Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 12

While last year witnessed an infiltration attempt almost every day, at least 112 militants managed to sneak in from across into Jammu and Kashmir. This was the highest count since 2012, sources said.The infiltration figure showed an increase of more than 200 per cent as compared to 2015 when the figure was 33.The sources quoting the Multi-Agency Centre (MAC), the nodal agency comprising officials from the Intelligence, Army, BSF, RAW and J&K Police, said at least 112 Pakistan-trained militants sneaked in last year. Except 2012, when 121 militants had managed to infiltrate, this is the highest figure since 2008. Many of these militants who infiltrated were killed in encounters either along the Line of Control (LoC) or in the hinterland.The peak of infiltration takes place between May and October. During the winter, there is a sharp decline in attempts from across as snow blocks the infiltration routes.The infiltration of militants last year took place despite the Army carrying out cross-LoC raids on militant launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on September 29. The surgical strikes followed after militants from across attacked an Army base at Uri close to the LoC in September and killed 19 soldiers.“Despite surgical strikes, the attempts from across to infiltrate had continued,” admitted a senior Army officer.Earlier this week, Minister of State for Home Hansraj Gangaram Ahir in a written reply in Rajya Sabha had said 364 infiltration bids were made from Pakistan last year. In 2014, the figure was 222 and for 2015 it was 121, he added. However, the minister had not given the number of militants who managed to sneak in last year.Incidentally 2016, which witnessed a five-month-long unrest following the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani, was one of the bloodiest years for security forces as they lost 87 personnel in J&K. Forces were also able kill at least 165 militants last year. The unrest had crippled the counter-insurgency grid for many months.A senior police officer with experience in counter-insurgency said the major reason behind the spurt in violence last year was the rise in infiltration from across.“Pakistani militants are better trained and equipped with sufficient weapons and they give impetus to militancy,” he said.

Srinagar woman out to save lives in mined border areas

Rifat Mohidin

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, February 12

Breaking the stereotypes, a 27-year-old girl from Srinagar is saving lives in villages along the Line of Control (LOC) by educating people about landmines and unexploded shells.Shabreena Sidiqi, a resident of Srinagar, says despite travelling difficulties and risks of cross-border shelling in these sensitive areas, the main aim was to save the lives of people, particularly children, through “mine risk education”.“It’s a very challenging job and it was quite difficult for me to convince my parents because it requires travelling to far off places, where there is no network coverage and those on security radar. But when you see the problems being faced by the people who live there, helping them just seems like an obligation,” says Shabreena, who is currently working in the border villages of Rajouri, Poonch, Baramulla and Kupwara.The districts that lie near the LoC are highly sensitive and most affected by the conflict. People in these areas have become the victims of poverty, health issues, death and disability as they have been forgotten by the government.Shabreena added that the field team had narrow escape many times while working in these areas.“Physical rehabilitation is one way of helping the victims. But there has to be another mechanism to prevent casualties. Thus there is a need to impart risk education,” she adds.Shabreena and her team give safety and security briefing to people living in these areas as to how they can enhance their knowledge and change their behaviour in order to avoid landmine or unexploded ordinance casualties.“We also work on community-based reporting system and make them understand how they can report the landmine incidents or its presence to the authorities. Mostly, we educate children through fun methods as to how they can save themselves from unexploded shells,” she adds.After pursuing MBA from the University of Kashmir and working for a marketing company for 10 months, Shabreena chose social work and is currently working as project officer at the HELP Foundation for mine risk education and Conventional Weapons Risk Reduction Project.Shabreena is among the women in the Valley who moved out of their comfort zone to become an inspiration for others and to help the victims of two-decade-long conflict in the border areas.Educating villagersUnder the “mine risk education”, 27-year-old Shabreena Sidiqi and her team give safety and security briefing to people living in the areas along the Line of Control. They tell them ways to enhance their knowledge and change their behaviour in order to avoid landmine or unexploded ordinance casualties. They also work on community-based reporting system and make people understand as to how they can report the landmine incidents or its presence to the authorities.

