Stress-related deaths in the 13-lakh strong armed forces
Stress-related deaths in the 13-lakh strong armed forces
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi/Imphal: In yet another ‘fragging’ case in the Army, a jawan of the 12 Madras Regiment allegedly shot dead two junior commissioned officers (JCOs) after an altercation in Churachandpur district of Manipur on Monday.
Despite some measures taken by the defence ministry and armed forces after a major spike in stress-related deaths in the shape of suicide and ‘fragging’ (to kill a superior or fellow soldier) cases in recent years, the toll continues to mount alarmingly.
As first reported by TOI, the 13-lakh armed forces grapple with, on an average, well over 120 cases of suicides and fragging every year. In 2008 alone, for instance, there were 151 suicides and four fragging cases in the three Services.
In the latest such incident, Sepoy Ambati Narayan Reddy gunned down Subedars Mritujayan and N B Thanappan and fled with his service rifle from the Kheljang post, 67 km from Imphal, on Monday night.
“Reddy was later caught and handed over to the police by fellow soldiers on Tuesday morning. The Army has ordered a court of inquiry (CoI) to ascertain the exact reason which led to the incident,’’ said an official.
While the court of inquiry will take time, studies have shown that prolonged deployment in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir and North-East are exacting a heavy toll on the physical and mental health of soldiers.
The soldiers, staying far away from their families, also undergo tremendous stress for not being able to take care of the problems facing their parents, wives and children back home.
“There could be property disputes, harassment by antisocial elements or financial and marital problems. With an unresponsive civil administration, jawans undergo a lot of stress since they are not physically present to sort out matters,’’ said an officer.
Soldiers also have to grapple with paltry salaries, lack of basic amenities, ineffectual leadership, humiliation at the hands of their officers, and the constant fear of being accused of human rights violations.
Incidentally, as first reported by TOI earlier, a Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) study even holds that “perceived humiliation and harassment, over and above occupational and familial causes’’, at the hands of their superiors often serves as the final “trigger’’ in stress-related cases in the armed forces.
Denial of leave or a harsh word from his officer, much the norm in the strictly hierarchical forces, is often all that is required to make a soldier train his gun either on himself or his superiors in sheer frustration.
Fragging, in fact, has become such a big problem in the Army that its legal system in 2007 even sentenced two jawans to death for killing their officers in “cold blood’’ to send a message down the rank.
Living On The Edge
Stress-related deaths in the 13-lakh strong armed forces
Around 550 Army, IAF and Navy personnel have committed suicide since 2006
Over 40 fragging cases (to kill a superior or fellow soldier) recorded since 2006
Reasons for breakdown
Stress due to prolonged exposure to counterinsurgency environment in Jammu & Kashmir and the Northeast
Perceived lack of concern shown by superiors to individual problems Long separation from family and difficulty in attending to family commitments
Denial of leave to deal with domestic problems
Jawans also have to grapple with poor salaries, lack of basic amenities and humiliation at the hands of their officers
Constant fear of being accused of human rights violations Grappling with the problem
Better man-management techniques being adopted
Some JCOs have been trained and deployed as psychological counsellors
Training capsules on relaxation techniques like yoga and pranayam Leave policy is being gradually liberalized
Rotation of battalions to minimize stress exposure
State CMs asked to make civil administrations responsive to problems of serving soldiers
The Above News report makes me feel lousy:
Response from me: We need to appoint Psychologists and Befreinders at every battalion to counsel and listen to our Jawans.At one end we have the black money imbeciles flouting all norms and rules and enjoying IPL's parties and at one end our very own jawans are suffocating.
Every Indian is a Traitor who enjoys life at the expense of the Jawan and the Kisan
This suicidal tendencies can be very harmful to the Indian defence services and can boomerang into a major fiasco.Let us pit a stop to it asap.
