Namal Rajapaksa, National Organizer of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP), said it is a positive development that Sarath Fonseka has publicly stated that former President Mahinda Rajapaksa is not a murderer.
Rajapaksa made these remarks in response to questions from journalists regarding Fonseka’s recent statement. He said that although Fonseka can sometimes be controversial, it was Mahinda Rajapaksa who, during the final stages of the war, publicly called on LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran to lay down arms and surrender.
Namal Rajapaksa noted that calls for surrender to the military were not unusual in the context of war, but alleged that Fonseka had made conflicting claims at different times regarding orders issued during the conflict.
He emphasized that the military campaign was not directed against the Tamil community but against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). He said thousands of war heroes sacrificed their lives to defeat terrorism and maintained that Mahinda Rajapaksa’s objective had been to end terrorism with minimal loss of life and damage to property.
Rajapaksa thanked Fonseka for what he described as clarifying that Mahinda Rajapaksa was not a “bloodthirsty killer,” as alleged by certain political groups and sections of the LTTE diaspora.
He further stated that the former President wished to be remembered as a leader who brought freedom to the country rather than destruction, highlighting post-war infrastructure development projects such as highways and airports as part of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s legacy. He added that the former President’s primary goal had been to secure peace and stability for the nation with the least possible loss of life.
