He/ she may not be as popular as a BSF Jawan, he/ she may not be serving on the so called remotest locations of our country but believe me the Sashastra Seema Bal (A Central Armed Police Force) Jawan is as valiant as a BSF Jawan and they have been serving us on the remotest of locations ranging from the woods around the Indo-Bhutan region (the densest forests of India which do not allow sunrays to pass through for a major part of the year) to the ice covered regions of Taiwang apart from ANO (Anti Naxalite Operation) region. Apart from specializing in combat skills, the SSB Personnel have acquired unique skills in preventing illegal cross border trade of arms, drugs and black currency apart from anti human trafficking skills and intelligence skills.
Recently, these heroes proved their mettle once again when the 13th Battalion of SSB stationed at Motihari District in East Champaran District of Bihar rescued 59 children from being trafficked to Mumbai from Bihar by Raxaul-Mumbai Jansadharan Express.
The SSB personnel rescued 48 children at Muzaffarpur railway junction, while 11 were rescued at Raxaul in East Champaran on Saturday night. 13 traffickers were also arrested by the local police after they were handed over by the SSB. The SSB team of 50 personnel which was led by Commandant Rakesh Kumar Sinha boarded the train in civil uniform to carry out the sensitive operation.
The successful implementation of the operation stands as a testimony to the intelligence and Operations officers of the Force but it also hints at how ungrateful we are as a Nation for most of us do not even know much about this Border Guarding Force. In fact it leaves one into much agony when one comes to know that a sizeable portion of us Indians have not even heard of such Paramilitary Forces.
Here we have given a brief history of the SSB and a list of some of its major contributions and achievements in the recent years, most of which have painfully gone unnoticed or have at least been given much less recognition than it actually deserved.
Sashastra Seema Bal: Brief History
The SSB (then Special Service Bureau) was constituted as an intelligence wing post the Indo-China war as a twin organization of the R&AW and was given the ‘stay back role’ with the objective of collecting intelligence information around the bordering regions and fostering healthy relationships with the Locals along with a Combatized cadre (in simple terms, the uniformed counterparts for logistical needs). However, in 2004 the same organization with the same personnel was reconstituted as a Border Guarding Force and the nomenclature was changed from Special Service Bureau to Shashastra Seema Bal and the ‘stay back role’ was given up. The SSB thus emerged as a multi skill Paramilitary Force performing a variety of functions including combat, anti smuggling operations, anti human trafficking and intelligence operations.
The SSB has thus served the people of India especially those living in the States bordering Tibet, Nepal and Bhutan in several capacities. In today’s time it also serves in anti riot operations and plays its role in tackling Naxalite as well as Kashmir militancy like any other Paramilitary Force.
Sashastra Seema Bal:Heralding an era of women empowerment in the armed forces
The SSB was the first Indian Paramilitary Force to recruit women in the Combatised branch, thus heralding an era of women empowerment in the armed forces. The first full lady contingent to march down the Rajpath on the Republic Day also belonged to the SSB. This year it also became the first Paramilitary Force to appoint a lady Director General of a CAPF.
At a time, when the Central Government has reiterated a policy of a sustained rise of women in the Armed Forces, the SSB must be given credit for initiating the same. This will definitely have a positive impact in improving the image of the Indian Armed Forces and its relationships with the locals residing around the bordering areas.
Sashastra Seema Bal: Giving up of a day’s salary for flood victims
The pseudo liberals who allege the Indian Armed Forces of ‘raping’ and ‘murdering’ the Kashmiri locals have probably forgotten that during the Kashmir floods last year, the SSB personnel apart from actively participating in the rescue work had also given up a day’s salary in order to provide financial aid to the rescue operations. This included all the officers from the topmost rank to the lowermost serving Constables. The so called ‘unbiased’ mainstream media definitely did not give much heed to this act of nobility and yet another contribution of these bravehearts went unnoticed.
Sashastra Seema Bal: Conclusion
Being a son of an SSB Officer, it irks me to the greatest extent when I have to explain what SSB is to most of the ‘Indians’. For many it is an Army Regiment and many others have not even heard of it. It will cause me even greater anguish when I would come to know that this latest act of nabbing human traffickers and rescuing the future youth of this Nation would also go unnoticed.