Tribune News Service
Srinagar, December 5
Even as combing operations are underway in north Kashmir’s Handwara forest, a day after the killing of two Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) militants, security forces claim that two to three more militants of the group are still holed up in the area.
Officials engaged in the combing operation in the Bawan Rajwar forest area in Handwara, nearly 90 km from here, said searches in the thick forest were underway and there had been no fresh contact with the holed-up militants since Friday afternoon.
“Two to three militants, who are part of the group, are still holed up in the forest area and we are combing the vast area,” the official said.
He said the group of militants had infiltrated almost a month ago and the group was being chased since November 21.
Two militants of Lashkar and a soldier of the Army’s elite counter insurgency unit Naik Satish Kumar were killed in a gunfight in north Kashmir’s frontier Kupwara district on Friday. One of the slain militants, the Army said, was commander of the group.
An Army officer said besides weapons, a lot of ration was also recovered from the militant hideout in the area after the gunfight.
“We also recovered maps and diaries from the slain militants,” the officer said.
Deputy Inspector General of Police, north Kashmir, Gareeb Das said the combing operation was extended to the adjoining areas.
The combing operation in the adjoining Manigam forest of Kupwara district has been continuing for the past three weeks.
Meanwhile, the Lashkar-e-Toiba in a statement to a local news agency in Srinagar said after the taking over of the command by the group’s new chief Abu Musa, alias Hafiz, they had adopted a new strategy.
“Under the changed strategy the cadres of the outfit have engaged security men in various encounters in the past one month, which has resulted in heavy causalities to security forces,” the outfit chief was quoted.
RK Khajuria & Shyam Sood
Tribune News Service
Jammu/Rajouri, November 30
While families of Kafaitullah Khan, a library assistant in a government school, and BSF head constable Abdul Rasheed are in “shock” over the arrest of their kin, it has come to the fore that Rasheed had received phone calls from Pakistan seeking information on deployment of artillery guns and “laser fence” on the Line of Control in the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch.
“Since August, Rasheed had received three to four phone calls on his mobile from callers in Pakistan, believed to be ISI agents. They sought information about the RT guns and laser fence from him but he feigned ignorance,” said a BSF source.
While the BSF has ordered an internal probe, since Rasheed has been arrested on charges of espionage, it has not ruled out the possibility of him having spied for Pakistan, sources said.
“From the call details of Rasheed’s mobile phone, it has come to the fore that he talked to three to four persons, believed to be ISI agents in Pakistan,” the source said.
“Kafaitullah had given Rasheed’s number to his ‘relatives’ in Pakistan, who had been calling up Rasheed since August and in one such conversation he had been asked to furnish this classified information, which Rasheed claimed he never gave,” said sources.
Though the BSF didn’t find anything incriminating from his mobile phone and rented accommodation in Rajouri, we cannot rule out the possibility of him transmitting classified info via Whatsapp, Viber and Skype, said a BSF source.
ribune News Service,Amritsar, December 27
Though the Punjab and Haryana High Court has pointed out that the Army cannot forcibly take possession of any property occupied by the civilians located in the cantonment area, the Army is allegedly not vacating Kothi No. 4, a residential bungalow near Sadar Bazaar.This was stated by Vishesh Samra, who claims to have the ownership rights of the said property, along with Jugal Kishore. “This court has no doubt that if the petitioner is to be evicted, the respondents (the Union of India and others) shall proceed in accordance with the law, not forcibly specifically in view of the civil court judgement,” observed the High Court while disposing off the writ petition on December 19, which was filed by Samra.The disputed property is at present in the possession of several families, who have been living there for the past three decades. The residents of the area are facing threat of getting displaced from their homes.Earlier this month, the Army authorities pasted a notice (sans any signature) of vacating the property and deputed its jawans on a portion of the disputed site used for running a private school. The school was shifted to its new building recently. Samra and Jugal Kishore resisted the attempt and lodged a complaint with the police in this regard. The families living in the area also approached the National SC Commission for seeking its intervention in the matter.Samra alleged that as the Army officials were not taking the copy of the High Court orders, he was going to lodge a complaint regarding contempt of the court. He said he would also be going to the police authorities for registering a case for alleged illegal trespass. “I will also approach the local court for the same,” he added.Meanwhile, Naresh Vig, public relation officer of the Army authorities, could not be contacted even after repeated attempts.
