Monthly Archives: August 2018

Martyrs’ families decline HPCA relief offer
Martyr Sanjeevan Rana’s wife and daughter break down in Dharamsala on Tuesday. Photo: Kamaljeet
Lalit Mohan
Tribune News Service
Dharamsala, February 16
“Don’t insult us,” said the families of martyrs Jagdish Chand and Sanjeevan Rana, who attainted martyrdom in the terror attack on Pathankot airbase while reacting to the recent proposal of the HPCA spokesperson Sanjay Sharma.
The HPCA spokesperson, in press conference on Sunday, had said that the HPCA would consider donating the income generated from the T20 World Cup India-Pakistan match scheduled at Dharamsala on March 19, to the families of the martyrs. He had said that the matter would be discussed in the meeting of the HPCA governing council.
The families of the martyrs visited the war memorial at Dharamsala today and declined the proposal of the HPCA. “We won’t accept anything from the India-Pakistan match as it would be an insult to the soldiers who had laid down their lives fighting a proxy war against Pakistan. Whatever the Indian and the state government had given to us was enough” said Pinki Rana, wife of martyr Sanjeevan Rana.
Shivani Rana, daughter of Sanjeevan Rana, said, “We shall support anyone who sits on fast during the India-Pakistan match at Dharamsala on March 19. We are not being misguided by anyone. It has been just a month since my father and many bravehearts of the Indian Army laid down their lives at Pathankot fighting terrorists. In such a scenario we cannot tolerate the Pakistan national flag flying high at Dharamsala that is just like home for us. We oppose the India-Pakistan cricket matches not only at Dharamsala but also anywhere else in the country”, she said.
Rajat Naryal, son of martyr Jagdish Chand who was also awarded Kirti Chakra, the second highest peace time gallantry award, said the India-Pakistan bilateral dialogue was suspended after the attack on Pathankot airbase. India has asked the Pakistan government to apprehend the culprits who perpetrated the attack. Why the cricket match between both the countries was so important? he asked.
Shivani Rana also said that BJP MP from Hamirpur Anurag Thakur has not found time to visit the families of martyrs. However, he was defending the cricket match at Dharamsala not caring about the aggrieved families of martyrs.
Following a campaign led by deputy advocate general of Himachal Vinay Sharma against the India-Pakistan match, the HPCA had accused Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh of abetting the kin of martyrs for protests.

A file photo of a US F-16. —PTI

Washington/New Delhi, February 13

The US has decided to sell eight F-16 combat jets to Pakistan to “support (its) counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency operations”, prompting India to summon American ambassador Richard Verma to lodge its strong protest against the move.

Verma was summoned after India reacted strongly to the US decision taken on Friday.

“We are disappointed at the decision of the (Barack) Obama administration to notify the sale of F-16 aircraft to Pakistan,” the external affairs ministry said in a statement in New Delhi.

“We disagree with their rationale that such arms transfers help to combat terrorism. The record of the last many years in this regard speaks for itself,” it added.

The Obama administration on Friday approved the sale of eight F-16 Block-52 aircraft to Pakistan worth $699 million in the face of US lawmakers’ opposition to the deal over Islamabad’s alleged support for terrorist groups The US State Department has approved the sale, the Pentagon’s Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said as it notified US Congress of the possible sale.

“We support the proposed sale of eight F-16s to Pakistan, which we view as the right platform in support of Pakistan’s counter-terrorism and counterinsurgency operations,” a US government officialcited by DefenseNews said.

“These operations reduce the ability of militants to use Pakistani territory as a safe haven for terrorism and a base of support for the insurgency in Afghanistan, which is in the national interests of both Pakistan and the US, and in the interest of the region more broadly.”

The official, DefenseNews said, confirmed that there had been Congressional objections to the sale, but said that contrary to recent “erroneous reports”, “concerns were raised in regard to financing the sale, not the transfer itself.”

