Tamil women soldiers recruited to Sri Lankan army

A batch of 95 Tamil women soldiers of the Sri Lanka army held their passing out parade at the security force Headquarters in the former Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam stronghold of Kilinochchi in the north.

This was the first time the army saw such a large group of Tamil women joining the organisation en bloc, although the army has had a fair number of Tamil woman officers serving it ever since its founding, military officials said.

Speaking on the occasion on March 21, Brigadier R Ratnasingham said women officers were recruited to the Army to establish a good rapport and civil co-ordination between the Tamil community in the north and the army.

Recruited to Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps, these woman soldiers have completed a four month training at the BharathipuramArmyTraining school in Killinochchi.

These women from Mullaithivu, Vavuniya, Kilinochchi and Mannar areas during their military training underwent IT training, Sinhala and English language learning, training for Civil-Military relations, reconciliation, the officials said.

They would be deployed to serve as civil affairs coordinators and clerks in the north shortly. The army, since the end of the military conflict with the LTTE, has taken steps to diversify its cadre to represent the different ethnic communities in the island.

The army has been often dubbed as the Sinhala army by Sri Lanka's international critics. The Tamil women from the conflict zones were part of the LTTE's women's wing who were in active service during the decades old conflict.