10 December 2019 04:32 pm
Defence Secretary Major General (Retd) Kamal Gunaratne said on yesterday even though the country was liberated from terrorism, LTTE ideology continues to remain.
“You all have contributed to the liberation of the country from terrorism, but still we have to remember that LTTE ideology continues to remain. In the recent past, there were political hunts behind War Heroes and it was sad to see how some of our great guys were put behind bars for no fault of theirs,” he said.
The Defence Secretary made these remarks during his maiden visit to the new Army Headquarters at Sri Jayewardenepura on Monday (9) morning.
He called upon all Army Officers to shoulder the responsibility of national security and ensure the safety for our entire nation as a huge task that lies ahead of them since military career is the noblest profession in the world.
“Now that with the regime change, our prioritized attention is on national security and the President, myself and the Commander of the Army would not let down the national security concerns of the public. You can now be assured of it. This is the magnificent organization, for which the entire country is indebted, and you, being stakeholders in that proud organization have a bigger role to play to take the country forward. To match with professional standards we need to live with pride as a proud soldier. You have a well-respected Commander who would seriously address your issues when it comes to business. As military men we have to live up to the standards,” he said.
“That is why you are today blessed with a marvellous and exceptionally magnificent new HQ like this, thanks to the vision and thinking of the President. I have seen many such foreign Headquarters, but there is no match to this one at Sri Jayawardenepura,” he said.
“April 21 attack was due to nothing, but the sheer negligence and ignorance of responsible persons at the highest level. This had been carried out by a handful of misguided followers of the great religion of Islam. Islam, being a religion with great virtues has never advocated murder of innocent civilians. It never tells followers to kill people like dogs. More than 500 injured personnel, including children are still under treatment and we as defenders of the nation should not allow any repetition of such violence,” the Defence Secretary stressed.