The Border Security Force members who gave their lives while performing their duties on the 59th Raising Day of the BSF in the Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand were honored by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday. Every year on December 1, the BSF, the world’s biggest border guard force with almost 2.5 lakh soldiers, commemorates Raising Day.
Mandated to guard the India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh border, the BSF is the only force of the nation with a distinctly defined wartime as well as peacetime role. It has successfully proved its mettle in accomplishing every task assigned in times of war and peace while ensuring peace and tranquillity on the border.
India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh are guarded by BSF troops, who are stationed in the most difficult terrain and isolated areas. Up until 1965, the State Armed Police Battalion guarded India’s border with Pakistan. Pakistan launched an attack on Sardar Post, Chhar Bet, and Beria Bet in Kutch on April 9, 1965. The Government of India felt the need for a specialized, centrally controlled Border Security Force that would be armed and trained to man the international border with Pakistan after this revealed the State Armed Police’s inability to handle armed aggression.
As a result of the recommendations of the Committee of Secretaries, the Border Security Force came into existence on December 1, 1965.
Initially, in 1965, BSF was raised with 25 battalions and, with the passage of time, was expanded as per the requirement of the nation to fight against militancy in Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, and the Northeast region.