Published by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI)

Sri Lankan president’s salute to militarism

By Wije Dias 
28 May 2012

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse used the third anniversary of the defeat of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to stage an unprecedented show of military might. The parade only underscored the degree to which his government rests on the country’s huge military apparatus.

In all, more than 13,500 members of the security forces paraded in Colombo: 398 army officers and 4,628 soldiers, 115 naval officers and 2,651 sailors, 78 air force officers and 1,383 airmen, together with the civil defence force and the police, including the notorious Special Task Force. The parade was accompanied by 148 vehicle columns, a fly-past of 33 war planes and a naval convoy of 72 warships off the coast.

The roads leading to the Galle Face Green were all closed for a week to allow for rehearsals, causing serious disruption to traffic to the central city area. On May 19, the day of the celebrations, ordinary people were totally absent. The event was an entirely military affair—even the children who were brought in to wave the national flag came from a school exclusively set up for the sons and daughters of servicemen.