NEW DELHI: Toquell protests and militant attacks in India-controlled Kashmir afterabrogating the region's rights to set its own laws, the government in New Delhidoesn't rely so much on its million-strong army or the police. Rather, it is aparamilitary police force that is often on the front lines, whether facingstone-throwing youngsters or seasoned gunmen from militant groups.
That puts theforce, known as the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), in an invidiousposition as it mans the concertina-wire barricades in the main city of Srinagarand elsewhere in Muslim-majority Kashmir. Clad in camouflage uniforms, theforce is under the command of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Human-rights campaignersaccuse it of heavy-handed policing with its anti-riot pellet guns, chilligrenades, which weaponise choking and burning chilli powder, and raids.
It was men fromthis force who were the target of a Feb. 14 suicide bomber who drove into an armedforces convoy in Kashmir and killed 40 of its members. That attack broughtIndia and neighboring Pakistan, which both claim Kashmir in full but rule it inpart, to the brink of war. The nuclear-armed rivals have fought three warssince 1947, two of them over Kashmir. Critics say CRPF is often overstretchedand that because training, pay and benefits do not match levels in the army,morale can suffer.
Living conditionsare poorer than those found in the army, said former officers. After theFebruary bomb attack, many retired CRPF personnel protested in New Delhi todemand better pay and benefits. A parliamentary committee investigated theforce's working conditions and said in a December report that authorities were"over-dependent" on it. The continuous deployment of CRPF companiesthat are supposed to be in training "affects the operational efficiency ofthe CRPF, as well as denies them training and rest", the committee said.
Taking the lead
The force'sorigins can be traced back to the Crown Representative Police, which wasestablished under British rule in 1939. It evolved into the CRPF with theenactment of an act in 1949, two years after India's independence, and wasgradually expanded as it went on to tackle secessionist movements on India'sborders. According to the latest available data, it had 319,501 personnel inDec. 2017 and the government was planning to add more.
Traditionally,the force has been deployed to assist the police. But in recent years there hasbeen a "role reversal" with the CRPF often taking the lead, said PMNair, a defense analyst who served in the force for nearly eight years, two ofthem in Jammu and Kashmir. "The malleability and the resistance of theforce is very high," said Nair. In Srinagar, it is clear from conversationsReuters reporters have had with police and CRPF officers that it is the latterwho are running day-to-day operations at the barricades and are in the vanguardof raids into neighborhoods.
That can createresentment within the Jammu and Kashmir Police, some of whose officers havesaid they are being treated with contempt by CRPF personnel. The CRPF's use ofpellet guns to disperse stone-throwers has led to criticism from rightsactivists. A cartridge can contain hundreds of pellets and they have causedthousands of injuries in Kashmir in recent years, including hundreds of peopleblinded. The government has defended the use of what it refers to as non-lethalweapons. - Reuters