From Korea to Sierra Leone

By C. V. Gopalakrishnan

THE REPORTS about Indian soldiers being held hostage by rebels in Sierra Leone bring to mind India's record as a peace-keeping presence which dates back to the 1950 Korean War. The Indian troops found themselves in a similar predicament in Korea when the Chinese participants in the war had surrounded the peace- keepers headed by Gen. S. P. Thorat. The General secured their release simply by chiding the Chinese captors. He asked them what kind of Chinese they were when they were so inhospitable to their guests. India headed the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission in Korea to arrange for the return of prisoners of war to the United States, the two Koreas and to China after the U.N. appointed ``interrogators'' assessed their preference. The Americans were none-too-friendly to the Indians and there was also an instance of their holding Indians hostage. Syngman Rhee, then President of South Korea, was openly hostile and made no secret of his suspicions that India was wholly pro-Soviet Union and pro-China.

Much later in Katanga, India's peace-keeping forces were led by Gen. K. A. S. Raja. Roy Welensky and Ian Smith, the white imperialist Prime Ministers of Northern and Southern Rhodesia, before they became independent and were rechristened Zambia and Zimbabwe, did not also like the Indian participation in the U.N. peace-keeping operations with the former making some biting comments on ``the kind of fish India was trying to fry in Africa''. The hopes about Katanga giving up its separatist demand depended entirely upon the U.N. forces capturing Jadotville and Kolweizi which were major industrial centres and through which passed the only rail route which linked the province to a neighbouring port in Angola. Brigadier Reggie Noronha led the Indian contingent of the U.N. forces. The advance on Jadotville was led by the fourth battalion of the Madras Regiment, the first phase of which was to secure a crossing over the Lufira River at a distance of 80 km. The late Gen. Sundarji, gives a lively account of the successful operations in Katanga in his Of Some Consequence, A Soldier Remembers (HarperCollins). The Indian Army was also assigned a peace-keeping role in the Nineties in Somalia.

The democratically-elected Government of Mr. Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in Sierra Leone was overthrown in May 1997 by a disgruntled coalition of army personnel of the Armed Revolutionary Council (ARC) and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) led by Maj. John Paul Koroma. Mr. Kabbah fled to Guinea. The Economic Committee of West African States Ceasefire Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) led by a strong Nigerian contingent undertook the suppression of the rebellion. Though they were initially unsuccessful, they forced the rebels to agree to a ceasefire in October 1997 with Mr. Kabbah returning as President in March 1998. His task was the restoration of order in a country with a demoralised population and a severely damaged economy. Quite a number of the leaders of the coup were executed in October 1998. But this could not stop further deterioration and by January 1999 the economy was at a standstill with hundreds of thousands of people having lost their homes and with the flare-up of bitter fighting between the AFRC/RUF and the ECOMOG troops, fuelled by huge arms imports.

India's interest in Sierra Leone arises from its having a small presence of Indians, in a total population of 5.296 million, engaged mostly in trade and industry. African tribes, Temne, Mende and others account for 90 per cent of the population while the others including the Creoles account for the remaining 10 per cent which includes Indians and Pakistanis. Life expectancy at birth remains low at about 49 per cent with infant mortality being as high as 126 per 1000 live births. Sierra Leone is a potentially rich country kept in a state of poverty by successive Governments which have been corrupt and power-hungry irrespective of whether they were run by civilians or the military. An indication of its enormous wealth is given by a 1998 report about its diamond production amounting to 115 million carats which could have earned it from the world diamond market not less than $ 50 billion, according to an estimate made by The Financial Times, London. The illegal export of diamonds through neighbouring Liberia has fattened the Lebanese, Israelis, Belgians, and Britishers as well as wicked elements of the RUF who have been virtually plundering the country.

The present unrest in Sierra Leone leaves the U.N. no choice but to intervene. Non-intervention would only encourage other groups - mostly the African mafia backed by powerful international cabals - to impose their will on a helpless people to whom the end of colonialism is yet to bring democracy and freedom. The devilry brought by the armed rebel groups in Sierra Leone could be seen from the threat to reduce the armed forces of the U.N. to ineffectiveness. They had also seized heavy guns from the U.N. forces. The immensity of the operations required for the restoration of peace in Sierra Leone would be evident from the British Ministry of Defence having to consider the deployment of Royal Marines together with elements of the Parachute Regiment and the Royal Anglian regiment. They have been assigned the task of running a rapid training course for about 1500 soldiers of the Sierra Leonean army.

India has accepted the responsibility for restoring peace in Sierra Leone under Maj. Gen. Vijay Jetley with the combined U.N. forces numbering around 130,000. The General who had an earlier experience under a U.N. command in Iran and Iraq is believed to be against taking a very tough line against the rebels. Gen. Jetley already seems to have made some gains, despite the seeming dissatisfaction felt by the West African States in the consolidation by the Indian troops of the Sierra Leonean Government's control of Rogberi junction which is 50 miles from Freetown, the capital. This has won praise from Brig. David Richard, Commander of the British forces, though the U.N. forces could do nothing about saving the country from the brutal killings amounting to 50,000 apart from the maiming of a large number. The impact on the rebels, however, seems to have been minimal if not wholly absent. They had humiliated the U.N. by abducting 500 peacekeepers including Indians. The confidence of the Sierra Leoneans in the ability of the U.N. forces, however, does not seem to be very high and has not risen after the withdrawal of the Ghanaians based in Bunumbu. The withdrawal of the British forces is not likely to make Gen. Jetley's task any easier.

The state of desperation into which Mr. Kabbah has sunk could be seen from his having had to give an assurance to Britain that the weapons his army had received would ``not fall into the hands of child soldiers'' - which amounts to a shocking revelation that the army has child soldiers.

The present scene in Sierra Leone and the earlier African scenario should leave us pondering over the very limited role of U.N.-led military operations for ending rebellions led by men who have utter contempt for lawfully established Governments and democracy and are only interested in seizing power. The limitations here of U.N. operations, however well-planned and successful they may be, arise from a section of the people whom they are intended to benefit becoming hostile and the inevitable killings which are bound to result from military operations. The recurrence of coups and seizures of power by gangs of power- hungry, blood-thirsty men in some of the countries in Africa and elsewhere, and the remote chances of democracy taking root in the near future, makes the situation even more gloomy. The ballot is still a long way off and it will be quite a while before it will replace the bullet in these countries.

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