NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Rediff Shopping

Shop & gift from thousands of products!   Books     Music       Apparel   Jewellery   Flowers   More..      Safe Shopping

The Indian legend of Sierra Leone

Josy Joseph in New Delhi

It is still debatable if Captain Sunil Kumar's height is his advantage. But he stood really tall, in the thick jungles of Sierra Leone, close to the diamond mines, amidst weapon wielding rebels.

Annoyed goons of the Revolutionary United Front, the rebel army fighting the Sierra Leone government, took him prisoner on May 2, away from other Indian colleagues, and asked him to give up his arms. It was then that that he made his pronouncement.

Captain Kumar is five feet, five inches. Standing short usually in any group of army men. But in the jungles and villages of Kailahun, in the eastern part of the African country, they call him Fatorma Mbakor (legendary warrior).

For the young captain, the sobriquet is a reason to celebrate. Because those who gave him that honorific were the enemy -- the very people who took him hostage. For a soldier there can be no better certificate for bravery than acknowledgement from an adversary in battle.

"I said you can kill us, but we would not give up our arms. It is a disgrace for us," recalled Captain Kumar, who was in New Delhi last week.

He was in India accompanying the body of Havildar Krishan Kumar Kant, his colleague from the 14 Mechanised Infantry, who was killed in Sierra Leone. Havildar Kant was killed when rebels ambushed the UNAMSIL -- United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone -- convoy when it was returning with the freed hostages.

A burst of splinters hit him, and triggered the bullets on his belt into his stomach. Before the bullets could be extricated at Freetown, the soldier died.

Captain Kumar says the ordeal was something the Indian peacekeepers were prepared for.

"I was left alone in Kailahun. All the others including my company commander and other officers were taken to a different location. It was then that the rebels asked me to order the troops to disarm themselves," he recollects.

"I was to order my troops to disarm. Already other troops from Zambia, Kenya etc had disarmed. I refused," he said. "I said you can kill us, but we will not give up our arms, it is part of our tradition."

Colonel J S Sahi, commanding officer of the 14 Mech Infantry, who is in India, says, "Our soldiers are trained to keep up the tradition of the Indian army. None of us will compromise on that. Before we give up arms, we will die."

Captain Kumar was released on the eighth day of his captivity. Immediately thereafter, he plunged into the operation to free the rest of the hostages. The operation was a great success, except for the single casualty.

He was part of the team that captured Pendembu. Havildar Kant was coming from Daru to Pendembu. It was during his journey through roads that had been washed out by rain, amidst the thick jungles, that Havildar Kant was killed. A junior commissioned officer sitting next to Kant was also injured.

Captain Sunil Kumar is to fly back soon to Sierra Leone to rejoin the UN peacekeepers who are struggling against all odds to maintain peace in a nation torn apart by a bloody civil war.

Major General Vijay Kumar Jetley, the UNAMSIL commander, has proved a point with the surgical strikes at the rebel bases to free the 223 peacekeepers held hostage for over a month. Silencing his critics and to international acclaim, Maj Gen Jetley successfully executed the operation and is now strengthening his defences for a worst case scenario.

Captain Kumar will be there, along with over 3,000 Indian soldiers, who are staging a tolerant attempt to bring peace to a stretch of land where mayhem and murder are the order of the day. There could be more bloody strikes, braver deeds. But the world would get to know only some heroes.

ALSO SEE:
'We are not a war-making force'
Warriors of peace

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report