Situation Report
By Iqbal Athas
10th March 2002
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Maniacal midnight assault at Navy Headquarters

There was bonhomie among the retired military top brass when they met for cocktails on the night of Saturday, March 2, at the plush Officer's Mess at the Sri Lanka Navy Headquarters in Colombo Fort.

The ambience offered by the well stocked bar and its surroundings has made this Mess hall the most sought after, not only by those serving or retired, but over the years by officials of the Ministry of Defence. So much so, some visiting dignitaries related to defence have been lavishly entertained there.

Last Saturday's event was a Rs 500 per person get-together by the Association of Retired Flag Rank Officers (ARFRO) – former officers who served in the rank of Brigadier and above in the Army and equivalent ranks in the Navy and the Air Force.

On that uneventful night, those on duty at Navy Headquarters had hardly anything worthwhile to worry about. Naval craft deployed at sea had nothing untoward to report.

After making sure the ARFRO party was over and the guests had departed, a lady Staff Duty Officer was on her way to her cabin, located one floor above the Officers' Mess.

She had almost reached the door, when she walked past a Mess Assistant – a position held by sailors holding the rank of Petty Officer or Sergeant in the Army when he asked whether she needed anything. She had told him to ask someone to bring her a jug of water. That done, she retired.

It was around 1.30 a.m. when she was woken by knocks on the door. She opened it only to be hugged by an intruder. When she tried to raise cries, he squeezed her neck to silence her. She fought hard. Managing to extricate herself for a moment, she pleaded with the intruder not to do any harm to her.

The intruder did not relent.

The legal definition of what he committed, alleged rape or molestation, remains to be ascertained at an official inquiry. But the lady officer is shattered with bruises on her face and neck.

An incident which never took place in the 53 year old history of the Sri Lanka Navy had occurred, of all places, in the well secured, hallowed headquarters of the Navy, the citadel venerated by every sailor and officer since February 1, 1938, when Captain W.G. Beauchamp, became the first Commanding Officer, Ceylon Naval Volunteer Force / Ceylon Naval Volunteer Naval Reserve in the rank of Commander. The two institutions were the precursor to the Sri Lanka Navy.

The intruder ? It was the Mess Assistant. He had served along with his colleagues at the cocktail party. When that was over, he had moved to the upper floor to ask the unsuspecting lady officer whether she needed anything.

Having attended to her request, he waited until she retired to her cabin to knock at the door. Then he pounced on her for the maniacal assault.

It was only after the Mess Attendant withdrew from his crude and cruel adventure that the lady officer did raise cries. Alarmed officials placed the man in custody.

By Sunday morning, the news had reached not only Naval establishments countrywide but also Naval craft at sea. Many officers and other ranks, both male and female, were horrified.

What shocked them most is that the incident did not occur in a remote village or an abandoned house. It was within the nation's highest security zone, just a stone's throw away from the Janadhipathi Mandiraya or President's House. It was also within a few hundred yards from where many in the Navy high command and their families lived.

It occurred just six days before International Women's Day where Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, promised to increase women's participation and contribution in the political field. So did President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.

This is the second major incident concerning Naval discipline. The first came when late Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, flew in to Colombo in July 1987, to sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement, the precursor to the arrival of Indian peace keeping troops in Sri Lanka. At a Naval honour guard connected with his departure ceremonies, a sailor in the front rank suddenly raised his rifle and attempted to hit Mr. Gandhi on the head. He evaded the attack.

An acutely embarrassed Navy Commander Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri, promptly appointed a one man Board of Inquiry-Commodore Tissera Samarasinghe, the former Deputy Commander of Eastern Naval Area, and the newly appointed Naval Assistant to the Commander. He recorded summary of evidence and reported on Friday that a prima facie case existed against the Mess Assistant.

Vice Admiral Sandagiri is to now appoint a three member Court Martial headed by a Rear Admiral. If found guilty, the sailor faces a jail sentence. However, he has a right of appeal in a court of law.

