Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa’s main challenger today accused him of putting his family ahead of the military after the victory in the civil war unlike the Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi who made then Army Chief Sam Manekshaw, a Field Marshal, following the 1971 triumph over Pakistan.
After the Indo-Pakistan war, former prime minister Indira Gandhi gave a promotion to the army commander and made him Field Marshal in recognition, said Sarath Fonseka, who is seeking to unseat Rajapaksa in next month’s elections.
"She, Indira Gandhi, did not hang the photographs of her family alongside hers and give publicity. She did not try to sell the armed forces to win elections", said Fonseka.
The former top general resigned form the army last month, complaining among various things, about his removal from the army commander post and being appointed as the Chief of Defence Staff.
"After the war, she, Gandhi, devoted her time to developing the country. That was why India developed", he told an election rally in Ambalangoda, 86 kilometers from Colombo, yesterday.
He said it was not his intention to become the executive president to make merry or for self-indulgence and abusing its powers at the expense of people.
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