Islamabad, February 7

Pakistan today decided to build at least 50 bunkers for civilians along the working boundary with India in the Punjab province to provide protection to villagers during cross-border firing.During a Cabinet meeting, three federal ministers, including defence minister Khawaja Asif, urged the Nawaz Sharif government to take measures to avoid civilian casualties along the border.“The Cabinet decided to build 50 bunkers along the working boundary to provide refuge to villagers living in the area during cross-border firing from India,” information minister Maryam Aurangzeb said.The government also announced to enhance compensation for those killed and injured in the cross-border firing incidents.The information minister said the families of those killed will be given Rs5,00,000 as compensation and those injured will get Rs1,50,000. — PTI

In an article in The Tribune recently, Natwar Singh had suggested that Mahatma Gandhi approved of the Partition plan. This is factually incorrect. Socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia’s book Guilty Men of India’s Partition gives a factual position. Lohia was present in the final CWC meeting in which the Partition plan was accepted.

MASS EXODUS: The Partition affected millions of people on both sides of the border in India and Pakistan.

Viceroy Lord Mountbatten &  Jawaharlal Nehru (left), while disclosing the “Partition” plan on June 7, 1947, in Delhi.

SOME people have attributed the Congress acceptance of Partition of India in 1947 to “the persuasive voice of Gandhiji which made the working committee accept the Partition and which but for Gandhiji’s intervention, the working committee might not have approved”. This is grossly unfair and presents a wrong picture of the final efforts by made by Gandhiji to prevent Partition up to the final stages. It is now well-known that when Jinnah was insistent, Gandhiji made a last desperate attempt by asking JawaharlalNehru and Sardar Patel to step aside and let Jinnah be the first Prime Minister of undivided India. He should form his ministry the way he liked, including the choice to have only Muslims league Ministers in the Central Cabinet, with the assurance that the Congress will not object. One cannot say what Jinnah’s reactions would have been. But considering that Jinnah is on record on insisting that his house in Mumbai / Delhi be not declared evacuee property because he wished to have good Indo-Pak relations and would like to spend one month every year in India, it would have been worthwhile trying. This could not be concretised because both Nehru and Patel were forthright in rejecting this proposal. So for many of us who were adults then this reference to Gandhiji’s acceptance of Partition is painful and does not represent the factual position. A reference to socialist leader Dr Ram Manohar Lohia’s, book Guilty Men of India’s Partition, gives the correct factual position. Lohia was present in that final Congress Working Committee meeting. Lohia, who along with Jaiprakash Narain attended that meeting, has written: “I should like especially to bring out two points that Gandhiji made at this meeting. He turned to Mr Nehru and Sardar Patel in mild complaint that they had not informed him of the scheme of Partition, before committing themselves to it. Before Gandhiji could make out his point fully, Nehru intervened with some passion to say that he had kept him fully informed. On Mahatma Gandhi’s repeating that he did not know of the scheme of Partition, Nehru slightly altered his earlier observation. He said that Noakhali was so far away and that, while he may not have described the details of the scheme he had broadly written of the Partition to Gandhiji…….I will accept Mahatma Gandhi’s version of the case, and not Nehru’s and who will not? One does not have to dismiss Nehru as a liar. All that is at issue here is whether Mahatma Gandhi knew of the scheme of Partition before Nehru and Patel had committed themselves to it. It would not do for Nehru to publish vague letters which he might have written to Mahatma Gandhi, doling out hypothetical and insubstantial information. There was definitely a hole-in-the-corner aspect of this business. Nehru and Patel had obviously between themselves decided that it would be best not to scare Gandhiji away before the deed was definitely resolved upon. Keeping turned towards Messrs Nehru and Patel, Gandhiji made his second point. He wanted the Congress party to honour the commitments made by its leaders. He would, therefore, ask the Congress to accept the principle of Partition. After accepting the principle, the Congress should make a declaration concerning its execution. It should ask the British government and the Viceroy to step aside, once the Congress and the Muslim League had signified their acceptance of Partition. The partitioning of the country should be carried out jointly by the Congress party and the Muslim League, without the intervention of a third party. This was, I thought so at that time and still do, a grand tactical stroke. Much has been said about the saint having simultaneously been a tactician, but this fine and cunning proposal has, to my knowledge, not so far been put on record…….there was no need for anyone else to oppose the proposal. It was not considered. I am writing this to put the record straight”.Gandhiji’s anguish at the Partition of the country was so unbearable that he refused to be in Delhi on August 15. What nobility that the greatest fighter for India’s freedom refused to share this glory and left Delhi to fight against the communal carnage taking place at Calcutta and to give the assurance of safety to the minorities.I accept the fact that the conditions in the country had deteriorated to such a level that it was not possible to prevent the Partition. Yet, we have not given sufficient thought to the fact that millions of deaths, most immeasurable destruction in the process of Partition could have been averted if the leaders of the parties had shown statesmanship in carrying out the process of partitioning the country. It is well-known that Prime Minister Clement Attlee had given June, 1948 as the date by which the British government would leave India, when Lord Mountbatten was sent to India in March, 1947.Had this schedule been observed, requisite and detailed arrangements for the safety of millions of people, on both sides, could have been made. Undoubtedly, slaughter and mutual hatred would have been there but both the governments could have made safe arrangements for exchange of populations. The government machinery could have been mobilised. But this did not happen. The reason was the unilateral announcement by Lord Mountbatten on June 1947, that India’s Independence Day would be on August 15, 1947. This left no time to make arrangements for an unprecedented, massive exodus.One knows now why this sudden announcement was made at a press conference, fixing August 15, 1947 as Independence. The reason was the vanity and self-glorification of Mountbatten. He had accepted the surrender of the Japanese navy on  August 1945, as the Supreme Allied Commander, South-East Asia Command (SEAC), of Allied powers.Our politicians were, unfortunately, too self-obsessed with ignorance and vanity. As a consequence, they maintained an ominous silence, resulting in the death of millions and the destruction of massive property. Can history forgive them? I doubt very much.The writer is a retired Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court

