Suicide, fratricidal have killed more security men than militancy this year

If the on-going conflict has taken a myriad toll on Kashmiris, forces personnel too have not escaped its consequences. Data furnished by the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS) shows that suicide and fratricidal incidents have killed more security men than militancy since January this year. Out of a total of 41 security men killed in the period, seventeen committed suicide and seven died in fratricidal shootings, while fifteen were killed in encounters with militants across Jammu and Kashmir.

Those who committed suicide include ten army men, one of them a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO), 2 BSF men and 5 CRPF troopers, according to the JKCCS figures. Curiously, all personnel who died in fratricidal incidents were army men. No such incident has been reported from the BSF or the CRPF this year. But the data from 2011 to2013 reflects the disturbed state of mind among these paramilitary forces where fratricide is not uncommon.

Three CRPF men were killed in such an incident in Kulgam on December 25, 2011. In 2013, 11 personnel of the BSF and the CRPF were killed similar shootings. These include three from a camp in Kishtwar where, in May 2013, a trooper opened fire on his sleeping colleagues.

Experts attribute this growing incidence to continued deployment in hostile conditions, and denial of leave and recreation. According to a Srinagar-based news agency, authorities “intend to take measures to address the problem.”

In his paper Stress in Indian Army: A Psychological Perspective of Present Scenario and Needs, psychiatric social expert Anshu Gupta says that feelings of guilt and the fear of getting killed or wounded wreak havoc with the psychology of the soldier. According to him, the fear of getting killed is the most common fear that engulfs a soldier. Other factors, according to him, are loss of contact, loss of individual freedom, loneliness, and comparison with counterparts. The government of India must take note of the gravity of the situation, and act with urgency to resolve the Kashmir issue, the cause of so much suffering and pain on all sides.

via Kashmir Reader

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