AIDS war on Indian soldiers!

[Guest guest]

ISI to launch AIDS war on Indian soldiers!

By N K Pant |

AIDS is the news again. According to projections made by India's

Census Commissioner, the country may lose more than fifteen million

people to the onslaught of this dreaded disease over the next two

decades. In India, HIV/ AIDS is not only spreading to the high-risk

groups and cities but also rapidly finding its way into the rural

society. This could be a cause of concern as bulk of our soldiery

and constabulary is mostly drawn from our vast countryside.

Since more than three-fourths of young Indians capable of military

service live in villages, such an unfavourable trend would adversely

affect India's defence capabilities in the long run. Moreover, what

is highly disturbing is an intelligence report revealing intentions

of Pakistan's Inter-State Intelligence (ISI) to spread the AIDS

virus among personnel of the Indian Army and paramilitary forces.

The ISI's design is meant to be implemented with the help of several

anti-national militant organisations having bases in Bangladesh and

making frequent forays into India's northeastern states with the

sole aim of destabilising the country.

The military community is considered to be a high-risk environment

for HIV transmission. Soldiers tend to be young, sexually active,

away from home and surrounded by opportunities for sex. It is well

known that sexually transmitted diseases facilitate the spread of

HIV, and in peacetime such infections in the fighting services are

found to be between twice and five times than that of civilian

rates.

In war, as per the United Nations' estimates, the military risk of

acquiring a sexually transmitted infection can be 100 times than

that of civilians. If such an unhealthy trend goes unchecked, coming

years may find the Indian armed forces facing an unusual intrusion

by a tricky enemy in the form of AIDS. According to reports, a study

carried by the MoD has concluded that compared uniformed men going

overseas on UN peacekeeping tenures, it was the combatants coming

back from deployment in the Northeastern states as well as Jammu and

Kashmir were getting infected with HIV virus. If one goes by figures

sourced from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, India is now somewhere

on the top amongst the nations having the most HIV positive patients

after the African continent. The figures may be a bit inflated, but

medical findings that Indians compared to other racial stocks have

lesser immunity to HIV on account of genes that hasten the

contracting of AIDS should ring alarm bells forcing the government

to initiate effective counter measures.

Since the armed forces and paramilitary personnel spring from the

same society, it should not be amazing to know that the lethal

anomaly has also found its way into 1.3 million strong force donning

olive greens. If one takes into account the strength of Navy, Air

Force, Coast Guard as well as the khaki-clad central and provincial

armed constabularies, the total number of the uniformed fraternity

may exceed two million men.

Already there are depressing reports that more personnel of the

Assam Rifles, a security force under Ministry of Home Affairs but

operationally controlled by army, are dying of AIDS than in

operations against the militants in India's northeastern states

where the lethal syndrome is more pronounced. The personnel were

reportedly infected with HIV through sexual contacts with women

mostly in the areas in the vicinity of international border.

There are more than a million uniformed men deployed for long

durations in the remote parts of India from Northeastern states to

Jammu and Kashmir. In addition, there are soldiers, sailors, airmen,

Coast Guard personnel and police forces serving in the rest of

country including the offshore islands. Incidentally, India is also

the world's second largest troop contributor to the United Nations'

peacekeeping forces worldwide with a major chunk of Indian troops

deployed in African countries, which are incidentally in the grip of

severe AIDS epidemic.

More than three-fourths of the armed forces and Central police

organisation personnel stay away from their families for

considerably long periods. An unspecified sexually frustrated number

amongst them seek sex in the area of their deployment where they

wield considerable influence and get infected with AIDS.

Since the problem is not peculiar to the Indian armed forces alone

and is also faced by armies all over the world, the United Nations

has stepped in to lend a helping hand in assisting nations most

affected by the scourge. The very fact that the UNAIDS has

approached India's Ministry of Defence, signals the gravity of the

problem. In this context, the report that the MoD has signed an

agreement with the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and

UNAIDS is a right step to deal with the menace. To begin with, the

United Nations has agreed to bear the costs of condoms to be made

available freely to the troops.

The UN agency will also assist the Indian armed forces to design and

implement a comprehensive AIDS prevention programme amongst troops

and paramilitary personnel. Having woken up to the menace, the Army

is reportedly going ahead to print AIDS awareness cards to educate

soldiers about precautions against the deadly infection. Sexually

transmitted diseases can weaken military units adversely affecting

morale and combat efficiency. A man lost to the security force on

account of AIDS or venereal diseases reduces its battle efficiency

just as much as a man lost from other illness or accident, or from

wound inflicted by the enemy.

Several decades ago when AIDS had not appeared on the scene,

awareness amongst the troops against venereal diseases was spread

through occasional film shows and pep talks. Incurability and

terminal nature of AIDS makes the need for spreading such awareness

amongst the troops is much more today. It is high time that such

education is not only made an integral part of the soldiers' ab

initio training itself but also hereafter imparted at regular

intervals during a combatants' military career.

http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?id=14286598 & page=2