Know Your Paramilitary: The Border Security Force

Till 1965 India’s borders with Pakistan were manned by the State Armed Police Battalion. Pakistan attacked Sardar Post, Chhar Bet and Beria Bet on 9 April, 1965 in Kutch. This exposed the inadequacy of the State Armed Police to cope with armed aggression due to which the Government of India felt the need for a specialized centrally controlled Border Security Force, which would be armed and trained to man the International Border with Pakistan. As a result of the recommendations of the Committee of Secretaries, the Border Security Force came into existence on 01 Dec 1965, and Shri K F Rustamji was the first chief and founding father.

Here is about BSF, summed in 9 points:

1. It is a Central Armed Police Force charged with guarding India’s land border during peace time and preventing transnational crime
2. The BSF, in its 48 years of existence, has emerged as an elite force of the country having excelled with distinction in the 1971 war with Pakistan.
3. Its ethos is “Any task, anytime, anywhere” and the BSF has given blood and sweat to execute its motto “Duty Unto Death”.
4. The BSF contributes every year a significant number of personnel for services for UN Mission.
5. It was raised in the wake of the 1965 War on 1 December 1965 “for ensuring the security of the borders of India and for matters connected therewith”.
6. The BSF has its own cadre of officers but its head, designated as a Director-General (DG), since its raising has been an officer from the Indian Police Service.
7. The BSF has grown exponentially from a few battalions in 1965 to 186 battalions with a sanctioned strength of 2.5 lakh personnel including an expanding air wing, marine wing, artillery regiments, and commando units.
8. The BSF, long considered a male bastion, has now deployed its first batch of women personnel at the border to carry out regular frisking of women as well as other duties performed by their male counterparts, including guarding the border.

The BSF, first line of India’s defense currently stands as the world’s largest border guarding force. BSF has been termed as the First Line of Defense of Indian Territories.