Revival of VDCs as VDGs and Its Relevance

The inspiration for the concept and establishment of Village Defense Committees came from an incident that took place in village Sartingal Bhaderwah of Doda District in the intervening night of 5th and 6th November 1992.

BY RAMNEEK MANHAS

The Union Home Ministry has given a green signal to the Jammu and Kashmir administration for the formation of Village Defense Groups (VDGs), which were earlier known as Village Defense Committees (VDCs), in the Union Territory.

In a letter on ‘Revised Scheme of Village Defence Groups (VDGs) in J&K’, the Ministry of Home Affairs stated, “In more vulnerable areas, persons who shall be leading the village defence groups will be paid Rs 4,500 per month each and the other volunteers will be paid Rs 4,000 per month each. The VDGs will function under the direction of the SP/SSP of the concerned district.” It further states that the revised scheme will, however, be made effective only after appraising the High Court.

VDC members in Jammu division had been agitating against the inordinate delay in the release of their wages and several other issues. On March 1, an 11-member delegation led by Sunil Sharma former minister and General Secretary of J&K BJP had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and raised the long pending genuine issue. According to Sharma, “Till now, many village defence committees have been non-functional or disbanded. Many members of such committees have resigned and returned weapons. They did so to be enrolled for availing the benefits under the BPL category.”

However, it is necessary to mention here that BJP was the only party that had taken the initiative to form Village Defense Committees in J&K for the survival of nationalist people and to boost their morale during the peak of militancy. Notably, BJP leaders  Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Shri LK Advani at the center and Shri Chaman Lal Gupta and Shri Daya Krishan Kotwal in the state launched the “Doda Bachao Andolan” for the formation of VDCs in the mid-90s to protect Hindu minorities against Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in the militancy-hit state.

VDCs came into existence for self-defence in hilly and remote areas at a time when Hindu minorities were being forced to migrate to safer places due to targeted killings and threats to their lives. The inspiration for the concept and establishment of Village Defense Committees came from an incident that took place in village Sartingal Bhaderwah of Doda District.

In fact, on the intervening night of 5th and 6th November 1992, more than 60-70 terrorists besieged and attacked the house of a towering nationalist personality Shri Ranbir Manhas in village Sartingal. Under his leadership, the local youth including his nephew Sanjeet Singh Manhas and brother Inder Singh Manhas gave a tough fight to the terrorists. Firing continued from both sides throughout the night, resulting in the death of three terrorists. Though the four-storied house of Shri Manhas was completely gutted and his younger brother Inder Singh Manhas was critically injured during the exchange of fire, but the terrorist attack was successfully thwarted. This type of retaliation by the local people was the first instance in the history of this militancy-hit hilly region, which even the terrorists did not expect. Shri Manhas had earned the wrath of terrorists as he had allowed the ‘Shila Pujan’ for the construction of Ram temple in the courtyard of his house. This incident of retaliation helped to boost the morale of the Hindus of the whole of erstwhile district Doda. Taking a cue from it, people in other villages also started to give fight to the terrorists in self-defence.

The Village Defence Committees have played a crucial role in curbing militancy, saving lives and arresting migration of the minorities. Revival of Village Defence Committees (VDCs) renamed now as Village Defence Groups (VDGs) and acceptance of their genuine demands including financial empowerment, will also boost the security grid in Jammu & Kashmir.