{{short description|Sri Lanka Army general}} {{use dmy dates|date=July 2017}} {{EngvarB|date=July 2017}} {{Infobox military person | honorific_prefix = General | name = NUMMW Senanayake | native_name = මහේෂ් සේනානායක | honorific_suffix = RWP, RSP, VSV, USP | image = | image_alt = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = | death_date = | birth_place = | death_place = | burial_place = | nickname = | allegiance = {{flag|Sri Lanka}} | branch = {{army|Sri Lanka}} | service_years = 1983 – 2019 | service_number = O/60050 | rank = 10px General | unit = Special Forces Regiment<br />Sri Lanka Engineers | commands = Commander of the Army<br />Chief of Staff, Sri Lanka Army<br />Jaffna Security Forces<br />52 Division<br />Special Forces Brigade<br />211 Infantry Brigade<br />Regimental Center Commandant, Special Forces Regiment<br />3rd Special Forces Regiment<br />1st Special Forces Regiment | battles = Sri Lankan Civil War<br />Insurrection 1987-89 | awards = 20px Rana Wickrama Padakkama<br /> 20px Rana Sura Padakkama <br />20px Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya <br />20px Uttama Seva Padakkama | website = {{url|https://maheshsenanayake.org}} }} General '''N.U.M. Mahesh W. Senanayke''', RWP, RSP, VSV, USP is a retired Sri Lankan Army senior officer who served as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army from 2017 to 2019. Senanayake had previously been the Commander, Security Forces Headquarters – Jaffna, General Officer Commanding, 52 Division and Brigade Commander, Special Forces Brigade. Having started his military career as a military engineer, Senanayake became a special forces officer and is a veteran of all four phases of the Sri Lankan civil war, having served in both its Northern and Eastern theaters.
Following his retirement, Senanayake contested the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election as a third-party candidate and came in fourth place.
==Education== Educated at Ananda College, Colombo, he holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Pune and is a graduate of the United States Army Command and General Staff College.<ref name="pune">{{cite news|last1=Srinivasan|first1=Meera|title=Sri Lanka is the only country that has eradicated terrorism|url=http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/interview/sri-lanka-is-the-only-country-that-has-eradicated-terrorism/article23895657.ece?homepage=true|accessdate=16 May 2018|work=The Hindu|ref=pune1}}</ref><ref name="CoS">{{cite web|url=http://www.army.lk/news/major-general-mahesh-senanayake-50th-chief-staff-army|title=Major General Mahesh Senanayake, 50th Chief of Staff in the Army|website=Army.lk|accessdate=4 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://maheshsenanayake.org/story/|title=General Mahesh Senanayake and His Story|website=maheshsenanayake.org|accessdate=28 October 2019|archive-date=25 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191025050845/https://maheshsenanayake.org/story/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==Military career== ===Early career=== Senanayake enlisted in the Sri Lanka Army through its 16th Officer Cadet Intake (long course) on 16 October 1981 at the Sri Lanka Military Academy in Diyatalawa.<ref name= asiantribune90660>{{cite web|url=http://www.asiantribune.com/node/90660|title=Mahesh Senanayake Appointed New Commander of the Army|website=Asiantribune.com|accessdate=4 July 2017}}</ref> Subsequent to completing his training, Senanayake was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers, joining the 1st Plant Engineer Regiment on 23 June 1983.<ref name="CoS" /> He would go on to become a Troop Commander and a Squadron Commander in the same regiment, as well as being posted as an instructor at Sri Lanka Military Academy.<ref name= SLA_Commander_page>{{cite web|url=http://www.army.lk/commander|title=Commander of the Army|website=Army.lk|accessdate=4 July 2017}}</ref><ref name="CoS" /> In 1989, he took an inter-unit transfer to the Special Forces Regiment, where he served as Squadron Commander in the 1 Special Forces Regiment (1 SF). In August 1996, Major Senanayake was appointed the first commanding officer of the newly formed 3 Special Forces Regiment (3 SF) which soon specialized in Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols.<ref name="CoS" />
===Higher command=== Staff appointments he has undertaken include postings at the office of the Colonel - General Staff, 52nd Division; Brigadier - General Staff at Security Force Headquarters- Jaffna (SFHQ-J); and Directing Staff at the Defence Services Command and Staff College, Sapugaskanda.<ref name="SLA_Commander_page" /><ref name="CoS" /> From 2000 to 2004 Lieutenant Colonel Senanayake served as the Brigade Commander, Special Forces Brigade. In 2006, having attained the rank of Brigadier, he was appointed Director Plans at Army Headquarters, going on to work with the US Army as Senior Manager, Project Management of Afghan Operations and Strategic Planning for Civil Reserved Air Fleet (CRAF).<ref name="CoS" /><ref name="asiantribune.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.asiantribune.com/node/86425|title=Reshuffles Announced for Several Key Positions In Sri Lanka Army|website=Asiantribune.com|accessdate=4 July 2017}}</ref> Senanyake has also held the positions of Regimental Center Commandant of the Special Forces Regiment, Brigade Commander of the 211 Infantry Brigade: Vavuniya, and General Officer Commanding the 52 Division in Varani, Jaffna.<ref name="CoS" /><ref name= dailymirror>{{cite web|url=http://www.dailymirror.lk/article/Mahesh-Senanayaka-new-Army-Commander-132121.html|title=Mahesh Senanayake new Army Commander|website=Dailymirror.lk|accessdate=4 July 2017}}</ref>