The corporate Indian should wake up to this and sensitize the political and bureaucratic nincompoops
Jai Bolo Bharat Mata Ki
Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Jai Guru
An Indian
Ashwin Nallari
Army jawan kills 2 junior officers after altercation
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi/Imphal: In yet another ‘fragging’ case in the Army, a jawan of the 12 Madras Regiment allegedly shot dead two junior commissioned officers (JCOs) after an altercation in Churachandpur district of Manipur on Monday.
Despite some measures taken by the defence ministry and armed forces after a major spike in stress-related deaths in the shape of suicide and ‘fragging’ (to kill a superior or fellow soldier) cases in recent years, the toll continues to mount alarmingly.
As first reported by TOI, the 13-lakh armed forces grapple with, on an average, well over 120 cases of suicides and fragging every year. In 2008 alone, for instance, there were 151 suicides and four fragging cases in the three Services.
In the latest such incident, Sepoy Ambati Narayan Reddy gunned down Subedars Mritujayan and N B Thanappan and fled with his service rifle from the Kheljang post, 67 km from Imphal, on Monday night.
“Reddy was later caught and handed over to the police by fellow soldiers on Tuesday morning. The Army has ordered a court of inquiry (CoI) to ascertain the exact reason which led to the incident,’’ said an official.
While the court of inquiry will take time, studies have shown that prolonged deployment in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu & Kashmir and North-East are exacting a heavy toll on the physical and mental health of soldiers.
The soldiers, staying far away from their families, also undergo tremendous stress for not being able to take care of the problems facing their parents, wives and children back home.
“There could be property disputes, harassment by antisocial elements or financial and marital problems. With an unresponsive civil administration, jawans undergo a lot of stress since they are not physically present to sort out matters,’’ said an officer.
Soldiers also have to grapple with paltry salaries, lack of basic amenities, ineffectual leadership, humiliation at the hands of their officers, and the constant fear of being accused of human rights violations.
Incidentally, as first reported by TOI earlier, a Defence Institute of Psychological Research (DIPR) study even holds that “perceived humiliation and harassment, over and above occupational and familial causes’’, at the hands of their superiors often serves as the final “trigger’’ in stress-related cases in the armed forces.
Denial of leave or a harsh word from his officer, much the norm in the strictly hierarchical forces, is often all that is required to make a soldier train his gun either on himself or his superiors in sheer frustration.
Fragging, in fact, has become such a big problem in the Army that its legal system in 2007 even sentenced two jawans to death for killing their officers in “cold blood’’ to send a message down the rank.
Living On The Edge
Stress-related deaths in the 13-lakh strong armed forces
Around 550 Army, IAF and Navy personnel have committed suicide since 2006
Over 40 fragging cases (to kill a superior or fellow soldier) recorded since 2006
Reasons for breakdown
Stress due to prolonged exposure to counterinsurgency environment in Jammu & Kashmir and the Northeast
Perceived lack of concern shown by superiors to individual problems Long separation from family and difficulty in attending to family commitments
Denial of leave to deal with domestic problems
Jawans also have to grapple with poor salaries, lack of basic amenities and humiliation at the hands of their officers
Constant fear of being accused of human rights violations Grappling with the problem
Better man-management techniques being adopted
Some JCOs have been trained and deployed as psychological counsellors
Training capsules on relaxation techniques like yoga and pranayam Leave policy is being gradually liberalized
Rotation of battalions to minimize stress exposure
State CMs asked to make civil administrations responsive to problems of serving soldiers
The Above News report makes me feel lousy:
Response from me: We need to appoint Psychologists and Befreinders at every battalion to counsel and listen to our Jawans.At one end we have the black money imbeciles flouting all norms and rules and enjoying IPL's parties and at one end our very own jawans are suffocating.
Every Indian is a Traitor who enjoys life at the expense of the Jawan and the Kisan
This suicidal tendencies can be very harmful to the Indian defence services and can boomerang into a major fiasco.Let us pit a stop to it asap.
The corporate Indian should wake up to this and sensitize the political and bureaucratic nincompoops
Jai Bolo Bharat Mata Ki
Jai Jawan Jai Kisan Jai Guru
An Indian
Ashwin Nallari
|
|
