[Assam] Art of Soldiering - Sentinel Editorial

[Rajen & Ajanta Barua]

Ram:
Hopefully this will put a human face to the amry in its fight against insurgency.
However, we will have to wait and see how much effective this become.
Barua

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ram Sarangapani 
  To: Rajen & Ajanta Barua 
  Cc: ASSAMNET 
  Sent: Monday, January 29, 2007 6:54 PM
  Subject: Art of Soldiering - Sentinel Editorial


        Dear Barua,

        Here is something that you might appreciate (of the Indian Army.) 
        Now, you can be rest assured, they won't go haywire and killing at random after this "Art of Living" course :):)
        --Ram

        Sentinel Editorial
        Art of Soldiering 
        It augurs well for paramilitary forces that as many as 475 companies of the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), the Assam Rifles and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) are going to enrol for Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's ''Art of Living'' programmes in the next few months. The Union Home Ministry has reportedly told the paramilitary forces of the country that they can spend about Rs 50,000 on each company of troops for the ''Art of Living'' courses that offer a mix of yoga, meditation and controlled breathing techniques to contain stress. The assumption is that paramilitary forces have to spend a considerable time in hostile terrain and unfavourable working conditions, and this eats into their nerves resulting in errant behaviour and sometimes even forcing the personnel to fire at colleagues and senior officers or to commit suicide. The assumption is true to a large extent, especially when it comes to troops deployed in conflict-ridden zones like Jammu & Kashmir and the Northeast. But it remains to be seen whether the art of living as prescribed by new-age guru Ravi Shankar would make our soldiers also master the art of soldiering that, apart from stress management, is also about attitudinal shift. When soldiers are embattled with insurgents or terrorists who can easily mingle with the masses and make counter-insurgency operations extremely precarious and susceptible to human rights violations — as the Northeast experience typifies — the need of the hour is accurate intelligence network for the stressed soldiers to isolate targets and dismantle the enemy's configuration. Here comes the attitudinal prerogative: that the enemy comprises fellow Indians who have been misled into the jungle or who have chosen to be misled. One only hopes that the ''Art of Living'' for paramilitary forces would also be about their attitude on the ground.  
          
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