Srinagar, March 17

In a rare denouncement of Pakistan, the separatist camp in Kashmir today said Islamabad’s proposal to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as its fifth province is “unacceptable”, saying it will have a “damaging impact” on the state’s “disputed status”.“Any proposal to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as (the) fifth state of Pakistan is unacceptable,” Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik said in a joint statement here. The separatists said the people in Jammu and Kashmir have “always accepted the role of Pakistan as a party to the issue; however, any step which may hamper the disputed status of Kashmir is unacceptable”.The rare denouncement of Islamabad comes days after reports that a committee headed by Pakistan PM’s adviser on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz, has proposed giving the status of a province to Gilgit-Baltistan. Made up of seven districts, it is the northern-most territory of the erstwhile monarchical state of J&K as it existed prior to 1947.The separatists said the proposal “will have a damaging impact on the disputed status of the state… unless and until the people are provided an opportunity to decide the future course through a referendum, no division, alteration and changes are acceptable”. — TNS

Debris of the IAF Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter aircraft that crashed while on a routine training sortie in Barmer district of Rajasthan on Wednesday. Both the pilots ejected safely. photos: PTI

Tribune News Service

Jaipur/New Delhi, March 15

Three persons were injured when an Indian Air Force Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet on a routine sortie crashed into a field at Devaniyon ki Dhani, 10 km from Barmer’s Sadar police station, around 2 pm today. Two pilots on board the aircraft escaped unhurt.The three injured villagers — Naranaram, 60, his wife Dallu, 58, and son Hanuman, 40 — were taken to the Barmer District Hospital where their condition was stated to be serious, a police officer said.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Both pilots ejected safely after the Sukhoi developed a technical snag, Defence Public Relations Officer Lt Col Manish Ojha said. The IAF has ordered a Court of Inquiry into the incident.The aircraft had taken off from the Uttarlai airbase in Barmer. As the aircraft hit the ground, some of its flying parts hit the three villagers. The crashing jet created a crater in the sand and also damaged some thatched houses. The seventh crash of the frontline fighter jet since April 2009 has rekindled the debate of upgrading the aircraft originally purchased from Russia and subsequently licence-produced at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) facility in India.On Russia’s recommendation, 400 engines of the twin-engine aircraft have undergone modification at HAL’s Sukhoi engine plant in Orissa. The Su-30 MKI is a twin-engine aircraft and can land even if one of its engines fails mid-air. But this limits the pilot’s ability to attack or withdraw during conflict.

Chetak crashes in UP; no one hurt

• Allahabad: An IAF Chetak helicopter on a routine training sortie crashed near here on Wednesday. The helicopter had taken off from the Bamrauli airbase when it developed a snag and toppled as the pilots tried to land it in a field. The pilots are safe. A Court of Inquiry has been ordered. PTI

