The Sri Lankan Army’s commander for Jaffna, Major General Mahinda Hathurusinghe, will take up a new post from Monday.
Delivering some departing remarks, Hathurusinghe claimed that the army did all they could to “meet the urgent needs and aid development” in Jaffna, despite the fact that the people saw the military as a “destructive” force.
Hathurusinghe celebrated the “good relationship” the army had built with the people, but lamented not learning Tamil during his time in Jaffna.
Hathurusinghe also said that the number of soldiers in Jaffna had more than halved since the beginning of his term, with “only” 13,150 soldiers deployed, down from the 27,200 in November 2009.
Hathurusinghe in a recent interview with Al Jazeera laughed off accusations of rape, torture and abductions by Sri Lankan forces.
Australian Senator Lee Rhiannon in November was detained in Sri Lanka for speaking out against sexual abuses, in which Hathurusinghe was also implicated. Rhiannon in her statement said:
“Large numbers of women regularly suffer sexual abuse perpetrated by members of the Sri Lankan armed forces. One lawyer described to us the evidence collected about these crimes. In one case they have text messages from Major General Mahinda Hathurusingha to the 'comfort women' he frequently abuses.''
See also more highlights of Major General Hathurusinghe’s role in Jaffna:
Mahinda Hathurusinghe accuses Tamil daily ‘Uthayan’ of stoking communal flames – May ‘13
'Don't even dream' of Jaffna students release - SL Army chief – Dec ‘12
Army chief tell Tamils in Jaffna - 'beware the Tamil diaspora' – April ‘12