According to the DSCA’s statement, the proposed sale will “facilitate operations in all-weather, non-daylight environments, provide a self-defence/area suppression capability, and enhance Pakistan’s ability to conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations.”

According to the DSCA, Pakistan is not expected to have difficulty absorbing these additional aircraft into its air force. The sale is also meant to increase the number of aircraft available to the Pakistan Air Force to sustain operations, meet monthly training requirements and support transition training for pilots new to the Block-52.

The pending sale to Pakistan includes: eight F-16 Block-52 aircraft – two C and six D and models with the F100-PW-229 increased performance engine; 14 Joint Helmet Mounted Cueing Systems; eight AN/APG-68(V)9 radars; and eight ALQ-211(V)9 Advanced Integrated Defensive Electronic Warfare Suit.

The approval of the sale came days after Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker wrote a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry objecting to subsidised sale of up to eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan.

Citing Islamabad’s relationship with the Haqqani network, an extremist group that has a history of destabilising Afghanistan, Corker in a February 9 letter to Kerry notified the Obama administration of his intention to block the F-16 deal.

“After years of pressuring the Pakistanis on this point, the Haqqani terrorists still enjoy freedom of movement, and possibly even support from the Pakistani government,” he wrote.

“This is highly problematic given the Haqqanis’ clear involvement in killing the very Afghan army and police we have worked for years to train,” Corker added.

Rescuers carrying out the operations to search for the bodies of the soldiers hit by an avalanche, in Siachen on Tuesday. PTI

Jammu, February 9

Bodies of all the eight remaining soldiers were today recovered from the huge mass of ice on Siachen Glacier, seven days after they got buried under an avalanche that hit their high altitude military post.One body was recovered yesterday while one soldier was miraculously found alive.”All the remaining eight bodies of soldiers have been recovered from the avalanche site,” a senior Army officer said here today.”They were traced in the operation which were launched at Siachen to locate and retrieve the 10 soldiers buried under more than 30 feet of snow and ice after an avalanche struck their Post in the early hours of February 3,” he said.”It is to the credit and dogged determination of the rescue teams which were working under extreme conditions that they have managed to extricate Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad alive from under more than 30 feet of snow,” he said.”It is with deep regret that we wish to confirm that mortal remains of nine martyrs, including a Junior Commissioned Officer, were also retrieved by the rescue teams,” he said.The mortal remains, after due formalities, will be flown to their home towns as soon as possible, officer said.The deceased soldiers have been identified as Subedar Nagesha TT of Tejur village, Hassan district, Karnataka; Havildar Elumalai M of Dukkam Parai village, Vellore district, Tamil Nadu; Lance Havildar S Kumar of Kumanan Thozhu village, Teni district, Tamil Nadu; Lance Naik Sudheesh of Monroethuruth village, Kollam district, Kerala; and Sepoy Mahesha PN of HD Kote village, Mysore district, Karnataka; Sepoy Ganesan of Chokkathevan Patti village, Madurai district, Tamil Nadu; Sepoy Rama Moorthy of Gudisatana Palli village, Krishna Giri District, Tamil Nadu; Sepoy Mustaq Ahmed of Parnapalle village, Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh; and Sepoy Nursing Assistant Suryawanshi of Maskarwadi village, Satara district, Maharashtra. —

Asked if the proposal to convert Siachen into a “peace mountain” still exists, the minister said: “The decision (on deploying troops) on Siachen is based on the security of the nation. –Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said the loss of human lives on the Siachen had come down in recent years due to improved facilities.. Express Photo

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar Sunday ruled out any troop withdrawal from Siachen in the wake of recent avalanche that led to the death of 10 soldiers.

“Though the lives lost are much fewer now thanks to better technological solutions, (it is) absolutely painful, even personally. But, should we withdraw from there? I do not think it is a proper analysis. In this case, there are no loose ends from what I understand. It was an avalanche. Those climbing the Mt Everest calculate everything and yet incidents happen,” said Parrikar here.