Vice-President Hamid Ansari. — File photo

New Delhi, March 14Pakistan’s military has reared “good” terrorists for cross-border missions while battling “bad” militants that fail to toe its line, Vice-President Hamid Ansari said on Tuesday.Attacking Pakistan for use of terrorism as state policy, he said the most virulent factor fuelling terrorism is state sponsorship of and collusion with terrorists.”A case in point is Pakistan’s use of extremist groups as an instrument of foreign policy is well documented…,” he said while addressing the third Counter Terrorism Conference organised by India Foundation.Ansari said the availability of financial resources is critical to the success of these extremist groups as misplaced sense of charity, or religious duty, on the part of citizens contributes to it.”Linked to it is the misuse of institutions intended to impart faith-based education. Instances of it abound in Pakistan and Bangladesh and also in other countries of the Indian Ocean littoral.”These misinterpret religious texts to induce intolerance which, in turn, promotes a narrow and bigoted approach that is conducive to use of violence,” he said.Ansari said essentially, the Pakistani military has reared “good” terrorists for cross-border missions while battling “bad” militants that fail to toe its line.He also said the powers which created conditions for the rise of ISIS are the same which are claiming to be its victim.”In recent times, the rise of ISIS or Daesh in Syria-Iraq has caught the attention of the world. Yet, even a cursory study of the factors that led to the rapid rise of such dangerous forces reveals that the very actors, who now claim to be threatened by it, have been responsible for creating the conditions–directly or indirectly–that led to its rise,” he said.Ansari said the removal of existing regimes and subsequent breakdown of governance resulted in extremist groups capturing the political initiative by exploiting the resentment and anger of the local populations and carrying out terrorist acts with impunity.”The repeated attempts at regime change by force and with utter disregard for the local ramifications and fall-outs, had led to the quagmire- whether it be in Syria-Iraq that led to ISIS; or, Afghanistan which led to Taliban/Al Qaida; or, Libya that led to Al-Jama’a,” he said.The so-called war on terror has bred its own brand of deprivation and suffering with hundreds of people being killed or injured, even if they were not related to terrorist activities, he said.”This has led to anger and a desire to seek justice by any means, resulting in extremist action and terrorist violence,” Ansari said.In the aftermath of wars, the impacted communities are caught in a vicious circle of population pressures, resource stress, popular discontent and political instability making them susceptible to a pervasive extremist culture, he said.”Weak or dysfunctional states are more likely to host terrorist groups that target not only their host states but also carry out transnational attacks,” he said.According to Ansari, the stated motivation of each terrorist group related to addressing grievance of political nature, very often embedded in and seeking empowerment from ethnic, nationalist, or religious sources.He said cross-border terrorism promoted by regimes as ‘war by other means’ on their neighbours is the most abhorrent which India have had to suffer for a number of years.”Such terrorism is sustained by external agencies and states. There is now wider recognition that this is the type of terrorism which creates conditions for growth of terrorist networks into massive conglomerates with international operations,” he said.The Vice-President said neither pious denunciations nor generalised prescriptions are sufficient to combat terrorism in all its manifestations.”A beginning has to be made in each case by understanding its operational philosophy, strategy and tactics, its targets and support systems,” he said.He said since unprovoked violence is inimical to human nature, groups and individuals resorting to terrorism or violent extremism seek to cloak their acts in motivations premised on value systems – secular, ethical or faith-based – that could be cited in justification.”This notwithstanding, the political temptation to attribute it to individual creeds is often overwhelming and, for the same reason, must be resisted if strategies and tactics to counter terrorism are to be both credible and productive,” he said.Ansari said use of indiscriminate force and heavy handed action debases the protection of human rights and can lead to an institutionalisation of oppression — fostering a culture of impunity within state security forces and agencies.He said at the same time, countries being taken by a surprise terrorist attack face the problem of responding swiftly without causing economic and societal disruptions.”We need a flexible frame-work of security that respects the diversity of security perspectives and developmental choices of member states and is based on a clear renunciation by all parties of the threat or use of force against any other state, aimed at promotion of connectivity in accordance with international law to promote and protect the well-being of all peoples who inhabit the Indian Ocean region,” he said. — PTI 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Manohar Parrikar. — File photo

New Delhi/Panaji, March 13

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was on Monday given the additional charge of the Defence Ministry after Manohar Parrikar resigned to take on the new role of Goa Chief Minister.A Rashtrapati Bhawan communiqué said the resignation of Parrikar as the Defence Minister, on advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has been accepted with immediate effect.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)
“Further, as advised by the Prime Minister, the President has directed that Arun Jaitely, Cabinet Minister, shall be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Defence, in addition to his existing portfolios,” the communiqué said.Parrikar submitted his resignation after BJP staked claim to form an alliance government in Goa.Read: Eight MLAs to be sworn in tomorrow with Parrikar, says BJPHe will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Goa tomorrow heading the BJP-led ministry which has the support of regional outfits and Independents.This is the second time that Jaitley is holding the additional portfolio of Defence Ministry during the present NDA government.He was incharge of the ministry earlier from May 26 to November 9 in 2014.Earlier in the day, Parrikar resigned as Defence Minister. He will head the BJP-led ministry which has the support of regional outfits and Independents in Goa.“I have tendered my resignation as Defence Minister and sent it to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO)” Parrikar said on Monday. “I will be taking the oath tomorrow evening along with the Cabinet ministers,” he added.Asked how many ministers would be sworn in, Parrikar said, “The decision on the number of ministers and other issues are being currently worked out. Once the Cabinet is finalised, we will inform the media.”The BJP, which failed to cross the half-way mark in the Assembly polls with its tally dipping to 13 from 21, pulled off a coup on Sunday by enlisting the support of the Goa Forward Party (GFP), Maharastrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) and two Independents, to reach the magic figure of 21 in the 40-member House.Thirteen BJP MLA and other legislators who pledged support to the party met Governor Mridula Sinha on Sunday evening, who later invited Parrikar to form the government.The BJP stole a march on the Congress which failed to muster the numbers despite emerging as the single-largest party with 17 seats.The Congress was hoping to get the support of the GFP which has bagged three seats in its maiden bid at the hustings.But by deft moves, coordinated by party veteran and Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, the BJP succeeded in keeping the Congress at bay, winning over smaller parties and Independents, who were keen that Parrikar should lead the ministry.Parrikar, 61, an engineer from IIT-Bombay, led the BJP in 2012 to victory and became the Chief Minister. He, however, was made the Defence Minister at the Centre in 2014 and was succeeded by Laxmikant Parsekar as the Chief Minister.Parsekar was defeated in Mandrem constituency this time and also most of the ministers in his Cabinet failed to win.Parrikar, who graduated to the BJP from the RSS ranks, had also served as Chief Minister of the state from 2000 to 2002 and from 2002 to 2005.Right from the start of the campaign this time, Parrikar was widely seen as the Chief Minister probable. He also extensively campaigned for the party in his home state.Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the campaign and before, lavished praises on Parrikar over his competence and decision-making capacity as the Defence Minister, especially in the context of the surgical strike on terror launch pads across the border in Jammu and Kashmir.Asked about his two-year stint at the Centre, Parrikar said, “Initially I was finding the role as the Defence Minister as difficult but during last two-and-a-half years, I have done my job well. I have done it with utter honesty.” “The Defence Ministry is such a portfolio where allegations are always levelled against the minister but during last two-and-a-half years, despite so much of procurement, there is not a single allegation against the ministry or me,” he said.“If I want to sum up my achievements as the Defence Minister, I can say, these are boosting of the morale of the force and better procurements,” he said.Parrikar said that through various defence deals, the ministry has saved crores of rupees as many tenders had earlier been over-quoted. — PTI

