Coaches students for free, arranges books, stationery for those in need

Arun Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ropar, February 10

Even as the state government and the Opposition are busy targeting each other over jobs to the youth in the past three years, a government schoolteacher has done what those in power could not do. Sixty of Sher Singh’s students have already joined the Army.

Singh, a Punjabi lecturer at Government Senior Secondary School in Phulpur Garewal village, Kandi area, started coaching poor students in 2014. His aim was to get them jobs.

Singh’s efforts yielded results as 60 of his students got into the Army, 25 of whom were commissioned on Saturday. Many others got jobs in the Police Department and government sector, he said.

Singh, a postgraduate in English and science, doesn’t charge a penny from students. He even arranges books and stationery for those in need.

Three of the 25 successful students, Vir Barinder Singh, Zorawar Singh and Sharanjit Singh, have been able to make it to the technical trade in the Army against the total quota of eight posts allocated to the entire state.

Gurvinder Singh (22), son of a labourer from Rasoolpur village, said he was looking for a job after completing his graduation from Industrial Training Institute (ITI) when he came to know about Singh’s coaching centre. He studied science and mathematics for a month there and was able to crack the examination, said Gurvinder.

Similar is the story of Akashdeep Singh, a Class XII pass out, and Parminder Singh, a graduate, both from the Chamkaur Sahib area.

Singh said he thought of started coaching classes when he noticed that a majority of the students after passing out from schools and colleges roamed aimlessly in the area.

Ropar district was yet to be developed and people had small land holdings here, the youth didn’t have much to do even at home, he said.

First, he started putting up newspaper clippings regarding vacancies at the school gate so that people in the area could notice it and apply for suitable jobs. Then, he started coaching Class XI students, who were physically fit and wanted to join the Army. Soon, others contacted him and the number of students started increasing, he said. A WhatsApp group of job aspirants has been created in which information regarding jobs is shared every day.

It was not easy for students belonging to poor families to reach the school from far-off villages. Many couldn’t afford to spend on books required for coaching, he said.

“Initially, I spent money on books and other stuff, but later those belonging to well-off families started extending help,” he added.

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 11

As part of the Army’s efforts towards upliftment of widows of soldiers, including Veer Naris (war widows), a conclave was held at Jadhunath Sainik Institute in Chandimandir today under the aegis of Western Command.

The conclave was attended by 137 widows from Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali and Ropar.

The event was conducted with an aim of ameliorating challenges faced by the widows. The opportunity was also utilised to update them about their entitlements, resolving their grievances and making them aware of various initiatives and schemes launched by the Armed Forces as well as the Central and state governments for their welfare.

Alka Singh, Regional President, Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA), along with other AWWA members, felicitated the widows and provided them financial assistance totalling a sum of Rs 15 lakh.

A number of stalls pertaining to the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme, Canteen Services Department, pension and veterans issues were set up to provide a platform to address their problems.

New Delhi, February 12

India’s armed forces are at the cusp of transformation, Chief of Defence Staff Gen Bipin Rawat said on Wednesday, noting that proxy war and cross-border terrorism remained the key security challenges facing India.

Gen Rawat also rejected criticism that the armed forces are suppressing the rights of the people in Jammu and Kashmir, saying required steps are being taken considering ground realities and threats of terrorism.

Asked about his controversial comments that India had de-radicalisation camps, he said what he meant was classification of people based on their views and the impact of relentless efforts to de-radicalise young people.

“When I said camps — I meant groups of people,” he said.

In an address at the Raisina Dialogue last month, Gen Rawat had said that de-radicalisation camps are operating in the country as it is necessary to isolate people who are completely radicalised.

Girls and boys as young as 10 and 12 are being radicalised in the Valley, he said, describing it as a matter of concern. “We have got de-radicalisation camps going on in our country.”

Talking about evolving a regional security matrix, Gen Rawat said developments beyond India’s immediate neighbourhood like in West Asia might impinge on the country’s security interests.

“India needs to fulfil a larger responsibility in context of global peace. We have to expand our influence,” Gen Rawat said addressing a conclave organised by a news channel.

Asked whether creation of the chief of defence staff had added another layer of bureaucracy, the former Army chief said it was a long-pending proposal aimed at ensuring greater integration in functioning of the three services.

He said both the CDS and the defence secretary had clear responsibilities and both would work in coordination to bring in transformational changes in the military.

“Indian armed forces are at the cusp of transformation…If we look at the future of warfare, then the military has to grow. Our priority is quality, not quantity,” he said.

