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Healing the
wounds of war
With
few facilities to support them, these disabled veterans face a war
of survival Roshan had
a childhood fascination for the army uniform and longed to join
the army and serve his country when he grew up. After he passed
out from the Military Academy, the future seemed bright. Until one
day, he was badly wounded on the battlefront. This is the
story of over 18,000 young soldiers, (mostly between the ages of
18-25) who have either lost a limb, been badly injured or traumatised
and are now 'differently abled' citizens of our country. The Association
of Disabled Ex-Service Personnel (ADEP) was founded in 1994 to upgrade
the living standards of differently abled military personnel. Starting
off with a membership of 200, it has now grown to 11,00 islandwide.
Membership is exclusively for privates and non commissioned officers,
suffering from some form of permanent disability. However, exceptions
are made with regard to meeting special needs of commissioned officers. While peace
is on everyone's lips, President - ADEP, Asoka Dayaratne, and other
disabled officers are anxious to see an improvement in their lives.
The problem in many instances, they feel, begins with training before
reaching the battlefield. This was brought down over the years,
from six months of comprehensive, rigorous training to a mere six-12
weeks of basic training, due to a lack of recruits and time. This
was grossly inadequate and one of the main causes for severe injury
amongst the soldiers of today, they point out. A burning issue
among service personnel is their pension. They receive a pension
only after 12 or more years of service. However, what of personnel
who are disabled within three weeks or a month of service? What
becomes of them and their families? The Director
of Rehabilitation of the Army said that although such personnel
would not receive the service pension, they are entitled to a disability
pension. However, the wife was not entitled to the disability pension
in case of the husband's sudden death. Mr. Dayaratne
suggests that schemes should be instituted to enable war veterans
to help in the development of the economy instead of being a burden
to it. A country like Israel is a perfect example, where war veterans
run one of the biggest supermarkets, he said. Ventures like this
not only help improve the lives of the veterans but also help build
social awareness and consciousness. 'Shop houses' (where a part
of the house is transformed into a shop) are another one of his
proposals, so that disabled ex-servicemen can make a living, out
of their homes. A major problem
facing the disabled in Sri Lanka today is access to buildings. Ramps
for wheelchairs and other facilities that make access easy for the
disabled, are lacking. "We may be disabled, but we are still
human. Therefore, we should have access to everything just like
other citizens in this country," says *Ananda, a disabled officer.
Housing and
education are also problem areas.Certain areas where the 'Ranaviru
Gammana' have been constructed are without proper infrastructure
and facilities, says Mr. Dayaratne. Merely putting up some houses
and placing disabled military men in them, should not be the intention
of this project. Rather, these
areas should be maintained and have all basic necessities. Easy
access to schools, hospitals, banks etc. is vital, he says. Currently the
percentage allocated for the children of service personnel in leading
schools is inadequate. The intake should be increased in normal
schools and admission should be open to children of service personnel
of any rank. However, a
senior official of the School Education Ministry told The Sunday
Times that since it is a policy matter the final decision lies with
the minister. Another issue, the Association highlighted was that
after a soldier is discharged from the military hospital, long term
treatment is not facilitated through the institution but rather
must be followed at his own expense. However, the Director of Rehabilitation
said that all personnel are entitled to treatment from the hospital
as long as they live. This service includes OPD care as well. Poppy of
death, renewal and life In 1915, at
a Canadian dressing station north of Ypres on the Essex Farm, an
exhausted physician named Lt. Col. John McCrae would take in the
view of the poppy strewn fields and experience a moment of artistic
inspiration. The veteran of the South African War was able to distil
into a single vision the vitality of the red poppy symbol, his respect
for the sacrifice made by his patients and dead comrades, and his
intense feeling of obligation to them. McCrae would capture all
of this in the most famous single poem of the First World War, In
Flanders Fields. The doctor's
work achieved immediate universal popularity which was subsequently
reinforced by his own death in 1918 from pneumonia and meningitis. In Flanders
Fields |
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Copyright © 2001 Wijeya Newspapers
Ltd. All rights reserved. |
Over
the past 19 years, our motherland has wept for the loss of thousands
of brave lives, destruction of buildings and property and waste
of resources and money. Why? Because we are fighting a futile war.
Destroyed houses and buildings can be reconstructed, money and resources
can be regenerated but what happens to those who gave up their lives
or were disabled by the war? Who looks into the welfare of those
most affected by the war? The soldiers themselves and their families.
