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Lieutenant General Jagath Jayasuriya, Commander of the Army delivering his address to the troops attending the 62nd Anniversary & Army Day parade at CR & FC grounds Monday (10) morning called upon all in the Army to work harder towards nation-building while protecting our dignity and pride we won without leaving space for any treacherous act to re-emerge. Here is the full text of his message to the troops;
It is with a sense of humble pride I address you today when the undeterred Sri Lanka Army celebrates its 62nd anniversary and Army Day.
First of all, let me extend my sincere thanks to all those who organized this parade of high standards and colourfulness.
Bringing our discipline, nurtured through our great cultural ethos as a leverage and a nation rich with a proud history to the fore, we all worked towards creating a united Sri Lanka. We passed so many eras in our history and managed to resurrect again as a nation, despite various hardships, invasions and obstacles. Defeating maniac passion for terrorism, we contributed lavishly towards unification of the country and the nation, following on the footsteps of our ancestral royalties and their commanders. We, as an undeterred Army stunned the whole world through this move.
Unflagging and invaluable contribution made in the span of past 62 years by former Army Commanders, all senior officers, non-commissioned officers and all ranks, enabled the Army to muster all energy, needed to lead the Army to victory, setting aside their personal considerations, despite dangers posed to their valuable lives. On the occasion of our 62nd Anniversary, they deserve our gratitude and tribute of the highest degree.
It is obvious that our Commander-in-Chief His Excellency, the President Mahinda Rajapaksa with his firm determination and commitment, derived from our past cultural ethos and ancient grandeur eradicated terrorism from our soil which was sometime not possible even for some overseas professional armies. Now, we are a free and independent nation. Those of us who gave life to this land again, I need not remind you, have a bigger share of responsibility now. We have never been a communal-minded group. We should tell this truth to pro-terrorist world-wide elements who continue to spread malicious allegations and distortions. During Humanitarian Operations, we gave pride of place to the notion of country’s national consciousness and never worked as communal-minded people. We opposed only the cycle of terrorism. Today, all of us, Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims, Burghers enjoy this spirit of freedom since we prioritized national consciousness concerns more than anything else. Time has come to regenerate the country’s development and rebuilding of our nation. Dividends of peace as well as benefits of the development belong to all of us, we should not forget.
Identical to the role played by the Army for liberation of the country, the Army as at present is rendering a similar service as far as government’s war for development is concerned. Under the direction of Hon Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Secretary Defence, our troops are engaged in a variety of assignments like resettlement, infrastructure building, field constructions, agricultural projects, engineering tasks, etc across the country while providing collective labour to various other governmental development efforts.
What a wealth of experience we have in the past connected to our numerous national relief roles in times of natural disasters and catastrophes, and how we effected those measures on behalf of our people? We take pride in that notion of Sri Lankan-ness, away from communal-mindedness.
We as a nation replete with dignity, a rich history and a unique culture are well conscious of traits of gratitude as a community of humans. Never have we forgotten our soldiers who defended the nation at the risk of their own lives in the battlefield. Nor can I forget them either. Two years have passed since I assumed office as Commander of the Army. Since I myself personally witnessed the degree of their sacrifice in the battlefield, I concentrated fully on welfare roles related to our soldiers during this period after I assumed office.
Unprecedented and unheard in any country, the ‘Mihindu Seth Medura’, a well-equipped modern wellness resort, built from the ‘Api Wenuwen Api’ project funds under the auspices of Secretary Defence Hon Gotabaya Rajapaksa is now in operation at Attidiya, and another similar resort, Abimansala at Anuradhapura under ‘Brave Hearts’ project which takes care of dependent War Heroes for the rest of their lives has been established. The project to be spread to provincial areas receives the full patronage of His Excellency, the President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the government. In addition, special attention has now been focused on possibilities of acquiring artificial limbs of the highest technical standards, through the budgetary allocations, made for Ranaviru Rehabilitation work.
Projects such as financial support for War Hero house construction, increase of housing loans, sale of motorbikes and three wheelers on credit basis, etc are some of the welfare projects that have been so far launched. Parallel welfare projects, initiated both by Ministry of Defence Seva Vanitha Unit and Sri Lanka Army Seva Vanitha Branch for land purchase, housing, grant of loans, scholarships, surgical operations, interest-free loans and several other large scale supporting schemes are already at work offering dividends.
While safeguarding all inherent characteristics of a professional Army, we have been able to organize tattoos, sports events, colours nights, victorious parades and introduce new technology, time spearing practices, recovery of traveling expenses, etc to the Army while minimizing transport difficulties. These are privileges, all of us have received.
We all during physical training as well as in battlefields are used to work under one command for a collective purpose while showing the pride of the Army which is unique. Presence of trained instructors in all the Regiments would no doubt promote the image of the Army more and more as it would also raise our disciplinary standards. The numbers of senior non-commissioned officers that go to attend the drill training course in UK are to be increased in the future and it is to be shared among all the Regiments. That was another achievement we gained.
By organizing mammoth international forums in order to counter vicious allegations leveled against us at international sectors by those who support skeletal remains of terrorism, we provided effective mechanisms as our responses. Joint military exercises with foreign participation, conduct of training and academic courses with foreign students, our UN deployments for peacekeeping assignments, etc helped immensely to boost the image of the Army both at local and international levels.
It is our bounden duty therefore to protect the dignity and pride we won without leaving space for any treacherous act to re-emerge, let me underline at this occasion.
Sports in the Army as well as all your achievements in the field of sports have brought the Army to a unique platform which we can be proud of. In the future too, all support and facilities for promotion of sports would be given to all of you on behalf of the Army. Your personal commitment to the sports is also equally essential, I would like to note here.
In conclusion, I recall unparalleled sacrifices made by fallen War Heroes as well as by those who became disable and my thoughts go to members of their families at this moment of our anniversary. I also acknowledge with gratitude the contribution of the civil staff in the Army performing various types of services.
At the time, we mark our 62nd Anniversary with a wealth of experience, let me, as Commander of the Army ask all of you to be more determined to elevate the Army to better standards in all spheres. For that, may you all have courage and strength. The Army will then inevitably receive the nation’s highest tribute.
Let me wish all of you a prosperous future !
