New crowd-control methods key to avoid bloodshed: Experts

With stone-pelting becoming an established mode in Kashmir agitations, experts feel there is a need for adopting newer crowd-control methods, including the use of advanced non-lethal weapons that could help contain riotous crowd without much bloodshed.

Kashmir has witnessed several deaths over the past one month during efforts by security personnel to quell violent protesters.

About 20 people, mostly teenagers, have lost their lives allegedly in police firing and teargas shelling.

Experts feel this could have been avoided if the security forces have been equipped with advanced non-lethal weapons (NLWs) besides the teargas shells and rubber-bullets.

"There is always scope for innovation in every field and the security forces should also adopt newer crowd-control methods," said former BSF chief Prakash Singh.

"But, unfortunately our security forces don't have proper equipment to handle violence like in Kashmir," he said.

Echoing similar views, Ajai Raj Sharma, also a former BSF chief, said, "The basic equipment required for controlling crowd have not been provided or rather not procured."

He noted that in a Kashmir situation, what the forces urgently need is an armoured vehicle, in which they can rush towards the stone-pelting protesters without being hurt and catch some of them in quick time.

"But such a method has never been thought of," he rued.

However, both the retired officials differed to agree with the allegations that the handling of mobs in Kashmir has exposed the forces' inability to deal with such crisis.

"We should not judge our forces' ability, rather the focus should be on how to make them efficient. And equipping them with new sophisticated weapons could be a way towards that," Sharma said.

When it comes to crowd-control, security forces worldwide have undergone major changes from wearing protective gears to using most sophisticated weapons.

The protective equipment include top-class riot helmets, face visors, body armour (vests, neck protectors, knee pads), gas masks and riot shields.

But, in India, the security forces are provided with the same old riot-gears that include helmets, protective vests and bamboo shields among others, which experts say are not adequate.

"You can judge the effectiveness of those equipment from the number of injuries caused to the security forces recently in Kashmir," said Deba Ranjan Mohanty, a defence analyst at Observer Research Foundation (ORF).

According to reports, over 270 police and CRPF jawans have been injured in the stone-pelting incidents over the past one month in the Valley. The CRPF has reportedly inducted some new riot gears recently.

"Take the example of Canadian forces how they controlled the mobs during the recent G8 and G20 summits. They had an array of anti-riot weapons, including sound and water cannons, tear gas canisters and rubber bullets. It is time India should also think of such weapons," Mohanty said.

For example, he said, the Long Range Acoustic Device, which creates loud sounds beyond the human tolerance, could have been proved handy in containing unruly mobs in Kashmir without causing so much casualties.

Similarly, Active Denial System can also be a better alternative to the vintage 303 rifles, which are very lethal in nature, he said.

The device, which fires high frequency microwave energy, causes a skin-burning sensation among the receivers. As it can be fired from 700 metres away, the device is believed to be an attractive choice for riot control worldwide.

The other popular NLWs included the Taser gun, Pulsed Energy Projectile or PEP, the Dazzler, Pepper bombs etc.

Taser is a portable electro-shock device that delivers electricity in short bursts to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. It can emit electricity of up to 50,000 volts.

But, it has also some disadvantage as it could cause cardiac seizures in people with heart problems and under the influence of alcohol.

PEP, which can be fired from a distance of two km and is under development by the US military, emits an invisible laser pulse causing a small amount of plasma explosion and knocking the targets off their feet.

Dazzler, one of the most popular NLWs used worldwide, including the US military in Iraq, flashes intense laser beams that can temporarily blind and disorient the target.

The Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO), India's premier weapons lab network, has also developed such a weapon, which is still in testing stage.

The gun's flash beam is said to be two to three metres wide, which would provide better chances to the forces in disorienting the target.

DRDO has also developed a new hand grenade equipped with the chili powder, derived from the world’s hottest chili 'Bhut Jolakia', which can compel the enemy to surrender in minutes.

But the experts said although it is essential to introduce new crowd-control weapons, the most important aspect is the training to use them that can only suffice the purpose.

"If tear-gas shells are killing people in Kashmir, it shows that the forces are not trained adequately to handle them," said former BSF chief Singh.

Sharma added: "Unfortunately, the component of training provided to the security forces has not undergone much change. What it was 50 years ago continues to be the same even today."

Not just the training to use weapons, our forces should also be trained how to gauge people's sentiments and act accordingly, which is essential to contain violence and restore peace, they opined.