Four fresh undergraduate cadets of the Kotelawala Defence University have been admitted to the military hospital with serious injuries following an alleged ragging incident within the Academy premises, military sources said.
*Army ragging/File photo
One student is said to be in a critical condition as his spinal code has been extensively damaged, sources at the military hospital said.
The ragging had been done by some senior students.
However, in an attempt to cover up the mess, a few more fresher’s had been subjected to deliberate attacks in order to divert attention and portray it as a clash among the fresher’s, a senior military official added.
“Some seniors have attacked these juniors with iron bars after tying them to beds,” the official said.
“These incidents have never happened within KDU, and this is extremely disturbing. Furthermore, the attempts by the top brass to cover the incident are pathetic,” he said.
The parents of the injured students had been barred from visiting their children at the military hospital. A two-member court marshal has been appointed to investigate the incident.
Colombo Telegraph has been unable to reach the military spokesperson for comment.
Native Vedda / September 7, 2015
The business is as usual.
Well adjusted/trained senior students are ready and waiting, could be deployed to deal with unarmed civilians any time anywhere.
Well done defense establishment. Keep the tradition going, the country needs you.
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Spring Koha / September 7, 2015
ATTENTION!
Native Vedda, ‘business as usual’ is about right. Therefore, do not expect those up the line who should have eradicated this curse, to do anything about it. After all they certainly practised it themselves.
As you said, this is good training for when they qualify and are set free and sent out into the country to spread a bit of peace time misery among innocent people. Then they go back to their villages and are treated like returning heroes. Bastards!
STAND EASY!
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Native Vedda / September 7, 2015
Spring Koha
I have been hearing lots of stories about war heroes behaviour in the South.
I am told that the war heroes expect (as if its a traditional right) the Southern girls to make themselves readily available when they are approached by them. I am not sure how far this is true.
Is there anyone who is documenting post war behaviour of war heroes?
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Spring Koha / September 8, 2015
Careful Native Vedda, that sort of story about returning soldiers and submissive maidens may make even even an old fool like me sign up, against my better instincts. I have heard that Jihadis who die in the service of Allah go straight to heaven where they bathe in asses milk and are fed grapes by beautiful virgins. Just goes to show that the supply of cuckoos will never run out.
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maalumiris / September 8, 2015
What a coincidence ! I heard the same about the “War Heroes” of the North – During the conflict – young girls were recruited as “comfort women” for the battle-weary LTTE cadres. Most (the pick of the crop) were ‘reserved’ for the elite fighters apparently but there WAS a democratic trickle-down effect
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Native Vedda / September 8, 2015
maalumiris
” I heard the same about the “War Heroes” of the North – During the conflict – young girls were recruited as “comfort women” for the battle-weary LTTE cadres. “
Did you really hear that?
I wonder what stop you from joining the LTTE?
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Ben Hurling / September 7, 2015
This country is addicted to brutality, violence and abuse.
The massive violence these animals unleash on citizens who cross their path is one thing.
There is a great deal of violent abuse within the Armed Forces and Police as well. Against each other.
All that is swept under the carpet in the name of military law and discipline.
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Native Vedda / September 8, 2015
Ben Hurling
“There is a great deal of violent abuse within the Armed Forces and Police as well. Against each other.”
I knew a young Sinhala speaking captain who served in Jaffna. He was in love with a Tamil girl for quite some time. The love was mutual and the both parents had no objection.
The army officers did not approve his love.
His senior officers made it a monthly ritual to beat him up at the officers dinner, harassed him, humiliated in front of his juniors, etc. It went on for nearly two years. He sent his girl friend to Colombo. On his subsequent vacation he came to Colombo got married to her and left the country, he deserted the army. I was told the girl joined him later.
There you are.
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Ben Hurling / September 9, 2015
Army Captain did exactly the right thing. He deserted for all the right reasons. He chose love over naked racism.
