PHILADELPHIA (US): An IndianAmerican Sikh, Major Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, stood out in his pink turban among a group of US military veterans who took the stage at the Democratic National Convention, to root for Hillary Clinton as the party’s presidential nominee on Thursday night.

NYT PHOTOIndian-American Sikh, Major Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi, seen on the stage as Gen John Allen (retd) speaks on the final day of the Democratic National Convention at Philadelphia in the US.

Kalsi was accompanying General John Allen (retired) along with a group of military veterans at the Wells Fargo Centre in Philadelphia. Standing behind Allen, as he spoke, Major Kalsi’s pink turban grabbed eyeballs.

Allen said under Hillary the country will not “abandon the world”, and pursue enemies, defeat the Islamic State and stop the spread of nuclear weapons.

Kalsi, an emergency room doctor, served 15 years in the US Army, and earned a Bronze Star in Afghanistan for his meritorious service in combat zone. There he had treated many victims of improvised explosive devices, the crude home-made bombs.

Raised in New Jersey, Kalsi became the first Sikh in the US military to receive permission to wear a beard and turban in 2009. He had to wage a two-year campaign that resulted in the army granting him a special exception, the first such to a policy established in 1980s.

Kalsi left active duty in 2013, and started a campaign to challenge the strict grooming policy that he believes has blocked hundreds of Sikhs from joining the military.

(With inputs from NYT)

The very fact that the military is called upon to join is an admission that the situation is extraordinary. It is well outside the capabilities of the state and central police to manage. An area or a state has to be first declared as a “disturbed area” and only then can AFSPA be brought in.

Members of the Jammu and Kashmir RTI Movement hold a signature campaign for repealing the Armed Forces Special Power Act (AFSPA) at Lal Chowk, Srinagar. PTI

Counter-insurgency operations are a messy affair. There are no definite, lines, modes and structures that determine the scope and specificity of scales of operations by the military in dealing with them. Every situation has its own peculiarities and operating environment. Therefore, no same set of rules and methods can be applied in every case, though caution and restraint should be a constant factor in such operations.  What needs to be borne in mind is that the overall environments in which these operations are conducted are generally hostile towards the security forces and people’s sympathy is invariably with the insurgents.

