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Army seeks ways to 'silence the gun'
Published on Fri, May 25, 2007 at 12:21, Updated on Fri, May 25, 2007 at 12:59 in Nation section
Tags: Indian Army, Fragging , Jammu
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Jammu: A jawan in Kashmir shot dead a Lieutenant Colonel on October 29, 2006. This incident was followed by three similar shootouts where jawans killed their own men. The Indian Army is now looking for answers while Army medical experts have blamed stress for the rise in such incidents.
"We are alarmed, and are undertaking all measures. Unfortunately, it has been found that it is mainly due to family problems, marital disharmony and non-redressal of problems," Lt Gen LP Sadotra, Director General of Armed Forces Medical Services, says.
"People who are younger in age and are in service for 7-8 years are more prone to such behaviour. Failed love affairs also is a reason and the Army can't do anything about it," he says.
Most of these cases have been reported from conflict-ridden areas. But, the Army's recent analysis attributes only 0.3 per cent of fragging incidents and suicides to operational stress.
"We have done an analysis and it has been found that only 0.3 per cent of these cases have been due to operational stress. The rest is attributed to other factors. It is basically anger, and when you are working for long hours, anger gets exaggerated. We already have a system in place, we just need to fine-tune it. Right form the training stage we need to fine-tune it now. And we will have more psychiatrists in operational areas," Lt Gen Sadotra says.
In 2006 itself, there were over 10 cases of Army shootouts, and six of them took place in J&K alone. In March, an Army jawan shot four of his colleagues and committed suicide in Jammu. More recently, a jawan shot a Major in Manjakote in September. October saw three more similar cases.
In the past six years, the cases of suicide have also increased in the Army. From 36 deaths in 2001, the number shot up to 80 in 2002. In 2003, 96 suicide cases were reported and the number touched hundred in 2004. In 2005, there were 97 deaths and in 2006 there were 98.
The growing number of suicides and fragging incidents have made the Army sit up and introspect, look within its ranks and beyond. If there are domestic problems, there is also the pressure to perform, conflict and the lack of communication: factors that trigger such extreme reactions.
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