Bodu Bala Sena General Secretary Galagodaatte Gnanasara Thera stated that if General Sarath Fonseka is to be promoted Field Marshal, similar promotion should be granted to Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda and Air Chief Marshal Roshan Goonatileke.

Speaking at a media briefing on Friday, Gnanasara Thera stressed that General Sarath Fonseka did not lead the war on his own. The Army was ably supported by the Sri Lanka Navy and Sri Lanka Air Force, Gnanasara Thera added.

Admiral Karannagoda was Commander of Sri Lanka Navy during the last years of the war. Air Chief Marshal Goonatileke was Commander of Sri Lanka Air Force.

Gnanasara Thera pointed out that being a political prisoner should not be a reason to single out one person.

Field Marshal is a very senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually it is the highest rank in an army, and when it is, few (if any) persons are appointed to it. Promotion to the rank of field marshal in many countries historically required extraordinary military achievement by a general, usually a wartime victory.

Under the British military system, the equivalent rank in the navy is Admiral of the Fleet and in the air force it is the Marshal of Air Force.

General Fonseka will be the first ever Field Marshal in Sri Lankan military history.