Nazia Nazar
There is a gross gap and uneasy relationship between Indian soldiers and officers with respect to treatment in service. The soldiers often blame officers for discrimination and injustice. Abhishek Meena, while complaining to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar about Army officers, opined that attitude of Army officers is main cause of increasing suicide incidents of soldiers in Indian Army. Soldiers commit suicide because of the mental torture by their senior officers. As many as about 700 military personnel committed suicide between 2009 and 2014. There have been 69 cases of suicide in the Indian Army in 2015 besides an incident of fratricide. The reasons for such incidents include prolonged occupational hazards, orders to perpetrate atrocities on the civilians, family issues, domestic problems, perceived grievances, mental makeup, financial problems and inability to withstand stress.
As many as 334 Indian Army personnel have committed suicide since 2012 besides eight cases of fratricide in the same period. Such incidents take place because of the insulting attitude of officers with army soldiers. Indian Army had been rocked by series of indiscipline and corruption cases vis-a-vis land, liquor, sex, and other scams involving even a general officers commanding in 2013. A Court of Inquiry (CoI) had blamed as many as 56 personnel of Indian Armed Forces including five officers for scuffle between officers and Jawans of an artillery regiment, which took place on 10th May 2012 at Nyoma, SE Ladakh. Disciplinary action against 16 personnel including the regiment’s commanding officer, second-in-command and three other officers for failure of command and control, assault, indiscipline and other lapses was taken. In another such incident Lt. Colonel Ajay Chaudhary was arrested for smuggling 24-crore worth of illegal drugs to Myanmar. There is a possibility that stressful environment prevailing in armed forces of India is the reason for such occurrences. However, military personnel are accused of moral turpitude and gross misconduct as well. India’s security forces used torture and rape as a weapon to punish, intimidate, humiliate and degrade the victims in Kashmir and elsewhere in India. When contingent of Indian army performed duties as UN peacekeeping mission abroad, army personnel had raped women that resulted in unlawful pregnancies. Twelve officers and thirty nine soldiers were probed in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India, for sexually abusing the local women and for having fathered children while on UN peacekeeping mission in Congo in 2008.
UN Commission found DNA evidence of children born to Congo women, having distinct Indian features. UN authorities had put pressure on Indian Government to investigate the issue. The Indian soldiers had exploited women of Congo, and girls and women were raped either through coercion or by taking advantage of hunger to provide food items and Indian-made cosmetics. UN authorities ordered DNA tests and asked Indian government for legal proceedings against these officers and soldiers. In March 2008, three officers were charged with sexual abuse of a local woman while on a holiday in South Africa. However, there is no parallel to the atrocities perpetrated on Kashmiris in Indian Held Kashmir where Indian soldiers’ stories of rape and murder are very common. However, after martyrdom of Burhani Wani, the struggle of Kashmiris for freedom has gained momentum.
In order to suppress the freedom movement in IHK Indian Army used religious prejudice and hatred against Muslims, while using rape as a weapon against Kashmiri women, and the Indian authorities turning a blind to their heinous crimes. Hence, the habitual criminals not only got away with their crime against Muslim women in IOK but also got promotions and postings of their choices. On 29th May 2011, a complete shutdown was observed in Shopian town in Indian Held Kashmir to mark the second anniversary of rape and murder of two Kashmiri women, Aasiya and Neelofar by Indian soldiers. Nevertheless, some human rights organizations have been exposing Indian soldiers and officers involved in sex scandals and rapes. The Indian government had started crackdown against Kashmiris in the disputed territory of Kashmir in January 1990. Rape by Indian security forces most often occurs during crackdowns, cordon-and-search operations during which men are held for identification in parks or schoolyards while security forces search their homes. In these situations, the security forces frequently engage in collective punishment against the civilian population by assaulting residents and burning their homes. Rape also occurred frequently during reprisal attacks on civilians. Women who are the victims of rape are often stigmatised, and their testimony and integrity impugned. Social attitudes which cast the woman and not her attacker as the guilty party often enjoys clout with the judiciary, making rape cases difficult to prosecute and leaving women unwilling to press charges. Despite the barbaric acts of Indian army, Kashmiris are determined to get rid of the Indian occupation.