Three military chiefs’ joint memorandum to defence minister on pay commission report sends disquieting signals.
The public debate over the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission report has focused on its financial implications and likely impact on the government’s fiscal deficit target. Little attention has been paid to the issues raised by various Central government services affected by these recommendations. As per procedure, their concerns are considered by a committee of secretaries under the cabinet secretary, which sends the recommendations to the Union cabinet for approval. This method has worked well so far, as it doesn’t deal with the substantive questions or allege an inherent bias in the deliberations of the pay commission. Now, by writing a joint memorandum to the defence minister over the pay commission recommendations, however, the three military chiefs have taken the controversy to a different — and disquieting — level.
Not only is it extremely rare for the three chiefs to jointly sign a memorandum — the seniormost service chief usually signs tri-service letters as the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee — but also the issues raised by them point to a complete lack of trust in the commission’s recommendations. The defence services believe that their joint presentations to the pay commission, unlike those made by civilian employees, have been dismissed without even being included in the report. A downgrade of the status of military officers vis-a-vis their civilian counterparts, fixation of hardship allowances at lower rates, and denial of a real non-functional upgrade have been identified by the service headquarters as issues that emanate from the allegedly anti-military bias of the pay commission.
The three chiefs have asked the defence minister to institute an expert committee, with members from the armed forces, to look into these grievances. These issues have also been flagged by the three chiefs informally to the defence minister, Manohar Parrikar, who has asked for a formal presentation this week. It will take more than a presentation, however, to bridge the widening trust gap between the uniformed personnel and the government. The unresolved issue of one rank one pension has already created tensions that are adversely affecting the military. The political leadership needs to actively reach out to the military, redress their genuine concerns and restore their trust in government. Simultaneously, the top military leadership needs to quell the tide of heightened emotions in the defence forces to reinforce the well-established balance of civil-military relations. India is situated in a tough neighbourhood and beset with several internal
security problems. It cannot afford to have a disaffected military, least of all over the issue of pay and allowances.
– See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/a-trust-deficit/#sthash.87IbjI1Q.kQiQLv6w.dpuf
NEW DELHI: Reliance Defence has signed a manufacturing and maintenance deal potentially worth $6 billion with Russia’s Almaz-Antey, the maker of an air defence system that sources said the Indian military was poised to buy.
The partnership between the Anil Ambani-led company and the Russian firm was announced on Thursday, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi began a trip to Moscow aimed at strengthening defence ties.
“Our proposed partnership will constitute an important milestone in the strategic relationship between the two countries,” Ambani said.
Reliance has also discussed joint implementation of modernisation, repair and overhaul of Almaz-Antey systems already in service in India.
Earlier this week, defence ministry sources said the government had cleared the purchase of five S-400 air defence systems that are estimated to cost about $4.5 billion, in a bid to modernise the country’s defences against airborne attacks.
“The two sides identified the air defence missile systems…. radars and automated control systems as areas of partnership…. as well as offset policies of the Indian Ministry of Defence,” Reliance Group said in a statement.
Under the offsets policy, global defence contractors are required to invest a percentage of the value of any deal in India to help it build a defence industrial base and reduce imports for a military that has emerged as the world’s biggest buyer of arms in recent years.
India is forecast to spend $250 billion over the next decade to upgrade its military and the government wants a greater role for Indian state and defence firms.
The company also plans to bid for contracts for local manufacture of helicopters, submarines and ships. Earlier this month, Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure took sole management control of Pipavav Defence and Offshore Engineering Co, which has built patrol vessels for the Indian navy.
Chandigarh, December 22
Major Gurdit Singh “Azadi Ghulatiya” passed away yesterday at nearly 100 years of age. He was cremated with honours by the UP government, his brother Narinder Singh Jallo said.Major Gurdit was born in Balarhwal village of Gurdaspur district in May 1916. In 1937, he joined the army as a clerk and was commissioned in 1941 in the Frontier Force. Due to an accident during the war time, he was transferred to the Army Service Corps. In 1945-46, the Major held command of a company in Ernakulam-Cochin. — TNS
***
In July, defence minister Manohar Parrikar set up a committee with an unusual brief. Former services officers all, the members were told to shed their baggage and take a hard look at grievance redressal, pension-related matters and service-related litigation—all of which have taken adversarial tones in recent years. Parrikar wanted suggestions on institutional mechanisms that would bridge the gap between the ministry and the soldier.
