Fact Testing: Did the center deny ‘martyr’ status to CRPF Javanese who lost lives in Bijapur?

A Facebook post went viral with the claim that the Union government denied the martyr status of CoBRA Javanese who recently laid down their lives in the Maoist in Bijapur of Chhattisgarh.

Several Facebook users shared the screenshot of an “Aaj Tak” article with a headline in Hindi that translates to: “Center tells the Supreme Court, paramilitary forces cannot get martyr status”.

Netizens shared the image with a Hindi caption saying, ‘Can’t the government of this country grant martyrdom to CoPRA commandos from CRPF who were tortured in Bijapur? This government cannot so insult the martyrs and soldiers of our country. “

India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found that there is no official designation as a ‘martyr’ in the defense and paramilitary services. However, the relatives or next of kin of those killed in action receive pensions, compensation and other additional benefits.

The archived versions of the posts are stored here and here.

AFWA investigation

The viral post has a screenshot of an “Aaj Tak” news article we found was published in 2015.. In this article, the center, in response to a PIL, informed the Delhi High Court in an affidavit that the term ‘martyr’ is not used for any power in the defense services.

In 2018, according to an article by “The Economic Times”, the Union government said in an affidavit to the Supreme Court in Delhi: “The prayer … to award ‘martyr’ or ‘shaheed’ to the The Central Armed Forces (CAPF) is being misunderstood on an equal footing with the army, navy and air force, as the same personnel are not actually assigned to the personnel of the army, navy and air force. ”

The government also said that ‘in the army / navy / air force the name for the word’ martyr ‘is battle victim and physical casualties. The word ‘martyr’ is not used in the three services’.

We found that Lok Sabha MP Neelam Sonkar asked the Interior Ministry on 22 December 2015 whether the government intended to grant martyrdom status to the staff of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) who lost their lives against terrorists and Maoists. Paramilitary forces, including CRPF and BSF, fall under CAPF.

Then Home Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju replied: ‘The Ministry of Defense has stated that the word’ martyr ‘is not used in reference to any casualties in the Indian army. Likewise, no such term is used in reference to Central Armed Forces (CAPFs) and Assam Rifles (AR) personnel killed in action or in any operation. ”

Benefits for next of kin

Following are the benefits that the next of kin of a martyr in CAPF have.

• Ex-gratia compensation of Rs 35 lakh for death on active duty and Rs 25 lakh for death on duty.
• Liberalized family pension under Central Civil Service (Extra Ordinary Pension) Rules, 1939, and other pensionary benefits.
• 5% vacancies reserved in group “C” for compassionate appointments.
• In terms of the premier bursary scheme, an amount of R 2,250 per month for girls and 2 000 Rs per month for boys is provided to the wards of the deceased.

CAPF personnel killed in action get ‘Operational Casualty Certificate’ on the line of ‘Battle Casualty Certificate’ as available to the military. In addition, many other welfare and service benefits such as Bharat Ke Veer contributions are also facilitated to the next of kin of the deceased’s family.

AFWA spoke to a senior CRPF officer, who said on condition of anonymity: ‘Let’s not go into semantics like’ martyr status’, but a soldier who lays his life in a fight in any operation is always considered a martyr and the center takes good care of the martyr family ”.

Therefore, it is confirmed that the Facebook post alleging that the center insults deceased CRPF Javanese in Bijapur by denying them the martyr status is misleading.