NEW DELHI - Fears of militant attacks in the north Indian Jammu region have led officials to revive a network of thousands of rifle-armed village guards trained to act as first responders during a terror attack.
Panic has gripped many in the region close to the border with Pakistan after militants killed seven Hindus, including two children, in two attacks on Jan 1 and 2 in Upper Dangri village of Rajouri district. It is not known who was behind the attacks, which are the latest to target Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir.
The incidents have led locals, including women, to demand weapons from authorities to protect themselves against further such attacks, prompting authorities in Rajouri, Poonch and other districts of Hindu-majority Jammu to hold training sessions for hundreds of civilian guards and teach them how to use and maintain rifles issued to them.
These guards were appointed as members of counterterrorist village defence committees (VDCs), which were first formed in Jammu in the 1990s but petered out over the years as violence ebbed. They are now being revived as village defence guards (VDGs).
These guards include former army, paramilitary and police personnel, as well as “able-bodied young men”. They are meant to operate in teams of not more than 15, supervised by each district’s top police official, and are paid 4,000 rupees (S$65) a month.
Since the Jan 1 and 2 attacks in Upper Dangri village, the police in Rajouri district have appointed another 40 recruits to join its network of 5,202 guards, arming them with autoloading rifles and bullets.
More appointments will follow to improve the existing network, a police spokesman told The Straits Times.
Jammu reportedly has nearly 30,000 such guards.
This region is part of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, which was India’s only Muslim-majority state until 2019. That year, it was split into two federally-administered territories, a move the central government claimed would help develop the region and fight terror more effectively.
India has battled a violent insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir for several decades, blaming it on cross-border terrorism supported by its rival Pakistan, which has denied this accusation.
Mr M.P. Nathanael, a retired senior official of the Central Reserve Police Force and who served in Kashmir, said it is practically impossible for security personnel to adequately cover every village in the entire region.
“In such a situation, these guards will be able to at least resist any move by the terrorists until security personnel arrive,” he said.
He cautioned that officials must vet these guards properly and train them adequately, so that they can serve as part of a coherent strategy to fight terrorists and not cause further chaos.
Two instances of panic firing by these guards in a Rajouri village since the attacks in Upper Dangri have already drawn attention to the dangers of arming inadequately trained civilians. No injuries were reported.
There are also legitimate concerns over civilian guards abusing their power, with numerous allegations of human rights violations and other serious crimes including murder, rape and rioting made against them some years back.
In light of these crimes, Mr Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader and former member of the Jammu and Kashmir state assembly, said arming private citizens is counterproductive to ensuring public security and restoring “genuine peace”.
“Any unlawful activity must be dealt with by following procedures laid down under law,” he said.
Fighting terrorism, he added, also needs a comprehensive approach that includes political, administrative and security-related measures that must be enforced by the state and its forces who can be held accountable.
“The demand for arms by locals means they don’t have much faith left in the security apparatus,” Mr Tarigami added. “If our existing security grid cannot do this job, how can a handful of persons, who are not trained enough to be part of this grid, do so?”
