Major General Sarath Munasinghe, was a senior

Sri Lanka Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; ...

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He had served Commander Security Forces Headquarters Jaffna and following his retirement, went on to be elected as Member of Parliament of

Kurunegala District Kurunegala is a district in North Western Province, Sri Lanka. The district is . It consists of thirty divisional secretariats, 1,610 grama niladari divisions and 4,476 villages. It has fourteen electoral divisions, two municipal councils, nin ...

and Deputy speaker and chairman of committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.

Early life and education

Born in Polgahawela in

Kurunegala Kurunegala (, ; , ) is a major city in Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of the North Western Province, Sri Lanka, North Western Province and the Kurunegala District. Kurunegala was an ancient royal capital for 50 years, from the end of the 13th ...

, he was educated at

Maliyadeva College Maliyadeva College () is a national school controlled by the Sri Lankan central government. It is located in Kurunegala, Sri Lanka, and was established in 1888 by the Buddhist Theosophical Society, led by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott. It is on ...

Military career

Munasinghe joined the

Sri Lankan Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; t ...

as a cadet officer 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 oldest military academy in Sri Lanka, and trains commissioned officers for the Sri Lanka Army. It is located in the garrison town of Diyatal ...

in its 3rd intake, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant 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 Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force, volunteer regiments. The SLA is headquartered at Panagoda Cantonment, Panagoda. The emblem o ...

on 1 June 1971, soon after the

1971 JVP insurrection The 1971 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurrection (also known as the 1971 Revolt) was the first of two unsuccessful armed revolts conducted by the communist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) against the socialist United Front Government of ...

. Munasinghe served as an artillery officer and attended the artillery young officer's course at the

Indian Army The Indian Army (IA) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Land warfare, land-based branch and largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Commander-in-Chief, Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head ...

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 in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

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 rank, enlisted, and civilian staff who serve the commanding officer, commander of a ...

(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 198 ...

to Jaffna to set up 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 Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

, 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. 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 Four Four Bravo was the call sign of a fifteen-man Sri Lankan Army patrol, deployed in the Jaffna Peninsula on 23 July 1983. The patrol was ambushed and thirteen of its members were killed by the LTTE. This incident sparked the Thirunelveli m ...

. 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 milita ...

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 commander, 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 give ...

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 General officer commanding (GOC) is the usual title given in the armies of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth (and some other nations, such as Ireland) to a general officer who holds a command appointment. Thus, a general might be the GOC ...

51 Division SLA and 54 Division SLA; commander 12 Brigade Group,

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

; 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 conne ...

;

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

Ampara Ampara (, ) 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. History This was a hunters' resting place during Br ...

Polonnaruwa Poḷonnaruwa, (; ) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in History of Sri Lanka, ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa District in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. The modern town of Polonnaruwa is also known as New Town, ...

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 ''Śrī Laṇkā Pārlimentuvā'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் '' ...

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

United National Party The United National Party (UNP; , ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right political party in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1946, the party was one of Sri Lanka's two main parties for several decades. The UNP has served as the country's ruling party ...

(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