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Rapid Action Force
India is a difficult nation to govern and administer. While it has always taken pride in its mindboggling diversity, the ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural differences have also been the reason for numerous conflicts and problems. While the police force has always been there for handling matters of internal security, the country had been feeling the need of a dedicated force to take care of certain specific scenario. The Rapid Action Force was formed in the 1990s to take care of exactly such aspects. The RAF is basically a special unit of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF). The CRPF was formed during the time of the British and continued later on by the independent Indian government as the central armed police force which could assist the state forces across the nation during difficult times. But even they seemed inadequate during certain sensitive matters. The matters became more desperate after the communal riots of 1992. That is exactly when the Rapid Action Force was conceived as an elite force with qualified people drawn from the CRPF. It was distinctly identifiable in its bright blue camouflage and received special training to handle difficult situations of civil unrest within the country.
The Rapid Action Force was mainly was conceived to take care of communal riots and civil unrest. This is because such events are inherently sensitive and if not handled well they can spread quickly and do far more damage that one can imagine. Besides, communal riots also leave behind a physical scare that sustain for decades and generations and hence it is extremely necessary to control their damage. As mentioned earlier, the RAF was conceived at the wake of the riots of 1992 which was one of the worst in recent memory and it highly polarized the society. At that time it was felt that the police and the CRPF were not adequate to handle the situation because it is not only about catching or punishing rioters but about building a positive atmosphere among people by soft tactics and handling violent situations with minimal struggle. In the past the military was called in occasionally during such situations because of the tremendous respect and goodwill it enjoyed in the mind of the people. But the military was required to tackle the external threats and it could not be expected to deal with domestic issues all the time. That is what the RAF was conceived with specialized equipment and training to handle communally sensitive issues.
Apart from communal riots, the Rapid Action Force is also expected to handle other matters of civil unrest. This may include demonstrations, movements and protests by political parties, student bodies or any other social organization. Although these demonstrations are supposed to be nonviolent, sometimes they reach unwanted proportions when people indulge in rioting and destruction of public property. Over the years such protests have been met with punitive action by the police but the fact is that such measures only enrage the people further against the establishment. This is why the RAF is trained on techniques to disperse such mobs carefully and also to be patient and be sensitive towards the protestors because every protester has some reason for his or her action and that needs to be accepted in case the establishment wants to resolve the issue. In the last couple of decades, the RAF has grown in stature and it I snow employed whenever any difficult situation develops anywhere in the country. Their job is often the most difficult because they are under constant media scrutiny for handling civil unrest at the heart of the nation butthey are well trained to handle the same.