Maj. General Perera & the Security Concerns


“The best example that we can take here is Minister Douglas Devananda. He is the one and the only politician who the LTTE keep targeting more than anybody else over the years but keep failing every time. What is the secret behind his escapes? Is it that the LTTE has given up on him? Never is the case.”

by Nacholibre

(October 07, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) LTTE got one of their targets yet again.

Only the LTTE would know whether the intention was actually to fell Major General Perera or whether he just became an alternative target. Whichever it was, it does not matter. The fundamental issue here should not be that.

The latest suicide blast of the LTTE continues to remind us about the blatant disregard that our politicians pay to the intelligence warnings that is conveyed to them. Months before yesterday’s blast, Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle, a key player of the government that fights the LTTE terrorism, decided to throw all caution to the wind and virtually invite an LTTE suicide bomber to take his life even when intelligence had warned him to take precautions. Years before, president Premadasa took the liberty to walk among the public, as he usually did, and paid the price. In another fateful incident, president Kumaratunga, covered by hundreds of security personnel, both in uniforms and in the civvies, was saved by a whisker, yet the LTTE bomber came within millimeters to taking her life. And yesterday, a retired veteran military commander laid down his life to the LTTE once again amidst a considerable crowd of civilians.

What is wrong with our politicians?

All Sri Lankans know the fact that the LTTE is a master of disguise. It had the ability to penetrate vital security barricades and even target the present Army Commander inside the army headquarters in Colombo a few years back. Do we have to be reminded time and again that penetrating an unsuspecting mass of civilians is not a big deal for these terrorists? They come disguised as people of all types and lifestyles, pregnant women, handicapped, coconut vendors and might even come dressed as priests and bikkhus and even parliamentarians to kill their targets one day. Yet these politicians time and again make the gross error of neglecting the warnings and open up free passages for the terrorists to invade and kill.

What happened to Major General Perera? Let us take a look. From the time he enetered the fray as a UNPer, the UNP was hell bent on accusing the GOSL for not providing enough security for Maj. Gen. Perera citing huge LTTE threats to his life. Well, the number of security personnel allocated for one’s protection alone would not necessarily mean that one would be safe, when one take security for granted. On top of this, Maj. Gen. Perera, being the veteran soldier that he was, would have known better than anybody else about the LTTE and its various tactics. I would not know if he had realistically analysed the security threats that he had from the LTTE and got all aspects covered or he just miscalculated the threat being a UNPer. Whatever it was, one thing is clear. And that is,Maj. Gen. Perera was attending an event in a relatively open place, which was open to the public with no apparent security mechanism to check for intruders.

Was that not inviting death waiting to get you sooner you relax your guard? I fail to understand why the UNP was not more security concerned when organizing these public events, when they knew that Maj. Gen. Perera had LTTE threats. No one better than the UNP could have known that, as they were the ones who accused the GOSL for not protecting Janaka Perera from LTTE threats. Or is it that they told Maj. Gen. Perera that the LTTE would not harm him? Even if it was the case, knowing the known enemy, why did Maj. Gen. Perera did not take the threats seriously himself?

The best example that we can take here is Minister Douglas Devananda. He is the one and the only politician who the LTTE keep targeting more than anybody else over the years but keep failing every time. What is the secret behind his escapes? Is it that the LTTE has given up on him? Never is the case. Well, the minister explained why, when the last suicide attempt by the LTTE to target him too failed.. He had reportedly said that he takes his security very seriously and that he evaluate the security measures himself each day and make necessary arrangements to it himself because he knows his enemy well enough to relax..

Now my simple question is, why can other politicians in Sri Lanka not emulate Minister Devananda’s approach when it comes to their own personal safety from the LTTE? Have we not seen enough unnecessary and cheap assasinations of key leaders already?
- Sri Lanka Guardian