CRPF’s unique Madadgaar initiative is winning hearts in Kashmir

The media and the intellectuals have a penchant for villifying the CRPF stationed in Jammu and Kashmir. These two tribes show CRPF as the occupying force in the valley that is oppressing the citizens. Pakistan also takes a similar line and the UN agencies sympathetic to the terrorists and secessionist forces claim the same thing.  

However, the picture on the ground is very different from what is being portrayed by the self-appointed moral guardians of society sitting in their AC rooms in Delhi. The CRPF has done a lot of work for the Kashmiris. It has taken many positive initiatives but sadly the pro-separatist media has not given any coverage to it. 

Last year, the CRPF started the Madadgaar helpline (14411) for people in the valley. According to a Times of India report, since its launch, Madadgaar has solved cases of eve-teasing, water, electricity and road construction problems, medical emergencies, domestic violence, dowry harassment, fire emergency, natural calamity, extortion threats, recruitment information and has provided guidance and career counseling. It has been a tremendous success so far. The helpline has received over 2 Lakh calls within one year and thousands of issues have been solved. 80 calls related to eve-teasing were received, after which offenders were taught lessons on how to respect women/girls. In some cases, the CRPF warned the offenders. The girls later thanked the CRPF for their assistance.

Through their positive outreach, the CRPF is killing two birds with one stone. On the one side, the force is helping civilians and bringing them into the mainstream, while on the other, the force is neutralizing the terrorists’ active in the valley. In this way, the CRPF is also ensuring that people in the valley continue trusting India.

Zulfikar Hassan, IG Kashmir (operations) of CRPF said, “The calls received on Madadgaar are mostly those which should be addressed by the administration. We have realised that Kashmiris need these things more than anything. Since we have a presence everywhere, we decided that we can play a pivotal role in rendering assistance to the locals and mitigate the problems of the common man in Kashmir Valley. We (CRPF) are often accused of human rights violation in Kashmir but I hope this will help build a closer and friendly interface with the public and thus address problems of militancy to a large extent.”

The Indian Army also runs several initiatives for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian Army has launched Army Goodwill Schools under the ambit of ‘operation Sadbhavna’ to provide middle/high school level education to students of J&K. On the lines of Bihar Super 30, the Indian army launched Kashmir’s Super 30 which provides education and coaching for JEE with the success rate of over 78%. The Indian army also organizes medical camps in remote areas of J&K and also provides medical aid to the people.

Through their initiatives, Indian security forces are improving the lives of Kashmiri people and bringing them into the mainstream.

It is a mystery that such amazing initiatives have remained unnoticed. It looks like that those enlightened folks who brings news to us have not found anything good in these initiatives. For them, only terrorists, stone-pelters and separatists are doing good work and only they deserve all the attention and media coverage.