By Shamindra Ferdinando Courtesy The Island

General Shavendra Silva inspects a farewell parade in his honour at ‘Home of Gajaba’ at Saliyapura, Anuradhapura, on Dec 29, 2024, on the eve of his retirement. He was the first Gajaba Regiment officer to serve as Commander of the Army (August 2019 to May 2022) as well as the first Gajaba officer to ascend to the post of Chief of Defence Staff (January 2020 to December 2024) (pic courtesy CDS Office)

Responds to GR on the eve of his retirement Pays glowing tribute to Wijaya Wimalaratne

Outgoing Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Shavendra Silva has finally responded to the former Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s high profile accusations with regard to his failure to suppress the violent Aragalaya protest campaign (March 31, 2022, to July 14, 2022) that forced the elected President out of office in July 2022.

The former General Officer Commanding (GoC) of the celebrated 58 Division (formerly Task Force 1) declared that he was not bent on betraying the state nor being a cat’s paw of a foreign power nor served the interests of a foreign mission in Colombo.

The Gajaba Regiment veteran said so in a farewell message issued on the eve of his retirement on Dec. 31, 2024.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his memoirs ‘Conspiracy to oust me from presidency’, launched in early March, 2024, questioned the conduct of the then Commander of the Army General Silva who also served as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS).

Accusations were made against the US and India by National Freedom Front (NFF) leader and former Minister Wimal Weerawansa in ’09: The Hidden Story’ with regard to the overthrowing of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Commenting on the threat on the then Premier Mahinda Rajapaksa’s life at the height of Aragalaya, General Silva reminded critics that he deployed the Air Mobile Brigade to rescue the Fifth Executive President who had been trapped inside Temple Trees by marauding mobs laying siege to it.

In an obvious reference to the violence and counter-violence that had gripped Bangladesh last year, General Silva stoutly defended his decision not to use force to crush the civil protest campaign. Had that happened, the country would have been turned into a hell, General Silva declared, emphasising that in his capacity as the Army Commander, troops were directed to use minimum force.

General Silva alleged that those who wielded political power, at that time, had failed to comprehend his strategy. The hero of many a battle found fault with the then government for removing him from the post of Army Commander on May 31, 2022, and appointing him as the CDS, with effect from June 01, 2024, seven months before his scheduled retirement.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa promoted Maj. Gen. Vikum Liyanage to the rank of Lt. Gen. and appointed him the Army Commander.

General Silva stressed that at the time President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had to flee the country, he was away on official business as the CDS.

Declaring that his 41-year military career couldn’t be challenged by anyone under any circumstances, General Silva paid a glowing tribute to the late General Wijaya Wimalaratne, the founding father of one of the foremost fighting regiments for facilitating his career. Recalling that he joined the Army at a time the deaths of soldiers was routine, the brave frontline officer found fault with the disorganised and illogical security policy of the then government.

General Silva proudly recalled that he was the first officer to be taken to the Gajaba Regiment as a Second Lieutenant.

Referring to major ground offensives conducted in the Northern theatre leading to the Eelam War IV, General Silva said that Yal Devi operation conducted in late 1993 was the only one he didn’t participate. Yal Devi, launched from Elephant Pass, resulted in considerable losses to the Army, in terms of both men and material, and was called off by the then Army Chief Lt. Gen. Cecil Waidyaratne.

Making reference to his role in leading the Air Mobile Brigade in saving what he called the Muhamalai national front of which ¾ had been brought under enemy control, General Silva declared that he was the only officer holding the rank of Second Lieutenant or the equivalent rank in other forces to receive gallantry medals Weera Wickrema, Rana Wikrama and Ranashura simultaneously.

Shavendra Silva was promoted to the rank of Brigadier in 2007, the year the then Army Chief Lt. Gen. Sarath Fonseka opened another front in the Vanni theatre.

General Silva said that he was tasked to spearhead Task Force 1 (TF 1)after its original commander Brigadier Chagi Gallage fell sick. The outgoing CDS briefly mentioned the major victories achieved by TF 1 later named 58 Division on both the Vanni west and east before the Division reached Vellamullivaikkal.

The former Army Chief said that if the great role played by his Division in the eradication of the LTTE couldn’t be properly recorded, it would be a tragedy of immense proportions. The CDS stressed that his Division, having launched offensive operations on the Mannar front in late 2007 fought its way to Vellamullivaikkal – a distance of about 200 kms overcoming fierce resistance.

General Silva talked proudly of his tenure at the UN as Sri Lanka’s No 02 there with the focus on his role in paving the way for the deployment of an SLAF squadron, consisting of six helicopters in the Central African Republic, and setting up of a military hospital in South Sudan.

President Maithripala Sirisena appointed Shavendra the Army Commander on August 19, 2019, and President Gotabaya Rajapaksa made him Acting CDS with effect from 01 Jan., 2020.