Change Must Be Constant

R.C. Sharma

The Border Security Force (BSF) was raised on 1 December 1965 to guard the Indo-Pakistan border during peace and assist the army during war. After the 1971 war, East Pakistan became Bangladesh, but the status quo was maintained and the BSF continued to guard the border opposite the new nation. This was the time when the borders were open with limited means of communication. The areas of responsibility were large with huge unmanned gaps. Cross border movement was the norm with friends and relatives on either side of the border. Border guarding was limited to policing in the form of patrol and naka. Smuggling was limited to sneaking in basic needs.

But effective border guarding, and national security are directly proportional to each other. Unfortunately, despite the recognition of this hard reality at the conceptual level, the government did little to strengthen border guarding at the ground level in terms of increasing the strength of the force, modernising the means of communication, improving mobility, and providing modern weapons and equipment. Also, little thought was given to prepare a border guarding doctrine/strategy to guide the BSF as per the strategic goals set for border guarding. Had it been done, there would have been brainstorming to identify immediate and long-term threats that are likely to emerge with changes in the geopolitical scenario at the regional and global levels.

Improvements in border guarding were situational, dictated more by events of the time and existing threats and less through appreciation and long term strategic analysis. Had this been done, attempts to revive militancy in Punjab would have been nipped in the bud and the nation spared the aftershocks that are being felt even today. Terrorism in Punjab was followed by simultaneous militancy and cross border infiltration in J&K, compelling the government to pay attention to border security. Subsequently, more battalions were raised to reduce the gaps in the borders and surveillance was enhanced.

In addition, the concept of fencing was introduced in Punjab to check cross border movement of militants. This was replicated in J&K and the North East, putting a brake on large-scale illegal immigration in the north-eastern states and West Bengal. The threat of terrorism, drugs and weapon smuggling in the east and west also led to the improvement in training regimen and the strengthen