NewDelhi,Jan15:A recent report issued by the Indian defense ministry indicates that around 780 of the country’s soldiers have committed
suicide since 2005. According to experts, the growing numbers are due to the rigors of dealing with protesters in the Indian-controlled Kashmir and the remote northeast. The
Indian army has mainly been used for guarding restive borders, quelling civil riots and rescuing operations during natural calamities such as floods cyclones and earthquakes.
Analysts believe that Indian forces are under tremendous stress, which is a result of low morale, bad service conditions, insufficient home leave and low pay. “The soldiers are over-stretched by continuously being in the field with hostile conditions. They are not able to go and see their families. They are living in areas where people do not perceive them to be their own people,” political analyst Sheikh Showkat told Press TV. “All this has landed them (the soldiers) to psychological stress. The psychological stress makes them go for killing each other or committing suicide.” A study conducted by two Indian psychiatrists, shows that 38.56 percent of Indian forces are schizophrenic, 14.17 percent suffer from alcohol dependence syndrome and 9.8 percent are struggling with depression. Experts say unless the service conditions of Indian forces are improved the suicides will continue unabated resulting in a demoralizing trend in the Indian army.
