New Delhi, April 23

The United States, in its report on ‘Human Rights 2023’, today said ‘significant human rights abuses’ happened in Manipur following the outbreak of ethnic conflict in May 2023. The report also mentioned raids by tax authorities on UK broadcaster BBC and transnational cases like killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.

Released by the US State Department, the report flags armed conflict, rapes, assaults in Manipur and speaks about violence against journalists and unjustified arrests of citizens.

The Ministry of External Affairs has not yet responded to the incidents in the report.

On Manipur, the report mentioned that at least 175 persons were killed and more than 60,000 displaced due to the ongoing conflict.

The report also highlighted what it termed as “worrying trend” of violence against journalists, unjustified arrests and the application of criminal libel laws to suppress dissent.

On the searches at BBC, the report said tax officials also seized equipment from journalists who were not involved in the organisation’s financial processes. Last year in February, the Income Tax Department carried out surveys at the premises of the BBC in Delhi and Mumbai. The development came weeks after the British broadcaster released a documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots titled “India: The Modi Question”.

The US report also mentioned human rights abuses committed in regions plagued by terrorism, including J&K, and areas affected by the Maoist insurgency.

On Hardeep Nijjar, the report said it indicated a “pattern of extrajudicial actions by state agents”. The report does not mention the case of Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The US has accused an Indian intelligence official of planning to allegedly kill Pannun.

The VVPAT is an independent vote verification system which enables electors to see whether their votes have been cast correctly

PTI

New Delhi, April 23

The Supreme Court is likely to pronounce on Wednesday certain directions on a batch of pleas seeking complete cross-verification of votes cast using EVMs with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT).

The VVPAT is an independent vote verification system which enables electors to see whether their votes have been cast correctly.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta is scheduled to pronounce the directions on the plea in which order was reserved by the apex court on April 18.

Underscoring the importance of voter satisfaction and trust in the electoral system, the top court had during the hearing told petitioners, who sought its direction to go back to using ballot papers not to suspect the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and appreciate if the Election Commission does good work.

NGO ‘Association for Democratic Reforms’ (ADR), one of the petitioners, sought reversal of the poll panel’s 2017 decision to replace the transparent glass on VVPAT machines with an opaque glass through which a voter can see the slip only when the light is on for seven seconds.

During the hearing, which spanned for nearly two days, the bench had interacted for nearly an hour with senior Deputy Election Commissioner Nitesh Kumar Vyas to understand the functioning of EVMs and told advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the NGO that voter satisfaction and trust are at the core of the electoral process.

Senior advocate Maninder Singh, appearing for the Election Commission, had submitted that EVMs are standalone machines and cannot be tampered with but possibility of human error cannot be ruled out.

On April 16, the top court had deprecated criticism of EVMs and calls for reverting to ballot papers, saying the electoral process in India is a “humongous task” and attempts should not be made to “bring down the system”.

The seven-phase Lok Sabha polls began on April 19 and the second phase is slated to be held on April 26.

The ADR has sought matching the count in EVMs with votes that have been verifiably “recorded as cast” and to ensure the voter is able to verify through VVPAT slip that his vote, as recorded on the paper slip, has been “counted as recorded”.

New Delhi, April 23

The Russia-Ukraine conflict is set to extend further. The US is poised and ready to begin delivering the needed military capabilities to Ukraine, said Pentagon Press Secretary Major General Pat Ryder. The US Department of Defence put out the remarks of Maj Gen Ryder on Tuesday.

The General was referring to ‘supplemental budget legislation’ passed by the US House of Representatives, the lower Chamber of the US Congress. The US Senate will take up the bill this week before it is approved by President Joe Biden.

Ryder said the legislation will make the US and its allies and partners more secure. This new legislation is proof to Russian President Vladimir Putin that his supposition that the group supporting Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion would fall apart was absolutely wrong, Ryder said. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Air Force Gen CQ Brown will host the 21st meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group on Friday.

Bhadarwah/Jammu, April 23

Army Commander Lieutenant General MV Suchindra Kumar on Tuesday reviewed the counter-terror training here and commended the collective efforts of the Army and police towards enhancing operational synergy and interoperability among the forces.

