On the occasion of their 26th Raising Day celebrations on Sunday, while addressing the troops of Rapid Action Force in Lucknow, Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh claimed that Naxalism will be eliminated from the country in the coming 3 years.
Acknowledging RAF’s contribution towards ensuring national security, Rajnath Singh said that their actions should be rapid and quick but not reckless. He asserted that within a time span of maximum 3 years, Left Wing Extremism will be completely annihilated from the country.
Sharing some pictures from the 26th RAF Raising Day Parade held in Lucknow today. The wonderful display of courage, mental strength and fine balance by the women personnel was exceptional. @crpfindia pic.twitter.com/RIcumbpdyj
— राजनाथ सिंह (@rajnathsingh) October 7, 2018
In last one year, the forces have neutralized 131 Maoists, whereas 1278 of them have been arrested and 58 have surrendered during the same time.
He also declared that the state of Jammu and Kashmir, where CRPF is deployed as the main counter-insurgency force, is and will always remain an integral part of India. Talking about specific roles of task force RAF, Singh urged the soldiers to be rapid but never be ‘reckless’. One should know how to behave during crowd control and should always be conscious of how much and when to use force, he said. According to him police forces should behave in a civilized manner and shouldn’t resort to brutality under any circumstance.
The Rapid Action Force (RAF) is a specialized wing of the country’s highest paramilitary force i.e. CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) to deal with riot and crowd control situations. It has a strength of around 1000 personnel, equipped with gadgets and non-lethal weapons like pump action guns, tear gas, smoke grenades etc. It currently has 10 specialized trained and equipped battalions, which are numbered 99 to 108 in the CRPF. Each battalion is headed by an officer of the rank of Commandant. The battalions are located at New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Aligarh, Meerut, Hyderabad, Jamshedpur, Coimbatore, and Allahabad.
It is notable here that the NDA government has achieved significant success in the fight against Left Wing terrorism. There have been several deadly encounters and an all-around approach of brute force combined with infrastructure development, technological advancements and social welfare programs for tribals in Naxal-infested areas, the strength and control of Maoists have greatly reduced in many of their former strongholds.
