Eight months after being deployed on the western borders, the Indian Army registers a 200 per cent increase in stress-related cases of troop indiscipline.
Shishir Gupta
September 9, 2002 | UPDATED 12:46 IST
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On the evening of August 6, Colonel Sunil Kumar Padhi, commanding officer (CO) of 4 Grenadiers, was visiting the army canteen service depot in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir when Rifleman Abid Khan opened fire from his AK-47 assault rifle and killed him on the spot.
Padhi's only mistake was that he had given Khan a tongue-lashing earlier in the day for avoiding combat duties by clinging on to a computer operator's job with divisional headquarters. The 4 Grenadiers had just completed its gruelling two-year counter-insurgency tenure under Operation Rakshak in Jammu and Kashmir, when it was mobilised for Operation Parakram without a break. Disturbed at being hauled up by the CO in front of his colleagues, Khan went berserk and fired six rounds at Padhi from point-blank range. Only two bullets found their mark.
CENSORED
Letters written by personnel posted on the western borders indicate problems that could arise if corrective steps are not taken
"Out here some activity has started after the Kaluchak massacre. It was a barbaric incident. Knowing that even our families are not safe has come as a severe blow to troop morale. No leave, no war and now this incident - a big setback to our morale. Our dhotiwalas (politicians) will first tire the troops and when we are fully exhausted, will order us to go to war."
An assistant commandant, Border Security Force, Northern Command, May 2002
"Here the sun is taking a heavy toll on us. No electricity, no water. Just dumped us at a place without any civic amenities. Since the time I was commissioned, I have only been wearing a combat dress. Best part is that the civilians are hardly worried. For them, we are enjoying life at the border because there is no war."
A captain, EME, Southern Command (Rajasthan sector), May 2002
"I have now become fed up with this service. After years of service, I wish to live my life with my family. Separation has become far too long. I will never advise our son to join the services. He should work hard and study properly and join the bank."
A junior commissioned officer, Martial Regiment, Southern Command, June 2002
"Do not know whether I will get a chance to go on leave. Not interested in serving any more. With the present state of the army I do not know whether we can stay together till I come home on pension. After three-and-a-half years of separation, we had high hopes of staying together but look what has happened. It is better to work as a peon. At least there is peace of mind and satisfaction."
A major, Artillery Regiment, Northern Command, June 2002
A similar incident took place four days later on August 10 in the Ferozepur sector on the Punjab border. Havaldar Subhash Chandra shot dead his company commander, Major Arjun Singh Parmar of 11 Kumaon, and then committed suicide.
Chandra was on his way to getting discharged from the army in January 2002 when his orders were cancelled and he was asked to report back to his unit for deployment under Operation Parakram. Unable to be relieved from the army or even get leave to go home, Chandra lost his temper and killed the second in command of his unit.
Since December 19, 2001, more than half a million soldiers of the Indian Army have been deployed along the India-Pakistan borders under Operation Parakram as part of Delhi's coercive diplomacy against Pakistan.
Borrowing from the US doctrine of preemptive deterrence, India is threatening military action against Pakistan if it does not stop cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.
Eight months down the line, the Indian military strategy appears to be floundering, with Pakistan showing no signs of fulfilling its commitment to permanently stop exporting terror to Kashmir or dismantling the terrorist infrastructure in Azad Kashmir.
But the recalcitrant neighbour is not the only problem that is confronting the army brass. Even though cases like those of Padhi and Parmar are few, Army Headquarters has candidly admitted that its troops are under stress. However, it is equally emphatic that this is not due to poor man-management.
According to a senior general at Army Headquarters, there has been a 200 per cent rise in stress-related cases of indiscipline. "The percentage of such cases stood at 0.42-0.45 of the total cases of indiscipline in the army. After Operation Parakram, the figure has shot up to an unprecedented level of 1.21 per cent," says the officer responsible for administration of the Indian Army. "Clearly, this shows that the troops are under stress due to the prolonged period of deployment and separation from home." However, he refuses to divulge the exact number of such incidents.
Another area causing concern for the top echelons is the mental health of the officers and men. Since the 1960s the army has been circulating to its formation commanders the censored mail that soldiers are prevented from sending to their near and dear ones. This exercise is undertaken to enable the commanders to gauge the psyche of their troops and use it to formulate a strategy for alleviating their problems.
Although these letters are not a comment on the general condition of deployed personnel, they definitely are an indicator of the problems that may crop up in the future if no corrective action is taken. It is apparent that the frustration among army personnel, as evident from the censored mail, is due to curtailed leaves and disruption of the field-peace posting cycle on account of the biggest mobilisation in Indian history.
Normally, a battalion serves in insurgency-prone areas for two years and is subsequently posted to a peace location for not less than three years in the hinterland. Even in the case of Siachen, troops are deployed at the glacier for a period of three months, after which they are given an opportunity for rest and recuperation. But for the past eight months, even those units which had finished their counter-insurgency tenures in Jammu and Kashmir have been redeployed on the borders for Operation Parakram with hardly any leave.
Senior officers point out that apart from the strain due to long work hours, hostile terrain and curtailed leaves, the troops have become restive over the futile wait for hostilities to commence with Pakistan.
Although Islamabad has been spreading misinformation that the Indian Army is tired, the stress and strain among military personnel is least on account of low morale. In fact it is a manifestation of exasperation among the deployed troops, who are raring to go across the borders and teach the enemy a lesson. "The only question that troops ask in the Rajasthan sector is on when they will be allowed to fight," says a serving general who recently visited formations on the border.
ARMY'S STRATEGY
TRAINING: In a bid to keep the troops motivated, Army Chief General S. Padamanabhan has directed all the mobilised units to go into training mode and use the opportunity to rehearse specific operational strategies.
MORE LEAVE: From August 2002, Army Headquarters has allowed 15 per cent of troops in each formation to go on leave for 35 days.
LEADERSHIP SKILLS: Junior commissioned officers are being trained to handle stress among jawans deployed on the borders.
BETTER MAN-MANAGEMENT: Army officers have been directed to pay special attention to the management and welfare of the soldiers on the front.
While the army has raised the problem of troop stress with the Defence Ministry, it has also taken measures to limit the psychological damage. A study conducted by the Defence Institute of Psychological Research in 2000 on battle stress pointed out that the requirement of stress management for future military leaders is going to be much higher because the environment of operation has undergone a change.
Recognising this fact the army has, since May this year, taken the decision to allow 10 per cent of each formation to go on a curtailed leave of 35 days. After a series of stress-related incidents, the army decided in August to allow leave for another 5 per cent of its troops. It is also trying to clear the backlog for discharging troops but the exercise will spill over to mid-2003.
Recently, the army issued an advisory to its formation commanders, saying that there was a "certain dip in morale perhaps due to increasing stress among the officer cadre" and directed the officers to "pay special attention to the management and welfare of soldiers deployed on the front areas".
However, Lt-General Vinay Shankar, former director-general (artillery), attributes stress-related acts of indiscipline to poor man-management or what he describes as "weak leadership". "The Indian Army has 300-odd battalions, so one cannot expect perfect leaders across the board," says the military expert. "Exposure to protracted periods of stress can lead to both mental and physical breakdowns. This happened even in the run-up to the 1971 India-Pakistan conflict."
It is now up to the army leadership to come out with a comprehensive stress-management strategy that emphasises on better leadership skills and optimises efficiency of troops in combat, for battle stress will be a decisive factor in any future war.
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