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If the Congress, which is seeking to return to power in Punjab after a hiatus of 10 years, wins, he would have two reasons to cheer.

Mohammad Saifullah

Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, March 8

Lone terror suspect Mohammad Saifullah, holed up in Lucknow’s densely populated Thakurganj since last evening, was eliminated today after a 12-hour operation by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorist Squad and the state police. Described as a self-radicalised terrorist, he had no proven links to any international terrorist group.Speaking to the media, ADG (Law and Order) Daljeet Chaudhury said five terror suspects had been arrested so far for the Bhopal-Ujjain train blast. The three picked by the Madhya Pradesh Police in Pipriya were Danish Akhtar and Atif Muzaffar from Kanpur and Sayed Meer Hussain from Aligarh. The two suspects arrested in Uttar Pradesh were Faisal Khan from Kanpur and Fakhrey Alam from Etawah. They had been booked by the ATS under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.Edit: ISIS is the new spectreChaudhury said acting on a tipoff, the ATS and the UP Police yesterday reached a Haji Colony house where Saifullah and three of his friends resided.“The suspect and his accomplices were self-proclaimed members of the Khurasan module of IS. There is no evidence that they were receiving foreign funds,” said Chaudhury.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The ADG claimed they repeatedly asked Saifullah to surrender and used tear gas shells to force him out of his hiding. They also made his relatives speak to him. But he refused to surrender, saying he would rather be a “martyr.”To catch him alive, the ATS drilled a hole in the roof of his rented room and dropped a chilli bomb. The suspect  fired in retaliation, said Chaudhury. Finally, at around 3 am this morning, the ATS team broke open the door and shot him in an encounter.Inside the room, the police reportedly found eight pistols, four knives, 630 live cartridges of .32 bore, 71 empty cartridges, 45 gm gold, three cellphones, cheque books, ATM cards, PAN cards, four SIM cards, two wireless sets, pellets, two bottles of gunpowder and a banner. A motorcycle parked inside the house was impounded. Three passports issued in Lucknow were found too. A time table in English pasted on a wall described the suspects’ daily chores, from morning prayers and recitation of Quran to study hours.Chaudhury said till now there was no evidence to support that the killed or arrested youths were planning or had any intention to target anyone. “The group was active on the Internet and was visiting radical websites. They were getting indoctrinated,” he said.To a query as to why they were residing in Lucknow when they belonged to Kanpur and why had they ‘targeted’ a passenger train in Madhya Pradesh, Chaudhury said Lucknow was their “hideout”. Speaking to mediapersons in Kanpur, Saifullah’s father Sartaj Ahmad Khan and brother Khalid said they had not been in touch with him for the past more than two months.

New Delhi, March 7

India’s long serving long-range maritime reconnaissance, named the ‘Albatross’, will no more fly after the end of this month.The Soviet-era four-engine turboprop Tupelov-142 (TU-142) plane has a huge endurance of some 12,000 km or 16 hours. It will end its run in the Navy, sources confirmed. Procured in the 1980s during the cold war (1945-1991), these are potent anti-submarine warfare (ASW) platforms. India was considered in the Soviet bloc during the cold war and the plane was designed with a special sighting magnetometer intended to detect low-noise, nuclear-powered submarines. The TU-142 can carry 12 torpedoes and freefall bombs.In the Soviet scheme of the Tu-142 is the maritime reconnaissance/strike version of the Tu-95, which served as a Russian nuclear weapons capable bomber and is the fastest and highest flying turboprop aircraft in the world.  — TNS

AFTER VIRAAT, NAVY TO BID ADIEU TO ALBATROSS PATROL AIRCRAFT

Another iconic naval platform is now set for retirement after aircraft carrier INS Viraat. The Soviet-origin Tupolev-142M aircraft, which helped the force keep a hawk-eye on enemy warships and submarines in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) for almost 30 years, will be decommissioned later this month.