Disenchantment of the people

Insurgencies have their roots in the disenchantment of the people with the prevailing socio-politico-economic environment in a given area. Such conditions impel some to take up arms where sympathy and support of the local population of the area invariably follows. In such an environment, intelligence sources for counter-insurgency operations are few and under the constant threat of elimination. Unless the root causes for emergence and sustenance are addressed, insurgencies, tend to go on with their usual ups and owns, depending on counter-insurgency resources deployed to counter them and the successes they achieve. In other words, the alienation of large sections of the population is both the cause as well as the life-support system of insurgencies. These may be indigenous or foreign inspired and supported.The Army at best can create an environment for a period of time for the politico-socio-economic steps to be initiated rapidly and purposefully implemented, so as to limit, if not completely remove, the grounds for alienation. During such windows of opportunities general administration too must act and together with politico-economic efforts seriously attempt to remove the root causes of disaffection.  Unfortunately, our long experience, both in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East has been contrary to such expectations. Consequently, insurgencies have persisted and counter-insurgency operations and AFSPA have been continuing. Although a plethora of police organisations are available to the government, it is due to their failure to contain insurgency on their own that the Army is called in. The very fact that the military is called upon to join is an admission that the situation is extraordinary and well outside the capacity and capabilities of the state and central police to manage.  An area/state has to be first declared as a “disturbed area,” and only then can AFSPA be brought in. Military when called in to aid to civil administration, even to deal with law-and-order situations, is not bestowed with any legal or police powers. The magistrate has to be at hand for a military detachment to engage with or fire on an unruly crowd or a lawless group indulging in arson and looting. In the absence of AFSPA and during counter-insurgency operations, a magistrate would be required to give written permission to the military to resort to firing.  If the military were to engage terrorists without AFSPA, every incident may call for judicial inquiry and with a hostile population, motivated evidence will invariably pile up against the military.  Troops will be demotivated and may even turn a Nelson’s eye in their hunt for terrorists. No soldier would like to do the rounds of civil courts for a decade and more. The Supreme Court has rightly opined that indefinite continuation of AFSPA negates and mocks our democratic process and symbolises the failure of civil administration.  The judges have further observed that ordinarily our armed forces should not be used against our countrymen and women and that every person carrying a weapon in a disturbed area cannot be labelled as a terrorist or an insurgent and be killed without any inquiry!  My Lords, the situation in insurgency areas is very often such that it is impossible to tell an insurgent from a peaceful citizen, more so, if he is carrying a weapon in certain restricted areas. On many an occasion for a soldier it is either kill or get killed. Undoubtedly, due care and restraint must be exercised in the counter-insurgency operation, so as to avoid collateral damage in way of death or injury to innocent men. However, there are occasions when unavoidable collateral damage does take place, in spite of best of precautions. Very often, collateral damage is inflicted by the terrorists, knowing full well that the blame for such damage will invariably rest with the Army. While situation and causes for insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East are quite apart, a common thread runs when it comes to accusing the military for fake encounters and extra-judicial killings. It may be recalled that there was much media hype and engineered public outcry at the alleged rape and killing of Manorama by the Assam Rifles personnel.  Manorama was a terrorist and a PLA member, involved, over a period of two to three years in laying IEDs, leading to the death of six civilians and two Army men.  At the time of her arrest, a transmitter and a grenade were recovered from her. She was killed while trying to escape. Two separate and independent autopsies ruled out torture and rape. The nature of bullet injuries confirmed the escape story.  It is not to contend that there have been no fake encounters or extra-judicial killings, but it needs be stated that in all such cases military carries out its internal investigations to determine the truth. It may not be in the knowledge of the public and the media that well over a hundred court martials have been held where some senior officers too ended up behind bars.The point that needs consideration is that with more than enough central police is available to combat insurgency, in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East, why seek deployment of the Army in these areas? Consequently, the government can do away with AFSPA. When an Army post or vehicles column is attacked by insurgents, they have the legal right to protect themselves and the government property. Central police deploys companies but rarely full battalions. While they do corner special allowances when deployed as companies, but their efficiency in this manner of deployment does suffer.   The writer is a defence analyst

Chennai/Visakhapatnam: As the arduous operation to trace the IAF’s missing AN-32 aircraft with 29 people on board stretched into the third day on Sunday, the search and rescue team sought satellite imagery to find any clue of the plane that lost contact over the Bay of Bengal. “There is no sign of the plane as yet,” a senior defence official said. At least 18 navy and coast guard ships, including a submarine and eight aircraft, are involved in the round-the-clock operation to search for the Port Blair-bound transport plane that went missing after it took off from the Tambaram air base near Chennai on July 22. PTI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 24

Insisting on its right to comment on developments in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan today said only people of the state could deliver a verdict on the future of Kashmir and not External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Countering Swaraj’s statement that J&K belonged to India, Pakistan Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz said: “Such a verdict on the future of Kashmir can only be given by the people of Kashmir and not by the External Affairs Minister of India. This right has been promised to the people of Kashmir by the UN Security Council. It is high time that India allowed the people of Jammu & Kashmir to exercise this right through a free and fair UN-supervised plebiscite. Once the majority of the people of Kashmir have voted for joining either Pakistan or India, the whole world will accept this verdict of the Kashmiri people.”

Wanted by the US.

