The Srilanka diaries

 A Major caused a diplomatic spat between India and Srilanka

By Col V K Bali

The early morning view of beautiful Trincomalee harbour was mesmerizing….it was mid Sept of 1988 that our Battalion located in Bangalore was despatched post haste for deployment at Trincomalee on the East Coast of Srilanka.

 We disembarked at Prima Jetty from the Shipping Corporation ship and it was late afternoon by the time all stores and vehicles were off loaded and we proceeded to establish the camp.

A Few Srilanka govt officials were present to liaise with our first contingent landing at Trincomalee and to guide us to our location.

There was peace all around as our arrival marked a ceasefire between the LTTE and the Srilanka armed forces. The earlier war had caused collateral damage to the civilian population on both sides of ethnic divide between the Buddhist Srilankans and Hindu Tamils in the North East region of Srilanka.

This period of peace was suddenly shattered few days later due to a grave blunder caused by then Govt of India led by Shri Rajiv Gandhi government…..overnight the LTTE cadres became our enemies and the IPKF which had gone to ensure peace by acting as a buffer between two arch enemies itself became a party to the conflict…

Weary days passed on as the casualties mounted due to battles between IPKF and LTTE….Slowly but surely Trincomalee too became a flash point between Tamils and Sinhala population…the most dangerous area being the Trincomalee- Colombo road patch from Mudcove road junction to Marthadi Road junction.

On the North of this road was the Tamils area of Palaiyuthu and on the Southern side was the Sinhala colony called Mahindapura…

The road was a two lane 30 ft wide and it just took few minutes for any community group to attack the other side resulting in arson and looting.

As luck would have it.. I was told to handle the operations here…it was a very tough and demanding job…hardly any time to eat, bathe ,, or sleep…normally on my feet and on the move nearly sixteen to eighteen hours on duty….a nightmare.

 One fateful night at about 10 pm I went patrolling the Palaiyuthu area with my small 4 men team, driving quietly through the backlanes with headlights switched off. Suddenly I heard loud conversation and saw hectic activity in a small house….

It was kind of unusual. My gut feeling was that there was something going on inside the house that needed to be investigated. Palaiyuthu was known to be a hub of LTTE militants operating in this area.

I jumped across the hedge and kicked the door open followed closely by two burly Sikh gunmen. The room was well lit and everyone in the room seemed terrified and wide eyed at our crash entry with level guns and fingers trigger ready.

There was a teenaged girl lying on the floor writhing with pain and gasping for breath…..her breathing was shallow, laboured and fast..her glassy eyes were wide open and seemed to be fixed on the roof with no movement.

 It took me seconds to realize that she was dying….her mother signalled by sign language the she couldn’t breathe. I thrust my Pistol back in its holster and picked up the girl in my arms,rushed to the jeep and zoomed off to the local Civil hospital for emergency help along with girls mother who happened to be weeping uncontrollably….in about five minutes we crashed into the main Emergency entrance and rushed inside to call up the doctor.

 There was no doctor on duty but a paramedic….I asked him for oxygen and my jawans ran down with him to fetch the oxygen for the girl. I asked the paramedic about the availability of the doctor to which he pointed at a residential complex bungalow nearby. I ran to the doctors home and entered as the door was open.A man in mid thirties who was in a white coat was watching the local TV program.

 I asked him ” Doctor????” to which he nodded his head. His parents were seated on a sofa nearby.

 ” Doctor.. quick

..emergency…” I said. It was obvious to me that the duty doctor watching TV shows at home was no good in English language.

 He blurted ” what Patient ??….Tamil or Sinhala ” he asked.

 At first it did not sink in my thick skull…hell, this doctor wanted to find out the ethnicity of the patient first and not the cause of emergency.

 ” Tamil”… Tamil.”..I nearly yelled back.

 ” Sorry…..no treatment Tamil..^..he said with a gesture of finality. I froze with anger at such indifference….didn’t know how to react

 “ Hey please doctor ” I pleaded

 ” No Tamil….you go don’t disturb “….he nearly shouted back.

 Now I couldn’t stop myself….I stepped nearer to him and gave him a full blooded proper swing slap on his face and pulled out my Pistol

” Doctor..no TV…come to emergency…” I prodded his neck with the Pistol barrel.

 ” You come ???”…the doctor nodded.. he was scared out of wits by now and ran to the emergency room.

 The girl was stable after half an hour meanwhile a crowd had gathered outside the hospital by then…heavy police deployment. I had also called up 30 troopers by then to deal with any situation.

By now more doctors and hospital chief were there… the girl would survive…I was told by the chief. There were many press reporters around talking to staff and bystanders.

 I walked up to the duty doctor and smiled ” Thank you Sir “…..

 The duty doctor just kept on staring at me….If looks could kill…ohhhhh hell.

 I came back to my camp that night and slept really well due to the realization that my team had saved a precious life. At noon there was a bombshell waiting for me…. I had been summoned by the IPKF General Commanding Trinco Sector who seemed to be very angry about this incident.

 I was told that this matter was reported to the Srilanka President Jayawardene in a twisted manner as if an Indian Army Major in Trincomalee was on a rampage and threatened to kill the doctors etc etc… All imaginary lies.

 Now this matter had been taken up with the Indian govt followed by Indian Army channels all the way down to Trinco Sector in Srilanka…that’s Major General Jameel Mahmood.

General Jameel is said to have earlier shouted at my boss…Brigadier Joshi ” Who the hell is this Major who has caused this furore between the two countries “….

 Anyway,now self along with Brigadier Joshi were ushered in the Generals office…The General looked grimly at me and the Brigadier ” What the hell you did ?? ” he barked at me.

 ” I saved a girl from certain death….uh…by urging a reluctant Srilanka govt doctor to render urgent medical care ^……I said…clearing my throat.

 The Brigadier added his side of the story and appreciated my efforts for keeping situation in the area under control.

 ” But you should have been more tactful ” said the General in a much calmer tone.

 ” Sir,the choice had to be made in seconds…..either be tactful and endanger the girls life…or be decisive…act in whatever way to save her life…..I chose the second option as a soldier…….and if required I may repeat the same….I’m sorry but if I’ve caused you any pain, then Sir you may take any action deemed fit “…I finished.

 General Jameel got up and shook my hands warmly ” proud of you sonny “” he said and smiled.

 Few days later I came to know that the brother of the girl I had helped save was a prominent LTTE militant leader of that area…..and that he had instructed his cadres not to carry out any militant activity in my area of responsibility….as a mark of respect.

 It was a period of total peace thereafter till I was there.

An act of kindness was reciprocated by the enemy.

(Col V K Bali was commissioned into 9 Para SF and later also served with Punjab Regiment )