===Reinstatement=== Following the results of the 2010 presidential elections, in which his former commandant Sarath Fonseka failed to defeat incumbent president Mahinda Rajapaksa, Senanayake fled the country, fearing reprisals from the Rajapakses.<ref name= "exile">{{cite web|url=http://island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=162381|title=Returns from exile to become Army's No 2|website=Island.lk|accessdate=7 August 2017}}</ref> He returned to Sri Lanka following Maithripala Sirisena's victory over Rajapaksa in the 2015 presidential election, and was reinstated and appointed Military Secretary at Sri Lanka Army headquarters in February that year.<ref name= "exile" /><ref name="CoS" /><ref name="asiantribune.com"/> In 2016, he was appointed Commander, SFHQ-J, during which tenure he was responsible for overseeing the ongoing resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the civil war in the Jaffna peninsula.<ref name="CoS" />
===Commander of Sri Lanka Army=== Major General Senanayake was appointed the Army Chief of Staff on 22 March 2017, and was then promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General and Army Commander by order of President Maithripala Sirisena on 4 July 2017.<ref name="CoS" /><ref name="asiantribune90660" /><ref name="dailymirror" /> During his tenure the army was mobilised and deployed on several occasions, in aid of civilian authorities when a state of emergency was declared as a result of the 2018 anti-Muslim riots and the 2019 Easter bombings bring the security situation under control. On 21 August 2019, he retired from the army, having been promoted to the rank of General. He was succeeded as Army Commander by Major General Shavendra Silva, the Chief of Staff of the army.<ref>{{cite web |title=Retired General Mahesh Senanayake : 4 decade military service |url=https://www.newsfirst.lk/2019/08/21/retired-general-mahesh-senanayake-4-decade-military-service/ |website=newsfirst.lk |publisher=News First |accessdate=22 August 2019}}</ref>
== Political career == Senanayake entered politics after his retirement from the army. He contested the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election as a candidate of the National People's Party, and was endorsed by the National People's Movement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsfirst.lk/2019/11/18/mahesh-senanayake-to-support-president-gotabaya-rajapaksa/|title=Mahesh Senanayake to contest at upcoming elections - Sri Lanka Latest News|date=2019-11-18|website=Sri Lanka News - Newsfirst|language=en|access-date=2019-12-26}}</ref> He finished as the fourth-most voted candidate in the election. Following his defeat, Senanayake assured voters that his party would contest as a group of professionals and intellectuals in the 2020 parliamentary elections.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Will march forward and contest general elections: Mahesh Senanayake |url=http://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/Will-march-forward-and-contest-general-elections:-Mahesh-Senanayake/108-178064 |access-date=2019-12-26 |website=www.dailymirror.lk |language=English}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Lanka’s ex-Army chief Mahesh Senanayake to run for President - The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/lankas-ex-army-chief-mahesh-senanayake-to-run-for-president/article29550230.ece}} </ref>
==Honors and decorations== Senanayake has been awarded the Rana Wickrama Padakkama with bar and the Rana Sura Padakkama with bar for gallantry and the Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya and the Uttama Seva Padakkama for distinguished service.
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{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto;" |- | Rana Wickrama Padakkama (with bar) || Rana Sura Padakkama (with bar) || Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya || Uttama Seva Padakkama |- | Eastern Humanitarian Operations Medal (with clasp) || Northern Humanitarian Operations Medal (with clasp) || Purna Bhumi Padakkama || North and East Operations Medal |- | Riviresa Campaign Services Medal (with clasp) || 50th Independence Anniversary Commemoration Medal || Sri Lanka Army 50th Anniversary Medal || Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal (with clasp) |- |}
His badges include: the Special Forces Regiment Badge and Tab, Sri Lanka Engineers Badge, Special Forces Badge, Parachute Badge, Qualified in Command and Staff Course Badge and the Special Forces (Gold) Service Appraisal Badge.
In November 2021, he was inducted into the United States Army Command and General Staff College International Hall of Fame.<ref>{{cite news |title=General Mahesh Senanayake inducted into US Army Command Hall of Fame |url=https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/General-Mahesh-Senanayake-inducted-into-US-Army-Command-Hall-of-Fame/108-225070 |access-date=19 November 2021 |publisher=dailymirror.lk}}</ref>
==Personal life== Senanayake is married, and has two daughters and a son.<ref name="CoS" />
==References== {{Reflist}} {{s-start}} {{s-mil}} {{s-bef|before= Crishantha de Silva}} {{s-ttl|title=Commander of the Army|years=July 2017 - August 2019}} {{s-aft| after= Shavendra Silva}} {{s-break}} {{s-bef|before=Ubaya Madawela}} {{s-ttl|title=Chief of Staff of the Army (Sri Lanka)|years=March 2017 - July 2017}} {{s-aft| after = Amal Karunasekara}} {{s-end}}
{{Commanders of the Sri Lankan Army}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Senanayake, Mahesh}} Category:Commanders of the Sri Lanka Army Category:Sri Lankan full generals Category:Sri Lankan military engineers Category:Sri Lanka Engineers officers Category:Sri Lanka Army Special Forces Regiment officers Category:Sinhalese military personnel Category:Sri Lanka Military Academy graduates Category:Non-U.S. alumni of the Command and General Staff College Category:Jawaharlal Nehru University alumni Category:Alumni of Ananda College Category:Candidates in the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people