http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=Time_out_from_Training_20121220_08

Time out from Training

By Camelia Nathaniel

The first group of Tamil girls recruited by the Army were taken on a two day excursion to Trincomalle on 13 and 14 of December. Contrary to numerous views expressed alleging that these girls were being recruited by force by the army and that they were very unhappy, the girls were seen enjoying themselves and having fun during their trip. The group of 96 girls of the 103 recruits visited the Frederic Fort beach, the Koneswaran Temple, the Kinniya bridge, the Nilaweli beach, the hot water springs and the Green Ocean ship during their tour. Three of the recruits were unable to join the others on the excursion as they were sitting for their O/L examinations, while four others were ill.

Ever since their recruitment to the army there have been numerous allegations that the girls were recruited forcibly, and were deeply depressed and their parents worried about the plight of their children's future.

The Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps (6 SLAWC) enlisted the first-everbatch of 109 Tamil girls from Kilinochchi to the Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force during a landmark ceremony at its headquarters at Bharathipuram, Kilinochchi on 17 November.

The 109 female recruits commenced their initial period of training thereafter at Kilinochchi itself at the Advanced Infantry Training School subsequent to enlistment to the 6 SLAWC of the Volunteer Force, managed by the 57 Division Headquarters.

According to the army upon completion of their initial period of training, these woman soldiers are to be deployed in the Kilinochchi area to assist in civil-military coordination work and other related administrative matters.

However due to various reasons and incidents that followed, of the initial 109 recruits six of them opted to leave the army, while the rest of them have continued their training program.

There have also been allegations by a Tamil political party that the Army did not allow parents to see their children who were undergoing their training at the Advanced Infantry Training School in Killinochchi on 09 December.

Responding to these allegations the Military Spokesman Brigadier Ruwan Wanigasooriya said that during training anywhere in the Military the trainees are allowed to have visitors only at a specified time, once a week, without disturbing the training program. "If we allow visitors to come everyday and at any time, we will not be able to conduct any meaningful and disciplined training program. In this case the specified time for visitors is between 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. Similarly on Sunday, 9 Dec many visitors of trainees came during the specified time and they were given free time without any interference," he said.

The spokesman further added that however this is not a special condition only applicable to these trainees. "The Army treats all trainees equally and this rule of having visitors only one day during a specified time period is common to all those who are undergoing basic training in the military and it is part of the process of transformation of a civilian into a military professional," he noted.

It is also noted that the LLRC in their report had made observations that only few Tamils are serving in the Army and hence the Tamils perceive the Army as a Sinhalese Army. They also made recommendations to absorb ex LTTE cadres if that would be feasible. Brigadier Wanigasooriya added that the Army was among the first State agencies which had taken note of the LLRC Report and in order to implement the LLRC recommendations, the army had decided to recruit Tamils, both male and female, from the North to the Army.

In spite of the many allegations and speculation that these Tamil female recruits are unhappy and unwilling to wear the military uniform and be part of the army, they seemed to be quite relaxed and in good spirits during their outing to Trincomalee last weekend.

Speaking to Ceylon Today during their excursion the girls said that they had no issues with their training and they were really enjoying their time at the camp and especially during their excursion.

Nirmala Devi who is one of the new recruits said "This trip is very good and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We were all able to see many places of interest that we otherwise would not have had the privilege of seeing and had not even dreamed of seeing in the past. We visited a ship and that was a novel experience for us. We also visited the Devalaya and temple and had a grand time at the beach with all the other girls and our senior officers who accompanied us on this excursion," she said.

Commenting on the numerous speculations and allegations that these girls are not treated properly and about them being unhappy in the army, she said "That is totally not true, and we are really happy here. There have been many rumours spread about us being unhappy and some of the parents got worried, and some of the girls had to leave due to this. However I must say that all that is totally false and we are certainly not unhappy as you can obviously see," she added.

Devi also said that the stories spread about them being unhappy is totally fabricated for various reasons. "These are baseless speculations, which are all false, and we are all very happy and having a good time," she said.

Another recruit Sathyanathan Cristilla Told Ceylon Today that its been around a month since they began their training in the army and contrary to speculations they had all joined voluntarily. "After our training period is over we will be assigned civil duties in our respective areas. We are all aware that we have to undergo the initial training period and after that we will be assigned to the clerical and civil duties in our respective areas. We are enjoying our break and this excursion, and it is a great privilege to be able to see these parts of our country without any fear," she said.