New Delhi: Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday
batted for lakhs of paramilitary jawans saying they deserve
"sympathy and compassion" from the country as they work under
very difficult conditions at the borders and other areas.
He said he expected that incidents of fratricides and
suicides in forces like CRPF and BSF will come down as senior
officers have been instructed to look into their grievances.
"See, fratricide or suicide is always a regrettable
development. CRPF is a very large force. Even if one jawan
commits suicide or indulge in fratricide that is
regrettable...they work under extreme pressure, difficult
conditions and malaria infested forests under stress, under
threat, so sometime it happens.
"At the moment all our battalions of BSF, CRPF and ITBP
are strechted and they are working under very difficult
conditions which is why I always appeal to the civil society
and media to treat them with sympathy, compassion and
consideration and not attribute all kinds of wrongdoings to
them," Chidambaram said when asked about recent incidents of
shooting on colleagues and suicides in these forces.
"We are doing our best to counsel jawans. We are telling
our commanders (that) they should interact with jawans more,
we should try to understand their problems if there are family
related stress issues or health related issues or any other
issues. They must address them," he said.
"I think the senior officers take this job very
seriously. The loss of every life is a sad incident but I
sincerely hope that the conditions will improve. They (jawans)
are working under very difficult conditions so that you and I
can sleep at home peacefully," he said.
PTI
First Published: Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 22:27