VDCs — Where Guns Roam Freely!

The Villages Defence Committees (VDCs) have been re-activated in the Jammu region following terror attacks in Dangri village of Rajouri in which six people including two children lost their lives. The volunteers have been given the weapons even as the CRPF is now set to provide weapons training to the members of the VDCs apart from basic physical combat exercises, wherever necessary. The decision to reactivate the VDCs and arming its members—who are civilians—continues to pose difficult questions and at the same time raises a question mark over the handling of the security situation by the administration.

The VDCs might have done well in the past, but there have been instances where arming them has compelled the Government to introspect and have second thoughts over the move of tasking these volunteers to take care of the internal security within their villages. Giving them access to weapons, without any accountability could be disastrous and could further dent the social fabric in the Jammu division because, power with no accountability, always turns everything upside down.

This is what is not required at this point in J&K, especially the Jammu division, rather, there is a need for handling the emerging security situation with caution and care. The Government has to be sensitive and aware of the possible outcomes of the move of arming the VDCs which could very well vitiate the atmosphere while the same points to the need for a political solution as a remedy to the issues at hand, instead of sitting on the other extreme, taking steps which are not even required.

The activation of the VDCs is not limited to areas where there have been incidents of terror, rather, these committees have already been put on alert along the IB in Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts, which points to the fact that there is more to it, apart from tasking them to take care of the security and pushing out the subversive elements who would make their way to villages to perpetuate incidents like Dangri. Moreover, the other side of the story is that the VDCs would be having weapons which are surely outdated, and the same would be put to use against the latest assault and automatic weaponry—which makes it quite challenging for the volunteers and could expose the locals, in the event of any exigency, to a greater risk where they would find themselves at a point of no return.

Arming VDCs is not a good idea: a few years or just a few months down the line, the Government might be compelled to review the decision, which would then raise serious questions over its ability to read the security scenario in the Jammu region. Better would be allowing paramilitary forces to increase their presence in the identified areas—as has been already done by bringing in more 18 fresh companies of the CRPF Rajouri and Poonch for strengthening the security—rather than letting the gun roam around freely and unaccountable, which could deteriorate the situation further.