Sri Lanka's top police officer's version of the rise and the fall of one of the world's most feared terror groups, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was released at a function here on Sunday.
“In the 21st century, Sri Lanka is the only country in the world to root out terrorism,” said Inspector-General of Police Mahinda Balasuriya. “Sri Lanka sent a very clear message to the world on how to defeat terrorism through humanitarian operations,” he added.
The book is an abridged, updated and revised version of his doctoral thesis on “National security and terrorism - a case study”, that he completed from the University of St. Petersburg, Russia. The country's 31st IGP is also the only top officer in the force to hold a Ph.D.
Mr. Balasuriya said the book would be useful for all security professionals and would serve as a guideline to meet future challenges. Later, talking to The Hindu , he said he planned to publish the book in India. He had not set a deadline for publishing it in India, he added.
Receiving the first copy of the publication from Mr. Balasuriya, Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa said it was the same security force that had existed for long that defeated the LTTE, asserting that Sri Lanka did not import personnel from third countries. “It was the same Army, the same Navy and the same Air Force. How did we manage?” he asked, and pointed to leadership as the deciding factor.
Recalling a meeting with the former Indian National Security Advisor, M.K. Narayanan, at Temple Trees, the official residence of the Sri Lankan President, a day after the military defeat of the LTTE in 2009, the Defence Secretary said he told Mr. Narayanan: “Sri Lanka took 30 years to correct the mistake that we did during JRJ's [J.R. Jayawardene, former President] period.” The mistake was not to keep India informed and take into confidence, he told The Hindu , in response to a question.