I admire the Tamil girl who never gave up on him, despite the racially charged atmosphere specially at that time.
I also hope they would one day come home and come forward. Reveal their ordeal on national TV at Prime Time. Name and shame the so called “senior” racists.
However, I would understand if they choose to stay away from this country forever. I wish them the best.
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Spring Koha / September 9, 2015
So good to hear of the triumph of true love over racism and bigotry.
True love conquers all.
May their true love last forever and never die.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSZ84u8A4ak
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Native Vedda / September 9, 2015
Spring Koha
I am happy that I met this man.
However I am not happy that those who humiliated the young captain are still serving in the armed forces probably holding top post.
I am happy old codgers have some pleasant feeling towards the young ones. Have you ever fallen in love when you were young, vibrant, stupid and in your prime?
Please do share your experience/love story with us.
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John / September 7, 2015
Law should apply to all,. Those Military officers responsible for ragging should be brought to justice.
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BBS Rep / September 7, 2015
The thrice blessed country of ours where the triple gem never fails to shine never fails to surprise me.
Come on all ye people, join me in song, “Loke uthum rata Lankawai, Lankawai siri Lankawai’.
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Nathan / September 7, 2015
Who’d say that the military does not practise torture … !
What future is there for a cadet with an extensively damaged spinal code?
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Native Vedda / September 7, 2015
Nathan
“Who’d say that the military does not practise torture … !”
Black and Decker, sach the stupid, Nuisance, somass-kantha, ……..
“What future is there for a cadet with an extensively damaged spinal code?”
In Army parlance training new recruits is known as “break them and make them” – here the defense establishment took it literally.
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Observer / September 7, 2015
I am surprised that this practice of ragging is still being tolerated in our part of the world. Such practices are looked down upon in most other counties. We have to take the initiative to move away from such primitive behaviour.
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Analyst / September 7, 2015
There we go again , from the
Top brass to bottom unleashed by MARA AND GOTA CLIQUE. We do not hear about this kind of ragging anywhere in the world except in our Srilanka , Is it because they follow Singlish ,pinglish mode of education or is it POLITICAL?? I think it’s political created by the Medamullana gang.
Catch these fellows and punish them.
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gamini / September 7, 2015
Ragging commenced in the old where freshers were made to come out of their shells and rid their inhibitions. It was fun enjoyed by all including the ragged as they were decent forms, because the majority Undergrads were from the upper classes in society. But once the flood gates were opened to the ordinary in society Ragging has became more violent and sadistic. This is not peculiar only to Institutes of Studies but is clearly seen from, what has happened to the Parliamentarians as well, after the riff raff in society was permitted to enter the August Assembly adopting no standards. The same goes with sports where earlier Gentlemen played and the games were enjoyed by all and today the Rowdies indulge taking over and has innumerable issues not only among the players and the game, but in the Management bodies also where the corrupt has crept in and all sorts of financial impropriety is committed. Today Ragging has become a social cancer and it should be curbed with all force necessary to eliminate the sick in society.
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Chrys / September 7, 2015
This is a heinous act. Court Marshal should not only be to the senior students but also to the officers who made it possible and senior officers who’s negligence allowed it in the first place. This court marshal should happen in the open and not allowed to be hushed up with the parents and the public present. It should never be allowed to repeat again.
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Nic / September 7, 2015
The perpetrators need to be dismissed from the KDA forthwith and arrested for man slaughter and dealt with. Those army high ups who are supposed to be hampering the investigation must be identified and court marshaled and discharged stripping all privileges.
The era of cover ups is gone – now it is an era of good governance – the rule of law shall prevail regardless of the person and his connections.
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Rajeeva / September 7, 2015
Now that there is no more opportunity to kill Tamils in the North or to kill innocent Sinhalese in the South (Rathupaswela) or Muslims in the South (Aluthgama) since the new government will not tolerate it,perhaps the soldiers at KDU are turninig on themselves.Gotabaya, with Mahinda` s approval is singlehandedly responsible for turning the armed forces into a robotic killing machine,specially after May 2009.Another creation of this lunatic is the BBS.
