New Delhi: In India, eight hundred and nineteen Indian armed forces’ personnel committed suicide in the last five years, according to details provided by Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt.
The Indian Army reported maximum of 642 such cases, Indian Air Force reported 148 cases, while the number in the Indian Navy was 29.
Major Geneneral Samay Ram said in his book, Stress, Suicide and Fratricide in the Army: Crisis within, “Indian army is losing approximately 100-120 men per 100,000 in suicides.” Anshu Gupta, a psychiatric social worker, in his paper titled ‘Stress in Indian Army: A Psychological Perspective of Present Scenario and Needs’, writes that the rising incidents of suicide and fratricide is a matter of concern for the armed forces, adding that the condition is worse in the state of Jammu & Kashmir and in the Northeast region.
According to different studies carried out by Indian Armed Forces, the trend of suicides is increasing in Indian Army in occupied Kashmir. Indian soldiers serving in IIOJK suffer from mental disorders and are highly frustrated as a large number is not convinced to fight against unarmed civilians.
Every other Indian soldier considers himself a murderer, a fanatic and a savage. Indian government has revealed that 116 complaints of human rights violations by the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force have been received since 2017.
Some politicians including Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav has publicly taunted Indian PM Modi (21 March 2019) saying `Pulwama attack was a conspiracy’ and ‘jawans were killed for votes’. Ratio of suicide in Indian army clearly depicts inadequacies in the quality of leadership, overburdened commitments, inadequate resources, frequent dislocations, lack of fairness and transparency in postings and promotions, down- gradation in pay and status, lack of motivation amongst juniors, non-grant of leave, indifferent attitude of civilian officials and short command tenures.
Courtesy: The Economic Times