Collective effort

• Army Commander Lt Gen MV Suchindra Kumar reviews counter-terror training at the White Knight Corps Battle School in Bhadarwah area
• Commends the collective efforts of the Army and police towards enhancing operational synergy and interoperability among the forces
• A total of 1,114 police sub-inspectors (PSIs), including 146 females, are undergoing training in guerrilla warfare

A total of 1,114 police sub-inspectors (PSIs), including 146 females, are undergoing training in guerrilla warfare at the White Knight Corps Battle School in Jammu and Kashmir’s Bhadarwah area.

The Army commander felicitated outstanding achievers among the trainee PSIs undergoing training since March 18.

During his address, the Army commander emphasised the significance of the joint training programme between the Army and the Jammu and Kashmir Police, commending their collective efforts towards enhancing operational synergy and interoperability among the forces. He exhorted all ranks to maintain physical fitness as a hallmark of a professional responder to all security challenges.

Acknowledging the participation of 136 female PSIs, he underscored the commitment towards inclusive training initiatives. The collaboration between the Army and the Jammu & Kashmir Police was emphasised as indispensable in striving towards a secure and prosperous Jammu and Kashmir.

An Army spokesperson stated that this is the first major training capsule of its kind, where the Army is training officers of the Jammu and Kashmir Police in such large numbers at one go.

The trainee cops expressed confidence that the training provided by the Army would result in better coordination between the two elite organisations through sharing and understanding each other’s strengths, ethos, culture, values, and best practices.

“Obviously, we have learned a lot here, and this has given us a lot of confidence to overcome difficult situations, as evident from the positive change in our behaviour,” said Sonalika Sharma, a trainee PSI with the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Another PSI said that what we have learned here has really boosted our confidence, especially at the beginning of our careers. “Besides this, the joint training with the Army will surely help us work in synergy with the Army and coordinate better to help bring peace in Jammu and Kashmir,” he added. (With PTI Inputs)

DUBAI, April 23

Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group said on Tuesday it had launched a drone attack against Israeli military bases north of the city of Acre, in its deepest strike into Israeli territory since the Gaza war began.

The Israeli military said it had no knowledge of any of its facilities being hit by Hezbollah, but had said earlier on Tuesday that it intercepted two “aerial

Hezbollah said it acted in retaliation for an earlier Israeli attack killing one of its fighters. The group published what appeared to be a satellite photo, with the location of the strike symbolized by a flash with a red circle around it that sat halfway between Acre and Nahariyya to the north.

Israeli airstrikes killed two Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, the military said earlier on Tuesday. Hezbollah later confirmed the death of one of its fighters, Hussein Azkoul, but provided no further details.

A separate Israeli strike overnight Monday to Tuesday killed a fighter in Hezbollah’s elite unit, Radwan Forces, the military said, though Hezbollah has not confirmed his death. Since October, Israeli strikes have killed about 270 Hezbollah fighters as well as about 50 civilians. Hezbollah’s rocket and drone fire has killed about a dozen Israeli soldiers and half as many civilians. The shelling has displaced tens of thousands on each side. — Reuters

Gaza struck by heaviest shelling in weeks

• Israel bombarded northern Gaza on Monday night in some of the heaviest shelling in weeks, causing panic amongst residents and flattening neighbourhoods in an area from which the Israeli army had previously reduced its troops, residents said on Tuesday
• Army tanks made a new incursion east of Beit Hanoun on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, though they did not penetrate far into the city
• Gunfire reached some schools where residents were sheltering. In Israel. Shelling was intense east of Beit Hanoun and Jabalia and continued on Tuesday

UNHRC chief ‘horrified’ by mass grave reports

Geneva: UNHRC Chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday he was “horrified” by the destruction of Nasser and Al Shifa medical facilities in Gaza and reports of mass graves containing hundreds of bodies there. Palestinian authorities reported finding scores of bodies in mass graves at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

SANJHA MORCHA has decided to support pro- veterans candidate Mr Manish Tewari from Chandigarh. He is a local and not a parachuted candidate like earlier and Chandigarh suffered for the last two terms. A highly qualified and disciplined parliamentarian. He is an excellent and respected speaker in Lok Sabha. His talk during Military Literature Fest (MLF) Chandigarh in 2023 kept listeners spell bound. He has promised to take up veterans points in the new parliament like Agniveer, OROP, Commuted Pensions, GST on canteen items etc Sanjha Morcha will be inviting all veterans for a meet over a cup of tea and snacks soon. All veterans to kindly confirm their attendence on following mobile numbers ––99988266450 Col CJS Khera ___9915090555,Col Shanjit Bhullar—–.9589143386 Maj Gen Harvijay Singh, SM, Veterans are welcome to send their discussion points on the above contacts or on email —sanjhamorcha303@gmail.com

Besides Khokhar, former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar is serving a life term in the case

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a furlough plea by former Congress councillor Balwan Khokhar, who is serving life imprisonment in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.

