saf finally give their side of the story now. oh oh like some
bmt co kena soon . actually the pte is real priest or not, his
temple also like not recognised. those jehova witness at least
serve db all the way. they believe in their faith and they accept
the saf's action. i heard in db those ppl treated well and not like
detainee.
July 25, 2009
NSman drops protest
Teen punished for disobeying orders despite counselling
By Melissa Sim
A FULL-TIME national serviceman, who objected to having his hair
cut and refused to eat camp food, claiming it was against his
religious beliefs, was charged and sentenced to five days'
detention.
In response to media queries, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef)
confirmed that Private Madana Mohan Das, 18, a trainee driver, was
tried on Friday for refusing orders to cut his hair according to
SAF requirements and eat military food, despite being counselled
and given ample opportunity to comply.
The sentence was backdated to Monday, when he was sent to the SAF
Detention Barracks for repeated misconduct which undermined
discipline in the SAF. He was released from detention on Friday
afternoon and returned to his unit, after he complied with
orders.
His father, Mr Sundar Gopal Das, described himself and his son as
priests at the Sri Krishna Mandir, a Hare Krishna temple in Geylang
Lorong 29.
He maintained that as priests, they could not cut all their hair
and had to keep a tuft at the back of the head. As for meals, he
said they could only eat food prepared at the temple as prayer
offerings.
He said his son was initially allowed to keep his hair and have
temple food delivered to him, but this was stopped later. While in
detention Pte Madana ate only uncut fruit.
Mr Sundar said his son dropped his protest only after he found out
that he could face three years in detention.
He said his son became a priest when he was 15 years old, after two
years of training here. The temple is
a registered society but does not come under the purview of the
Hindu Endowment Board, which manages several Hindu temples and
organises major Hindu festivals here.
Mr Sundar's views are also not shared by all Hindus. Mr Shriniwas
Rai, the Hindu representative of the Inter-Religious Organisation
in Singapore, said Hindu priests can eat food prepared outside a
temple, as long as it is vegetarian. He added that priests should be trained in India,
and not everyone can claim to be a priest.
Mindef said Pte Madana was treated like any other serviceman and
all personnel had to follow orders and abide by rules on military
turnout and bearing, and discipline. 'The SAF cannot allow
deviations from its rules and regulations for any serviceman as
this weakens military discipline which could compromise the SAF's
operations effectiveness and safety of SAF servicemen.'
I think that are the few reasons why his religion case is not
strongly backed...
Of cos , when comes to religion issue. SAF always is sensitive
abt it. But unless it comes from such high establishment. Most
probably , SAF will hack care abt it.
