The Union government is taking steps to revive the Border Wing Home Guards (BWHG) in light of the recent unrest in Ladakh and the deadly terror attack in Pahalgam. The move aims to enhance border security and strengthen cooperation between local populations and central armed police forces such as the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Border Security Force (BSF).

The BWHG will primarily consist of local volunteers recruited on a temporary basis who, owing to their familiarity with the terrain and population, can act as “eyes and ears” for the border guarding forces.

The proposal to set up the Border Wing Home Guards is not new. BWHG units were first formed during the late 1970s to supplement regular border guarding forces but later disbanded due to funding disputes between state police departments and central forces.

At that time, issues over who would pay these volunteers—Centre or states—remained unresolved. Reviving the BWHG now is seen as a way to integrate community participation into security operations, with the Union Home Ministry likely to oversee coordination between state authorities and central forces.

India shares an extensive land border covering multiple geographies and threat zones. The Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China stretches 3,488 km across Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Ladakh, while the border with Pakistan measures 3,323 km across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh.

India’s longest international boundary is with Bangladesh, running 4,096.7 km through West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram. Under the "one border, one guarding force" principle, the ITBP manages the Chinese border, while the BSF secures the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. Having trained locals working with these forces is expected to improve vigilance, rapid intelligence gathering, and early warning capabilities.

The immediate push for reviving the BWHG follows two destabilising events in 2025. First, violent protests in Leh, Ladakh, demanding statehood and Sixth Schedule protections, spiraled into clashes leading to civilian deaths and strained relations between locals and authorities. Activist Sonam Wangchuk was accused of instigating unrest and has since been detained under the National Security Act. The resulting tension revealed the need for better-grounded local intelligence mechanisms to prevent escalation.

The second event was the Pahalgam terror attack, one of the deadliest strikes in recent years, in which 26 civilians were killed. The attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba-backed militants from the shadow group The Resistance Force (TRF).

Intelligence lapses prevented security agencies from acting in time. Following this, security forces launched Operation Sindoor in May, targeting militant hideouts, and Operation Mahadev in July, eliminating three Pakistani terrorists linked with the Pahalgam attack. Investigations by the NIA have revealed that local sympathisers sheltered the attackers, prompting further emphasis on community-level surveillance.

One of the main obstacles in reviving the BWHG remains financial. Compensation for such volunteers has long been a flashpoint between central and state governments. While states often claim limited capacity to fund additional personnel, central forces seek local manpower to strengthen their security grid. A structured model, possibly funded directly through the Ministry of Home Affairs, may be implemented to resolve this.

The revival of the Border Wing Home Guards is expected to serve multiple objectives. It will provide employment to youth in border states, build confidence among residents about their inclusion in security matters, and strengthen the intelligence and surveillance grid along India’s most vulnerable regions.

At the same time, with unrest in Ladakh, insurgency risks in J&K, and cross-border infiltration threats from Pakistan and China, the move signals the Centre’s intent to adopt a community-based border defence model to pre-empt both political unrest and terror incursions.

Based On ET News Report