As a Bench led by Justice JK Maheshwari made it clear that it was not inclined to entertain the plea, Khokhar’s counsel chose to withdraw the petition which was “dismissed as withdrawn”.

The Bench, however, said the petitioner could approach the competent authority for furlough. 

Khokhar’s counsel had earlier said he was seeking furlough for maintaining social ties.

Around 3,000 people, mostly Sikhs, had died in the riots in the national capital in the aftermath of assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984.

Besides Khokhar, former Congress MP Sajjan Kumar is serving a life term in the case. Ex-MLA Mahender Yadav, who was awarded 10-year sentence, died from Covid in Mandoli jail.

Sajjan Kumar and Balwan Khokhar are lodged in Tihar jail since their conviction on December 17, 2018.

Khokhar’s life sentence was upheld by the Delhi High Court in 2018, while it overturned Kumar’s acquittal by the trial court in 2013.

The case relates to the killing of five Sikhs in Raj Nagar Part-I in Palam Colony in southwest Delhi on November 1-2, 1984, and burning down of a gurdwara in Raj Nagar Part-II.

Ajay Banerjee

Forty years since Prime Minister Indira Gandhi okayed the Indian Army’s plan to capture the 76-km-long Siachen Glacier, multiple strategic implications have emerged and Siachen remains a ‘military priority’ for India.

Operation Meghdoot — launched on April 13, 1984, to capture Siachen — was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. It was thought through, calibrated, planned and also practised. The move was a correction of three strategic oversights — first in 1949, then in 1965, followed by the developments after the 1971 war. After the India-Pak war of 1947-48, the Karachi Agreement of 1949 agreed upon a ceasefire line (CFL). The 1965 India-Pak war ended with an agreement at Tashkent. The Simla Agreement was signed post the 1971 war. Notably, none of the three agreements demarcate, on ground, the Line of Control (LoC) beyond Point NJ 9842 in present-day Ladakh.

Exploration missions

• Siachen Glacier’s existence, its length and location were a matter of speculation among western explorers.
• British explorer Willam Moorcroft passed close to the glacier’s snout in 1821 and it is described in the 1841 book ‘Travels in the Himalayan Provinces…’
• In 1848, Sir Henry Starchey, a British civil servant, became the first westerner to ‘discover’ the glacier.
• EC Ryall of the Survey of India sketched the lower part of the glacier in 1861,
• and determined its length was 16 miles.
• In 1889, Sir Francis Younghusband, in an attempt to find the watershed between Central Asia and India, noted that Turkestan La (along what is now known as Indira Col) separated the two.
• In 1909, TG Longstaff became the first westerner to traverse the glacier.
• In 1912, an American couple camped on the glacier for over two months. C Grant Peterkin, attached to the expedition, surveyed the glacier from its head at Indira Col to its snout at Nubra river.

The territory north of NJ 9842 — the glaciers — was deemed to be too treacherous, with peaks in excess of 22,000 feet and passes at 18,000 feet.

The 1949 agreement said, “From Point NJ 9842, the ceasefire line (CFL) will run northwards to the glaciers.”

India and Pakistan differ on what defines “northwards to the glaciers”. Islamabad, oddly, claims that the LoC should go north-east and end at Karakoram Pass, dividing Ladakh and Xinjiang, under Chinese control. Post April 1984, India has positioned its troops along the watershed and the claim line runs “northwards” of Point NJ 9842. The posts held by Indian troops are now referred to as the Actual Ground Position Line (AGPL), which is 110 km long.

How a map triggered action

Ambiguity on the alignment of the LoC allowed Pakistan to attempt cartographic calisthenics. Between 1972 and 1983, it permitted foreign expeditions on the Siachen Glacier and the surrounding peaks, with Pakistani army officers accompanying them.

In India, things happened by coincidence. In the summer of 1974, German mountaineers Jaroslav Poncar and Volker Stallbohm met Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Sheikh Abdullah, seeking permission for rafting down the Indus in Ladakh.

