Indian Army has performed multiple roles in the valley as and when required. A school kid scribbles what he sees on ground and refuses to believe the concocted stories.
Saviors
Indian Army was inducted in the valley under the most challenging and unfortunate circumstance. It took on the task and established themselves as the saviors of the region.
Sentinels
For following years, it has assumed the role of sentinels fending of external threats and removing internal menace.
Curators
Now with changing situation and policy specially after the annulment of article 370 Indian Army has once again taken up the task of conservation of Jammu and Kashmir by taking up its most complex and challenging role yet as the Curators of the valley.
The Need ?
The residents of the state specially Kashmir region have been living under the guns for decades. After the rise of militancy and subsequent proxy war weapons have been an inseparable part of the landscape. Although a necessity. It is not a very good environment for growth and development of any society. Prolonged exposure to such tools of enforcement often leads to situation where the ignorant can easily confuse a protective shield with a cage and lines between a guardian and an enforcer begins to blur.
With the new generation growing up under the shadow of weapons, it was bound to inculcate hatred towards one and all who wields one. Hence a strong sentiment of resentment towards the Army could have been the result. Which would have meant that all the efforts and sacrifice of our soldiers being rendered useless. It was an unaffordable contingency where in the Army personnel are also seen and judged as the perpetrators of heinous crimes. Realizing this unfortunate outcome was a possibility, hence a need was felt to counter this change of perception towards the Army.
The Process
The process of winning hearts and minds of the people was going to be a long and tedious one. The process had to be the one designed quintessential principle of patience and with a desired result of welfare of people in general. This could not have been achieved through a unidirectional approach, as welfare and development are subjective concepts hence, they have different meaning for different members of the society. Various campaigns were launched with different aims and objectives.
Promoting the activities of the Army
People only believe what they see. If something was done and it was not brought to the notice of the beneficiary, the positive effect it was meant for would not be achieved. Similarly, any act not documented is forgotten with time, as it is nothing can remain in public memory for long specially in a as dynamic a scenario as exists in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. For example, if work done during flood relief have etched through the various pictures and photographs. Hence a campaign was designed to make people aware of what all actions have been taken. Such promotion also helps in building the trust amongst the locals as they now are assured that the help is always available whenever needed and this trust results in the feeling of brotherhood which has been missing in this area for a long period of time.
Welfare Activities
This includes a wide spectrum of activities and schemes designed and aimed at upliftment and development of the society in general. This includes multiple activities carried out by the Army covering various aspects, for example youth tours, sports competition, medical camps, classes and training for various competitive and government exams, skill development classes and promotional fares. All such activities have bought the Army a tremendous amount of goodwill. But importantly it has brought an impressive change in the outlook of people towards the Army and the Indian government in general. The most impact of such activities has been the fact that they were able to reignite the feeling of being a part of India as a country, specially amongst the youth, the one point which has always been at the agenda of our adversary.
Challenges being faced and the Envisaged
Any change can never be brought about without having to deal with its own share of obstacles and challenges. Similarly, there are multiple challenges in this scenario as well. A few being, inclusive nature of the society in general, perception of the Army being a very rigid organisation, cultural differences between the ever-changing units and the civil population of an area and most importantly the feeling of skepticism that all these activities are being carried out with some other ulterior motive hence making it difficult for the population to trust the organisation. For the future one of the main challenges would be to nullify a counter narrative that is being prepared and promoted by our adversary and other anti-national elements.
The Way Forward
Foundation has been laid and now the objective should be to exploit other avenues of the civil military action. These activities would result in bringing stability in the region and would also help in creating the sense of security amongst the prospective industries. With stability and security, the region would flourish both culturally and financially. Once the society gets on board with economic development happening in the country it would also realize the malicious intentions of our adversary and would result in eliminating of all anti-national elements. Prosperity and peace would be the ultimate achievement of this new era of soldiering for the Indian Army.
Comments