Iraq: The India Draft Swells
Outlook's expose on recruitment of ex-armymen to Iraq spills over. The HQ takes note but the headhunters are still on the prowl.

It took an Outlook story for the government to at last take note. Following the magazine's expose on Indian ex-servicemen being drafted for security duties in Iraq by the coalition forces (titled 'Our Hitmen In Iraq', which appeared on the stands on April 24), the Centre has ordered a probe into the illegal recruitment of retired servicemen. It has sought details from the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad about the number of Indians serving in Iraq. The minister for external affair, Yashwant Sinha, has asked the labour ministry to investigate.


"I was asked to prepare a team of about 1,000 men—a battalion strength—who I would have had to lead," says Brig Harwant Singh.


On May 6, the protector-general of emigrants, D.S. Punia, said action will be initiated against agencies found violating the Emigration Act. The Indian embassies in Kuwait and Jordan have been put on alert and asked to stop Indian nationals crossing into Iraq.

But despite all this and a spate of media follow-ups on the miserable

plight of Indians serving in Iraq, ex-servicemen continue to queue up at the doors of security agencies. The Mumbai-based Trig Guardforce Ltd, which has taken the lead in recruitments, is flooded with applications from retired soldiers wanting jobs in Iraq. The company's chairman, Capt S. Salaria, confirmed this to Outlook: "I am inundated with applications. This (media focus) is good for our business."

And despite the government inquiry, Trig Guardforce is going ahead with its plans to send another batch of 25 ex-servicemen to Iraq next week. The reason: the government has ordered a probe but there is no ban on recruitments yet. In fact, Union defence minister George Fernandes has been non-committal on the issue: "If a citizen chooses to go to Iraq how can we stop him?" he told the press.

But Outlook has learnt of a disturbing trend which clearly points to the fact that ex-servicemen are being recruited not merely for security deployment but for combat duties as well. Brig Harwant Singh (retd), who is also president of the All India Defence Brotherhood, an ex-servicemen's welfare group, was approached last week by a retired air force officer in Chandigarh with a rather strange proposal. "I was asked to prepare a team of about 1,000 men—almost a battalion strength—comprising retired jawans and some officers who I would have to lead. I was being offered $200 (about Rs 9,000) a day," Singh told Outlook. He refused to take up the assignment.

Such a large formation with a retired brigadier commanding it could not be for guard duty or simple patrolling. Says a serving officer: "You don't need to know rocket science to see what the Americans want. They would like to deploy the Indians in combat zones so that their own casualties will be limited. If army intelligence is to be believed, then high-risk operations like mine-clearing and reconnaissance are being carried out by the so-called guards."

The retired brigadier Harwant Singh was sounded out at the Defence Services Officers' Institute (DSOI) bar. It is the favourite watering hole for retired officers in Chandigarh and a prospecting site for headhunters. Regulars here say that the recruitment agencies are now asking officers to create their own little sub-units from the retired community so that the entire "unit" can be hired as a whole. They are also being asked to tap retired jawans and other junior-level officers from their regiment with whom they have shared a rapport while in service.

Meanwhile, Trig Guardforce is being approached by middlemen for a formal tie-up with a US security company active in Iraq. Trig Guardforce's vice-president, north, Capt Irfan Saif, told Outlook: "A few foreign companies have begun showing interest in tying up with us because we have a huge database of retired defence personnel.

In fact, now that people know that there is this huge opportunity to make money, many retired officers are making databases of their own." According to sources, such a tie-up would mean a regular flow of retired ex-servicemen to Iraq.

But those who have returned from Iraq regret the fact that they ever agreed to serve there. Col V.H. Singh (retd), who came back recently from Basra, has this experience to narrate. After his retirement, Singh had taken up employment in a private firm when he was offered a job in Iraq. He immediately accepted and left for Basra knowing fully well that it was a hazardous assignment in a war-torn area. What he was not aware of was his exact role and the duplicity of the security agencies who feed half-truths to prospective employees to entice them. "I was taken for a ride. My fault is that I took the senior officers running these agencies at face value. We normally have faith in our seniors even after they have retired. So I did not think it necessary to ask for details like insurance cover."

But Singh, who went on a year's contract, realised that the visa issued to him by the Kuwait embassy in Delhi was a visitor's visa and that too for just one month! This meant that after the visa lapsed his stay even in Kuwait, leave alone Iraq, would be illegal. "This was not acceptable to me and so I somehow managed to come back from Basra," he told Outlook. He also disclosed that the insurance and medical benefits that the security agencies talked of was all verbal and that he was not given any papers. "It's a ripoff," says the disillusioned colonel who lost his job back home in the bargain. "Whoever goes to Iraq should know that everything about it is illegal, never mind what the security agency is telling you," he warns.

Outlook has also learnt the modus operandi being employed by the security agencies to send men to Iraq. Those recruited are sent in batches by chartered flights to Kuwait. Once in that country, they are taken across the border by bus to Iraq by agents of US contractors who have special passes to clear the checkposts. According to a retired officer who has returned from Iraq, the entire operation is carried out with the full knowledge of the Kuwaiti authorities. Another point of entry is through Jordan.

But how are Indians treated by the coalition forces? Col Singh has this to say: "We are paid peanuts compared to security personnel coming from western countries. The US officers also dictate terms to us and for senior officers like me it is galling."

There are others like Maj A.K. Singh who were more lucky. He was selected in February by Trig Guardforce Ltd to be deployed at Baghdad airport. But when he asked for insurance papers and a risk hazard allowance, the agency quickly dropped his name from its list. "They were offering me Rs 75,000 a month but in retrospect, I'm glad it didn't work out. There were, however, retired BSF and CRPF officers who had come for the selection and were prepared to work for even less money." And this is what the recruiting agencies are cashing in on—the supply outstrips demand.

For the record, the army's position is that ex-servicemen cannot seek re-employment till five years after retirement. A general of the adjutant general's branch at army HQ told Outlook: "The rules are very clear that ex-servicemen cannot seek re-employment during the reserve liability of five years. After that there is no check." But many boarding the flights to Kuwait and Jordan have not completed this five-year lock-in period.

According to retired officers, unless the government addresses the issue seriously and bans recruitment of ex-servicemen to Iraq, the headhunters will continue to call on retired officers and jawans. And many would not be able to resist the lure of the dollar, whatever the risk.

From: http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20040517&fname=Iraq+(F)&sid=1