Is this our Indian Army? Aseem N wrote this at 11:44 am • Filed under India •

This is something that has hit me hard. Is this the same Indian Army that I always had so much respect for? In whom we entrust so much in guarding the nation? Once an aspirant for joining the defense forces I feel let down. I know I am being too critical about it by blaming the whole army for the few who have earned the bad name for the Indain army. But its certainly not expected of them. I can understand if it’s a case of an individual, but when many of them, time and again get involved in such unethical actions… you can’t help yourself take a serious note on it.

Yesterday, Aaj Tak have been airing this another shameful incident.

The Episode

A Kashmiri research student Shafqat Makdum, was traveling without the train ticket (dosn’t half of India travel that way?). He had contacted the TC and got a seat for himself. The TC assured him a seat and gave him a temporary one. On the TC not returning for long, the Kashmiri youth went in his search and accidentally entered into a compartment reserved only for the army.

The armymen present there caught him and instead of investigating (to their likes) they started ill treating him just because he was a Kashmiri muslim, alleging him of being a terrorist. They forced him to remove off all his clothes and spoke in a filthy lingo. Then they started to beat him mercilessly with his own belt. He was bleeding, crying for help and to stop so that he can prove he was not a terrorist. He collapsed and was unconscious many a times through out but that didn’t stop them. After this went on for nearly 2 hours and the bashing lasted right from Jhansi to Gwalior on train, they checked his luggage to finally realise that he was a research student only. With a fear that he will complain they made him sit in their compartment all night. The next day he reported the incident at the Aaj-Tak’s office.

How ridiculous it is to be beaten up so brutally just because you are a Kashmiri muslim and to add to it, by those who are supposed to protect your land and people!

A few days back, in another incident, 3 cars full of Army men ran amok after forcibly entering a police station in Kolkata. Vandalising the police station, beating up policemen just because two of their colleagues were locked up on charges of molestation and it was the Army’s right to do the proceedings. This is a completely horrifying incident where the wrong doers are in a way protected be them even army men! More info>>

I was speaking to one of my friends over this and he was of a belief that we should understand their mental state, the compromises that they have do in life, the frustration they suffer out of this and the hard life that comes their way. A couple of months back you might have heard in news suicides and killings by army men out of frustration. Here are a couple of the news stories:

Jawan kills colleagues, commits suicide

Third jawan suicide in a week

Ok I can try to understand but certainly not justify such actions. No way! If they cannot really handle the pressure let them not be into it. We can’t take this or anything for that matter as an excuse! Incidents like these will quite clearly have a disastrous impact on any confidence building measures initiated in Kashmir and also hamper the faith of millions of Indians in the Indian Army! If this is what Army men who are trained in institutions supposed to have the highest discliplinary order can do, I doubt what kind of learning system the rest of the Indians should adopt.

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