The committee, too, has stayed true to its brief and made observations that are staggering, coming as they do from top brass wont to exert control. The former faujis—Lt Gen Mukesh Sabharwal, Lt Gen Richard Khare, Maj Gen T. Parshad—and Maj D.P. Singh and Navdeep Singh, a lawyer, want an overhaul of a colonial hand-me-down that is downright unfair on soldiers of a modern democracy. Risking the ire of the uniformed frat, which guards its systems with ferocity, they’ve said: “Fairplay and justice cannot be sacrificed at the altar of military discipline.”
They’ve raised questions resisted by the system so far: How impartial is the military justice system? And how insulated is it from command influence? Making a case for far-reaching changes in the dispensation of military justice, the committee says, “Gone are the days when defence establishments could invoke the veil of confidentiality or fear psychosis in all matters in the name of national security. This is understandable in operational and strategic matters, but cannot be allowed to impact administrative, personnel, pensionary issues.”
Military trials have often been challenged in courts on the ground that they lack in independence and are under the influence of the convening authorities. Superior military authorities even have the power to revise the sentences or findings of courts martial. The committee found that, in the military justice system, there was no clear separation of the powers of the executive and the judiciary. No wonder when these verdicts are challenged in higher, civilian courts, they have often resulted in strictures.
Progressive democracies like the US and Canada have already created impartial, independent military justice systems, but in India, as the committee noted, “all main organs of a court martial continue to be subordinates of the convening authority, which puts a doubt on their impartiality” and “visible and invisible strings of the military justice system are intertwined with the chain of command”. Agreeing on the need for reforms, former army chief Gen V.P. Maliksays, “As our society and systems evolve, old rules and laws are amended. Our military laws are archaic, the structures and procedures should become more impartial. But it has to be done with care, without affecting discipline.”
One major suggestion from the committee is that, in all three services, the presiding officer and others on a court martial should be from a formation outside the influence of the convening authority. It also says a standing court martial system with suitable infrastructure must be created at two or three military stations under all commands so as to do away with the ad hoc courts martial convened in remote military locations.
General View Panel members submit their report to Parrikar
The committee comes down heavily on summary courts martial (SCMs), in which, it notes, principles of natural justice and basic legal norms are unknown! SCMs are provisions for quick dispensation of justice, chiefly a wartime provision to punish errant soldiers. But some 500 SCMs take place every year, and the establishment says they may be draconian but are essential for maintaining discipline. In the US, on the other hand, an SCM can be conducted only if a soldier gives his consent; besides, he cannot be dismissed by SCM.
|
In India though, commanding officers can mete out harsh punishment—such as dismissal or imprisonment in a civil jail—without spelling out judgements or explaining decisions. In one egregious SCM case, set aside by the Supreme Court in 1987, sepoy Ranjit Thakur was dismissed for disobeying his superior’s order to eat while he was in disciplinary custody. The SC observed that “the sentence should not be so disproportionate to the offence as to shock the conscience and amount in itself to conclusive evidence of bias”. The committee has recommended that, as a beginning, SCMs should be used sparingly, and only in operational areas. Gradually, they must be replaced by a system that meets constitutional norms.
As a first step for the complete overhaul of the military justice system, the committee recommends a seven-member study group. It must comprise members from the army’s Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch, the army and civilian sides, and two independent experts. They must be given six months to create a common code for all three services, with service-specific cadres of independent military judges. And the current ad hoc juries must go. The committee also wants provisions to insulate the military justice system from senior commanders’ influence.
The defence ministry, says the committee, is a “compulsive litigant”, contesting cases against its own human resources even when matters have been settled by constitutional courts. There are more than 16,000 cases of servicemen before the courts, and 90 per cent of appeals relate to the challenging of disablility benefits. In a letter of December 9, 2014, the defence secretary, on Parrikar’s instruction, had asked all its arms to apply court verdicts that had reached finality to all employees to whom they might apply. Response was weak, indicating the obduracy in the system, and in September this year, the attorney general had to remind the wing in charge of ex-servicemen’s welfare that cases and appeals meeting such criteria be disposed of, for the SC had even imposed costs on the ministry for stubbornly continuing with such cases.
