Ahead of Amarnath Yatra, BSF arms VDGs along Pak border with semi-automatic weapons

Hindustan Times

a day ago

Post-Operation Sindoor and with the Amarnath Yatra coming up from July 3, the BSF has begun training village defence guards (VDGs) in operating semi-automatic self-loading rifles (SLRs) in the border districts of Jammu and Kashmir in a bid to check infiltration and take on terrorists armed with sophisticated weapons.
The BSF, which began training VDGs in a phased manner along the 200-km border with Pakistan a week ago, has already equipped VDGs in Kathua and Samba districts with skills to operate and maintain SLRs. At present, the training is underway in Ranbir Singh (RS) Pura sector of Jammu and Arnia in Akhnoor. VDGs in Rajouri and Poonch districts will be undergoing in the next phase.
'Our training is based on weapon drills, night patrols, swift communication with BSF posts and emergency response to any contingency,' a Border Security Force officer said, requesting anonymity. 'VDGs are the eyes, ears and arms of the forces. They play a significant role in counter-terror operations and ensure vigil on inimical elements with the overall aim of ensuring lasting peace,' he said.
'Our BSF instructors have trained us on how to take position and engage terrorists for around three to four hours till the time security forces arrive in the event of an attack,' Jasvir Singh, a VDG from RS Pura, said, adding 'We are with our forces and shall abide by their directions.'
The training assumes significance in the backdrop of the terror attack at Pahalgam, the base camp for the Amarnath Yatra, that left 26 people, mostly tourists, dead on April 22 and triggered the targeted strikes on terror infrastructure in Pakistan under Operation Sindoor on May 7.
After the weapon upgrade and training, VDGs said they are better equipped to take on terrorists armed with US M4 carbines and AK-47s.
Earlier, the estimated 6,000 VDGs in Jammu and Kashmir had been armed with obsolete 303 rifles. Guards at Dhangri village in Rajouri district were an exception after they were provided SLRs and Insas rifles in the wake of the terror attack in 2023 that left seven members of a Hindu family dead.
'The 303 rifles had to be loaded after each fire, but now they have been replaced with SLRs. It gives us more confidence and we are ready to do our bit,' said Om Prakash Sharma, another VDG.
After the Dhangri terror attack on January 1, 2023, the Union home ministry had issued over 200 SLRs to the VDGs in Rajouri district to effectively take on Pakistani terrorists.
Former Jammu and Kashmir director general of police SP Vaid, who was the man behind the setting up of village defence committees in the border areas, backed the weapon upgrade and training. 'I completely endorse the move. They (VDGs) must be trained in SLRs. When I was deputy inspector general (DIG), Jammu, in 2000, I had formed VDCs from Kathua to Akhnoor. In the rapidly changing war dynamics, this move is definitely going to give more teeth to the security forces in combating Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.'
Jammu and Kashmir has an estimated 875 village defence committees (VDCs) with nearly 6,000 VDGs. VDCs are an important part of the anti-terrorism grid and were first set up in the mid-1990s in the Chenab Valley to arm villagers to defend themselves against Pakistan-sponsored terrorists.