Indian Army in the line of
unfriendly fire By Siddharth
Srivastava
NEW DELHI - A rising incidence
of violent face-offs between officers and soldiers
in the Indian Army is becoming a worry for the
establishment. The reasons are related to harsh
working conditions, high risk to life due to the
nature of the work, low pay, lack of leave, and
indifferent management of the lower ranks.
At least three violent incidents have been
reported in the recent past, prompting the defense
minister and the army top brass to conduct
brainstorming sessions to prevent such occurrences
turning into a wider trend.
The latest
instance was at Samba in Jammu & Kashmir,
triggered by the suicide of a jawan (young
soldier). In May, a violent
incident took place in
Ladakh, also in J&K, while a similar fracas
happened in June last year in Punjab.
Last
week, Defense Minister A K Antony publicly
expressed concern about the brawls in the first
official acknowledgement of the government's worry
over the issue. "Each incident is a matter of
concern to me, but [the] armed forces are better
trained to handle such situations. They are
handling it in their own way. I also had a brief
discussion with the army chief and they are
handling it," Antony said.
Statistical
evidence of suicides and of the killing of
officers in the 1.1-million-strong Indian Army
points to growing levels of frustration among
jawans. Between 2003 and 2005, suicides
hovered around the 100 mark annually. They rose
dramatically over the next three years to touch
150 in 2008. Since then the number of suicides has
gone down but remains over 100 every year.
Multiple reasons have been attributed to
the discontent. According to studies by the
Defense Institute of Psychological Research, the
major causes of suicides in the army were domestic
problems, marital discord, stress and financial
problems. The report was quoted recently by Antony
in Parliament.
Revelations of large-scale
corruption in defense procurement, land and
housing schemes in which top army, civil officials
and politicians have been found culpable do not
foster morale within the forces. A soldier is
trained to follow orders. Doubts about the
integrity of superior officers are a cause for
dissonance.
Psychological aspects relate
to the army being increasingly deployed in
low-intensity conflict zones in the northeast and
J&K and lately extended to regions afflicted
by Maoist rebellions. It creates the peculiar
situation of defense forces having to deal with
multiple goals of eliminating the enemy while
ensuring safety and retaining support of the
civilian population.
An army jawan
trained for all-out war situations is often found
wanting in handling the emotional animosities of
local populations who perceive security forces as
instruments of state oppression and interference.
In Kashmir, for example, even an inadvertent road
accident could lead to riots across the state.
The same soldier ironically is feted by
the country and turned into a hero when he
succeeds, often posthumously or by sustaining
grievous injuries, in killing terrorists, as
happened during the Mumbai terror attacks in
November 2008 or fighting against a foreign enemy
during the 1999 Kargil conflict.
In fact,
along with the army, growing incidence of suicides
is being recorded in the paramilitary Central
Reserve Police Force and Border Security Force,
which are also deployed in high-risk
internal-conflict areas.
The economic
factors too cannot be ignored.
The bulk of
jawans continue to belong to rural areas
that are undergoing rapid changes due to affects
of urbanization and industrialization. A decade
back, an army man's job was eulogized by folks
back home for the sacrifices involved and economic
stability that a regular salary provided.
Today the cost of living has risen much
more than the wage increments. Given the increase
in land prices and other avenues of income, the
army has lost some of its sheen as a sought-after
employer. A recent comment in the Indian media
reads:
An objective review of the manner in
which the pay, allowances and status of the
military have been lowered over the last two
decades reveals some startling facts. The
average fauji (army soldier) retires at a
much younger age than the civilian counterpart,
who serves up to age 60. Many anomalies
abound.
Indeed, it is important for
New Delhi to look closely for solutions to
pre-empt the disgruntlement among the
jawans rising to alarming levels and adding
to the rising instances of industrial unrest in
India.
Dissatisfied workers of car
manufacturer Maruti brutally assaulted management
cadres recently, killing a senior executive and
injuring several others. The Maoist violence in
large tracts of central and eastern India is
linked to mining companies exploiting the local
tribal populations, resulting in deep grievances.
Unlike neighbors Pakistan, Bangladesh or
Nepal, India's army has remained largely
apolitical and has worked well under the civilian
political leadership since independence in 1947.
The Indian jawan deserves his due.
Siddharth Srivastava is a New
Delhi-based journalist. He can be reached at
sidsri@yahoo.com.
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