“Bastariya Warriors” To Fight Maoists

At the CRPF’s Anti Naxal Training School atop a hill in north Chhattisgarh, the young recruits marched in all their glory. Under two shamianas on either side, sat their parents and family, clapping as they went past. On the dais, receiving the salute, were not just the Director General of the paramilitary force but Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh.

As passing-out parades go, this was unlike any other. Monday was the day, battalion 241, called the “Bastariya Warriors” came into being, with 534 personnel. The word “Bastariya” stands not only for where they will operate over the next few months, but also where they come from. And each of the 534, including 189 women, were recruited for the first time from deep within the jungles of Bastar.

With the process of the formation of the Bastariya Battalion beginning early last year with physical tests and written examinations, all 534 recruits underwent training at the anti Naxal school. CRPF officials said that over this time, they were trained in “drills, physical and unarmed combat training, the handling of weapons like the INSAS, LMG, UBGL’s and other weaponry, as well as jungle training which included living of the land, survival, casualty evacuation, and Jungle Warfare exercises and tactics.”

Read more of this in a report by Dipankar Ghose published in The Indian Express...

Listen to the address by Home Minister Rajnath Singh passing out parade of 241 Bastariya Battalion of CRPF in Ambikapur, Chhattisgarh - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVHyJgLK5IQ