Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Sarath Munasinghe, RWP, RSP, USP was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n senior army officer and a

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. He had served in the

Sri Lanka Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

, becoming Commander Security Forces Headquarters

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th mos ...

and went on to become the Deputy Speaker and Member of Parliament.

Early life and education

Born in Polgahawela in

Kurunegala Kurunegala ( si, කුරුණෑගල, ta, குருணாகல்) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, fr ...

, he was educated at

Maliyadeva College ''විද්‍යා භූෂනං පුරුෂ භූෂනම්'' ''Vidya Bhūshanam Purusha Bhūshanam'' , motto_translation = Science is the jewel of man , location = Negombo Rd, Kurunegala , city ...

Military career

Munasinghe joined the

Sri Lankan Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

as a

cadet officer St John Ambulance Ireland (SJAI), previously known as the St John Ambulance Brigade of Ireland, is a charitable voluntary organisation in Ireland. For constitutional reasons it is not a full member association of the Venerable Order of Saint Jo ...

on 5 February 1970 and following his basic officer training at the

Army Training Centre, Diyatalawa The Sri Lanka Military Academy () (SLMA or SLMA Diyatalawa), commonly known simply as Diyatalawa, is the Sri Lanka Army's training centre where officer cadets are trained for getting commission. It is located in the garrison town of Diyatala ...

in its 3rd intake, he was commissioned as a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until 1 ...

in the 4th Artillery Regiment,

Sri Lanka Artillery The Sri Lanka Artillery (SLA) is the artillery arm of the Sri Lanka Army. It is made up of ten regular regiments and two volunteer regiments. The SLA is headquartered at Panagoda Cantonment, Panagoda. The emblem of the SLA is modeled after th ...

on 1 June 1971, soon after the 1971 JVP insurrection. Munasinghe served as an artillery officer and attended the artillery young officer's course at the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four ...

School of Artillery in

Deolali Deolali, or Devlali (), is a small hill station and a census town in Nashik district of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Now it is part of Nashik Metropolitan Region. Deolali has an important army base. Deolali Camp, one of the oldest Indian mi ...

in 1975. In 1977, having reached the rank of captain, he was sent to the intelligence staff officer's course at the

Military Intelligence Training School and Depot The Directorate of Military Intelligence (M.I.) is the Intelligence arm of the Indian Army. The primary mission of military intelligence is to provide timely, relevant, accurate, and synchronized intelligence support to tactical, operational an ...

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

and on his return was posted to the Army Headquarters as

General Staff Officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...

(Grade 3) - intelligence from January 1978. In January 1979 he was sent by Brigadier

Cyril Ranatunga General S. Cyril Ranatunga, VSV (19 February 1930 – 16 June 2021) was a Sri Lanka Army officer. He served as Secretary of Defence, General Officer Commanding, Joint Operations Command and Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army during the 1980 ...

to Jaffna to setup an intelligence unit for the army with the increase in Tamil militant groups. He returned army headquarters in December 1979. Promoted to the rank of major, he was posted as the battery commander of the 9 Field Battery, 4th Artillery Regiment with which he served in Manner. Between December 1980 and April 1981 he attended the junior command course at the

Army War College, Mhow The Army War College, Dr.Ambedkar Nagar (A.W.C.) is a defence service training and research institution of the Indian Army located in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. It develops and evaluates concepts and doctrines for tactics and logistics for the arm ...

. Returning to his command, the 9 Field Battery was deployed to Jaffna in June 1981. In 1982, he was posted as an intelligence officer attached to the Northern Command. Major Munasinghe was one of the first on the seen following the ambush of the army patrol Four Four Bravo. In February 1984, he was posted as an officer instructor at the Kotelawala Defence Academy after which he served as a

staff officer A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military ...

at Army headquarters in Colombo. Following a military training in the United States in 1988, he was posted as the senior intelligence officer to the Directorate of Military Intelligence with the rank of lieutenant colonel. From February 1990 to November 1990, Munasinghe served as the

commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually given wide latit ...

of the 6th Field Regiment, Sri Lanka Artillery. Serving for 29 years in the army, he held several senior commands such as; general officer commanding 51 Division SLA and 54 Division SLA; commander 12 Brigade Group,

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

; commander 15 Brigade Group,

Mannar Mannar may refer to the following places: India * Mannar, Alappuzha, a town in Chengannur Taluk, Kerala Sri Lanka * Mannar District, one of 25 districts in Sri Lanka ** Mannar Island, an island within the district **Mannar Bridge, a bridge connect ...

;

of 6th Regiment Sri Lanka Artillery; coordinating chief Batticalao,

Ampara Ampara ( si, අම්පාර, ta, அம்பாறை) is the main town of Ampara District, governed by an Urban Council. It is located in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, about east of Colombo and approximately south of Batticaloa. Hi ...

Polonnaruwa Poḷonnaruwa, ( si, පොළොන්නරුව, translit=Poḷonnaruva; ta, பொலன்னறுவை, translit=Polaṉṉaṟuvai) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa D ...

Districts and coordinating officer Welioya. He was also the Army Director Psychological Operations and Director Media Operations Headquarters, Ministry of Defense and Director Media Army Headquarters whilst being the army media spokesman. In 1998 he was promoted to the rank of major general and in 1999 served as Commander Security Forces Headquarters Jaffna, one of the most senior commands in the Sri Lankan military.

Political career

Major General Munasinghe entered the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Shri Lanka Parlimenthuwa'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் ''Ila� ...

in 2000 as a member of the Peoples Alliance, representing the Kurunegala District and was made Deputy Speaker of Parliament, and in 2001 crossed over to the opposition and became a member of the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

(UNP). He was not reelected in 2001. However he was appointed as the Chairman of the Building Materials Corporation. At the time of his death he was the UNP chief organizer for the

Polgahawela Polgahawela is a town located in north western Sri Lanka. It is most notable for being a major railway junction. Polgahawela is situated in the North Western Province of Sri Lanka, and is located approximately north-east from the capital city ...

electorate. He died after a brief illness and his funeral took place in Kurunegala with full military honors.

Family

He was married and had two sons.

References

External links & sources

Sri Lanka - Major General Sarath Munasinghe dies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munasinghe, Sarath 1949 births 2008 deaths Sri Lankan major generals Sinhalese military personnel United National Party politicians Sri Lankan Buddhists Members of the 11th Parliament of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Military Academy graduates Alumni of Maliyadeva College Deputy speakers and chairmen of committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka Sri Lanka Artillery officers Army War College, Mhow alumni