In the past weeks, this was not the only incident to clearly highlight that discipline has hit an unprecedentedly low ebb in the Sri Lanka Navy, already in the eye of a storm over its inability to prevent Tiger guerrillas from smuggling in military hardware through north eastern high seas.

At the Navy's base in Kalpitiya, west of Puttalam, an Able Seaman opened fire at a Leading Seaman after a personal quarrel erupted between them.

The latter fled for cover and avoided three volleys hitting him. At the Navy's base at "Rangala," in Colombo, a sailor shot himself dead.

An officer in the Navy Commander's Secretariat last week complained to Vice Admiral Sandagiri that a senior officer had barged into his office and abused him in obscene language in the presence of other officers and sailors. This was for declining to carry out a task that was outside his area of responsibility.

An officer allegedly involved in a six million rupee fraud is to be granted an honourable discharge. Another, who was at the centre of an investigation over unauthorised siphoning of ammunition has been nominated for a year long course.

The Sri Lanka Navy, described as the nation's first line of defence because of its maritime role, came in for criticism in view of its inability to prevent Tiger guerrilla mid sea transfers and smuggling of military hardware to the country.

Government's intelligence agencies have said that the guerrillas have been able to smuggle in at least five different shipments since they declared a cessation of hostilities on Christmas eve last year. The last shipment came just hours before the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and the Government signed an open ended ceasefire agreement.

Commenting on the Navy's inability to intercept the last shipment in an interview with ITN TV Channel, its Commander Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri, said the Sea Tigers possessed 30 mm guns on their craft as against 23 mm guns used by his men.

This, he explained, was the reason why the Navy was unable to prevent the guerrillas from smuggling in military hardware from outside – the sole means by which they have been able to sustain a high intensity war.

Vice Admiral Sandagiri's remarks have raised the all important question whether there has been serious flaws in the Navy's forward planning in the years past and now. Did they not foresee the threats that would be posed by the guerrillas developing a Naval wing, the Sea Tigers? Why could not measures be taken in the past many months?

An official souvenir issued to mark the Navy's 50 years of existence gives an interesting insight into events since the outbreak of Eelam War One.

Here are some excerpts:

"Eelam War 1 – This phase of the conflict began with the ambush of an Army patrol in 1983 and continued till the arrival of the IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) although operations during the IPKF's stay can also be included in this phase. During its earlier part, the LTTE consolidated itself as the dominant and only force.

"There was no threat to the Navy at sea, but the Navy had to assess the effectiveness of its craft against the new dangers. The LTTE craft were fibre glass dinghies (FGD) fitted with multiple outboard motors (OBM): unarmed but fast. They were meant to carry personnel and logistic requirements to and from the mainland only. The Gun Boats were too heavily armed to be effective, and the patrol craft too lightly armed and slow.

"The Navy thus assessed it would require Fast Attack Craft that could achieve 35 knots and carry 20 mm and 12.7 mm heavy machine guns, and orders were placed accordingly. Meanwhile, another strategy was propounded at government level: placing large craft at 5 to 10 miles from each other, equipped with good radar, to form a surveillance screen that could both detect and intercept infiltrators. The locally built "Jayasagara" and "Sagarawardena" were used for this, playing the role of "Mother Ship" and the fast FGDs playing the "daughter" role. This was fine against smugglers and slower fishing craft doing logistical runs for the LTTE, and the Navy recorded phenomenal levels of contraband catches.

"But the faster, personnel carrying craft were safe. Fitted with even more engines, they could penetrate the screen and out run the interceptors. The craft that the Navy had earlier ordered now arrived, the Fast Attack Craft. The Dvoras could detect, outrun and destroy any LTTE craft.

For a while, they sought an answer in using more powerful OBMs and operation in shallow waters. But the next generation of Dvoras, the Super Dvoras with lesser draught, countered this tactic……….."

"The Indian interlude – IPKF …….The Indian Navy could do nothing against the LTTE. Their cordon of ships at the maritime boundary was no barrier to them. The SLN craft operating well within territorial waters was another proposition. In Operation Samagi – joint patrolling – the SLN came off best.

