The number game was first raked up by some Delhi bases analysts, apparently to discourage the CRPF withdrawal. It worked. In the process what everybody ignored was that more than type of force the number of personnel is the problem. “Numbers and the powers they enjoy are the real crisis,” a senior police officer told Kashmir Life wishing anonymity.
Thinning paramilitary presence in the region deployed originally to fight insurgency should not be a problem as militant activities have nosedived. A gradual phased process would be the best to go about. The chapter, however, is closed for now at least until the file is reopened for a “phased withdrawal”.
CRPF is nothing new in Kashmir. It was in 1950 when a detachment of three companies of 1st battalion was deployed on law and order duty in Srinagar. They were withdrawn in early 1954 but in 1956 they were again deployed and moved out only in 1959. Then, it was the Praja Parishad agitation that it was tasked to manage besides some small assignments to check trans-LoC crimes and crossovers.
It was the third battalion that was fully deployed in Kashmir in February 1957 and it remained within the state till July 1966. Duties of the CRPF included guarding the vital installations and the jails especially the Kud Jail where Sheikh Abdullah was imprisoned along with his man Friday Afzal Beig. It was during this tenure when CRPF on October 21, 1959 (later being observed as Police Martyrs day) lost ten personnel in a Chinese troop attack in Ladakh.
By mid-fifties, it was quite apparent that CRPF deployed in J&K was going to be a permanent feature. Three battalions were raised in 1956 under CRPF exclusively for duties in J&K. They were later merged in to CRPF (4, 5 & 6 battalions). While two of them (4, 6) were deployed in J&K after the requisite training, fifth was sent to Nagaland. In 1965 Indo-Pak war, CRPF fought pitched battles for safety of the bridges. In 1967 one more battalion (2nd) was moved into J&K and later three more units were added given the turmoil in the state. At any given time, there were four to six battalions in the state mainly for law and order duties till the rise of militancy during 1989.
It was CRPF’s deployment to crush insurgency that proved too costly for Kashmir. It changed the reputation of the force for ever. At the peak of militancy, CRPF had as many as 129 battalions posted in Kashmir and the authority that the force got to control situation actually offered militancy a vast breeding grounds.
Starting from the molestation of women in Chanpora locality, CRPF initially resorted to massive terror campaigns throughout Kashmir. Reacting to sonic booms it killed people, set afire townships, and resorted to a series of massacres in Srinagar. During the hit and run raids, hundreds were left maimed and bruised. Last major massacre the CRPF resorted to was the firing on funeral procession of Mirwaiz Mohammad Farooq on May 21, 1990. That sealed the fate of Jagmohan as governor and forced re-assessment of the situation by the central government as a result of which the BSF started being deployed in phases. By 1992 CRPF had lost 113 of its cadres and its effective strength was reduced from 129 companies to 89 and most of its cops were utilized for guarding vital installations and ever increasing number of VVIPs. But BSF alone could do nothing, it was a mix of army and BSF that took over the situation and later with the police promoted Special Operations Group (SOG) that remained at the forefront of the counter-insurgency campaign.
But the Kargil war of 1999 forced yet another rethinking in the security system. As most of the soldiers withdrawn from internal strife duties were withdrawn from Kashmir and deployed to fight intruders perched over Kargil peaks, there were casualties. Cries of un-preparedness led to setting up of a committee that gave a new plan of deployments and responsibilities. A Group of Ministers (GoM) was tasked to review the system and it gave a plan under which army was asked to remain aloof from internal security, BSF was asked to go to the borders and CRPF was asked to take care of the law and order situations like Kashmir. The Rashtriya Rifles (RR) remained unaffected as under prevailing system it is a paramilitary force funded by the MHA but controlled by Defence Ministry.
