wasn’t arrested, he was abducted. They pulled him, lifted him like an animal. I asked her to save his life and she told me she would do something. I think she did. There is still a connection between woman to woman. We are wives and mothers after all. I give my thanks to her.
