Prof Ravinder Chadha
India is entangled in great problem of insurgency, especially in the states of Chhattisgarh, Orissa and Bihar, where Maoists are striking every now and then while Jihadis in J&K state are spreading their tentacles in other parts of the country. Security forces are committed and are working overtime to contain and uproot naxalism and terrorism of all sorts at the earliest. Around three Hundreds martyrs including army, CRPF personnel and Police Jawans have laid down their lives this year only in counter insurgency operations spearheaded by Maoists and other militant organizations like Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba and other insurgent groups sponsored by Pakistan.
Indian forces CRPF, BSF, ITBP etc. are amongst the best in the world. They are working overtime in the difficult terrains, braving all weathers and temperature varying form 50 degrees to -40 degrees Celsius right from Rajasthan, Gujarat, Northeastern States to Siachen icebergs and keeping India Tricolour flying. Every Indian acknowledges this facts and feels indebted to our soldiers for their extraordinary contribution and salutes them for their courage and devotion towards their duties. It is because of their strict vigilance and alertness on the borders, we are having sound sleep.
Now the off-duty police and military officers and defenseless SPOs in their houses are becoming soft targets of militants in troubled areas. Recently constable Aurangzeb was kidnapped and killed when he was on his way to his home to spend some holidays with his family members. Similarly, Lt. Feroz Ahmed was killed while enjoying holidays in rural area of Kashmir. Many other SPOs have been dragged to orchards and shot dead. The murder of SPO’s took place days after Hizbul Mujahideen organization passed diktats in a video asking SPO’s to resign or face death. The top brass of J&K Police took these threats as psychological operations to lower down the morale of SPOs and security forces. Don’t we feel ashamed when our Army personnel or policemen are abducted from their houses and killed? Sheer giving shoulders to their bodies by DGP and other personnel or visiting the families of the Martyrs or paying them tributes is not enough. The Ministry of Home Affairs must take cognizance of the fact that the life of belt forces persons and his family is precious and should draft a fool proof mechanism to ensure their safety as it involves both human values as well as prestige of the country.
No doubt in the recent days, some Blacksheep SPO’s have ditched and fled away with rifles and also took away weapons of their colleagues to join the ranks of militants but that cannot put question mark on integrity of all SPO’s. DGP took a wise step in divesting them from security of VVIPs because that may provide opportunity to the suspects to carry out their actvites surreptitiously and go unnoticed. Simultaneously, it may be borne in mind that these SPO’s play a very vital and significant role during the time of insurgency, as has been proved during the time of peak militancy in the Punjab. They have contributed in reducing peak militancy to zero level. SPO’s tip offs about the militants are crucial and precise because of people state symbiosis as they are the sons of soil having organic links with villagers. They can provide authentic and vital source of information to the Army to act promptly and eliminate terrorists. There are about 30000 SPO’s in J&K and it will be farfetched to assume that these sporadic killings in the selected villages will have domino effect. No doubt, their killings can’t change the resolve, but has the potential to derail the process of our fight against terrorism. In the given circumstances, militants may change their strategy and start targeting their families also. There are families of Army personnel living in these counterinsurgent areas. This will give rise to drastic situation which can impact the morale of the forces. So some measures in the form of separate housing colony must be built promptly to avoid any fear or threat of this sort. The enhancement of wages of SPO’s is welcome step. Now the issue of security must be resolved at the earliest, so that they focus wholeheartedly on fighting proxy war being carried by militants, sponsored and supported by Pakistan, China and other hostile agencies.
(The author is former Head Department of Chemistry)
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