Recruiting ex-Sri Lankan soldiers an affront to all Tamils

Although vacancies must be filled in the security services sector, bringing in former Sinhalese soldiers is akin to condoning their crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka.

by P Ramasamy-March 8, 2016

Apparently security agencies in the country are up in arms over the rise in crime in the country and the dearth of trained and professional security guards.

Nepalese, who had been recruited earlier to work in security-related jobs have stopped showing interest in coming to Malaysia.

Meanwhile the recent proposal by the Ministry of Home Affairs to recruit former Sri Lankan soldiers to work as security guards here has been welcomed by the Crime Prevention Network Association (NPNA).

Its President Alex Chandran Krishnan said such a move would not only help fill-up vacant posts but contribute to the professionalism of security guards in general.

Since former soldiers would have received extensive training and have battlefield experience, they would be in a position to contribute to the meaningful development of security agencies in the country.

If the Ministry of Home Affairs finalises this move, then former Sri Lankan soldiers coming into Malaysia would be screened to ensure that remnants of the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) are weeded out.

However, Alex’s endorsement of this move leaves much to be desired.

While agreeing that vacancies in the security services sector need to be filled, recruiting former Sri Lankan soldiers, invariably, Sinhalese, into the country might have undesirable effects.

Despite assurances that former LTTE members would be weeded out, the question remains as to how many of them are indeed in the armed forces?

While some former LTTE cadres may have joined the Sri Lankan armed forces before the end of the war in 2009, their numbers are still too small to mention.

I do not understand where Alex got his information from or perhaps he has no knowledge of matters concerning Sri Lanka.

There is a global hue and cry that the violence that took place in the final stages of the war in the north and east of Sri Lanka, Tamil areas to be exact, was nothing other than ethnic genocide, where hundreds of thousands of innocent Tamils were slaughtered.

Moreover thousands of women were systematically raped and sexually abused by members of the Sri Lankan armed forces.

There were also many reports from human rights organisations about the mistreatment of Tamil women by members of the Sri Lankan armed forces during and after the ethnic war.

Is Alex suggesting that Malaysia condones the atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan armed forces?

Not a single soldier has been brought to trial for their involvement in crimes against humanity, I mean, against the Tamils.

Alex, being Tamil himself, is somehow more insensitive to the suffering and denigrations suffered by Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Many of the former soldiers of the Sri Lankan armed forces were involved in these crimes against humanity.

Presently, the United Nations Human Rights Council is urging that Sri Lanka open itself to international investigation for crimes against Tamils.

If the Malaysian government allows recruiting of former soldiers of the Sri Lankan armed forces, then Malaysia would be guilty of condoning the terrible crimes perpetrated against the Tamils there.

I can assure you that Tamils in Malaysia will not sit back and look at this recruitment exercise passively.

I hope the Malaysian government rescinds the directive as it would be a grave insult to the dignity and well-being of Tamils in Sri Lanka and Malaysia.

Alex on the other hand, should not think of just making a few extra bucks from the misery of the Tamils and should be more sensitive to their concerns, in Malaysia at the very least.

P Ramasamy is Deputy Chief Minister II of Penang.

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