Washington, July 22

The US administration has taken a serious note of Pakistan permitting Jama’at-ud-Da’wah leader Hafiz Saeed, a terrorist wanted by the United States and with a bounty of USD 10 million on his head for information leading to his arrest and conviction for involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008, to openly lead an anti-India rally of his supporters from Lahore to Islamabad on July 19.Saeed led a Pakistan government call to observe July 19 as a “Black Day”, apparently to draw attention to the “burning issue of Kashmir”.The Obama Administration has been taken aback by this event, as it clearly established a link between the Pakistan government and Hafiz Saeed who is on America’s most wanted list. The United States has designated Saeed-led organisations–the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and the Jama’at-ud-Da’wah (JuD) as foreign terrorist organisations. Saeed has also been listed as a terrorist by the UN Security Council’s 1267 Al Qaeda Sanctions Committee.South Asia watchers in Washington say that by allowing a terrorist to take up a government-sponsored cause, Islamabad has bared its selective approach towards terrorism. When banned outfits are allowed to openly hold rallies in Pakistan at the behest of the government, the allegations about Pakistan using terror as state policy appear to gain ground.Experts say that had Pakistan banned Saeed from holding the rally, and instead placed someone else in charge of the July 19 protests, that would have been understandable. The question that arises in the minds of South Asian analysts is why Saeed? Is it because he is a terror asset which the state cannot do without?Experts have questioned is Saeed so important that Islamabad is risking an important relationship with the United States.

Pakistan’s irrevocable links with Saeed have disappointed the Obama Administration, but have not shocked officials. It was always known in Washington’s South Asia circles that Saeed is an asset that the Pakistani state will always protect notwithstanding the fact that he is a designated global terrorist.Saeed’s terror group, the LeT, remains active and open in Pakistan, and just recently, had the audacity to attack Medina in Saudi Arabia, in which 12 of its suspected members were arrested. This connection was also highlighted by a European Parliament Report by Vice-President Ryszard Czarnecki, where he pointed out how the Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), a charity front of the LeT, was radicalising Pakistani diaspora while the state was a mute spectator.The Saeed-Pakistan linkage as evidenced by the July 19 Kashmir rally is certain to be brought up on Capitol Hill where proposals are afoot to cut financial aid to Pakistan in the absence of a complete and verifiable delinkage with  terror groups.While the Obama Administration has been supporting Pakistan as an important ally in the war against terror, the latest incident where a wanted terrorist has been given state patronage is certain to raise questions and embarrass the former. ANI

There has been a drastic shift in Kashmir. The notion that militants should die for they have picked up the guns to fight and die has now been replaced with “save-the-militants” refrain. There was a time when attendance at militants’ funerals had been reduced to a trickle.

The upsurge at militants’ funeral needs to be analysed. Kashmiri Muslims carry the body of Burhan Wani at his funeral in Tral, south Kashmir. Reuters.

