Rescuing Iranian sailors: Kudos to Govt. but role of armed forces must be recognised

Whatever side of the political divide one is on, Sri Lanka’s intervention to rescue the Iranian navy personnel in international waters in the Indian Ocean needs to be lauded. It is not a situation that Sri Lanka wanted to be in but in the middle of a widening conflict engulfing several nations in the Middle East and Gulf States; it was inevitable that the war would spill over to the Indian Ocean. One would have expected India to step in in such a situation, but instead Sri Lankan got grown into a  ‘big brother’ who conveniently washed its hands of assisting the Iranian ships and let Sri Lanka take on the task.

It is under worsening entanglement brought on by the decisions by Israel and the US to attack Iran that the Sri Lanka Government was called on to assist the Iranians. With the necessary political backing, the Sri Lankan Navy and Sri Lanka Air Force personnel took on the task and executed it without a hitch which could make all Sri Lankans proud of members of its armed forces in particular.

Be it in the humanitarian operations to free the country and bring a brutal separatist war to an end in 2009 to the assistance rendered in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwah and now rescuing the Iranian nationals, the members of the armed force have always been in the front line, at risk to their life and limb.

For a Government that has, since taking office, being reluctant to acknowledge the role of the country’s armed forces and keen to downgrade them, there was some acknowledgement from President Anura Kumara Dissanayake of their role in rescuing the Iranian nationals. Addressing media personnel on Thursday night, the President said the Navy and, in particular, the Air Force engaged in a major operation to rescue the sailors.

They also took on the task of transporting the injured to hospitals from the sunk ship, recovering bodies and having them stored  appropriately for repatriation on a later date as well as evacuating 208 sailors from the second ship and transferring them to the Welisara Navy Camp to be housed there for the foreseeable future.

The strength of any sovereign state is the strength of its armed forces. Instead of relegating them to a corner, they must be given their due place with greater  investment in recruitment and in training  for the armed forces as well as more investment in newer and better equipment.

There is a misconception that with the end of the separatist’s war, Sri Lanka can rest on its laurels thinking we are safe. But the 2018 Easter Sunday terrorist attacks were a wakeup call that no country is safe from terrorism and hence the need for continued recruitment  and training of the armed forces as well as the intelligence agencies so that we won’t be caught napping again.

The National People’s Power (NPP) since taking power has shown step motherly treatment towards the members of the armed forces. The have been downgraded from being called ‘Ranaviruwo’ 

 (war heroes) to soldaduwo (soldiers), a word that the President himself used on Independence Day celebrations. Even those announcing the live commentary at the event were asked to refrain from using the word ‘Ranaviruwo’ and refer to the members of the armed forces as ‘soldaduwo” as well as play down any reference to their achievements during the separatists war.

Now the same President and his Government have no choice but to fall back on the armed forces of the country to salvage the country’s image in the middle of a widening global conflict.  While the President should be given credit for taking the call to get the Iranians to safety in Sri Lanka, due credit should be given to the Navy and Air Force personnel who took great risks in carrying out the rescue/evacuation operations.