CRPF honours gallantry award winners, personnel hailing from Kashmir say situation improving

By Ankur Sharma
New Delhi [India], February 18 : The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), which is involved in the efforts to root out terrorism from Kashmir, felicitated nearly 20 of its jawans hailing from the Valley as also 100 other personnel including officers at a function here on Thursday.
Among the awardees are jawans who were honoured with medals for exemplary courage and gallant actions while eliminating terrorists and tackling stone pelters in Jammu and Kashmir.
Talking to ANI, a CRPF jawan, who hails from Kashmir and was awarded the President's Medal for Distinguished Service, said he had played a key role in eliminating three terrorists.
The jawan, who did not wish to be named due to security reasons as he is in the core team, said that the situation is gradually improving in the Valley.
"I want to give a message to Kashmiri youth that things are improving in Kashmir and these will improve gradually. But they should not get into activities which dent the efforts," he said.
Another jawan, who is also from Kashmir and serves in the Valley Quick Action Team, said the situation has improved in recent past.
"Being a Kashmiri and serving in the force fighting against terrorists gives me immense satisfaction. Everyone wants peace but because of a few people, the situation keeps changing," he said.
According to the officers, the local Kashmiri jawans play a very key role as they help the team in various ways during operations against terrorists.
Assistant Commandant Naresh Kumar, a seven-time winner of Police Medal for Gallantry (PMG) who has eliminated dozens of terrorists, said local jawans of CRPF play an important role in operations.
"You have to get a local guide if you want to know anything about a particular place. Local jawans of CRPF play a pivotal role in logistics, security and operational effectiveness. They deal with local people and understand their requirements which is a very tough task for a person who is new to the terrain," he said.
CPRF felicitated 128 gallantry medal winners from all over the country, including 4 Kirti Chakras awardees, one President's Police Medal for Gallantry awardee and 123 awardees of President's Police Medals. Four awards were given posthumously. The event was held at Shaurya Officer's Institute here.
DG CRPF AP Maheshwari honoured the gallantry medal awardees and their families. He presented a memento to awardees and a memento, shawl, and financial assistance to the families of those who had laid down their lives for the country.