Prasanna De Silva

Prasanna de Silva WWV, RWP, RSP
Native name	ප්‍රසන්න ද සිල්වා
Born	(1961-05-05) 5 May 1961 (age 63)
Service / branch	Sri Lanka Army
Years of service	1982 - 2016
Rank	Major General
Unit	Sri Lanka Light Infantry Sri Lanka Army Special Forces Regiment
Commands	General Officer Commanding, 56 Division Commander of Special Forces Brigade
Battles / wars	Eelam War I, Eelam War II, Eelam War III, Eelam War IV, Sri Lankan Civil War
Children	Yohani Diloka de Silva Shavindri de Silva

Major General Prasanna de Silva , WWV, RWP, RSP is a retired Sri Lankan general officer, who served as the General Officer Commanding, 56 Division, Commander of Special Forces Brigade and he was the Colonel of the Regiment of the Commando Regiment. ^{[1] [2]}

Education

Educated at Ananda College, Colombo.

Military career

He joined Sri Lanka Army 1982 during the early phase of Eelam War I. ^[2]

Brigadier Silva’s little known exploits included the coordination of Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol which carried out most complex and dangerous military operations when he was a Lieutenant Colonel. ^{[3] [2] [4]}

Silva was the ground commander for the Mavil Aru, Sampoor, Manirasakulam and then the famous Vakarai Operations. ^[2]

He became a major threat to LTTE during Sri Lankan Civil War because he was in command of the Army’s elite Brigade Special Forces which successful in assassinating several high-level commanders of the LTTE in LTTE-held territory. ^{[2] [4]}

The 55 Division under the command of Brigadier Prasanna De Silva marched more than 100 km linking up with Wanni front at Elephant Pass to re open the A-9 road and clearing the sea tigers bases covering the Eastern Coastal line starting from Nagar Kovil to Mullaitivu. ^{[2] [1]}

After the war, de Silva served as Defence Attaché to the Sri Lankan Embassy in London, UK. In 2012 the Global Tank Forum took legal action with a dossier on de Silva to the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), including accusations of war crimes. However he completed the routine transfer back to Sri Lanka. ^[5]

Family

He is married to Dinithi De Silva who is a former air hostess at Sri Lankan Airlines and they have two daughters Yohani De Silva and Shavindri De Silva. ^{[6] [7] [4]}

References

1. "Army Chief Hails Commandos’ Unmatched Sacrifices at CR Headquarters | Sri Lanka Army". www.army.lk. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
2. "Prasanna De Silva - a hero of our times" . Retrieved 2021-10-20.
3. "The war as it was". sundaytimes.lk. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
4. Yohani de Silva’s Life Story | exclusive Interview with Yohani de Silva , retrieved 2021-10-20
5. "Sri Lankan diplomat may avoid questioning on war crimes claims".
6. Nadeera, Dilshan. "National extravagance, Wewa bunds under attack and sweet singer" . Retrieved 2021-10-20.
7. "Manike Mage Hithe से मशहूर हुईं Yohani का 'बसपन का प्यार' ! सबसे बिंदास इंटरव्यू". www.abplive.com (in Hindi). 2021-10-02. Retrieved 2021-10-20.