The Centre has deputed the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to give arms training to village defence committees (VDCs) who are civilians, in Jammu region following the twin terror strikes in Rajouri’s Dangri area on January 1 and January 2. Seven civilians, including two children were killed in a targeted terror attack.
The VDCs are making a comeback after almost three decades. They were first constituted in 1995 in ten districts of the Jammu region, when members of the Hindu community were targeted and killed by terrorists. The group was disbanded later amid allegations of crimes, including abduction and rape.
In March 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) decided to re-establish the VDGs and rechristened it as Village Defence Guards (VDGs). Since the programme could not take off then, the Ministry has decided to implement it with a rigour after the Rajouri killings. A decision was taken by the MHA that the paramilitary force will train the civilians.
A senior government official told The Hindu that the move is a “short-term measure.”
“It has a limited purpose to increase the visibility of armed people in border villages to act as a deterrence in wake of the targeted killings of minorities. This will also boost the confidence of people,” the official said.
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Another official said the module of training and the weapons to be provided to the VDGs are yet to be decided but they will be upgraded versions than the .303 rifles that VDGs were armed with earlier. As of now, the CRPF has been asked to train civilians only in Rajouri and Poonch districts of Jammu, bordering Pakistan Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
“Not all members of the committee will be armed with .303 rifles. It will be a mix of .303 rifles and upgraded versions such as Self Loading Rifles (SLRs). We are not expecting the villagers to take on well trained foreign terrorists with these weapons but it can definitely act as a deterrence,” the official said.
The official said the programme will be run in collaboration with Jammu and Kashmir Police who will select the candidates who are to be trained.
Additional personnel
In addition to this, the CRPF has sent around 1,800 additional personnel to Jammu to augment visibility on the ground. “The additional force will be at the disposal of J&K police and they will participate in counter-insurgency operations and also patrolling duty,” the official said.
The Hindu reported on November 7 that that weapon distribution camp and assessment of weapon stock among the members of the VDGs were organised by the J&K Police in Rajouri on November 7, six days after militants killed six civilians and injured 15 others in Dangri. Another civilian succumbed to injuries last week, taking the total death toll in the incident to seven.
Two terrorists barged into households on January 1 in Dangri area of Rajouri and fired indiscriminately, killing four civilians and injuring 10 others. Within just 15 hours, an improvised explosive device went off outside the house of one of the victims, leaving two minors dead and five others injured.
