By the “Ceylon Today” Investigations desk
Gratitude is one thing. Receiving step-motherly treatment is something else, altogether. While the former remains a distant memory, three years after the end of the war, the latter is what a group of valiant soldiers, assigned to the once embattled North, are complaining of today.
The battle-hardened soldiers, who were prepared to sacrifice life and limb for the country, now, feel slighted, mistreated and even abused by their superiors, leading comfortable lives in Colombo.
They claim since the war ended and the guns fell silent, the soldiers assigned for duty in the North have been made not only to perform some kind of ‘slave labour’, but are also forced into consuming substandard food, which never comes on time, pay for their own uniforms, perform menial tasks for the civilian population whether they like it or not, and even dig deep into their pockets to decorate a selected location for what they claim are propaganda events staged by the government, specifically for the international community.
Speaking on condition that they be not named, fearing repercussions, a group of soldiers from a sub-unit in the Kilinochchi area, said they had no recourse or no one to highlight their grievances.
Food is bad
“When we complain the food is bad and cannot be consumed, we are chided and told soldiers should not complain. But, aren’t we also human beings? What is the difference.” one of the soldiers told Ceylon Today, virtually pleading their plight be shared with the public.
“Usually the units are divided into sub units, where we were given the provisions to prepare our own meals in our camps. However, it has been stopped, since our new commanding officer took over duties and decided that the food should be provided to us by the base unit,” said another soldier, explaining as the food has to be brought from another camp now, they receive their morning meals around 10 a.m., and that it is around 4.00 or 5.00 p.m. by the time they receive their lunch, and dinner is received only around 11p.m. or 12 midnight. “But sometimes we get our dinner around 5.00 p.m.,” several claimed.
Many soldiers claimed things have become so bad for them they fear they will very soon be told to attend to the toilet needs of the Tamil civilians, in the event a foreign delegation is visiting.
Normally, the soldiers are given the material for the uniforms they wear, in their case light green shirts and dark green trousers. “Now, the material ends up at tailoring shops and we have to spend our own money to get it stitched. It costs us an additional Rs 800.00, which is collected from us,” the soldiers claimed, adding a certain portion of their salaries are deducted every month for some books, tickets or some other reason.”
The soldiers also claimed during the war, they were provided transport, to Colombo or Anuradhapura. “Now we have none of these privileges. To be honest, even the food we are given is just like rice and water,” they lamented, pointing out even during a recent function, they were taken from their units at 4.00 a.m. after a meal of pol sambol and rice, and not given lunch or even a cup of tea till around 4.00 p.m.
Expressing their sense of betrayal, they claim, “The army is doing a great deal for the Tamil people just to show the world how compassionate and considerate they are, but we, who gave so much and put our lives on the line for this country, are now cast aside.”
Welfare of soldiers neglected
The soldiers claimed even during recent festivities, they were forced to spend out of their pockets to decorate a demarcated area for a ceremony. “We are on our feet from the time we wake up and remain like that until we go back to our camp and it’s even worse. This is our daily routine. We cannot stand it anymore. We depart from our camps around 6.00 a.m. every morning to visit every village in the area to see to the requirements of the Tamil civilians. We check on their health conditions, pregnancies, toilet facilities and housing problems and report back to the headquarters on these requirements or issues of these people. Although we are committed wholeheartedly to the welfare of the Tamil people, the ordinary soldiers’ welfare has been so neglected that it is at the lowest level today,” said another disgruntled soldier.
If that is not enough, the traumatized soldiers are being forced into following various courses spending additional money from their salary. “We are also required to follow various types of courses, such as languages, Taekwondo, and so on, which is alright, but invariably we have to spend an additional two to three thousand rupees from our salary for these. When we follow these courses, they say, contribute so much for this tea party, opening party, closing party, and even certain stationery items, which is usually provided by the army. However today, although these allocations are provided by the army, it ends up in someone else’s pocket,” they said.
They claimed hundreds of soldiers who fought in the war to defeat the Tigers continue to live in appalling conditions, without even the minimum basics, while ex-Tiger combatants who fought against the army and the government are being given preference when it comes to housing.
Sad and pathetic
“We are not against our one-time enemy being rehabilitated, but what about us? We also need to be treated equally. The army is building so many things for the Tamil people, for instance, they are constructing a toilet for an ex-LTTE combatant who has lost both legs and a hand and is blind. That is fine, but how many of our poor soldiers are there today who are disabled, and don’t even have a proper house to live in or a decent toilet. This is a very sad and pathetic situation we soldiers are facing today having sacrificed so much for this country and its freedom. There is a soldier in our camp, who has been in active duty for around 19 to 20 years and was wounded in battle six times, but today no one even cares about them,” said another soldier.
“Today, the poor soldier is being given step-motherly treatment. Even if we visit the headquarters, we are stripped to our underwear and checked. During the war, we were treated like heroes, but today we are degraded to the lowest form of life. We definitely have nothing against the Tamil people and we most certainly want to assist them and live in harmony with them, but what we are highlighting here is these people are treated in this special manner by the authorities today, simply for the international community and the Tamil Diaspora to see,” they said.
Ceylon Today also found senior officers in the area have allegedly turned a blind eye to the sad plight of the soldiers and up to now have chosen not to entertain any complaints.
“When we tried to complain about our plight, we were only told that as soldiers, you must be prepared to undergo any hardship without complaining and as we are provided an additional allowance of Rs 4,500.00 for serving in hazardous areas we should not complain,” said another soldier, adding the intermediate officers were afraid to talk about the issues of the lower ranking officers.
“In the past, we had great leaders in the army but today the leaders are only interested in pleasing the politicians and are not bothered about the welfare of the common soldier. If anyone raises any issue or oppose them, they will be stripped of their rank or sent out of the army. Today we are blindfolded, bound and asked to walk the straight road. All the higher-ups are only concerned about the whiskey and the envelope of cash, and only we, the common soldiers, know exactly what takes place inside,” they lamented.
Some officers, who are themselves saddened by the plight of their subordinates, claimed they were helpless to take up the cause of the foot soldiers and fear that if things continue to fester, resentment could lead to a worst form of insubordination.
“It is not that the army does not provide the supplies that are needed, but somewhere in between, someone is playing out and no one knows where these provisions disappear to. The problem is that there is no one to see to these discrepancies. We, as soldiers, cannot resort to strikes or even talk to anyone. Even the media no longer cares for us, and even the government sees us as the enemy today, which is so sad,” they lamented.
Not true Military spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya
Although the whole country has suffered during the war, it is the people in the North and East who have suffered the most, and the government is doing all it can to ensure the well-being of these, and assisting them to rebuild their lives.
However, there are elements, who for political reasons, do not like the army helping these people. So, those alleging step-motherly treatments can be some of them.
There are standard procedures in the army with regard to food, uniforms and training and there are no anomalies in this procedure.
The allegations are baseless and the complainants are trying to disrupt army operations. If these persons who made the allegations are members of the army, there are clear procedures to deal with problems and grievances, and they could follow these proper procedures.
I feel this is part of a sinister campaign designed to tarnish the image of the army engaged in the government programme in bringing normalcy to the country, in which the army is playing a pivotal role.
In the army, there is a proper procedure under Sections 32 and 33 of the Army Act of 1949, to redress grievances, and they could resort to the proper means if they have any grievance.
However, if a specific location and unit is made known, we could conduct a proper inquiry into this allegation.COURTESY:CEYLON TODAY