Pension seeking Tibetan veterans of SFF in bureaucratic limbo/ENG

2017. szeptember 18./Phayul.com/TibetPress

eredeti cikk

By Tenzin Dharpo

DHARAMSHALA, Sept. 18: Between the assurance of a long due pension and an unending official red tape, many Tibetan veterans from the ‘Special Frontier Force’ are fighting an unlikely battle of undoing clerical errors on their documents.

Many SFF veterans who joined the Indian paramilitary force, and are due to receive pension following the verdict by India’s apex court last year, may never actually see a rupee. Official records of many veterans such as discharge papers and service ID cards from what is known as the “22 establishment” have errors in spelling of the name or date of births which do not match with mandatory identity documents such as PAN card and biometrics synced Adhaar that were made later and with the correct names and specifics.

76 year old Nyima Tsering, who took part in Operation Eagle which secured the Chittagong hills during the Bangladesh War of 1971 says many like him never really cared for the errors in their discharge papers or ID when they were in service decades ago but the announcement for pensions have changed all that. “When I joined the force in 1963, our details were all registered by Indian clerks hence many of our Tibetan names which were alien to them, were wrongly recorded. In the official records, my name is Nima as supposed to Nyima,” he said. Tibetan names like Tashi, Dhondup and Sherap were recorded as Trashi, Tondip and Shirip in the official records.

Here at the Jampaling home for elders, 33 former SFF servicemen have similar predicaments. The Director at the old age home Wangchen told Phayul that he has listed the errors and sent them to Chakrata, the headquarters of the 22 Establishment. He said, “I have done all I can, but it may take a long time for the authorities to rectify them, if it can be done at all. The veterans here are living here because they do not have anyone to look after them and they do not have the resources to go to concerned authorities and engage in legal measures.”

Another veteran who do not wish to be named told Phayul that he had served in the force for 25 years and then served in the exile Tibetan government for 24 years. The bed ridden 80 year old’s application was rejected thrice by Chakrata HQ, which cited mismatch in the spelling of his name. “I am too old and too sick to go places and rectify my grievances. For now, I am clueless as to how to approach this matter,” lamented the old man who also fought in Indo Pak war in 1971 and stationed numerous times on Siachen glacier, dubbed the highest battlefield on earth.

Close to 6000 Tibetan servicemen who retired prior to 2009 will receive pension after Delhi High Court passed a judgment to release funds to compensate years of arrears, last year. However the central government has sought extension from the court ordered deadline citing operational magnitude of disposing funds to the tune of 600 crore rupees.

The SFF or the ‘22 establishment’ is an elite paramilitary force created in 1962 consisting of Tibetan refugee recruits by India. The soldiers of SFF had participated in Operation Eagle (securing Chittagong hills during the Bangladesh War of 1971), Operation Bluestar (clearing Amritsar’s Golden Temple in 1984), Operation Meghdoot (securing the Siachen glacier in 1984) and Operation Vijay (against Pakistan at Kargil in 1999).