Birth, domicile certificates of 25 of 40 applicants under scanner | All issued this month by Ludhiana admn

Students during a drill at Sainik School, Kapurthala. Tribune file photo

Rachna Khaira

Tribune News Service

Kapurthala, February 27

In a development suggesting a possible admission scam, the local Sainik School authorities have put on hold the admission of around 25 of 40 applicants seeking admission to Class VI.Highly placed sources said the admission process was halted after the officials got suspicious over the birth certificates and domicile of these students.“Though all of them hailed from states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, they were all found carrying domicile and birth certificates issued in February this year by the Ludhiana district administration. Most of them had taken training from two academies based in Hanumangarh and Agra,” a source said.He said many were even found overage by up to five years. The medical board set up by the school has also raised questions over their age and sought a probe.During an interview, an applicant admitted that he had been trying to get admission in the school for the last three years. “Another boy submitted an Aadhaar card and a birth certificate that showed different dates of birth. While his Aadhaar card showed his year of birth as 2003, the birth certificate issued by the Ludhiana MC mentioned it as 2007,” said a board member. Many applicants failed to answer satisfactorily when asked about the directions of their address mentioned in their domicile. Some could not even tell the name of the area situated next to their “residence”.As per rules of any Sainik School, around 67 per cent of the seats should be reserved for candidates hailing from the state where the school is located. The quota goes over 70 per cent with students coming from the SC/ST category as well.Investigation by The Tribune revealed that even this rule had been violated for the past three years that has created an imbalance in the state quota.Some officials, on the condition of anonymity, claimed that when they tried to stop the practice last year, they received threats from some UP-based applicants’ kin.School Principal Group Captain Shakti Sharma said they had decided to take up the matter with the Kapurthala district administration to seek a check on the authenticity of the birth and domicile certificates.

Anomalies that give rise to suspicion

• The domicile and birth certificates of all 25 applicants under scanner were issued in February this year by the Ludhiana administration
• Most have taken training from two academies
• Many were even found overage by up to five years
• The applicants failed to answer when asked about the directions to their address mentioned in their domicile
• Some couldn’t even tell the name of the area situated next to their “residence”

Financial crisis

• In the absence of regular grant from the state or the Union Government, the Sainik School has no money to pay salaries and pension to its staff. School principal Group Captain Shakti Sharma said the institution was reeling under debt of around Rs 2 crore as it had not received any grant since 2011. “After much persuasion, I managed to get a grant of Rs 1 crore from the state last year. But around Rs 50 lakh was paid to clear debt and the remaining was spent on maintenance,” Shakti said, adding that the school had been managing its affairs with the fee from students, but this time, they won’t be able to pay salaries and pension amounting to Rs 40 lakh to its 200 present and former employees.

Pakistan’s media, judiciary and people power have many blind spots and do not compare favourably with their more evolved US counterparts. Pakistanis cannot really protest Trump’s ways without suitably reforming its institutions. And that is a tall order.

Most major rallies in Pakistan are for Muslim causes. Rarely have they protested for similar rights for all citizens.

