From The Tribune
Ravi Krishnan Khajuria
Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
Jammu, November 23
Describing the surrender policy for misguided youth as a political decision, the Army, the BSF and the CRPF, though not opposed to it, have certain reservations about it. The state Cabinet yesterday cleared the policy, paving the way for the “homecoming” of thousands of state youth, who had crossed over to Pakistan and occupied Kashmir between 1989 and 1999 for arms training.
Describing the surrender policy for misguided youth as a political decision, the Army, the BSF and the CRPF, though not opposed to it, have certain reservations about it. The state Cabinet yesterday cleared the policy, paving the way for the “homecoming” of thousands of state youth, who had crossed over to Pakistan and occupied Kashmir between 1989 and 1999 for arms training.
“Only time will tell the difference the policy will make, but let us try it “, said a senior Army officer, and added the Army had conveyed its views to the Union Home Ministry.” We are not the only stakeholder in it, but anything which eases tension and has the potential of bringing about a positive change should be afforded an opportunity,” he said.
“Though the contours of the policy are still not known to us, we feel those involved in serious crimes like killings should not go scot-free”, maintained the officer, and said “We treat the misguided youth as our own citizens and should give them a chance”.
“We all know that even now some of the youth enter the state via Bangladesh, Nepal and the Wagah border using fake documents, but once we put such a policy in place, we would be able to monitor them properly,” he said.
“We want that the activities of the youth, who come back, should be monitored by the CID, the local police and the SHO concerned for a long time instead of two years as is the policy now”, said a BSF officer. For two years, any individual could maintain a low profile and thereafter start working again for Pakistan, he said.
“The youths have stayed in PoK and Pakistan for 10 to 15 years, which is a long time to change anyone’s psyche and loyalty. No doubt, they are our own people, but the BSF wants a proper monitoring mechanism in place”, he maintained. The officer said the BSF, like other security forces, had been waiting for the past the six months for the policy to come out.
“Since it has addressed most of the riders, which we had submitted to the Home Ministry, we now want a foolproof monitoring mechanism in place,” he said.
The CRPF, which also described the decision as political, referred to its own experiences in the past.
“In 1996-97, we had raised an exclusive battalion (136 Battalion) of surrendered militants, but unfortunately 150 to 175 of them left the training mid-way,” said a CRPF officer.
In some cases, “our jawans (surrendered militants) were attacked by militants and in one specific case, one such jawan had again joined militancy and was caught planting an IED in Pulwama”.It was a double-edged sword, but anything which had the potential of restoring normalcy and peace in the state should be welcomed, he concluded.
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