(IN) Animals abused for Counter Insurgency Training

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---------- Forwarded message ----------

 

 

*>Troops were trained to feed on venomous vipers, dogs and monkeys as part

of military exercises to sharpen their skills in jungle survival and

combat.<

 

*Link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counterinsurgency_and_Jungle_Warfare_School

 

*Kind attention:

 

Chairperson/ Secretary, Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI)*

 

*Sub: Indian animals being abused for Counter Insurgency Training*

 

Dear all at AWBI,

 

Please see link to read the full text to find the quoted lines. These lines

have been extracted from Wikipedia and it is about the The Counter

Insurgency and Jungle Warfare (CIJW) School of the Indian Army which is

based in Vairangte, Mizoram.

 

It may be noted that since this institution was set up, it has been training

Indian and foreign defense personnels and consumption of the wild animals is

still practiced as a part of the training.

Some animals that are being poached in the name of training by the Army are

as follows:

 

1. Snakes and reptiles.

2. Dogs

3. Primates

 

It is hereby requested to caution or issue a notice in this regard to those

concerned so that the training continues MINUS the slaughter and use/abuse

of wild and protected animals.

 

Picking up animals from the forest or illegal markets in the northeast of

India and using them for such activities is a punishable offense and the

offenders should be made to take note of this as early as possible

 

The next high level training is between the US and Indian military

personnels, and the soldiers have arrived.

Please see details below:

 

Link:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Halt_India-US_military_exercises_in_Miz\

oram_CPM_to_UPA/articleshow/3318468.cms

*Halt India-US military exercises in Mizoram: CPM to UPA*

 

 

Also if any animal whether wild or domestic is used for the purpose of

training, the institution or the authorities concerned should obtain

necessary permission in this regard from the AWBI or the Wildlife

Department.

 

Also at a time when the nation`s Prime Minister is taking personal interest

in the protection and welfare of animals in danger, this brutality in the

name of training should be immediately halted and those guilty punished/

booked.

 

An acknowledgment of receipt of this mail is highly appreciated from the

AWBI.

 

regards,

 

Azam Siddiqui

 

Master Trainer in Animal Welfare

Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI)

member: PFA- India, PETA-India

 

Contact number: +91 94350 48481

 

Copy to:

 

1. Smt. Maneka Gandhi,Chairperson PFA- India & Former Forest and Environment

Minister, Government of India.

 

2. Ms. Belinda Wright, Executive Director, WPSI- India

 

3. Ms. Anuradha Sawhney, Chief Functionary, PETA- India

 

_______________

 

From the archives:

 

Link: http://www.dawn.com/2004/04/10/int7.htm

 

* US troops eating snakes in Indian jungles *

VAIRENGTE, April 9: US troops are being fed venomous vipers, dogs and

monkeys as part of military exercises to sharpen skills in jungle combat in

India's insurgency-torn northeastern state of Mizoram.

 

Some 100 Alaska-based US infantry soldiers and 120 local troops last weekend

launched joint exercises codenamed " War Rehearsal " to learn what they called

" low-intensity " combat at the Counter-Insurgency Jungle Warfare School

(CIJWS). Lt Col David Alan Wisecarver, commanding the US contingent, said

the US army planned to add more teeth to its unconventional combat units.

 

" The US army has already raised two such strike brigades and we form the

elements of the third, which is being trained to be highly-mobile, digital

and network-centric for rapid anti-terrorist strikes, " Col Wisecarver said.

 

The CIJWS, set up in 1970, is one of the world's most respected

anti-terrorist institutions with troops from 19 nations including Iraq and

Afghanistan having being trained in counter-insurgency warfare here.

 

The games, being held in Mizoram's remote Vairengte forests, are scheduled

to end on April 17. Brig B.K. Ponwar, CIJWS commander, said the rugged

training included living off the land.

 

" The human body is capable of undergoing tremendous stress and strain and it

is often not realised until put to test, " Ponwar said besides a table loaded

with snake, monkey and dog meat on which the soldiers feasted.

 

" Troops must live in all-weather terrain, eat and sleep like the guerrilla

and strike as silently as the guerrilla, " said an Indian trainer in CIWJS.

Wisecarver said his men enjoyed the joint exercises in Mizoram's lush green

jungles.

 

" Though the landscape may be reminiscent of Vietnam, we are enjoying our

stay here, " the US colonel said. Ponwar, meanwhile, said his school planned

to upgrade its facilities and train soldiers to take on guerillas in places

like occupied Kashmir.

 

" With the northeast on the threshold of eliminating terrorism, the CIJWS is

now shifting its focus towards Jammu and Kashmir, " he said. Local insurgency

ebbed, especially in the worst-hit Assam, after New Delhi last December

prodded neighbouring Bhutan to launch an all-out military offensive to crush

elaborate hideouts the militants had set up in the Himalayan kingdom.

 

" The CIJWS is also going in for framing tactics to hunt down and confront

terrorists groups carrying weapons of mass destruction..., " Ponwar said,

adding the school would be upgraded into a military college later this year.

 

 

The school was set up after Indian soldiers suffered heavy casualties at the

hands of north eastern rebels who were adept at hit-and-run guerrilla

strikes. More than 50,000 people have been killed in the insurgency in the

northeastern region since 1947. -AFP

 

 

--

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