Abdullah agreed and even hooked the Germans up with Col Narinder (Bull) Kumar, posted at the High Altitude Warfare School in Gulmarg. The expedition was carried out in 1975.

The Germans were back in India in 1977 with another request — a trek to the 24,600 feet high Mamostong Kangri in the southeast of Siachen. India did not give permission, but Pakistan did. The Germans, in 1978, climbed up the 18,000 feet high Bilafond La from the Pakistan side, only to reach till Siachen — all these were part of the undefined LoC.

Amid the permission-seeking documentation for the trek, Col Kumar got hold of a map from the Germans. In January 1978, he took the map to the Director General of Military Operations, Lt Gen ML Chibber. Army Chief TN Raina gave his nod to the budget for Col Kumar’s expedition to Siachen in October.

The location of the Mamostong glacier and its peaks spurred India into action as the peak is closer to Depsang, facing China, than being in proximity to Pakistan.

Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (retd), then a young pilot tasked at Leh, remembers the expedition in detail. “We would fly over the Siachen Glacier in our helicopters, and hover at the spot to drop fresh vegetables,” he says. He recollects: “On October 6, 1978, Sqn Leader ML Monga and I were tasked to evacuate an Army Captain and a jawan from an ‘advance base camp’ (now called Kumar Post at 15,600 feet). They were pulled out around 2 pm when wind turbulence had set in.”

Siachen plan

Following the 1978 expedition, the Indian Army carried out two similar mountaineering expeditions in 1980 and 1981. Harish Kapadia, a mountaineer, described these expeditions in his 2005 book, ‘Into the Untravelled Himalaya: Travels, Treks, and Climbs’: “The Indian government (revealed these treks only in 1983) made an attempt to pass them off as mountaineering ventures but their actual intentions were pretty obvious.”

In 1983, the ‘Siachen plan’ was given shape. Two Indian Army patrols were launched between June and September. The second one was tasked with building a small shelter. The components were lifted by helicopters, and so was the patrol party.

In August 1983, the Pakistan army sent two protest notes, which for the first time formally projected Pakistan’s claim line. The note asked the Indian side: “Instruct your troops to withdraw south of Point NJ 9842… Any delay in vacating our territory will create a serious situation.”

In other words, the LoC, agreed upon in a signed and sealed document, was being amended unilaterally by Pakistan and its army tried sending two companies up the Siachen in September/October 1983. The aim was to occupy the two entry points — from their side — to the Saltoro Ridge, Bilafond La and Sia La.

On April 13, 1984, a platoon of the Indian Army was flown onboard helicopters to Bilafond La. The rest, as they say, is history. Pakistan tried an offensive on April 24, but was beaten back. By then, the only other pass, Sia La, had been secured by India. The following year, in February 1985, the Pakistan army made another attempt, but was repulsed.

Lt Gen Sanjay Kulkarni (retd), who led the 4 Kumaon platoon on April 13, 1984, and planted the Indian flag at Bilafond La, remembers: “We had no navigational aid to guide us other than our Survey of India maps. We had walked over Siachen for months for two previous years.”

In July 1984, an Indo-Japanese expedition led by Col Balwant Singh Sandhu was okayed for the same Mamostong Kangri which Col Kumar had seen on the map of the Germans.

Why is Siachen important

Saltoro Ridge, dominated by the Indian Army, overlooks the Gilgit-Baltistan area of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). Indian military presence guards the routes leading to Ladakh from the eastern flank of the glacier that have an access from the Depsang plains in Ladakh. The northern part of the glacier, ringed by very high peaks, dominates the Shaksgam valley, which is under Chinese control since Pakistan illegally ceded it in 1963. China’s Karakoram Highway, part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, runs close by.

In the past 20 years, the unwarranted entry of the Chinese under the guise of road builders and dam builders means the area immediately west of Siachen now poses a collusive China and Pakistan threat. Also, the present crisis along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) would have been different if Pakistan’s false claim line from Point NJ 9842 to Karakoram Pass was not challenged by India.

Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma (retd), a former commander of the Leh-based 14 Corps, says, “The glacier’s geostrategic importance cannot be underplayed, especially in hindsight of the 2020 Chinese incursions in eastern Ladakh.”