The Indian Navy was found fault with, by senior authorities, when during one 14 month period they had only four interceptions against over 150 by the Sri Lanka Navy………

"Eelam War 2 ……the LTTE had added a new weapon to its arsenal. Instead of merely trying to outrun the Navy, they converted FGDs into fighting ships by fitting heavy machine guns on board.

A flotilla could thus take upon one or two naval craft by engaging them while the most useful units made a getaway. Still the Navy was superior, but no longer vulnerable……

"….. and the LTTE now developed a technique they had successfully used on land, and even against Rajiv Gandhi himself: the suicide bomb.

At sea, FGDs were modified to carry large quantities of explosives with small crews. The naval vessel targeted was engaged by several armed FGDs and rammed by the suicide boat………

"Eelam War 3 This phase of the conflict is yet too recent to view objectively. At sea, the LTTE decided to take on the Navy and did so successfully on some occasions.

Their strategy is to deprive the Navy of vessels, or to capture some. Although they have sunk vessels, they have not yet been able to cripple the Navy. The "Wolf-pack" attack has also not always worked as counter strategies have been evolved by the Navy. …..

"…..The lessons learnt over the centuries remain yet valid. The sea remains ours; and as long as that is so, the land will yet remain one country, one nation."

Though not listed in the souvenir in view of time constraints, another very significant move at sea during Eelam War 3 was the introduction of "Operation Waruna Kirana." That was the placing of a permanent Naval cordon in the north eastern seas off Sri Lanka to prevent Tiger guerrillas from smuggling in military supplies.

As exclusively revealed in The Sunday Times (Situation Report – June 3, 2001), this operation which came under the Navy's Eastern Naval Area covered waters off the coast of Mullaitivu in a southerly direction up to Kokilai.

Naval craft deployed in this cordon were required to liaise closely with craft deployed in the Navy's two year old "Operation Seal," where large boats patrolled some 60 miles off the coast.

The Sri Lanka Air Force shifted its Air Surveillance Command Centre from Anuradhapura to Trincomalee to assist "Operation Waruna Kirana."

The SLAF not only conducted reconnaissance flights but also operated UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) to detect any Sea Tiger boat movements.

These reconnaissance flights extended from 100 to 150 miles off the coast, waters which are well within Sri Lanka's Exclusive Economic Zone in the north eastern waters. "Operation Waruna Kirana" still continues. It is in this backdrop, that the Navy has now declared that the guerrillas were more advanced since they possessed more powerful guns than the Navy.

Be that as it may, Navy Commander Vice Admiral Sandagiri, was quick to re-iterate to his senior men the official position in respect of Naval operations in the north eastern seas.

He told a March 1 conference of Principal Staff Officers and Area Commanders that as far as the Navy was concerned, nothing has changed.

It was the responsibility of the Navy to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. This included combating any threat including smuggling of military hardware. He said such operations should continue unimpeded.

The Navy Chief also took the opportunity to berate the media for the recent criticism.

He declared that the media could do nothing to change things and asserted that destiny was a matter that was pre-determined. Those concerned in the Government were well aware of this, he declared.

Whilst stepping up measures to curb weapons smuggling in the north eastern seas, the Navy will also increase its fleet in the coming months by purchasing ten more Fast Attack Craft (FACs) and 19 Inshore Patrol Craft.

Financial allocations for this purpose is to be made in the upcoming budget be presented in Parliament on March 18.

It is the Navy's preparedness to prevent induction of weapons that can prevent an escalated higher intensity conflict should the current peace initiatives fail.

One is reminded of the words of Sun Tzu, the Chinese philosopher, written more than 2500 years ago. He said:

"It is a principle of war that we do not assume the enemy will not come, but instead we must be prepared for his coming; not to presume he will not attack, but instead make our own position unassailable."

Such preparations of course extend to preventing an enemy from amassing weapons.

Excuses can only place the future of a nation and its people in peril.


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