PSYCHOLOGICALLY, today India– that claims to be ascending to the moon– its army is descending into a demoralized state to the extent that a suicidal trend is being intensified in its security forces. This dejected morale of the Indian forces is a reminiscent of the trend, exhibited in the German army—once fully frustrated because of Adolf Hitler’s fascist and ruthless policies practiced during the World War11—its soldiers and officers were used to committing suicide. Anti- stress level or psychological fitness in military personnel is a major component of military training.
Most importantly, psychological aspects relate to the Army being increasingly deployed in low-intensity but long-running and intractable conflict zones in the northeast, Jammu & Kashmir and lately extended to regions afflicted by leftist Maoist rebellions. It is observed that rather than being deployed to prevent or fight a war, the army is too often bogged down in domestic insurgencies, sometimes being required to bring civilian riots under control. That has created a peculiar situation in which defence forces must deal with multiple goals accompanied with ensuring safety and retaining popular support of civilian population. But the dilemma is that in compliance of a state order, the Indian security forces are committing crimes against humanity and hence, feeling of guilt and demoralization.
Arguably, the decades-long deployment of hundreds and thousands of troops in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK) has demoralized the Indian security forces, who have unleashed a nonstop reign of terror against the innocent people of Kashmir, especially the youth and women. The cause of demoralization is not only the failure in crushing the freedom movement, but also the administrative, economic, social and moral issues relating to the troops’ life in the camps and back at their respective homes.
Reportedly, India’s 1.4 million army and paramilitary forces has recorded an annual average of more than 100 suicides in recent years, mainly due to stress, mental health problems and other personal issues. The purpose of the study was to compare Occupational Stress, Frustration Tolerance and Mental Health among BSF, PAC and CISF. For this study, one fifty male subordinate officers and other personnel of different rank categories (Sepoy to Sub Inspector) from each force of various battalions and places were randomly selected as a subject and the age of the subjects were ranging from 19-24 years
A report has been released showing the data of increasing suicide rate in personnel of Indian security forces. The Modi Government, involved in propaganda against other countries, is indifferent to the problems of its security personnel. According to the released report regarding the increasing trend of suicides in Indian security forces, a total of 1,532 suicides have been reported by security personnel from 2011 to 2023.The report also told that Indian security forces started committing suicides due to dissatisfaction with government policies.
As per the findings of the psychological data, the qualitative measurement of each subjects were taken with the help of Occupational Stress Index (OSI), Frustration Tolerance (FRTO) Inventory and Mental Health Battery (MHB). In order to ascertain significance of difference among the three groups the analysis of variance was employed and the level of significance was set at 0.5.The security experts said that the realization of fighting a futile war against a hostile public besides workplace ill-treatment and poor services are some causes of increasing suicides among the Indian military. It said the callous attitude of seniors and denial of leave for long hauls are also cited as reasons for alarming suicidal tendencies among the Indian military personnel. The report pointed out that the Indian military leadership had badly failed to address issues relating to suicides among its officers and soldiers.
In Kashmir, the trend unfortunately seems more of a norm rather than an aberration. In October 2020, six soldiers took their lives in a short span of three weeks. A constable named P.G. Naidu, a resident of Andhra Pradesh, who ended his life by shooting himself in Srinagar’s Mehjoor Nagar area that month. Before him, Jagjit Singh, an Army man, committed suicide at a military camp in Ganderbal district, as did a 22-year-old soldier, Rakshit Kumar, in the border district of Baramula. There can be no denying that promotion or demonstration of civilian violence by the security forces is a major cause of spurring stress level.
Maj. Gen Satbir Singh, a former Senior Fellow and security analyst at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA), says, “Not enough recruitable young men are coming forward to join the Army because of the callous and indifferent treatment of the forces by politicians and the bureaucracy, and the availability of better prospects elsewhere,” he says. According to the findings of a study by United Service Institution of India (USI), “There has been a significant increase in stress levels amongst Indian Army personnel during approximately last two decades due to operational and non-operational stressors,” one of the findings says.
These findings further reveal that ‘’for JCOs and ORs, some of the perceived organizational stressors include “delay and denial of leave, excessive engagements, domestic problems, humiliation by seniors, lack of dignity, unreasonable restrictions on use of mobiles, lack of recreational facilities, conflict with seniors as well as subordinates, health problems, the inadequacy of train reservation, inefficient administrative support, financial problems, lack of transparency in promotions, non-adherence to unit tarteebs , delay in crediting of financial claims and poor quality of rations as well as cooked food.”
Last but not the least, the Modi Government’s notion of projecting false propaganda via disinformation agenda against Pakistan is another cause of intensifying moral depression in the Indian security forces manifested by India’s false pretense regarding the Balakot air strike in 2019. Currently seen, Indian RAW’s criminal involvement in the killing of the Khalistan movement leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada is globally damaging the regulation of Indian army. True, what is more badly influencing the morale of the Indian army is the Indian state policies— of transforming India into an apartheid state.
—The writer, an independent ‘IR’ researcher-cum-international law analyst based in Pakistan, is member of European Consortium for Political Research Standing Group on IR, Critical Peace & Conflict Studies, also a member of Washington Foreign Law Society and European Society of International Law. He deals with the strategic and nuclear issues.
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