Even as Gen. Bikram Singh quite justifiably exudes confidence and resilience on the state of the forces on Army Day, there is an abiding problem, akin to a soft underbelly, to the indomitable saga of the Indian armed forces which cannot be allowed to become a festering sore.
Many men in uniform are continuing to succumb to demons within, and the unhappy picture has not changed even when measures have been taken at the highest level to change the perception that suicides have proved to be Indian Army's biggest adversary—many times even more lethal than enemy's bullets.
Figures available for the last decade suggest that more than 1,300 troops lost their lives in acts of self-annihilation. The number of those martyred in counter-insurgency and security operations, in contrast, is around 650 over the same period.
Though the number of lives being lost is coming fractionally down each successive year, the picture is far from edifying. While 2008 saw as many as 150 suicides, the number has been unvaryingly in three figures over the last decade. The murky fact is not helped by the fact that in some cases, families of soldiers alleged murder leading to court of inquiries.
To curb incidents of suicide, the Defence Ministry had taken several steps ranging from appointment of counselors to augmentation of psychiatric centres to grant of liberal leave to jawans to yoga training, it has been officially disclosed.
Suicides in the 1.1 million-strong Indian Army have thus steadily become a real cause for concern. A shocked nation has been from time to time been told of the suicide of a soldier at an Army unit in Samba in Jammu and Kashmir leading to a round of tension involving officers and soldiers; or about an Army man spending five days atop a mobile phone tower in the heart of Delhi to highlight his grievances — he threatened to jump but was somehow brought down safely this week — have epitomised the crisis. Incidents of ‘fragging,’ or the fratricidal killing of fellow soldiers or superiors, also continue.
Following a study by the Defence Institute of Psychological Research to identify stress-points led to some measures being put in place, but they are clearly not enough. Officials and senior officers contend that more than the physical and mental strain that extended deployment in counter-insurgency roles exerts, domestic, family and financial problems account for much of the distress. Paramilitary forces have such work-related problems and frustrations to an even greater degree.
Periodically, concern about the phenomenon has emanated: Defence Minister AK Antony, is known to have taken personal interest in the issue and has alerted chief ministers to make the administration more responsive to the grievances and complaints of serving soldiers and their families.
The MoD has appointed more psychological counselors at the unit level, introduced yoga sessions and also issued guidelines to liberalise leave-granting practices.
In the event, it is hardly germane that the suicide rates in the armed forces are less than those of the general population. It is also somewhat irrelevant to argue that in affluent countries such as the United States, military suicide rates have been rising at a more alarming rate. That does not mean much in essential terms and does not help the debate either. While the US military reported 301 cases of suicide through 2012, last year the rate seems to have practically reached one suicide a day.
In fact, in the US armed forces, suicide as a cause of death has overtaken combat deaths and motor vehicular mishaps. But the moot point is the situation at home. Can a nation best with endemic insurgency and myriad other threats to national security turn a blind eye to the living and working conditions of its loyal soldiers? Remedial measures and commissions of enquiry must produce the desired results if that is to happen.
via Samay Live
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