Donald Trump’s presidency is the tip of the spear that xenophobic white supremacists are using to reconquer America. A Republican-dominated Senate and the House of Representatives may differ with Trump on smaller matters but will support him on core issues. The alt-right’s goal is to barrel over traditional American values of freedom and generosity, terrorise Muslim and immigrant families into leaving, and remove the checks and balances that have preserved the country’s openness to new peoples and ideas.Trump says that the media — specifically naming CNN, ABC, CBS, and the New York Times — is acting as an opposition party. Last Friday he tweeted that they are not just his enemies but also “the enemy of the American people. SICK”.This outburst comes because the press has exposed Trump’s shady business dealings, exaggerations on the size of the inauguration crowd, promotion of his daughter’s fashion business, lewd remarks on women, help received from Russia for getting elected, and the dubious character of his political henchmen. All this must hurt, but what gets Trump apoplectic are mocking parodies on TV channels and YouTube videos that feature impersonations of Trump and his spokespersons. Such lampooning weakens his authority by depriving him of the gravitas that other US presidents have enjoyed.This is music to the ears of most Pakistanis — and a relief to much of the world. But now we need to compare this with our own score card on the above three counts. Media: Yes, Pakistan’s media is free — free to slam politicians and elected governments on evening talk shows. This is, of course, as it should be. But none can touch generals and mullahs. If you want to hide in cyber space and still try then be prepared for abduction, declared as missing, and perhaps returned — as four of the five bloggers are known to have been — but terrified into silence.America has Fox but also other channels; Pakistan has only numerous versions of Fox. America has Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Glenn Beck among others who spew stupidity and ignorance, lie, and pander to the lowest level of society. But, for fear of lawsuits, they still cannot match the infinitely more degraded, life-threatening, fact-less nonsense spewed by some highly popular Pakistani anchors.Judiciary: In theory, Pakistan’s too is independent of the executive branch. But nobody believes this, and nobody should. If it was true, Asif Ali Zardari would have long been in jail, Panamagate would have been settled, and the grant of land to generals legally challenged. Of course, we have our heroes. Justice of the Supreme Court Qazi Faez Isa single-handedly put together the detailed Quetta terrorism inquiry commission report that convincingly indicts the interior minister for improper behavior. But nothing has happened yet and nothing will. In contrast, a mere US sessions judge could stump Trump and overturn his executive Muslim-ban order.People: I cannot remember the last time when Pakistanis rallied together for a cause that was not specifically Muslim. Of course, Kashmir, Palestine, Bosnia and Myanmar are all worthy causes, but they are Muslim causes. In contrast, the thousands of Americans who stormed airports last month to protest Trump’s Muslim ban were there to protect a principle — that all peoples of all religions and ethnicities should have exactly the same rights.Perhaps someday we too will learn to respect people for what they are — humans — and fight for their rights also, not just our own. Perhaps an Ahmadi, Hindu, Christian or Parsi will be allowed to run for president of Pakistan or become the army chief. Until that time, in moral terms, we cannot really protest where Trump wants to take America. 

Courtesy The Dawn

General Cheema has vast operational experience in both conventional and sub conventional operations along western and northern fronts

General Jagbir Singh Cheema recently took over as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Information Systems and Training). In this capacity he coordinates capability building of the army in terms of training, communications and information systems. Earlier he had commanded XI Corps the pivot formation in Punjab where he had a long string of achievements including recasting operational plans and providing enhanced facilities to veterans. The general belongs to Jangpur, Ludhiana district.

XI CORPSGeneral Jagbir Singh Cheema, then commanding XI Corps pictured last summer while attending a formation­level exercise in Punjab

This is one of the Quinsap villages around Jagraon from where the Bengal Sappers recruited in large numbers. His father retired from the group as an honorary captain. Cheema first came to notice as a captain leading the Sikh Regiment contingent in the 1985 Republic Day parade. The regiment, bruised by the traumatic events of the previous year was determined to showcase its professional excellence. Young Cheema did not let it down. In NDA and IMA he had excelled in sports. He earned blues in cross country in both the institutions and was declared best athlete in the latter institution.

Jagbir has commanded his battalion, 10 Sikh on the Line of Control (LoC), an infantry brigade again on the control line in a high altitude environment and a mountain division forming part of the army headquarters (AHQ) reserve with wideranging operational roles. Professional courses done by him include staff college, long defence management and National Defence College (NDC).

