Mahinda Rajapaksa: The President who freed a Nation from Fear

 

The Moment that Changed a Nation

 

There comes a moment in every nation’s history when destiny demands a decision. In Sri Lanka, that moment came in 2006. For three decades, the country had endured unimaginable suffering under the LTTE’s reign of terror — a group that pioneered the suicide vest, abducted children for war, assassinated leaders, and massacred civilians without remorse. A generation had grown up with the constant fear of bombs, bullets, and breaking news of death. For too long, the world stood by even though 32 nations had banned LTTE — even worse, many powerful nations and NGOs enabled the violence by their silent support.  Mahinda Rajapakse was defending the Buddha Sasana that was & is the civilizational foundation & future of this sacred island & for that he cannot be found guilty.

 

This is specifically & covering his service to the Nation & his role as Commander in Chief of Sri Lanka’s Armed Forces.

 

A leader emerged in 2005. When five Presidents before him hesitated, Mahinda Rajapaksa made a bold choice but not before extending the opportunity for peace talks with LTTE-which failed. He chose to end the bloodshed. He did so under the glare of international scrutiny & relentless diplomatic pressure. And in doing so, he not only made history — he gave a nation its future back. But it cost him their wrath & hatred & impetus for revenge.

 

A Nation under siege — The Reality before 2006

 

From mid 1970s to 2006, Sri Lanka saw:

• Over100,000 lives lost to terrorism.
• Multiple suicide bombingsacross every district & province of Sri Lanka.
• Assassinations of Presidents, Ministers, unarmed civilians and even moderate Tamil leaders not to mention killing a foreign Prime Minister on foreign soil.
• Child soldiersabducted from Tamil families and forced into war. A group claiming to represent their own, kidnapped their own & turned them into killers.
• Churches and NGOs used to convert & as covert logistics hubsfor separatist propaganda.
• Foreign-funded “human rights” groups kept silent on LTTE atrocities but jumped to condemn the Armed Forces.

 

All their hypocrisies should now be exposed.

 

Families feared letting children go to school. Commuters feared boarding buses. Parents took separate buses so if anything, untoward happened at least one would be alive. Every ambulance siren was followed by heartbreak. The UN, diplomats, and Western governments watched — some even harbored LTTE fundraisers under the pretext of asylum. These are the people who have the audacity to speak on human rights today.

 

Mahinda Rajapaksa’s turning point: when peace was weaponized

When Mahinda Rajapaksa assumed presidency in November 2005, he inherited a country caught in a false peace brokered by Norway with India’s nod of approval and signed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the LTTE.— a Ceasefire Agreement signed in 2002 that LTTE abused to rearm and regroup was a farce. Even as talks were underway, the LTTE assassinated army officials, kidnapped civilians, and fortified its territories. A much-loved Tamil foreign minister Mr. Lakshman Kadiragamar was gunned down inside his own home.

 

By July 2006, the LTTE’s closure of the Mavil Aru sluice gates, cutting water to over 35,000 Sinhalese and Muslim families, marked the final straw. Water was used as a weapon. The government’s attempt to restore it was met with full-scale attacks.

That was the turning point.

The end of LTTE was precipitated by their own actions.

 

President Rajapaksa declared:

“We gave peace every chance. But the LTTE wanted only war.”

The Leadership Decision: Building the Iron Team

Faced with this growing betrayal, President Rajapaksa made a decision that none before him dared to take. He made it knowing the scale of the consequences.

This is why that decision cannot be forgotten or demeaned using a host of other reasons.

To win a war against an enemy like the LTTE with foreign-backing & support, Mahinda Rajapaksa knew leadership alone was not enough—strategy, unity, and resolve were essential.

He built an unshakeable command structure & rallied the nationalists:

 

His key strategic appointments:

• Gotabaya Rajapaksa– Defense Secretary, whose reforms created a war-ready, intelligence-driven military apparatus. Coordinating the war effort with Commanders who did not see eye to eye.
• General Sarath Fonseka– Army Commander, a battle-hardened soldier who brutally led the armed forces having himself become a victim of a LTTE suicide bomber. He was badly injured in Operation Yaldevi having being shot through the lung.
• Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonetileke– Leader of the air force that neutralized LTTE supply routes.
• Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda– Architect of naval operations that decimated the Sea Tigers & their ability to provide reinforcements to fight via sea.
• Admiral Sarath Weerasekera – who led the Civil Defense Forces that protected the villages.

 

This team transformed a fractured security apparatus into a cohesive, disciplined, and victorious force.

