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MoS Home salutes CRPF’s valour against Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Hot Springs in 1959
Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai was speaking at the 82nd Raising Day of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Almost one and a half month after 20 Indian soldiers including a Colonel were killed while Chinese army too suffered significant casualties in a violent clash at Galwan valley in Ladakh, union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai said that China faced similar consequences in 1959 as well during a clash with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans in Hot Springs.
Recalling the incident of October 21, 1959 in which a patrol party of CRPF was attacked by People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops killing 10 Indian troops and taking seven as prisoners, Rai said the paramilitary force had shown great valour and caused “big damage” to the Chinese then also despite the fact that they were outnumbered. The day is also celebrated as police memorial day.
Rai was speaking at the 82nd raising day of CRPF. Home minister Amit Shah was supposed to attend the event but he could not make it owing to some other meeting.
“The CRPF has a rich history of valour and sacrifice...and on October 21, 1959, it showed that in Hot Springs in Ladakh when the Chinese attacked,” Rai said.
“What a coincidence. Whenever China attacks, its strength is huge and ours is less...but China has always suffered the consequences,” he said. He added that 10 CRPF personnel sacrificed their lives in Hot Springs, and the Chinese army had to suffer a “big damage.”
Rai, however, didn’t elaborate on the damage to PLA.
Praising CRPF, he added that the force has defended the country at Sardar Post in Gujarat as well when a small team repulsed an attack by a 3,000-strong army contingent of Pakistan in 1965.
“Pakistan would shake with fear whenever it would recall this incident,” Rai said.
The minister praised the force for ensuring the security of the country as he said without security there can be no peace, no development and no unity.
Rai added that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home Amit Shah terrorism and Naxalism were being wiped out in the country.
In the last six months, 150 terrorists have been killed in Kashmir, he said.
Rai said terrorists should know they will have to either change their ideology or will be wiped out by joint security forces like the CRPF, the army and the Jammu and Kashmir police.
He also recalled the 2019 Pulwama attack on a CRPF convoy in which 40 personnel were killed, and said the Prime Minister then had declared this sacrifice of the troops will not go in vain.
“The force went into Pakistan and killed the terrorists and Pakistan just kept watching. India did what it wanted to do,” the minister said in a reference to IAF’s air strikes in Balakot after the Pulwama attack.
During the course of his speech, the minister made an apparent error while referring to the history of the CRPF.
He said the country’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel gave the flag or colours to the force on this day (July 27) in recognition of the good work done by it in aligning all the princely states with India post independence.
However, an official pointed out that the CRPF was given the President’s colours by Sardar Patel on March 19, 1950.
The importance of July 27 is due to the raising of CRPF’s first battalion on this day in 1939 in the Neemuch town of Madhya Pradesh.
In 1939, the force was raised as the Crown Representatives Police under the British and was re-named CRPF in 1949.
