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Fayaz Bukhari
SRINAGAR, Sept 17: The Border Security Forces (BSF) today said that unrest in Kashmir that has claimed 84 lives and rendered over 13,000 injured is Pakistan sponsored with militants backing it.
Inspector General (IG) of BSF, Vikas Chandra told reporters on the sidelines of passing out parade of BSF recruits at BSF Subsidiary Training Centre at Humhama in district Budgam today: “If you see the whole unrest, this is all Pakistan-sponsored and the militant organizations there have strong hand in this.”
Chandra said that more militants have infiltrated this year into Kashmir as number of encounters on the Line of Control (LoC) are more. “We see in this way that the number of encounters that have taken place on LoC are more this year than last year and more militants have been killed and by these encounters we feel that there has been intrusion and there is no denial in this”, he said.
The IG BSF said that around 200 militants are waiting on the LoC for infiltration and some of them have infiltrated and some have been killed. “See, 150-200 militants are waiting to intrude from across the border and some of them have even infiltrated and some of them have been killed. This is the situation”, he said.
Chandra lauded Police and CRPF role in tackling the situation in Kashmir and said that the situation that has arisen out is not Force-specific.
“The situation that has arisen out is not Force-specific. Every Force is working as per the situation and in today’s situation the CRPF is doing better job. I salute the jawans of CRPF for working in the (difficult) situation. I feel the Jammu and Kashmir Police and CRPF are doing their job with utmost bravery and alertness. They are trying to control the prevailing situation. As IG BSF, I salute the jawans of CRPF and Police. I appreciate their valour”, he said.
The IG BSF said that his force has to guard borders and the LoC and for this 14 battalions of the force are deployed in Kashmir. “See, BSF has not come forward since 1965 and is deployed on LoC. Our main role is LoC guarding (and) border guarding and we are into it. Our 14 battalions under one frontier are stationed in Srinagar and they are performing their duties… very well”, he said.
Chandra said that Government is moving towards use of less lethal weapons against protesters. “…I will definitely say this that the Government instead of firing bullet climbed down and came down on pellet and now it has climbed down from pellet to PAVA shell. You see the intent”, he said.
Earlier, 251 trained constables today took oath to serve the motherland and IG BSF Kashmir Frontier took salute of the parade. “These 251 trainees successfully completed 12 weeks of rigorous basic training in which they were put through various dimensions and aspects of training, involving physical fitness and rights to become a true border man to carry forward the legacy of elite Border Security Force”, said BSF.
The Subsidiary Training Centre, BSF Budgam that was established in June, 1990 to impart basic training to recruit and to cater for training needs of BSF in Kashmir has so far trained 15219 recruits, 1265 communication personnel and 4307 group C staff, which includes 2178 Kashmiri youths including surrendered militants, who are now performing their duties in various parts of the country.
A statement issued by the BSF said: “This training institution was also instrumental in providing relief to flood victims of Srinagar city during floods in the month of September 2014. Presently, this premier training institute is being commanded by Sudhir Kumar Singh, DIG.”
In his address Chandra congratulated the passouts for excellent parade and wished them success in their future endeavours. He also lauded the role of officers and training staff of STC in shaping these young men to shoulder the responsibility and rise to expectations of the nation. Recruit constable Shrinath Sanakki commanded the parade. Chief guest awarded medals for all round 1st and 2nd best performance, best shooter, best in physical endurance and best in drill.
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