Ujjain: District Soldiers Welfare Office (DSWO) has issued alerts both for civilians and those serving in different wings of the Indian armed forces as well as their kith and kin with regard to responsibilities and alertness in view of rising tension across the borders. Talking to Free Press DSWO and Group Captain (retired) Manoj Gurg said, for next six months at least India is under threat of retaliation by enemies.
The neighbouring country is not likely to sit quietly. There is bound to be attacks at various places. So public in general will need to be vigilant. Here are some ways to behave as responsible citizen during this time of national emergency.
OUR RESPONSIBILITIES AS CIVILIANS
- What’s done is done: Forwarding jokes is fine, but situation is grim. So let’s come back to senses and ask ourselves: what is my responsibility in crisis. Understand that this is an hour of national high alert in India. Stop and think for a moment.
- Loose lips, sink ship: Your facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram messages could go to our enemies within minutes. If you have friends in defence, do not share their messages in civilian groups. Just be silent for a few months on security matters. Your brilliant insights may be just what the enemy needs to understand the Indian psyche.
- Do not photograph or take videos of anything related to local or national security. No selfies with aircraft, tanks or jawans/airmen/seamen. The enemy is monitoring social media activity, city by city and tracking our forces.
- Do not take pictures in airports, railway stations, government facilities, etc or circulate them. Do not forward any sensitive videos and if anyone sends it in a group, caution the sender and insist that admin removes it immediately.
- Be on high alert personally, in public spaces and in case of any security threat, alert local authorities immediately (suspicious packages, panicked drivers near sensitive facilities, etc). Become the eyes and ears of India’s security forces.
- If you have a flight/train to catch, arrive early and help make the security checks smooth. Don’t throw tantrums and become a headache for the CRPF/security teams there. Instead greet them with a Jai Hind or thank you, and receive a broad smile.
- Prepare yourself to be useful to the country in its time of need. What can you offer: Learn first-aid or traffic management or volunteer somewhere and become useful in real life.
- Sensitize others-family, children, youth, drivers, maids, friends, that this is a time of national emergency. Make them feel their responsibility.
- Sensitize all personnel in the neighbourhood to get your maid, dhobi, car cleaner, milkman and tenant verified by local police authorities.
- Support Indian Armed Forces. Give them Respect. Their primary motivator is not money but patriotism and honour. Respect from their fellow countrymen gives them joy. Soldiers worry about their families about what will happen to their families if they make the supreme sacrifice. Therefore contribute money.
- Contribute towards Armed Forces Flag Fund Ujjain so that disabled soldiers, their families, widows, and orphan children can be looked after. Visit this office or directly deposit in favour of “ASM FOR EX-SERVICEMEN” IDBI account number 0088104000300803 IFSC-IBKL0000088. Contribution is IT Exempt. Obtain a receipt from District Sainik Welfare Office, Kothi Palace, Near New Court Building, Vikram Nagar Road, Ujjain-456010 (MP)
IF YOU ARE A FAUJI OR FROM FAUJI BACKGROUND
- Please remove any mention of being a fauji wife/Army spouse or Naval or Air Force wife from your social media handles and bio-data.
- Please ask your friends and families not to disclose any information about you or your serving soldier’s whereabouts on phone or to strangers.
- Please remove all photographs of your serving spouses in uniform from social media. Educate your children about not discussing their fathers or mothers.
- Please take immense care of what you share with the maids. Do not discuss postings of the others with them.
- Keep your identity card handy and ask your visitors to cooperate at the gate.
- Do not indulge in political aggressiveness unnecessarily on other groups.
- Do not accept friend requests from unknown people. Many chiffon clad ladies have common friends, but are spies. They honey trap people from defence background for obtaining sensitive information.
- Please do not get lured by phone calls posing as friends of your serving spouses looking for establishing contact after long etc. ask your maids, buddies, help to never disclose any details about the family or location without informing you first.
- Last but not the least, many fauji guys and ladies too are being honey trapped. So please be careful about who you talk to.
- Sensitize all personnel in the neighbourhood to get your maid, dhobi, car cleaner, milkman and tenant verified by the local police authorities.