Introduction
Border Security Force is an Armed Force of the Union of India which was raised on 1 December 1965 after the inadequacies in border guarding were exposed as a consequence of the Indo-Pakistan war of 1965. It was raised as a Force dedicated specifically to guarding the territorial integrity of the Nation on the Indo – Pakistan and the Indo – Bangladesh (East Pakistan in 1965) borders. Till such time the Indian borders were manned by various units of the State Armed Police.
Shri Khusro Faramurz Rustamjee, the legendary and modern India’s most celebrated Police Officer was chosen as the first Chief of the BSF in 1965. His extraordinary vision and his steadfast leadership shaped the destiny of this Force early in its existence. This charismatic personality made BSF into a formidable fighting force and laid the foundation of it being called as the First Line of India’s defence. From being a ‘one man army’ he took the BSF to strength of 60,000 men till he relinquished charge.
The BSF, due to its professionalism, adaptability and resourcefulness combined with its tenacious work ethos soon emerged as a dependable and trustworthy law enforcement agency of the Country. The Country’s leadership started reposing unwavering faith in its abilities and assigned to it, multifarious responsibilities. The Force under the leadership of able and competent police officers rose to the occasion every time. From quelling internal unrest, fighting insurgency and militancy, providing security cover during elections, assisting in disaster relief and now since the recent past, performing anti-naxalduties in Orissa and Chhattisgarh, BSF has proved its mettle on every occasion. In addition to that, BSF is one of the most significant contributors to India’s contingents deployed on various UN peace keeping missions.
BSF is a unique Border Guarding Force, in not only being the largest one in the world but also having an exclusive air wing, water wing and artillery regiment under its realm. An acclaimed National level Dog Breeding and Training School and the Tear Smoke Unit are two other institutions of pride which function under the aegis of this versatile Force.
A People Centric Force
The most important mandate for BSF in peace time, besides preventing trans-border crimes is,“to promote sense of security among the people living in the border areas”.
It can be seen that the mandate of this Force is inherently people centric. The territorial integrity of any country is meaningless unless the territory is conjoined with its citizens inhabiting it. People of this country, therefore, are the cornerstone of BSF operations.
The people centric demeanor of BSF was prominently visible when it ably assisted the oppressed population of Bangladesh during the war of 1971, organized them into a formidable resistance group to overthrow an autocratic Pakistani regime and attain liberation with help from the Indian Army.
Since its inception, therefore, we can see that BSF through all its initiatives and endeavors, somewhere or the other, is serving the people of this country.
BSF being primarily a border guarding force is present right up to the zero line on the Indo – Pak and Indo – Bangladesh borders and represents the government of India in all these far flung and remote border areas. It thus becomes obligatory upon the BSF to reach out to the border population and undertake various activities in the border areas with the ultimate aim of uplift and development of the border belt. To this end, a plethora of initiatives under the Civic Action Plan and the Border Area Development Plan have been launched in the past and continue to be the main focus of the Force towards the development of the border population. Civic Action Programs are also targeted towards the impoverished and economically deprived population of trouble torn areas like Kashmir, the North-East and LWE affected areas.
Under various schemes, BSF provides a wide range of material support to the civilian population wherever BSF is deployed.From providing resources to schools, creating infrastructure in villages and constructing community halls etc. the BSF has been at the forefront of fulfilling the Government’s objective of ensuring the socio-economic development of the people inhabiting the border areas.
As an extension of such initiatives, BSF frequently organizes medical camps in villages in their jurisdiction, where medicines are distributed free and the ailing are attended with love and compassion. Blood donation camps are also organized with BSF men willingly and enthusiastically donating blood to various blood banks which is used to save precious lives of many unknown citizens of this country who are in need. During few such medical camps, wheel chairs, hearing aids and prosthetic limbs to the differently abled are also donated. Moving further ahead, BSF soldiers and their families in large numbers have pledged their organs coveting to save lives of the people, going beyond their mortal death.
An excellent initiative was launched by BSF in collaboration with the Smile Train NGO, BhagwanMahavir Cleft Foundation and Rotary Club, as project Darpan, in the eastern and north eastern parts of the country in 2014.Hundreds of small children having cleft lip were surgically treated under this initiative bringing back smile to their innocent faces.
Although you need to be confident in day to day life, there are certain special, difficult situations where you need to have a back up of lots and lots of confidence.
A Versatile Force Committed to Nation Building
BSF has played a stellar role in containing and fighting insurgency in various parts of the country. Its record of upholding the human rights is well recognized and appreciated. This has made BSF the first choice of the Government when it comes to quelling internal unrest or controlling violent agitations.
Illegal trade is prevented to a large extent due to the alertness, vigil and effective domination on the hostile borders by BSF. The loss to the National economy and loss of jobs for the youth of this country as a consequence of this smuggling would have been colossal.
A vital activity,crucial to the existence of the Nation as it was conceived by our forefathers is the conduct of electoral process. Elections are the main stay of our democracy and make us the cynosure of many countries in the World. BSF has been providing security cover to various elections ranging from Panchayat elections to the Parliamentary elections. The professionalism of BSF has ensured that the electoral process in this country is free and fair. As a practice the Election Commission assigns the most sensitive areas and the most sensitive booths to the BSF.
Providing succor to disaster struck citizens through rescue and relief operations is another forte of this versatile Force. BSF has been routinely deployed for rescue and relief efforts. In the border areas it is the only agency that is capable of being the first and effective responder during such contingencies. BSF medical teams are the first ray of hope for the inhabitants suffering from the effects of the natural disasters.