The Saltoro Ridge, coupled with Siachen Glacier and Saser Ridge, is the most daunting geographical stretch. It also cleanly divides Gilgit-Baltistan and Aksai Chin in northern Ladakh, says Gen Sharma. “If this region was not held by the Indian Army, the Pakistan army and the Chinese would have ventured to join up.” The 1984 operation put a ‘strong wedge’, thwarting Pakistan-China designs, he adds.

Can it be de-militarised?

Pakistan has suggested de-militarisation. It was discussed at Track-II diplomatic channels but never agreed to. From the Pakistan side, the approach to the Saltoro Ridge and the glacier is vulnerable as the Indian Army occupies the heights.

From an Indian perspective, vacating anything is not possible. Since the ceasefire of 2003, firing by both sides has stopped. However, troops still need to man the region.

The state-of-the-art surveillance systems, combined with ground-based and air-based stand-off weapons, stand guard. But it is the Army troops on ground who dominate the area. “Siachen Glacier cannot and must not be de-militarised in isolation. Based on current relations, any de-militarisation is a far cry,” says Gen Sharma.

PTI

Leh/New Delhi, April 22

Siachen is India’s capital of “courage, grit and determination”, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday after carrying out an on-the-ground review of the security situation at the world’s highest snow-clad battlefield.

Addressing soldiers at a forward post at an altitude of 15,100 ft, Singh lauded the “iron-clad” will of the Indian Army soldiers deployed in the icy cold glacier and said that their bravery will forever be an inspiration for future generations.

The defence minister described Siachen as a symbol of India’s sovereignty and determination.

He said that just as Delhi is India’s national capital, Mumbai is the financial capital and Bengaluru is the technology capital, Siachen is the “capital of courage, grit and determination.”

The Siachen glacier in the Karakoram range is known as the highest militarised zone in the world where the soldiers have to battle frostbite and high winds.

Singh’s visit to Siachen came over a week after the Indian Army marked the 40th year of its presence in the strategically key region following the ‘Operation Meghdoot’.

The defence minister described the operation, which was launched by the Indian Army in Siachen on April 13, 1984, as a golden chapter of the country’s military history.

“The success of Operation Meghdoot is a matter of pride for all of us,” he said.

The defence minister was accompanied by Chief of the Army Staff Gen Manoj Pande; General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Northern Command Lt Gen MV Suchindra Kumar and General Officer Commanding of 14 Corps Lt Gen Rashim Bali.

In his remarks, Singh lauded the soldiers for walking on the virtuous path of protecting the motherland with valour and determination in extreme conditions.

“We are leading a peaceful life as we have an assurance that our brave soldiers stand steadfast at the borders,” he said.

Singh said that the first lamp on Diwali and the “first colour” of Holi should be dedicated to the protectors of the country, similar to the first food offering to deities, priests and gurus.

“Our soldier is no less than any protecting deity,” he said.

“In the times to come, when the history of national security is written, the acts of bravery and iron-clad will of our soldiers in the icy cold glacier will be remembered with pride. It will forever be an inspiration for future generations,” he said.

Singh’s visit to Siachen came over a week after the Indian Army marked the 40th year of its presence in the strategically key region following the ‘Operation Meghdoot’.

After carrying out aerial reconnaissance, the defence minister landed at the forward post and was given a detailed brief on the operational readiness in the Siachen Glacier and the prevalent security situation.

He also discussed the aspects associated with the operational challenges with the commanders on the ground.

“Visited a forward post in Siachen. Had a wonderful interaction with the brave Army personnel who are guarding our nation in extremely challenging conditions,” Singh said on ‘X’.

“I laud their courage and professionalism, in the line of duty,” he said.

The defence minister also laid a wreath at the Siachen War Memorial as a mark of tribute to the fallen heroes who made the supreme sacrifice in service of the nation.

Singh had visited Leh on March 24 and celebrated Holi with the troops. He was scheduled to visit Siachen, but it was postponed due to adverse weather conditions.

From Leh, the defence minister had spoken with the soldiers posted in Siachen over phone and told them that he would soon visit the world’s highest battlefield and interact with them.

Singh fulfilled his promise with Monday’s visit despite his busy schedule, the ministry said in a statement. The Indian Army has been strengthening its presence in Siachen over the last few years.

In January last year, Captain Shiva Chauhan from the Army’s Corps of Engineers was posted at a frontline post in Siachen Glacier, in the first such operational deployment of a woman Army officer at the key battlefiel