The ongoing street protests in Kashmir have unveiled the new dynamics of conflict.  Common Kashmiris  are faced with an inescapable dilemma. There is an unfathomable reservoir of sympathy with stone-throwing crowds in streets. Targeting the police and the security establishments represents  anger against the uniformed men — the other side  of the conflict.  For those, from bureaucrats, politicians (ruling or opposition) besides the known faces and voices of separatism, the other side  should be out of the Valley. Ironically, the same majority is also yearning for normalcy — disciplined  working in offices, uniformed children heading to schools, markets open  and plying  of vehicles without the fear of being hit by stones. Only the people of Kashmir know what they are undergoing. The reconciliation between the yearning for normalcy and the sympathy for the anarchy on streets is something that has haunted them for over the years. This time, it is different. Street protests triggered by the killing of Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen commander Burhan Wani on the night of July 8 have assumed new dimensions. Social media played a critical role in evoking such protests because Burhan epitomised  the pure Kashmiri face. It was in  the forests of this village where he was born that he received his training in arms, thereby contributing to his glamorous appeal for youngsters on the social media. In Kashmir, like any other conflict area, the social media appeal traverses far beyond entertainment and routine morning greetings. It is a potent tool to spread disaffection to enbale the drafting of more youth into militancy. Guns symbolise romance and the chances of becoming a known face, if not a hero, overnight. Looking at this thinking would reveal that the images of the past have faded into insignificance. This is the legacy of the Burhan cult. When the youth get killed or wounded by the security forces on the streets, sympathy  pours in  from parents otherwise  angry  over the audacious  defiance of their advice to children not to venture into stone-throwing  zones. The whole neighbhourhood joins in.  The rest of the job is done by the  social media. The government is wrong in believing that it has placed curbs because the images  that attract youth to the streets  are still  doing the rounds. Satellite phones are available and are working. Many are enjoying official patronage and facilities. This  dreaded cycle of violence has been going on for years now. The 1990 phenomenon was processions, hit-and-run tactics, hurling of grenades and firing of thousands of bullets with not even a single injury, or the panick-stricken  troopers firing into the crowds. That was the 20th century. The 21st century, particularly after  9/11, was an era of shift in staging attacks  as  horrifying as the  attack on the legislature. There was an intensity in “fidayeen” missions. Now, post-Burhan, there is a gigantic change in the thinking of Kashmiri Muslims. The refrain: “Let militants die, for they have picked up guns to fight and die,” has been replaced with the “save militants.” There was a time  when attendance at militants’ funerals had been reduced to a trickle. The anger would spill over  only if the civilians were killed. In 2008 and 2010, situations were created where only civilians, protesting in streets, were killed or injured. Similar scenes are getting replayed  in 2016, with a significant change in tactics. This time, the security establishments face a volley of stones. Security forces, under orders not to retaliate in proportion to the level of attack, have started  shifting their posts. The objectives  are becoming clear. For saving militants, the first method was offering  a human shield and the disruption of forces’ operation against them, no matter whether they were Pakistanis or Kashmiris. Now the massive protests are organised with a call that the militants should not be touched at all.  Let militants kill and wound the security personnel, but there should be no retaliation. This is a new phenomenon in this state.  They saw the eight CRPF personnel gunned down, but wanted no retaliation. Two militants were killed, but then the sympathies were with the two militants and not the eight CRPF personnel — a typical mindset reflecting a conflict situation. Reasons are not far to seek.  For long, Kashmiris had  felt that the Centre imposes governments on them. “The Indian democracy never crosses Lakahanpur ( the gateway of Jammu and Kashmir bordering Punjab)”, is what late Abdul Gani Lone, the founder of Peoples Conference, said He had contested a number of elections and won. In 1987, he felt cheated, like many others. Syed Ali Shah Geelani had won that election from Sopore. Post-2014 polls, the people in Kashmir could not reconcile to the saffron of the BJP and the green of the PDP marching together. They felt betrayed. This sense of betrayal engendered frustration and hopelessness with a question: If the PDP cannot stand for us, then who can?  Separatists too have chinks in their armour.  Political frustration has made them empathise with  protestors, whom they see representing a challenge to  the system imposed on them. Also, there are hard realities which they cannot overlook. There has been no solution of the Palestinian issue that has been simmering for decades, despite all what the Palestinian groups like the PLO and Hamas could do — ranging from   wars  to intifada  to suicide bombings, shootings at public places and killing  of Israeli soldiers with knives. Kashmiris want a stable and  normal future for their children. “We are happy our children are not here  (Kashmir),” is what one hears from the parents whose children are studying outside the Valley. Obviously, they don’t want  their children to live in  the troubled state  or become a part of  the wheel of violence. Those who cannot afford to educate their children outside have no option. They have the overwhelming desire that their children stay out of trouble and shape their careers in normal times. They want this cycle of violence to come to an end. More than anyone else, Kashmiris pray that no killing should take place so that normalcy can return. They yearn for and wish for restraint on the part of the security forces.  The appeals for restraint to security forces sound music to their ears. But when they are asked to restrain their children from the violent protests, they know that their advice will fall on deaf ears. Their unending dilemma stems from this. A Kashmiri in his thirties advising his child not to venture onto the streets, was told by the child that he had posted something contrary  on his Facebook account for the (children) of others. This is what today’s Kashmir is. 

ajoshi57@gmail.com.

A person who suffers very much or is killed because of their religious or political beliefs, and is often admired because of it.

 

According to Cambridge Dictionary this is what a “martyr” is.

May it be NDA or UPA, the Govt. failed him. Mr. Modi made huge promises during his election campaign in 2014 and one of it was that his government will approach The International Court of Justice, in Hague against Pakistan for the injustice done to a brave son of India. Till now it has just proved out to be a ‘Political Gimmick’.

SHIMLA- It was May of 1999 when winter was about to end, and snow had started to melt down on the mountains of Kargil. Due to extreme temperature at such high altitude of 14000 feet all the check posts and barracks of Indian army were seized by snow. In first two weeks several patrols were conducted by different patrolling teams in Kaksar Langpa area of Kargil district by Indian Army to check whether the snow had retreated enough for the summer positions to be re-occupied.

