Govt bails out Fonseka

So sweet had been the latest query by the UN to Sri Lanka this time that the government was making sure that even the people in the far flung regions of the country got to know what it was all about. The enthusiasm displayed by the government was such that the cynics started joking that it was the government which had pleaded with the UN this time and got it to attack Sri Lanka based on Sarath Fonseka’s allegations. Even a handful of realists too started believing it.
The eternally vilified UN became a saviour overnight and the government was thanking its stars, or so it appeared. For once it appeared that the government was having a field day and Fonseka, notwithstanding his clarification, was fixed for life.
However it only took a while for things to take a different turn and make the impossible happen.
A missive was fired by the Human Rights Ministry to the UN pointing out that the former CDS has clarified the matter, the fact that he has been misquoted, and therefore there was no basis for the UN query. The Ministry letter to the UN read “Since your letter was based on a report of allegations by General Fonseka which he has clarified in a manner that negates the story, I assume you will now withdraw your letter,”
In short in the process of countering the UN charge Sri Lanka had bailed out Fonseka in such a way that hereafter no one in the government would be able to accuse the General of betraying the nation. The government after all has accepted General’s denial and vindicated him from the charge that rocked the country for the last weeks or so.
So incredible had been the turn of events that some are asking whether Fonseka had reached an agreement with the government to withdraw from the presidential race.
True that there’s no way of the government admitting that it killed the three LTTE seniors when they offered to surrender. It had to defend itself. However no one, especially the opposition which was wondering how to come out with the mess created by General’s faux pas, expected the government to draft the reply in such a way, vindicating Fonseka so openly. By the time the reply to the UN came the joint opposition was looking for an out of the box solution to come out of the mess created by Fonseka and planning to teach a lesson to the scribes who landed him in trouble.
Now there’s no need to look around. The opposition had finally got the shield that it badly wanted to defend Fonseka from those who brand him a traitor. The accusers themselves had handed it over to them.