26pc of world’s largest paramilitary CRPF strength present in IOK

ISLAMABAD: Twenty-six per cent of the total strength of the Indian paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been deployed in occupied Kashmir to suppress the Kashmiris’ ongoing freedom struggle, an official report revealed.

According to Kashmir Media Service (KMS), the report presented by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs in the Lok Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament, says, 61 out of 235 battalions, the world’s largest paramilitary force, are deployed in Kashmir.

Apart from massive concentration of the CRPF, other Indian paramilitary forces such as Border Security Force, Indo Tibetan Border Police, Sashastra Seema Bal and Central Industrial Security Force have significant presence in occupied Kashmir, the report mentioned.

During the 2010 and 2016 massive uprisings, thousands of additional paramilitary personnel were rushed to the territory to suppress the street protests. Post 2009, the paramilitary forces are seeking deployment charges from the cash-starved J&K for their services.