All this was done to perpetuate themselves in power.But the people irrespective of religious or ethnic considerations silently decided otherwise,first on January 8th and then again on August 17th.Viva Sri Lanka!!
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thumpane gamaya / September 7, 2015
Pathetic situation due to poor attention and supervision by the university management. The same situation exist in Colombo university ARTS Faculty. Daily the freshers are harassed and the dean of the faculty is ignoring the complaints by parents. UGC should properly analyzed the VC’s/Dean’s and other top management staff for their capacity/personality before appointing to faculty management positions.Some management staff are very poor in discipline & administration.
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sacre blieu / September 7, 2015
This is an absolute shame. They have been enrolled for a higher education and discipline and are the officers of future administration. If they imitate the decadence of our universities of today, what would they be later. They must allways remember that the uniform is a symbol of discipline and not the strange privilege of an even strange few.
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gamini / September 7, 2015
On an earlier occasion when some female trainees were harassed during MR’s period and the matter reported in CT, the Army high ups were looking as to who released the news to the media. Now this. There are psychopaths in the Forces. They must be hounded out.
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Krishan / September 7, 2015
Please do not publish these kind of articles if you do not know the source of information quite well. This is not true., this is a fake, this is not happening at all. Its a real insult to the prestigious institute.
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Sylvia Haik / September 7, 2015
The apologists for Gota and Mahinda would claim these ragging mould these cadets into better soldiers. What piffle. Recently there was a photograph of women recruits being badly mistreated and the powers that be just laughed it off. This had emboldened these idiots to be even more daring. A single Court Martial of the entire heirarchy that allowed this to happen would stop this heinous practise at a stroke.
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Indra / September 7, 2015
One should sympathize with those students who got injured.
However,
Students who join the Military Academy BY CHOICE are sadists – also they better be, because that’s the type preferred by their Masters when they join the service. White vanning, torture and murder requires SADISTS to carry them out. The Ekneligoda, Thajudeen cases come to mind. No wonder the Academy wants to hush up the barbarism.
Ask yourself, “will I join the Police or the Army if I have an alternative? No. Only if I do enjoy causing pain to a fellow human being”. Rana Viru is a joke. There may be a few exceptions. But the vast majority join the forces to enjoy the power of life and death over another human being.
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Paul / September 7, 2015
Indra, they are not all sadists. Think about it. Too often they join because they are poor. The military offers them clothing, food, shelter, a regular salary, a pension and some sort of standing in the village community.
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Native Vedda / September 7, 2015
Paul
“The military offers them clothing, food, shelter, a regular salary, a pension and some sort of standing in the village community.”
And state offers perpetual impunity from committing war crimes and crimes against humanity and other human rights violations, actually from 5th April 1971.
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Indra / September 7, 2015
Read before you comment. It will save you time.
I said those who enlist BY CHOICE (capitalized for the careless) are sadists, which means exactly the type you mention – those who are the deprived, who have nothing to eat, wear, or the means to send their children to school.
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Sylvia Haik / September 8, 2015
Indra, there must be some who join for patriotic reasons to make this country a safe place, as JFK asked “Ask not what the country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”. Anyhow, whatever the reason there’s no excuse for this kind of barbaric behaviour. This apparently happens in schools, universities, places of employment etc. Won’t somebody please legislate to make it a criminal offence and punish the perpetrators most severely.
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Paul / September 9, 2015
‘I said those who enlist BY CHOICE (capitalized for the careless) are sadists, which means exactly the type you mention – those who are the deprived, who have nothing to eat, wear, or the means to send their children to school’
Being unable to read let me get this straight. You are claiming that anyone who is poor and chooses to join the military is a sadist.
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justice / September 7, 2015
Do we need a “Defence University”?
Is it not actually an “Offence” University?
