Colombo International Book Fair where tens of thousands of
people lined up for a period of 10 days was over last Sunday. Most went to buy
books and some for just pleasure as another outing. The book; ‘Road to Nadikadal’
by retired Major General Kamal Gunaratne was the highly sold book in the fair
or the best attraction of the all the book fair ever held. The book was
launched recently at a function held at the Ananda College, Colombo.
The reports from the BMICH said that all the copies of the
book were sold out within the first 30 minutes, of the first day of the book fair.
Normally, a novel is printed only 1,000 copies and if a book receives a higher
demand, it goes to 2,000 or 3,000 copies. However, the book by retired Major
General Gunaratne went for 7,000 by the fifth day of the book fair.
Gunaratne’s book is completely based on his battlefield
experience spanning over three decades. In particular, he was the commanding
officer of the 53rd brigade during the final phase of the Eelam war and it was
again his soldiers who killed LTTE leader Prabhakaran on May 19, 2009. That was
the foremost factor that the most believed in with no doubt that he (Major
General Gunaratne) has a story to tell. 
Just after the launch, we had been left some touching facts
to speak and those were also enough to attract a good readership. He made a
heart-touching statement that only one major general from his batch could be
seen and that is a matter to regret. He was clearly saying that his event had
no politics. He gave his own reasons to justify why he invited former President
Mahinda Rajapaksa and Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
According to him, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa; then Defence
Secretary is his first CEO when he begins his duties as a novice second lieutenant.
The former President was invited as he was enough brave to go ahead with the
war sidelining the influence and the pressure for numerous forces to stop the
war. A book launch is a free event and anyone can attend if he or she is
interested in the author or the subject the relevant book speaks. CB Ratnayake
and Geethanjana Gunawardene were such two notable politicos who participated in
the event without invitations.
He should have been invited former Army Commander and
present Cabinet Minister Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka. Gunaratne did not show
any grudge over Fonseka and spoke with respect about him. He was appreciating
his leadership to win the battle and his enthusiasm and eagerness to know a
fact correct and obvious. One can say that Army Chief Fonseka was a ‘tough nut’
as depicted by the telephone conversation between Gunaratne and Fonseka. The
Army Commander lashed out his officer(Gunaratne) in the battle-field. But, each
and everyone say, an army commander must be so.
Further, his book defended the conduct of the Army during
the final phase of war, while categorically denying war crimes allegations. He
does it with no effort and it shows that he is genuine enough.
As a disciplined officer at the Sri Lanka Army, Gunaratne has
been very selective and thoughtful in his book as well as giving comments or
statements over the book. However, the former Army Commander seems gone a bit
of ahead his limit. It may be due to his parliamentary privileges or the orders he received to follow blindly. But, it is
yet to prove by someone responsible that Gunaratne had revealed the war
secrets.
Fonseka gave the major general’s book a huge publicity
without knowing that what he was doing. If he maintains silence or if he was enough
humble to say “Well done, it’s a good job’, the situation could be completely
changed. Gunaratne has a right to write what he experienced and it would useful
for the future generation to get a clear picture how a war against separatism
was ended by the Sri Lankan forces. 
One thing is obvious, that is Ranil Wickremesinghe is a politician cannot be neglected easily. He knows how to employ the people, where to employ and when to employ. When Fonseka, Ranjan, Thewarapperuma play the games on given stages, he plays his role silently. Interested ones also can read former Navy
Commander Karannagoda’s book “Determination”, former LTTE cadre Tamilinie
Jeyakkumaran’s book, young Tamil girl Rathika Pathmanathan’s book and few
others written with first hand experiences.
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