First patrol team who observed and reported large-scale intrusion on Indian side of the Line of Control(LoC) at Kargil was of Captain Saurabh Kalia and his men. It was 15th of May when patrol team of Captain Saurabh Kalia with his men from 4 Jat Regiment were on regular patrol of Bajrang Post in Kaksar sector, where they had an encounter with intruded Pakistani Army. Five Indian Soldiers faced nearly 200 Pakistani rangers with very limited ammunition.

Before Indian reinforcements could reach them, they ran out of ammunition and were captured alive by Pakistani Rangers. And as well planned incident, no trace was the patrol was left by Pakistan. After this incident that India discover hundreds of guerrillas had established fortified positions on the peaks of the hills deep inside the Indian Line of Control, with sophisticated equipment and supply lines back to Pakistan Controlled Kashmir.

Captain Saurabh was searched by Indian army in rugged, treeless Ladakh Mountains but there was no sign of the missing troop. After 22 days from the first encounter between two nations in Kargil area, Pakistan Army handed over dead body of Captain Saurabh Kalia to Indian army commanders at the Kargil sector. The injuries on their body clearly revealed the horrible torture they had faced before being murdered. After the Post-mortem examinations the result shocked the whole nation. It was one of the most inhumane and extreme cases of torture in the history of wars. The Geneva Convention was ripped apart and Captain Saurabh was tortured for 22 days and killed after he was captured at Kaksar.

According to post-mortem report there were several burn marks on the body which seems that they were BRUTALLY BURNT with cigarettes all over the body. Their eardrums were PIERCED with hot rods, their eyes were PUNCTURED and removed with knife. Most of the teeth and bones were BROKEN. The skull was HAMMERED and FRACTURED. Lips and Nose was CHIPPED. Limbs and Genital were CHOPPED OFF. And finally he was shot DEAD.

This death was first casualty of the Kargil war which saved lives of other soldiers and we won Kargil war because Captain Saurabh Kalia opted to bear all this torture rather than revealing secrets of Indian Army to enemies.

Mr. Modi made huge promises during his election campaign in 2014 and one of it was that his government will approach The International Court of Justice, in Hague against Pakistan for the injustice done to a brave son of India. Till now it has just proved out to be a ‘Political Gimmick’.

The government of India has failed to do justice to this martyr, may it be NDA or UPA all are the same.
It is the sole responsibility of a nation to ensure the respect and justice to its martyrs, which has been denied in this case. Captain Saurabh Kalia is a martyr and he is still with us in our thoughts and hearts, because a martyr never dies.

Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, July 13

The truth of Kashmir today is that it is different from the summer of 2008, when protests were held against the transfer of ownership of land to the Amarnath Shrine Board, and from the summer of 2010, when a student’s killing had triggered violent unrest.There are no demands and no one is sure about what will happen next. Friday, the day of congregational prayers, will be the litmus test of how the summer unfolds.That Kashmir is burning is an understatement. The flames leaping out of police stations, Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s call not to attack such installations notwithstanding, and the street violence and 34 deaths point to a grim situation. There’s a bigger concern: the anger of the youth, on brazen display following the death of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani last Friday.To those who question whether one militant leader’s death could be the sole reason for the violence and killings, there are no easy answers. A taxi driver puts in his perspective: “Wani used to be active on Facebook, you know, every youngster had his picture in the mobile phone.”Separatists had warned of a major agitation after Eid, celebrated last week, but were unsure about how to pull it off. Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had spoken of a massive agitation if the government failed to clarify its position on the setting up of “Sainik Colony” and townships for migrant Kashmiri Pandits. But within the separatist camp, there was no consensus on stirring the Kashmir cauldron. Their shutdown calls were receiving a mixed, almost tepid, response.In the aftermath of Wani’s killing, separatists as well as Pakistan have attempted to own the near-spontaneous reaction of people, which has been so widespread that markets have remained shut for the first time in villages in the past 26 years of unrest. However, the separatists have so far achieved little success in gaining control of the unrest, Geelani’s appeal not to attack police stations a case in point. The bitter truth is that Burhan Wani, 21 — with a few pictures and two videos — has singularly managed to almost demolish the effort of the state and Central governments to win the hearts and minds of people.

