US soldiers buckling under pressure?

Sometimes I read about suicides by Indian Army soldiers posted at the frontier divisions in Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, North East etc. Everytime it happens the media creates a big hue and cry about the lack of will, strength and rampant depression among the ranks of Indian Army. The media takes the role of a judge and implies that Indian army officers and soldiers buckle under pressure while serving at the border. But the reality is far from these demoralising news reports. In September 2007, The Tribune, newspaper based out of Chandigarh published an article with statistics proving that suicide rates among soldiers in India is lowest in the world. Quite expectedly this newsreport was completely ignored by the so-called national media who continued to bombard the people with demoralising reports. According to the Tribune article, 131 suicides were reported across the country in 2006, 77 in 2005, 100 in 2004 and 93 in 2003.

In comparison to armies of developed first world countries where soldiers serve under far more comfortable conditions the rate of suicides in Indian army (10 per million) is miniscule. Considering the fact that the operational stress in those countries is far too less than in India, where the army is always stressed out because of its involvement in one or other type of civil or border operation. According to official statistics US Army records a rate of 17 suicides per million, in France it is 19 per million and Britain it is 14 per million.

A recent newsreport published in the Washington Post reveals that 2007 was a year when suicide rates in the US army hit an all time 15 year high. Much of these suicides are attributed to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan which have placed severe stress on the US Army. Americans usually accustomed to the coforts of their country are seldom capable of working in hostile field conditions and when soldiers are deployed for long periods in such hostile conditions they just can't handle the pressure. Historically, suicide rates tend to decrease when soldiers are in conflicts overseas, but that trend has reversed in recent years. From a suicide rate of 9.8 per 100,000 active-duty soldiers in 2001 -- the lowest rate on record -- the Army reached an all-time high of 17.5 suicides per 100,000 active-duty soldiers in 2006. Compare this with 10 suicides per 1,000,000 in the Indian army, where soldiers serve under horrific conditions.

Our soldiers serve under hostile conditions. Consider this, in the Ladakh sector soldiers live in tin sheds with no heating, they curl up in sleeping bags when temperatures fall below -40 degrees. Soldiers carry heavy self loading rifles (SLR) and are attired in less than adequate warm clothing. Officers have the luxury of kerosene heaters in their rooms, but again these can't be kept burning all night or all day as they are extremely dangerous and polluting. The plight of drivers in the army is even worse. These hard working souls have to sleep in their vehicles and every 2-3 hours wake up to start the engine and run it for some time and then go back to sleep. Otherwise the diesel in the engine freezes up and the vehicle wont start the next day. But then with a smile on their faces and prayer in their hearts they continue to guard our mother land from enemies who are all round the country.

I firmly believe that suicides in general and among soldiers in particular should be prevented at all costs. Since this post is about soldiers suicides I would like to press for better service facilities for them. Better housing in the borders, better attire and most importantly better pay and lesser pressure at work. This will go a long way in improving soldiers morale and they will serve with much more enthusiasm and suicide rates will drop from the present 10 per million to 1 or even zero.



Jai Jawan! Hail the soldier who gives his today for our tomorrow!

Links for further reading
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Washington Post
Reuters