Freed Indian jawan recalls life in rebel camp

"The rebel troops forbade our movement outside the camp. I don’t know how exactly they did it but we were told by our officers that now we will only be inside the one-kilometre radius of the camp," Kumar told The Indian Express, lying in his bed at the ICU.

He has spent more than 45 days in detention but says that within the camp they moved about freely. The rebels did not disturb them inside the camp or restrict their movements. "In fact, it is a crazy situation. There were times that the rebels would leave their weapons and come close to the camp periphery and ask for food. At other times they would brandish their weapons from their positions in an attempt to scare us," he added.

For the Indian soldiers, life inside the camp continued the way it was earlier. Kumar said they woke up in the morning at the usual time, went for their physical training exercises within the compound and through the rest of the day carried on with their tasks.

"We are maintaining our security inside the camp," he said. The Indian soldiers patrol inside the periphery of the location. The area is in the mountains, he says, and there is thick foliage all around. "They (the rebels) do not patrol their periphery and just come out once in a while and brandish their weapons," Kumar added.

The soldiers are upbeat and know their detention assures in no small measure the security and safety of the 21 Indian Army peacekeepers in the custody of the RUF cadre in Pendembu. "We have our training, better weapons, the best officers any Army can ask for and are much stronger. We are also much more in numbers. But the life of our 21 soldiers is priceless and for them we are willing to undergo detention as long as we have to. That is what we talk among ourselves," Jaijit Kumar said.

For the past 50 days, the soldiers have worked out a routine. "We are now learning English. The officers teach us how to speak English as English is very essential in a UN mission. Then we chat up with each other and hope for the release of the 21 soldiers in Pendembu. We still have our freedom and independence. We have freedom of movement. But they are in custody," he reiterated.

Kumar reached Sierra Leone in December 1999, just a few months after his marriage. "My family is in West Bengal. We have a satellite phone in Kailahun and once I even spoke to my family. But the cost was $ 14 for less than five minutes. I will talk sometime later," he added. The other soldiers have also occasionally spoken to their families but it is the high cost of the calls that deters them. The soldiers here have been reassured that their mail would be resumed soon. They just hope that there would be some respite from the torrential rain.

"Though most of the troops are in the barracks even in Kailahun, a number of them are still in tents. And not all tents are waterproof. We have put huge plastic sheets on top of the canvas tents so that water does not come in. A little still seeps in through the ground and it gets cold and damp early morning. Once more material comes in, this too will be taken care of," a UNAMSIL official in Freetown said.