NEW DELHI: It’s been at the heart of India’s counter-insurgency/counter-terrorism operations for three decades now. Rashtriya Rifles, which draws troops from different branches of the army, has been carrying out operations against terrorists in close coordination with the J&K police and the paramilitary. It has a strong intelligence network across the Kashmir Valley and is embedded in its rural hinterland. Troops of the Rashtriya Rifles have been leading from the front against the proxy war launched by Pakistan. Last week in an anti-terrorist operation in J&K’s Handwara, five security personnel laid down their lives. They included four personnel of 21 Rashtriya Rifles and a police officer. In this episode of Simply Nitin, StratNews Global Editor-in-Chief Nitin A. Gokhale describes the circumstances under which the Rashtriya Rifles was formed and why it’s unique.
