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| Fragging among troopers assumes alarming proportion | | editorial | |
It is ironical that round the time, on Friday, the Army Chief, General
J.J. Singh was expressing serious concern over growing cases of
fragging, a term used in army for the soldiers killing their own
colleagues, indulging senior officers, under mental strain, in Jammu
and Kashmir, a Jawan in the Assam Rifles shot dead two of his senior
officers before shooting himself. Havaldar Adesh Sharma of Assam
Rifles shot dead Captain S.J. Rai Choudhary and junior officer Ranjit
Maimon of the same unit at their village post, around 26 km East of
Imphal in Manipur. Thus the problem of Army Jawan turning their
weapons on their colleagues is not confined to Jammu and Kashmir. It
is a phenomenon prevalent all over the country, particularly in the
insurgency operational areas in the country. It is alarming indeed
that within ten days in the month of October itself five cases of Army
Jawans posted in J&K area and deployed on anti insurgency operations
ran amuck, indulging in shooting deed their own colleagues and
seniors. On October 21, a soldier shot dead 3 colleagues and wounded 2
others before attempting suicide in Rajouri district of the Jammu
region. After pause of 2 days only i.e. on October 23, a trooper shot
dead 2 colleagues before ending his life, again in Rajouri district.
On October 27, a soldier committed suicide in Poonch district. Again
on October 29, a soldier Satyam Kumar shot dead his senior officer
Havaldar Padmarajan and wounded other Jawan by firing from his service
weapon and the Nardan command headquarter in Udampur and finally on
October 31, Sepoy S.C. Behera of 28 Rashtriya Rifles killed his
company commander, Lt. Col. Saket Saxena in Harwan area on the
outskirt of Srinagar. The story does not and here. As per Army Chief's
own statement hundred suicide cases take place every year in the army.
This phenomenon cannot be brushed aside as a routine affair. It poses
a big challenge and needs be analyzed and tackled by taking effective
measures. The morale among the army personnel, which is at low ebb
today, due to various factors, needs be taken serious notice of and
situation reversed. Besides heavy stress and strain due to working
continuously for a long time in the military prone areas, where their
life is always at risk, with the insurgents adopting hit and run
methods, the pressure on the forces to exercise maximum restrain in
dealing with the insurgents and avoiding any retaliatory action and
taking maximum care that no innocent civilians is caught in the cross
fires puts the men in operation against the terrorist at great
disadvantages. Although the Indian armed forces are the most
disciplined force in the world and always act with compassion and
restrain, while acting in highly provocative situations, yet they are
at the receiving end by the politicians, who do not hesitate to defame
them for imaginary accesses committed by them, whereas sometime
necessary force used by them, to meet an emergent situation. Apart
from the secessionist and anti national elements who are always out to
exploit any action of the forces, taken in good faith, to let loose a
campaign of vilification and malign the forces. Even the mainstream
politicians, with an eye on vote bank, do not come to their defence.
In a related development the career in army, which was a most
respected and honoured field till 3 decades ago, no more attracts the
youth, who find better opportunities and more lucrative jobs in the
corporate sector. The honour and dignity which the army personnel
enjoyed is now a thing of the past. Besides undertaking more
counseling in the army units and addressing to their concerns at the
domestic level as well as in the field of work, the dignity of the
defence services needs be restored to the level, which it enjoyed
once.
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