Ronik Sharma
The formation of a Village Defense Guard is a preventative step to safeguard national security in remote areas of Jammu and Kashmir with the support of locals.The active participation of local villagers in security matters will be extremely beneficial in curbing anti-terrorist activities and maintainING surveillance on all such issues relating to the security of local villages, borders, and counter-insurgency.With the creation and strengthening of village defence groups in hilly as well as plain areas, these village defence groups will keep an eye on trans-border movement and also alert security agencies as well as paramilitary forces against any untoward incidents.The Central Government has taken all necessary actions and provided all logistical support to security agencies and other forces in Jammu and Kashmir to combat active terrorism and ensure the safety and security of innocent people.The Ministry of Home Affairs’ recent order for the revised scheme and change of nomenclature from village defence groups to village defence guard, as well as various steps to strengthen more Village Defence Guard, has also broadened the scope of selfless volunteers for the protection of integrity and national security in the interest of the Nation. Now the members of the village defence group will be designated as village defence guards (VDG). Persons (V1 category) who lead/coordinate the village defence guard in more vulnerable areas will be paid Rs. 4500 per month, and other persons (V2 category) who are members of these village defence groups on a voluntary basis will be paid a uniform rate of Rs. 4000 per month. The Defence Guard will function under the direction of the SP/SSP of the concerned District.The Central Government adopted, in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the same strategy as the village defence groups that were established earlier in 1995 because the terrorist activities and terrorism were at their peak in far-flung areas of Jammu and Kashmir where road connectivity was very poor and, in case of any security-related problems innocent people were facing many difficulties during peak hours of terrorism. Many casualties occurred due to the non-availability of police and other paramilitary forces in the wee hours in far-flung areas. But now the situation has changed because the terrorists have adopted a different modus operandi to attack the innocent local population.To maintain more internal security, the Ministry of Home Affairs must provide more support and train villagers with all modern weapons, training and provide them with all the support they require to curb all anti-national activities such as terrorism, as well as to monitor the activities of terrorists’ over-ground workers who assist terrorists in carrying out large-scale attacks on locals and security forces.Minority protection in far-flung areas of Jammu and Kashmir is an important duty for security agencies as well as security personnel. In recent months, the number of targeted killings of innocent persons has escalated. More logistic assistance for village defence guards, such as enhanced gadgetary understanding, modern weapons training, equipment, and a multiprolonged strategy, is important to monitor all such security threat-related actions.In light of the current global situation, the Indian government should adopt an advanced mechanism in security situations to train all individuals who are interested in receiving weaponry training on a voluntary basis, as well as take all necessary steps to provide refresher courses to ex-servicemen once or twice a year. They must be prepared to fight any perceived threat in the wake of an explosive circumstance.The terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir is assisted and abetted by Pakistan’s ISI agency, with the cooperation of all active terrorist organisations funded by Pakistan, to disrupt the calm environment in J&K by killing and torturing the innocent populace, security and paramilitary personnel.The Village Defence Guard is now put to task for fighting infiltration, fortifying the counter-terrorism grid, and stepping up against forcible youth recruitment by overground workers to help terrorists and stone-pelting activities during Indian military, police operations and protection of important places like army depots, national highways, bridges, and other important locations. Decision taken by Ministry of Home Affairs in the present scenario is preemptive and in the fitness of things.
(The author is an Advocate)
Follow our WhatsApp channel