Gen Rawat also talked about plans to have an air defence command as well as a separate logistics command.

“The focus will be to ensure better utilisation of resources,” he said.

The CDS also said the armed forces are ready to deal with any challenge along the borders with China and Pakistan. PTI

Mathura, February 12

A former army personnel was allegedly shot dead by his teenage daughter after he opened fire at her and his wife, injuring them seriously at Mitthauli village in Mathura district.

The incident took place on Tuesday when Chetram, 41, took out his pistol following a heated argument in the family and shot at his 38-year-old wife and 17-year-old daughter.

As he turned the weapon to shoot his 13-year-old son, the injured daughter managed to snatch the weapon from him. She then opened fire, killing the former soldier on the spot.

Chetram had served as a naik in the Jat Regiment and retired six years ago.

Chetram’s wife and daughter are battling for their lives at a private hospital.

Circle officer Alok Dubey said while one bullet scraped past the woman’s right eyebrow, the girl sustained gunshot wounds in the abdomen. Chetram was shot in his chest and abdomen, police said.

His body has been sent for post-mortem.

Police said they were waiting for them to record their statements. The girl, who is taking coaching in Allahabad, had come home two days back. Her younger brother studies in Class 9 in Mathura.

Mathura DIG Shalabh Mathur said the police had recovered a pistol, two magazines, and three live cartridges along with two empty ones from the spot.

He said Chetram was angry over his daughter’s alleged affair with a local youth.

Meanwhile, a case has been registered under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC at Naujheel police station on the basis of a complaint filed by the deceased’s brother who alleged that the daughter and her boyfriend had shot dead Chetram because he opposed their relationship. IANS

‘The more emphatic denial of any proposal for an OIC foreign ministers meet in Islamabad appears aimed at keeping Pakistan on a leash,’ notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).

At the end of December 2019, there was much hype in Pakistan about a potential Organisation of Islamic Cooperation meeting of foreign ministers in Islamabad in April 2020. It was supposed to be an event in which Kashmir would be one of the main items on the agenda, thus progressing Pakistan’s core ambition of internationalising Kashmir; it would have been a decided diplomatic coup after India had largely staved off the Islamic world from any statements on Kashmir.

The proposed meeting was rumoured to be a sequel to Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud’s rushed visit to Islamabad on December 26, 2019 essentially to thank Pakistan for having pulled out of the Kuala Lumpur summit of Islamic nations.

Now it has been made known that no such OIC conference is in the offing in Islamabad. So what is this game being played within the Islamic world?

Behind this flip flop are the dynamics of competition for power between important nations which form part of the 1.8 billion Muslim population of the world; a Great Game of sorts.

Essentially it is about six nations — Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan. A seventh should have been Egypt which earlier under presidents Gamel Abdel Nasser and Anwar Sadat had assumed a leadership role which could not be sustained after the Camp David Accords in 1978.

Of these six nations, Indonesia is the most populous Muslim nation. Two factors seem to militate against its potential leadership role.

First is that its Islam is an evolved one, much more syncretic and secular. Second is that geographically it is too far distanced from the symbolic core centre of Islam, the holy shrines of Mecca and Medina. Indonesia may improve its economic strength in the future but will yet likely remain outside Islam’s strategic circle.

With Mohammad Mahathir’s return as Malaysia’s prime minister there is a spurt in Malaysia’s ambition. It has a 62 percent Muslim population of a total of 32 million people and a comparatively better developed economy with a reasonable level of technical manpower. Although it too is geographically far placed from West Asia aspirationally it feels it needs to play a more important leadership role in the world of Islam.

Turkey, which first turned its back on West Asia and the Arab world as a legacy of its iconic leader Kemal Ataturk and sought to be a part of Europe, is now turning its back on the latter. Under its leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has adopted revivalism with a shift towards greater Islamist ideology.

As a nation of 81 million almost wholly Muslim population and a history of leadership delivered through the Ottomans it is powerful enough to re-invent itself to play a more active role in the Islamic world once again.

Currently, it is Saudi Arabia, which by virtue of two major factors, has dominated the proceedings. First is the emotional advantage of custodianship of the holy shrines at Mecca and Medina; the second is the wealth that it enjoys by virtue of its energy resources.

Saudi Arabia hosts the OIC secretariat in Jeddah and plays a leading role in the organisation. The OIC’s mission statement bills it as the collective voice of the Muslim world that works to protect the latter.