BSF provides security cover to the pilgrims during various religious congregations and facilitate their comfortable stay and secure movement during these pilgrimagesfor trouble free “Darshan” at the shrines. BSF has been guarding the route in Shri AmarnathjiYatra every year successfully. During the Kumbh, BSF helps conduct of the largest human religious conglomeration on the planet. BSF has been successful in fulfilling the expectations of the country towards such challenges.
Sports does not build character; it reveals it. The extraordinary character of this Force is manifested in the stupendous achievements BSF has to its name in various disciplines at individual as well as team level at acclaimed National and International Events. The legendary Ajit Pal Singh of BSF led the Indian Hockey Team to Gold in the World Cup of 1975. Loveraj Singh, a serving Assistant Commandant is a mountaineer of repute who has conquered the Everest on four occasions. Both of them have been honored by awarding the Padamshri Award.
BSF to its credit also has 17 of its personnel who have been bestowed with the Arjuna Award for outstanding performances in a wide spectrum of sports and games, starting from Hockey, Volleyball, Basketball, Swimming, Wrestling, Athletics and Shooting etc.
Environment Protection
BSF has been making a humble yet significant contribution towards environment protection. The environment conscious bordermen maintain green and eco-friendly campuses and every year undertake plantation drives in areas in the vicinity of their campuses. In a major thrust to such initiatives, BSF, as a part of its golden jubilee celebrations, on12 Aug 2015 planted 5,24,424 saplings in 30 minutes The feat has been recorded in the prestigious ‘Limca Book of Records’. Save Ganga, Clean Ganga awareness campaigns through rafting and cycle rallies in the towns along the banks of the river have also made a significant mark.
Rain water harvesting, water conservation and use of solar energy are other areas where BSF is doing a commendable job and serving humanity while caring for the environment. Besides facilitating construction of water harvesting sites in the border areas, BSF is actively educating its troops on these issues.
Cleanliness drives with a renewed impetus are being undertaken across the BSF locations under the ‘Swachh Bharat Scheme’. BSF consistently has been striving to outperform itself with steadfast zeal and vigour in the area of preservation of our fragile ecosystem.
Contribution to Social Causes
Under the social service domain, BSF has recently joined the National Missions of ‘Sugamya Bharat’ and undertaken a series of initiatives for the benefit of ‘Divyang Jan’, declaring year 2016 as the year of DivyangYodhas. Initiatives under this mission include capacity building for their optimal performance to excel in para sports and other vocational skills which is important to boost the ‘self-esteem’ of our Divyang friends.
“Bharat Darshan” tours are conducted for the students of remote areas, especially Jammu & Kashmir, with an aim giving them exposure of India’s heritage, culture industrial prowess and the progress made by the Nation. BSF is running several educational institutions starting from pre-schooling level to graduation levels all across the country which, besides catering to the wards of BSF families also benefits children of people residing in the near vicinity. Providing canteen facilities to the people of remote areas is a routine affair.
Last, but not the least, BSF has been using its outposts as potential centres for skill development among the rural youth under ‘Skill Development Mission’ and the State Governments have shown a very positive response extending all assistance. Such youth are also imparted training to make them competitive enough to appear in the recruitment exams conducted by various Armed Forces.
United Nations Peace Keeping Missions
BSF is one of the largest contributors of manpower and resources to various UN peace keeping Missions. Namibia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Congo, Haiti are some such high profile UN assignments where BSF Officers and men have proven their mettle. Officers and men have also suffered casualties in the line of duty on these Missions. Thus the saga of serving the mankind doesn’t only remain within India but is transnational.
A S.M.A.R.T Force
Police personnel of the modern era have to be ‘SMART’ in the literal sense of the term. This is also the vision of the hon’ble Prime Minister.
Strict and Sensitive
Modern and Mobile
Alert and Accountable
Reliable and responsive
Trained and Techno-savvy
Border Security Force has the unique distinction of living up to these benchmarks to the hilt. It’s friendly, sensitive yet firm. With land, air and water wings under its realm, it is perhaps the most modern and mobile Force. With its men and women standing guard on duty 24*7, the country can afford to go about their daily routines without any fear or apprehension.
The strong internal mechanisms and the legislative provisions ensure accountability among the bordermen which makes the Force more robust.
By virtue of our presence at the borders, we become the default first responders. Be it elections or tackling of any law and order situation, its professionalism and effective leadership makes BSF the preferred choice.
Our training is our backbone. Acquiring new knowledge, new skills and keeping abreast with the strategic environment is a consistent and continuing process. And with comprehensive and well integrated Information Technology projects for border management, BSF is the most technologically advanced among all the Central Armed Police Forces. State-of-Art equipment adopted is a force multiplier which has made BSF a force to reckon with – a Waterloo for those with impious prying eyes on this Nation.
Conclusion
The Border Security Force in its existence of glorious 50 years has lived up to its reputation of being the ‘First Line of Defence’ to the brim. Its history is replete with instances of sacrifice made by its gallant men and women for the people of India. The country recognizes this and reposes the greatest of trusts in this versatile, elite, coveted and SMART Force.
‘Jeevan Parayant Kartavya’ is our motto and we make a solemn promise to this great Nation that we shall live up to it at the cost of our lives till the last man and even beyond that with our organs still beating in needy countrymen.
Professional Profile of BSF : At a Glance
