Srinagar, Aug 7: The arrival of Rapid Action Force (RAF), brandishing the United Nations tag, has triggered more suspense than “deterrence” among people.
In the past two days, when scores of RAF men carried out flag marches in different city areas, observers found the cops having ‘UN’ inscribed on their helmets and fibre shields. The ‘UN’ initial triggered suspense among the onlookers, who mistakenly take RAF as the “UN Peace Keeping Force.”
“I baffle to understand why RAF men carry helmets with UN written on them,” said Ashiq Hussain, a resident of Rajouri Kadal, where the RAF men carried out flag march on Saturday. “I thought UN has sent its peace-keeping forces to Kashmir. But a police cop accompanying them told that it is a special police which belongs to Central Reserve Police Force.”
According to CRPF officials, three companies of RAF have been deployed in Srinagar areas to “bring the situation under control.” Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah, recently sought RAF to control the continued street protests in which 50 people have lost their lives in action by police and paramilitary forces in the past two months.
Political observers question why some of the RAF men had UN written on their helmets and shields. “There are only a few RAF men who have this symbol written on their helmets or shields. There is nothing written on the helmets and shields of a majority of these forces. I wonder why they are using the UN initial when they belong to CRPF,” said a political analyst, wishing anonymity.
“The CRPF or the Srinagar-based UN office must issue a clarification in this regard. I guess the CRPF is misusing the UN symbol to give an impression that these forces are not something dangerous but only special with regard to their functioning. I don’t think they can use the UN initial in controlling situations in India. The symbol is misleading people here,” he said.
While the move has triggered suspense, the CRPF denies the initial was being misused. “The cops carrying helmets and shields with UN written on them are the ones who have retuned from the UN peace keeping missions in different parts of the world,” said Srinagar-based CRPF spokesman, Prabhakar Tripathi. “These helmets and shields belong to CRPF and are given to RAF men when they go on any UN peace-keeping mission outside the country.”
The Srinagar-based office of the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.

Lastupdate on : Sat, 7 Aug 2010 21:30:00 Mecca time
Lastupdate on : Sat, 7 Aug 2010 18:30:00 GMT
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