Sharif calls Cabinet meeting to discuss Kashmir situation

Islamabad, July 13

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called a special Cabinet meeting in Lahore on Friday to discuss “deteriorating situation” in Kashmir on Wednesday as death toll in violence that followed the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani climbed to 36.”The Cabinet will discuss the oppressive actions of Indian security forces against innocent civilians and the over all situation in Kashmir after the brutal assassination of Burhan Wani,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.The meeting at the Governor House in Lahore will discuss the “rapidly deteriorating situation” in Kashmir to discuss a “future course of action”, the statement said, in a move that is likely to antagonise India.Pakistan’s Foreign office has summoned the Indian High Commissioner to have him convey “concerns of the Pakistani government and people on rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in Kashmir and increasing oppression by Indian security forces” to the Indian establishment.Ambassadors of permanent members of UN Security Council were also briefed of what it calls “excesses” by Indian security agencies.”The resolution of the Jammu and Kashmir dispute is only possible by the realisation of the right to self-determination of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, as per the UNSC resolutions, through a fair and impartial plebiscite under UN auspices,” Sharif said in a statement.Pakistan Foreign Secretary also spoke to ambassadors of countries in the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir (consisting of Azerbaijan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Niger) and the ambassadors of European Union. India has already asked its neighbour to keep out of what its “internal affairs” after Sharif issued a statement conveying “shock” over Wani’s killing.India and Pakistan frequently spar over Kashmir, a disputed territory that both countries claim. India accuses Pakistan of interference and encouraging terrorism in the area. — Agencies

AMBALA: Kharga Corps Chief of Staff and local board of administration, Sainik School, Kunjpura, chairman Major General Somnath Jha on Monday flagged-off 38-members mountaineering expedition team, comprising 36 cadets, representing Sainik Schools of the country and two staff members to Stok Kangri Peak (6158 meters) in the Leh region of Jammu and Kashmir.

HTPHOTOSainik School team at the flagging off ceremony on Monday.

On the occasion, principal of Sainik School, Kunjpura, Col YS Parmar informed about the various adventure activities that form an integral part of the power packed training imparted to the students in Sainik Schools.

The expedition will be for 25 days.

Though Kashmir may be too volatile to take note of it, the Union Home Minister has reached out to opposition leaders in a bid to calm down the angry mobs in the Valley, where too a similar accommodative and inclusive approach is required. New Delhi need not overreact to the Pakistani provocation and instead should concentrate on restoring peace in the troubled Valley. Alongside hearing political voices, the government should listen to public opinion of all shades. While appealing for a “minimum use of force”, one group of 40 Kashmiris argues that “irrespective of which side of the complex political problem one stands on, we are certain that no idea is worth more than the life of a fellow human being.” It is tough for security forces to exercise restraint when attacked repeatedly. But that is the challenge. Excessive use of force inflames public anger and prolongs insurgency. Whether AFSPA has helped in the battle for peace in Kashmir requires an independent study but the Supreme Court has ruled that citizens cannot be treated as enemies to justify their killings. The rule of law and police action, or inaction, cannot be different for “locals” and “outsiders” as it happened during a student clash in the Srinagar NIT in April. Wrongs and excesses have scarred a whole generation. The killing of Burhan Wani has unleashed the pent-up anger of youth. If it was not possible to wean Wani from the path of militancy he took aged 15, it should be possible to counsel and save others from going on the destructive path.Experience has shown violence serves no purpose. Only precious lives are lost. At the end of every cycle of violence, issues get sorted out through dialogue only. Even if sections of the Kashmiris do not consider India as their own, the Republic cannot disown them, or treat them differently. There is a parallel narrative of ambition and success running in the Valley which an IAS topper has inspired. This can be built on and strengthened. Peace, safety of citizens, jobs and the return of displaced Kashmiris have to be the state’s top priorities.