A more serious matter is that of the ministry not implementing courts’ and armed forces tribunals’ decisions. The committee notes that there seems to be “an unwritten policy that decisions are not to be implemented unless a contempt/execution is filed by the litigant”. Many such cases relate to pensions, often of disabled soldiers, widows, or old and infirm veterans. It strongly recommends implementation of decisions within the time frame set by courts. And with cases related to women officers, the subject of much recent debate and litigation, it has recommended that henceforth appeal in court decisions favouring women officers and their cadre management be filed only after seeking the specific approval of the defence minister himself.
Conscious perhaps of how radical suggestions can be scuttled by power centres in the civilian and military bureaucracy, this committee reported only to the def-ence minister, having completed its work in four months. All eyes are now on Parrikar, to see if he will see such unorthodox proposals through. Notable among them is a proposal to allow social-media interactions within the forces. Commanders may write blogs, it says, and “intrusive” procedures to restrict social media use by military personnel must go. Glasnost in uniform?
GURDASPUR: Indian Army honoured a loco pilot Gurdip Raj during a function held at the Salaria Auditorium at Tibri Military Station near here on Friday for saving the life of a serving Indian Army soldier subedar Rajbir Singh of Rajput Rifles. On October 18, while the said loco pilot was running the DMU train from Pathankot to Jalandhar, Rajbir happened to be hit by the said train near Mukerian. The train driver Gurdip Raj brought the train to a screeching halt, reversed the train to the accident spot, picked up the accident victim in the train and rushed to the nearest railway station for taking him to the nearby hospital for medical treatment. His quick appraisal of the critical situation, response to the call of circumstances, appropriate and timely efforts saved the precious life of the accident victim soldier. Major general Sanjay Thapa, GOC Panther Division presenting him a certificate of appreciation, a memento and cash reward of `25,000.
Both India and Bangladesh celebrate December 16 as victory day when Pakistan army was defeated in 1971 war. That is as it should be. But both countries are silent on the role and sacrifices of brave intelligence officers of RAW who played a pivotal and decisive role in this war under the leadership of late RN Kao, founder of RAW. Not a single word is uttered for them or has been in the last 44 years. I think it’s time our countrymen were told of the valour of this hidden community in this two phased war, that is, first the guerrilla operations by RAW and second direct intervention by Indian army on December 3, 1971.
Prior to the December 1970 elections in Pakistan, RAW sources inside army, political and diplomatic circle of Pakistan had given clear indications that in case Sheikh Mujibur Rahman got a majority he would not be allowed to rule Pakistan. There were reports of shifting of huge army personnel to East Pakistan by the air route. Kao planned a meticulous operation to stop these over-flights on Indian soil.
On January 30, 1971, an Indian Airlines plane Ganga was hijacked from Srinagar though a RAW source and taken to Lahore airport. All 26 passengers were released and the plane was set on fire. This was an outdated plane which was due to be dumped soon. The Indian government immediately banned over-flights going from West to East Pakistan. This action of Kao hampered the transportation of men and material from air route although Pakistan continued it via Colombo but slowed down this process in view of the international outcry.
On March 25, 1971, Yahya Khan, the military dictator of Pakistan, arrived in Dhaka at 5pm amid tight security to fly to Karachi for the 2,000 mile journey vide the Indian peninsula and Ceylon when the political solution was put on hold. Yahya Khan was apprehensive that if any military action would start while he was in Dhaka, there was every possibility of Indian intervention. He was briefed that RAW could play mischief which would be dangerous to his life as well as to Pakistan. Yahya Khan did not want to risk being intercepted and forced to land in India by Indian Air Force at the behest of RAW.
So, military action was planned to follow after his safe arrival at Karachi. After he landed at Karachi, message of his safe arrival was flashed to Dhaka by the army. Immediately thereafter, the worst ever genocide of Bengalis started that night at 11.30pm. RAW operatives had earlier briefed Mujib at 8 pm in his house at 32, Dhanmandi that his house would be raided that night by Pakistan army. Mujib sent his political confidants into hiding but refused to leave his house fearing the army would burn down the whole of Dhaka to trace him. Around 1.30am on March 26, 1971, Mujib was arrested. Subsequently RAW intercepted a message of Pakistan army that “the bird is caged”.
This message was flashed by Indian media all over the world. When the Pakistan army unleashed brutal crackdown on innocent East Bengalis, the influx of refugees increased beyond the control of Indian administration. Prime minister Indira Gandhi called Army chief Sam Manekshaw and RAW chief RN Kao.