 

He united the tri-forces and police under a single command structure, streamlined logistics, improved troop morale, and launched a humanitarian-focused military campaign. Let us also not forget the countries China, Pakistan, Israel, Russia that provided the military hardware to defeat LTTE when the nations bullying Sri Lanka today refused to do so. High level delegations were regularly sent to India to brief the of the military-humanitarian situation.

Timeline to Victory (2005–2009): Mahinda’s Strategic Steps

 

2006 – Ceasefire Ends

• Mavil Aru marks thefirst major government offensive.
• LTTE exposed as aggressors; government regains initiative.

 

2007 – Eastern Province Liberated

• Thoppigala fallsin July.
• Civil administration and elections begin in the East (democracy returned after decades)

 

2008 – Ceasefire Agreement Abrogated

• OnJanuary 2, 2008, the government formally exits the CFA.
• Launch of fullNorthern offensive into Kilinochchi and Mullaitivu.

 

2009 – Total Defeat of the LTTE

• January 2: Kilinochchi captured.
• May 16–18: Final battle in Mullaitivu; LTTE leaders eliminated.
• May 19: President Rajapaksa declares victory in Parliament.

 

“Today we have liberated the whole country from LTTE terrorism.”

Fighting Two Wars: Military Offence & the Diplomatic Siege

 

As the Sri Lankan forces advanced into LTTE-held territory, the world reacted — not in support, but in sabotage.

 

Even as the military advanced, another battle was raging—an international campaign to stop the final assault.

 

Western actors and organizations demanded:

• Ceasefires that would’ve allowed the LTTE terrorists to regroup.
• Halts on “heavy weapons” even as soldiers were under fire.
• Humanitarian corridors, which the LTTE turned into cover.

 

United Nations

 

Ban Ki‑moon, then UN Secretary‑General (12 April 2009), welcomed a 48‑hour pause in hostilities and urged the Sri Lankan government to uphold humanitarian standards:

“I call on the Government forces to adhere scrupulously to the commitments of the Government about non‑use of heavy weapons… This is a terrible conflict that must be ended as soon as possible.”

 

Rosemary DiCarlo, US Envoy to the UN (27 March 2009), criticized Sri Lankan military shelling in civilian areas:

 

“We are very concerned that the government of Sri Lanka continues its shelling in areas where there are large numbers of civilians… we understand quite a number of civilians have perished because of these attacks.”

 

Walter Kaelin, UN Special Representative on internally displaced persons (7 April 2009), warned:

“…we’ll end up with a bloodbath… this must by all means be avoided.”

 

European Union

 

EU Foreign Ministers (24 February 2009) jointly called for an immediate ceasefire:

 

“The EU calls for an immediate ceasefire thereby providing for the establishment of full and unrestricted access…to allow aid to reach… and enable traumatized civilians to leave.”

 

US, UK, Japan & Norway (co‑chairs)

 

Diplomats including Hillary Clinton and David Miliband (early April 2009) urged both warring sides to pause:

 

“Clinton and Miliband called for a ‘temporary no fire period’ in the Sri Lanka conflict.”

 

Additionally, Hillary Clinton stated publicly:

“the entire world is very disappointed… it is causing such untold suffering.”

 

But President Rajapaksa refused to bow:

 

“I will not betray the soldiers who gave their lives.

Nor the people still trapped under the LTTE.”

 

International Interference:

• TheUnited Nations, the EU, and Western embassies continuously demanded ceasefires — even when the LTTE used these to regroup. We can recall the landing of the foreign secretaries from UK & France. They were packed off disappointed.
• Faith-based NGOs, who never condemned the LTTE’s recruitment of child soldiers, accused the government of “genocide” terms they toyed with to generate a propaganda of lies to build a front to rally against the war effort.
• Western media ran one-sided narratives, ignoring the300,000 Tamil civilians rescued by the army or any of the humanitarian efforts taken by the armed forces.

 

President Rajapaksa refused to be dictated to. He knew that this war was not just physical, but moral and diplomatic. The enemy had even parked a ship to rescue the terrorist leader.

 

His refusal to stop the final advance in May 2009, despite direct foreign threats, was a testament to his resolve:

“I will not betray the soldiers who gave their lives.

Nor the people still trapped under the LTTE.”

 

These statements no Sri Lankan leader would dare utter. But Mahinda Rajapakse did.

 

When even after 16years elected leaders are shy to praise the War Heroes as Ranaviruwo but “soldiers” to appease to political correctness & funding partners, what more is there to say.

Victory — But No Applause, Only Accusations

On May 19, 2009, Mahinda Rajapaksa addressed the nation. Sri Lanka had achieved what no nation in the world had done — it defeated a terrorist group militarily while rescuing civilians simultaneously. The country had peace for the first time in 30 years. People who hid under beds in fear of LTTE have the freedom to mock President Rajapakse. It only displays their caliber.

