Published: February 09, 2008

Indian Army Turns to Music Therapy to Prevent Suicides

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Srinagar, Feb 8: With soldiers deployed in Kashmir continuing to commit suicide and resort to shooting of each other in fratricide killings, the Indian army has turned to music therapy to arrest the trend among its men.

Sources said the Army has decided to take the help of music therapy to de-stress soldiers working in hazardous conditions in Kashmir. "The army has in fact organized a meditation music therapy concert in one of its commands in Kashmir," they said.

A noted sitar maestro, Raj Dogra, creative director of London-based Swarangan Meditation, presented a meditation music therapy concert for the soldiers and their families in the command centre recently.

Sources close to the music maestro said that after the recent incidents of fratricide and suicide killings in Kashmir, the army approached him and urged him to perform, to de-stress the soldiers.

They said that after his first concert, the army asked him to perform again to de-stress its soldiers deployed in Kashmir to take on militants.

It is pertinent to mention here that earlier measures taken by Indian army and paramilitary forces to de-stress their jawans working in Kashmir had failed as there was no decline in the number of suicide and fratricide incidents.

Fayaz Wani reports on life in Srinagar, Kashmir.