She discussed the modus operandi to liberate East Pakistan. She told Manekshaw that she wanted to take military action against Pakistan Army in this area. General Manekshaw replied that Indian Army had always been told by political bosses that their role was defensive and meant to protect the territorial integrity.
If Indian Army was to put in action in East Pakistan, special riverine operation equipment and training was required wherein we were lacking. Manekshaw did not want a premature operation in this war and repeat the mistakes of 1962 and 1965 wars. When Gandhi asked Manekshaw how much time the army would take for the preparation of offensive inside East Pakistan, he replied, at least six months. She told the general to make preparations for the war and inform her when he was ready for it. The prime minister then asked RN Kao to prepare all possible ground for the army for its final assault. Kao’s team of dedicated officers K Sankaran Nair, head of Pakistan desk, PN Banerjee, head of Bangladesh operation, and brigadier MBK Nair head of technical division of RAW made all preparations around East Pakistan to train guerrilla outfits at all vantage points. Many monitoring stations were opened on borders and inside East Pakistan. A provisional Bangladesh-government-in-exile was formed at Calcutta at Theatre Road on April 14, 1971 and Mujib Nagar was named the capital.
A Bangladesh radio station “Free Bengal Betal Kendra” was established at Mujib Nagar for regular news to the people of East Pakistan on the impending plans of the government in exile and to coordinate various factions of the guerrilla forces that were scattered in far flung areas. Syed Nazrul Islam was named vice president and acting president in the absence of Sheikh Mujib and Tajuddin Ahmed was appointed prime minister. Colonel MAG Osmani, trusted aide of Mujib, was made the provisional chief of staff of Bangladesh Army and, in that capacity, the chief of all freedom fighters and head of Mukti Bahini. PN Banerjee, joint director of RAW at Calcutta, was overall in-charge of the government-in-exile of Bangladesh and coordinating all overt and covert operations of the guerrilla forces. Mukti Bahini was operational in majority parts of East Pakistan barring few areas where other guerrilla outfits were in command.
Besides Mukti Bahini, the main guerrilla outfit, Mujeeb Bahini, another wing, was operating in the Chittagong Hill tract under the direct supervision of Special Frontier Force (SFF) of RAW. Major General SS Uban, head of SFF, was personally supervising all operation inside East Pakistan and the unit almost captured Lal Denga – a rebel Mizo leader who was helped by Pakistan and also saved two sons of the Hindu Raja Tridip Roy of Chakma community of this region who was minister in Pakistan government. This Raja and his family had unleashed atrocities on Chakmas with help from Pakistan army and SFF was wary of them being lynched by local Chakmas. SFF and Mukti Bahini were solely responsible for liberation of Chittagong Hill tract from Pakistan Army.
There was another guerilla outfit, Kader Bahini, under RAW operative Abdul Kader Siddique nicknamed as “Tiger Siddique” which played havoc with the Pakistan Army in and around Dhaka by disrupting communication systems, ambushing army columns, blowing up supply and ammunition dumps and assaulting enemy convoys. Many bridges were blown up by Tiger Siddique’s force which hampered movement of Pakistan army in this area.
Overall, surrender of Pakistan’s 93,000-strong army in the two weeks war with Indian forces was made possible in coordinated venture of Phase I – Guerrilla Operations and Phase II – Final Assault of Indian Army. Kao and Manekshaw had their offices in South Block near the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). They had excellent rapport which was master stroke of this war. Kao personally told me that they used to walk into one another’s office without hesitation to discuss various strategic planning at odd hours. Phase I of this war belonged to RAW which trained a guerrilla force of more than 1,00,000 Bengali population to harass the Pakistan Army for eight months before the final war was fought in Phase II from December 3 to 16. This is a unique achievement of the RAW that has no parallel in the history of any other intelligence agency of the world.
This was meticulously planned by Kao who had no equal in experience or intellect. RAW was three years into its inception and lacked strength and equipment. Even then Kao accomplished this memorable task with the vigour of his able officers. Kao never believed in half-measures as per my assessment of him. The government of India conveniently forgot Kao’s contribution and never recognised the valour of this hidden community of Indian intelligence. Bangladesh too honoured all and sundry who helped them in 1971 liberation but never awarded any officer of RAW. This is highly questionable. Most of them are not alive and some of them are quite aged now.
It is high time the government shed its political inhibitions and recognised the contribution of Kao in Indian intelligence. It would not only revive the sagging morale of the intelligence community but will also boost its morale for the future.