The world’s largest and fastest turboprop aircraft, aptly named the ‘Albatross,’ the Navy had inducted eight TU-142Ms since 1988. “They were the backbone of our long-range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) and anti-submarine warfare operations. But only three are fully operational now. They will now be retired at the naval air station INS Rajali in Arakkonam in Tamil Nadu at a ceremony on March 29,” said an officer.

The TU-142Ms are being replaced by the 12 Poseidon-8I long-range patrol aircraft- eight have already been inducted- acquired from the US for $3.2 billion. Packed with radars and armed with deadly Harpoon Block-II missiles, MK-54 lightweight torpedoes, rockets and depth charges to destroy enemy submarines, the Navy also operates the P-8Is from INS Rajali.

The fuel-guzzling TU-142M aircraft were the first true LRMR of the Indian Navy. With a 50-metre wing-span and a combat radius of 6,500-km, the TU-142M has a speed of around 850 kmph. “They also have the highest flying altitude among turboprops, with an operational ceiling of over 13,000 meter,” said an officer.

With a 10-member crew, the TU-142Ms can also carry at least five torpedoes as well as free-fall bombs and depth charges. “But the sensors and weapon systems of TU-142Ms have become outdated with age, apart from requiring heavy maintenance and costly spare parts,” said an officer.

“If the TU-142Ms were hawk-eyes, the P-8Is are far more potent intelligent hawk-eyes,” he added. This comes in the backdrop of Chinese submarines, both conventional as well as nuclear, making forays into the IOR on a regular basis now, with an operational turnaround at Karachi, as was earlier reported by TOI.

Much like the TU-142Ms earlier, the P-8Is now work in conjunction with medium-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft like the IL-38s and Israeli Searcher-II and Heron UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to establish a three-tier surveillance grid in IOR.

Apart from the need to take care of its primary area of strategic interest stretching from Persian Gulf to Malacca Strait, India also has a vast 5,422-km coastline, 1,197 islands and 2.01 million sq km of Exclusive Economic Zone to guard against all threats.

IHAVE watched the media coverage on LSR English Honours student Gurmehar Kaur’s ethical stand on violence with great dismay and concern. We seem so determined to slot people into various categories that we tend to go overboard in making denunciations or get blue-in-the-face defending the indefensible. This is why it is important to give an unbiased opinion on some aspects of this unseemly conundrum. Firstly, Gurmehar is just a kid. All of 20, she’s studying at an elite college. She has seerat and soorat which isn’t unusual. Many of her peers are in the same category. She’s an Army brat and that’s pretty routine too.Secondly, her father, Capt Mandeep Singh, an Air Defence officer seconded to 4 Rashtriya Rifles (RR), died in combat in Kashmir, soon after the Kargil War ended in July 1999. He was entitled to wear the war medal authorised to all those deployed for Operation Vijay. Loosely called the Kargil War medal, it covered inter-service troops wherever their deployment was ordered. So does that make the girl a liar? Clearly, this is irresponsible branding.Thirdly, he died in a terrorist strike on his company camp at Natnoosa, Kupwara. The official report on his death states that the terrorist attack came in at 1.15 am on August 6, 1999. He received a splinter injury on the left infra-clavicular region and died instantaneously. Mandeep was thus a martyr as much as the Kargil War heroes were and, yes, he was killed by Pakistani/Pak-inspired terrorists. Is the young lady lying? I should think not. Have sections of media, ‘defence experts’, some itinerant cricketers and opinionated actors gone somewhat berserk? Take a call.Fourthly, I have some idea what I am talking about, instead of making breathless assessments on the basis of irresponsible reportage on social media or elsewhere. One of the units under my command as an RR Sector Commander in 1998-1999 was 4 RR, then located at Bij Biara, a few kilometres from my Khanabal HQ. I visited the unit often as operational commanders must. I knew its operating ethos, its officers and visited their company posts. Mandeep had about seven-year service and while I don’t recall him in particular, I do remember that 4 RR was efficient and had quality rapport with both locals and ‘intezamia’ (civil administration). The unit was shortly thereafter relocated to 7 Sector RR and went through a trying time which isn’t part of this narrative. This is when young Mandeep lost his life.Lastly, deprived of Daddy very early, Gurmehar was brought up by her wise Mum not to grow up with hatred in her DNA. Was that wrong of Mum? I certainly don’t think so. Reaching adulthood in that cocooned, ethical context if a 20-year-old kid says war claimed Daddy, is she showing political affiliation? The fact that the terrorist attack was Pakistan conducted/sponsored is not as important as a Mum and child’s survival strategy of growing up without hatred and revenge corroding her mind.Let the bright girl be. May she grow up to be a world-class pacifist. No harm there either. In the meanwhile, let you and I handle Pakistan and others in the way we are trained and educated for and without apology. Take a call.