Slamming Sri Lankan government for lack of "clear policy" to reach out to the Tamils, outgoing chief of defence staff Sarath Fonseka said it is "yet to win the peace" despite the military victory against LTTE and cautioned about another uprising in future.
The top army general, who quit from his post on Thursday amid speculation that he might be the opposition's choice to take on President Mahinda Rajapaksa in the next year's presidential polls, also regretted that many Tamils displaced by the war were living in "appalling conditions".
In a strongly-worded letter to Rajapaksa, Fonseka, the architect of military offensive that led to the annihilation of rebel Tamil Tigers in May, said the plight of internally displaced persons is a "point of great concern to me".
"Your Excellency's government has yet to win the peace in spite of the fact that the Army under my leadership won the war. There is no clear policy to win the hearts and minds of the Tamil people, which will surely ruin the victory attained, paving the way for yet another uprising in the future," Fonseka wrote.
"Thousands of valiant soldiers sacrificed their valuable lives to liberate these unfortunate civilians from the brutality and tyranny of the LTTE in order that they could live in an environment of freedom and democracy. Yet, on Friday many of them are continuing to live in appalling conditions due to the lack of proper planning on the part of the government," he said.
{{/usCountry}}"Thousands of valiant soldiers sacrificed their valuable lives to liberate these unfortunate civilians from the brutality and tyranny of the LTTE in order that they could live in an environment of freedom and democracy. Yet, on Friday many of them are continuing to live in appalling conditions due to the lack of proper planning on the part of the government," he said.
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