With 57 member States from four continents, the OIC is the second largest intergovernmental organisation in the world after the United Nations. Iran is a member of the OIC, but being a Shia nation, the sectarian divide within Islam prevents it playing the role it seeks.

The sixth nation of significance is Pakistan which has always attempted to gain significance although its impoverished economy dilutes its higher political importance within the OIC. In order to pursue a dominant role, Pakistan has always maintained a special relationship with Saudi Arabia through support to the royal family and in recent years in hosting and promoting its obscurantist ideology.

The Saudi-Iran ideological tussle has brought a level of turbulence within the OIC. Iran may pursue a greater role towards assuming the mantle of leadership, but for sectarian reasons this may not fructify.

Yet, it continues to support the one identified pan Islamic cause more energetically than any other nation; the cause of the Palestinians. That gives it a higher moral platform.

To further complicate the dynamics, diluting Saudi power due to economic factors is now leading to other major Islamic powers vying for a more significant role. The most prominent are Turkey and Malaysia.

This is the backdrop to the decision of both nations joining hands in setting up an Islamic summit in Kuala Lumpur outside the ambit of the OIC with Pakistan, Indonesia and Iran among the important Islamic nations also persuaded to attend the same.

Stung by the first overtly visible political and diplomatic effort to upend its leadership, Saudi Arabia used its diplomatic clout to prevail upon Indonesia and Pakistan to pull out of the summit in December.

The Saudi-Pakistan special relationship in recent times has seen the Saudis economically bail out Pakistan from the depths of a serious economic crisis Pakistan seems to find no answers to.

The Saudi foreign minister’s rushed visit to Islamabad was a kneejerk response by Saudi Arabia and the rumoured promise of holding an OIC foreign ministers meeting in Islamabad in April with Kashmir on the agenda too was perhaps an act of desperation not thought through.

Saudi Arabia under Prince Mohammad bin Salman is viewing its future far more pragmatically while evolving plans for 2032 as the cut off year by when an economy independent of dwindling energy resources is aimed to be built.

For that it needs engagement with both China and India who are major buyers of its energy resources, without exclusion of either of them.

For over half a decade it has displayed all the ingredients of developing stronger bonds with India and thus took a decidedly neutral view on Kashmir, terming it India’s internal issue. Yet it needs Pakistan for support within the Islamic world.

Thus, a dilemma of sorts exists for the Saudis forcing them to tread a careful path. The decided advantage that the Saudis have is that financially no other country can bail out Pakistan and support to it is also viewed positively by the US for its Afghanistan strategy and by China which too chips in to economically support and exploit Pakistan.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent visit to Kuala Lumpur to make up for his absence at the December 2019 Islamic Summit would surely have had Saudi Arabia’s nod. However, the more emphatic denial of any proposal for an OIC foreign ministers meet in Islamabad appears aimed at keeping Pakistan on a leash lest the unpredictable dynamics at such an event turn the tide against Saudi interests.

For India, this as a positive turn and augurs well towards building upon the obvious value that Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations such as the United Arab Emirates and Oman attach to their Indian relationship.

Opportunities such as the unfortunate passing away of Sultan Qaboos of Oman, a long time well-wisher of India, must be used to express empathy. By not sending a leader of appropriate status for his funeral, such an opportunity was lost besides displaying a lack of sensitivity towards mutual interests.

The Islamic Great Game is unlikely to find any winners for long. In the bargain, Pakistan will find opportunity to exploit situations to embarrass India for which India needs to be diplomatically prepared at all times.

We have not witnessed the end of Pakistani efforts at internationalising Kashmir.

Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd) — former general officer commanding of the 15 Corps in the Kashmir valley — is one of India’s most astute commentators on strategic affairs.

New Delhi, February 11

A Court of Inquiry has been initiated against a retired Army colonel after two soldiers wrote to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh that while serving, the colonel allegedly had sex with a civilian employee at his office.

The soldiers from infantry battalion in the complaint had stated that they had made a video clip of the incident after they were victimised by the officer.

Sources said the colonel was stationed in Abohar in Punjab when the incident took place. He has retired now.

The soldiers of 25 Rajputana Rifles wrote to the Defence Minister that they were being victimised for having exposed the deeds of the colonel.

They alleged in their complaint that they made the video in order to teach the Colonel a lesson as he used to mistreat them.

The colonel, since retired, but will still face the inquiry under the Army rules and regulations.

The Indian Army also stated that during the inquiry, it will also be probed whether the soldiers allegedly tried to blackmail the Colonel. — IANS