 

The Aftermath: Rewarded with Accusations

 

But instead of recognition & accolades, the West unleashed the UNHRC.

• They demanded “accountability” via legally questionable resolutions without acknowledging LTTE crimes.
• They imposedsanctions on war heroes – they promoted retributive justice against the war heroes that ended terrorism & restorative justice for the terrorists.
• They fundedTamil diaspora networks to reignite separatism & now even permit terrorist monuments for a separate State that terrorists fought for.

 

Not a single Western leader was prosecuted for the bloodshed in Iraq, Libya, or Afghanistan—yet Sri Lanka, which defeated a terrorist group and saved civilians, was singled out.

 

The Darusman Report, commissioned by the UNSG, was not a UN-sanctioned inquiry but a biased opinion with zero legal basis, leaked & became the basis for legally questionable resolutions—used to falsely reframe Sri Lanka’s victory as a crime.

 

The same nations that destroyed Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya with false intelligence and bombed hospitals with drones had the audacity to judge Sri Lanka.

 

The UNSG never commissioned a Panel of Experts for Western illegal invasions. But for Sri Lanka — a victory against terrorism — he did. It was an ugly precedent created only for Sri Lanka. The first such created after a conflict ended. A conflict that UN/UNSG /UNHRC had done nothing to stop. Statements never ended terrorism. The hypocrisy was deafening.

Warning: The Milosevic Trap — and why Sri Lanka must never repeat it

 

Slobodan Milošević was falsely accused of genocide, jailed, and died mysteriously in prison. 14 years later, he was exonerated — but it was too late. He was not alive to be told he did not commit war crimes. This was the punishment the West gave him. Ironically, Serbia was also accused of killing 40,000 which ended up being less than 2000.

 

They are trying to do the same with Mahinda Rajapaksa. His reputation was targeted. His popularity demonized. His victory reframed as a crime. But the people saw through it. He lives. And he must be honored while alive — not mourned in regret.

The Legacy of a National Liberator

 

History is written by the powerful. But truth is written by the people.

The People of Sri Lanka must do their duty by a leader that has outshone all post-independent elected leaders.

 

Mahinda Rajapaksa:

• Freed a nation from 30 years of terrorism,
• Rescued hundreds of thousands of Tamil civilians,
• Resisted international pressure with dignity and courage,
• Showed the people of the North & East development that they had never seen under LTTE rule.
• And proved thatSri Lanka does not need to be lectured by colonizers, but led by patriots.

 

He is not a war criminal.
He is not a dictator.
He is the liberator of Sri Lanka.
And it’s time we tell the world the real story. The one’s that spread lies to tarnish his image are those either hired, full of hatred, envy & jealousy as they can never match up to him.

 

Let the Record Show:

If Sri Lanka breathes peace today, it is because one man made the hardest decision of all on behalf of the entire Nation.
Mahinda Rajapaksa deserves not accusations, but admiration. Not sanctions, but salutes.

 

What can the Nation do to show their appreciation:

 

• Build a “Defender of the Nation” national monument – commemorating Mahinda Rajapaksa, the tri-forces, and the rescued Tamil civilians — side by side with inscription:

“A nation united, a terror defeated — under one flag, one leader, one army.”

• Publish a People’s Declaration of Gratitude – signature campaign to defend his legacy against false war crimes accusations, acknowledge the peace he restored, thank his for the development North & East saw thereafter.

 

• His political leadership must become a lesson in school textbooks alongside the leadership efforts that led to the War Victory.

 

• A documentary film “The Man who decided to end Terror” – covering LTTE terror, betrayal by international actors, heroism & humanitarianism of the armed forces and the change North & East saw after LTTE was defeated.

 

• A “Rajapakse Doctrine” for Global South Sovereignty – a policy & research platform that promotes national unity, sovereign decision-making, resistance to foreign interference, Sri Lanka’s counter terrorism model in patriotic think tanks & He will share with leaders like Nkrumah Sankara, Putin – everyone who resisted imperial agendas.

 

The West has assassinated or overthrown countless leaders who stood up to them — from Lumumba to Gaddafi, Saddam to Allende, Sankara to Milošević.
But Mahinda Rajapaksa survived, succeeded, and stood firm.

 

That alone demands not just respect, but a national duty to protect his legacy.

 

He is the only living President in the world who defeated terrorism militarily — and gave his people peace. That legacy is not his alone. It belongs to the people. Let us defend it, honor it, and carry it forward.

Shenali D Waduge