A peacetime army swallows the largest chunk of each annual budget – for what?
The “LTTE” is resurrected periodically in theory, to justify.
Invasions by other countries are imagined, to justify.
Now the real mindset of those who join is revealed – sadism wholesale.
Injuring fellow students grievously shows this.
Earlier, videos of male soldiers thrashing females doing exercises were here – horrible behaviour, unpunished so far.
This has encouraged these ‘seniors’.
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Depen / September 7, 2015
No wonder that’s why they are evading war crime allegations. How many more years are we to wait for at least one person be convicted of war crimes from this internal inquiry. So many lives are sacrificed in government universities but no Education Minister or Vice chancellor is bothered. Unless the people rise against this evil power hungry coward authorities will do nothing about it.
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Peace Lover / September 8, 2015
Where is Black n Decker when the armed forces needs him the most to defend KDU
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Vihanga / September 8, 2015
First of all behave like a responsible journalist. Do u have any evidence to prove that news.As a officer cadet of KDU I can surely say that this is a false news.don’t try to tarnish good image of Sri Lanka military. Another thing is the photograph of your news is not a photo of Kdu traning.please stop damage our good image without any valid evidences.i challenge u to prove the thoroughness of your news.
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Native Vedda / September 8, 2015
Vihanga
May I ask who did draft your comment since members of Sri Lankan armed forces are not fluent in English.
“I can surely say that this is a false news.don’t try to tarnish good image of Sri Lanka military.”
There is nothing new to tarnish Sri Lanka military. They military has been doing it to itself since 5th April 1971.
“i challenge u to prove the thoroughness of your news.”
Would you like a live performance of what the seniors did to , then we need to reenact the scene. Would that be okay with you.
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Nuwan / September 9, 2015
It is absurd to even see your comment. How dare you came to a conclusion that armed forces members are not fluent in English. My dear their mode of communication is English. Every military subject is taught in English. Don’t insult our NATIVE VEDDDAS by robbing their values.
Vihanga is very correct and unfortunately we might lost the credibility upon CT for publishing this kind of image tarnishing and irritating article.
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Native Vedda / September 9, 2015
Nuwan
Please re read your own comment, review it and say what you really know about the armed forces.
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Paul / September 9, 2015
‘Vihanga is very correct and unfortunately we might lost the credibility upon CT for publishing this kind of image tarnishing and irritating article’
…and about fluency in English.
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shanaka / September 9, 2015
One of my hero, a military officer said once that SERVICE DON”T NEED CHOCOLATE BABIES OR ROCKET SCIENTISTS. As a responsible media, please #colombotelegraph publish your gossips with evidence, otherwise don’t because 90% of today’s conflict is due to this media’s behavior. You think such kind of in your words, BARBARISM can do by those youngsters who you call SENIORS. By looking some comments felt a disgusting feeling not for those who posted in personally, regarding the attitudes. How foolish these soldiers are, they shouldn’t ended this war and make it repeat. Then you will make songs for them, will respect. Now I see why Anagarika Dharmapala left this country.
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Vihanga / September 9, 2015
You are telling that “one officer said” ,”one parent said that”.but any one can say anything.but as a responsible journalist there should be evidence.if u haven’t any evidence please be silent.
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Native Vedda / September 9, 2015
Vihanga
“if u haven’t any evidence please be silent.”
The first responsibility of an investigative journalist is to protect his/her source in the pursuit of truth and justice.
Now the story is out it is the responsibility of the defense establishment to investigate the whole inhuman treatment of fellow cadets.
What is your primary motivation? Would you like to dig out truth or bury it so that Army can postpone the problem? Would you like to justice served to the injured or would you like them to help the Army cover up the story?
If you are an honest observer and one who really care about the Army, you would have demanded the Army and the state to clean up the institution, get rid of the rotten apples, make it a professional force which act like one. Sweeping all these allegation under carpet would increase the incidents of such attacks.
Do you support the armed forces or against them?
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