He has served on the general staff dealing with operations, planning, intelligence and training at all levels from brigade to AHQ. As chief of staff of an operationally committed corps, he set down ‘Turbulence to Stabilisation’ the history of proxy war in Kashmir. Operational experience includes command of a company on the Siachen Glacier and an Assam Rifles company in Kashmir. Cheema is a soldier whom the greatest Indian commanders like Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw and Harbaksh would’ve paid the supreme accolade, ‘I would like to have him with me in war’.

NEW STRATEGY TO TACKLE J&K TROUBLEMAKERS

Napoleon once said, “In war morale is everything”. What he meant was that one seeks to motivate one’s own troops by uplifting their spirits at the same time using psychological operations to undermine the enemy.

Army chief General Bipin Rawat’s recent caution to stone-pelters and others who seek to obstruct counterinsurgency operations must be seen in this context. Though politicians have taken umbrage at his statement, in my view he has correctly warned overground workers of insurgents.

A new, proactive strategy to tackle troublemakers which draws on the experience of British troops in Northern Ireland takes this beyond the ambit of a mere morale-lifting exercise however.

To ensure the best coordination between the security forces, joint mobile control rooms will be set up at the scene of active operations. While the army, paramilitary forces and the police’s special operation group will tackle terrorists, the police will make sure crowds don’t gather.

MANDEEP SINGH BAJWA

If mobs do concentrate the police will disperse them with warnings, persuasion, guile and failing that with weapons best suited against unarmed people – teargas, batons. Civil administrators will become hands-on to prevent the assembly of terrorists’ collaborators by imposing prohibitory orders and other administrative measures. Such collaborators will be identified by the police who will take legal action against them.

MY SON ASKED, “DEMOCRACY, WE HAVE READ, IS THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE. WHY ARE GOVERNMENTS OF THE TWO COUNTRIES NOT FRIENDS JUST LIKE THE FRIENDS WE MADE IN LAHORE?”

Visiting one’s neighbour usually means catching up with the latest mohalla gossip, sharing the good and the bad that has happened in each other’s family life and musing about the times gone by. But when it comes to India and Pakistan, a visit to each other assumes an altogether different meaning. I was overcome with feelings of trepidation and worry when I received an invitation to visit Lahore to attend a conference in 2009.

It is supposed to be a dangerous place if newspaper reports are anything to go by. I must confess that I was in for a pleasant surprise the moment I, along with my family, crossed the Radcliffe Line at Attari. We were welcomed with open arms and unbelievable warmth and affection across the border. We stayed in the beautiful city of Lahore for a couple of days, went to Nankana Sahib to pay our obeisance, and visited the health facility at Emanabad.

We have so much in common, be it the jokes or problems of day-to-day life. The man on the street is as distressed by the scourge of terrorism there as all of us are here. To my surprise, I did not meet even a single person during my stay who voiced feelings inimical to India. We came back home with wonderful memories of the neighboring country.

Of late, we have been hearing about Pakistan being the hotbed of terrorism and the plans of some nations to ban the entry of its citizens. The other day, my 12-year-old son asked me: “Papa, how can Pakistan be our enemy when the uncles and aunties whom we met there were so good?” Some questions, indeed, are extremely difficult to answer. I tried explaining that what we hear in the media is more to do with politics, and the situation on the street could be different. My son shot off another query: “Democracy, we have read, is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. Why are governments of the two countries not friends just like the friends we made in Lahore?”

I gave up. The world is not so simple. There are good and bad people on either side of the border. I was reminded of the lyrics of a popular song penned by Javed Akhtar:

“Panchhi nadiya pawan ke jhonke Koi sarhad na inhein roke Panchhi nadiya pawan ke jhonke Koi sarhad na inhein roke Sarhadein insaanon ke liye hain Socho tumne aur maine Kya paya insaan hoke” The world is one family. The sooner we realise, the better it will be for mankind as a whole.

Cmdre Dalbir Singh Sodhi presents a copy of his book to Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan in Jammu. Tribune photo

Jammu, February 17

Cmdre Dalbir Singh Sodhi presented a copy of his book titled “Ladakh & Nanak Rinpoche” to Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan here today.This book gives an insight into the historical connections of Sikhs with Ladakh, life of Guru Padmasambhava, travels of Nanak Lama to Sikkim and Tibet and travels of Guru Nanak Rinpoche to Ladakh. This volume of the book has beautiful pictures of flora, fauna, architecture, monasteries and other aspects of Ladakh.The Governor complimented Commodore Sodhi for the impressive research work done by him to write the book. He observed that the work would be useful for promoting brotherhood and amity among the people of all communities.He wished Commodore Sodhi success in his career and all his future literary endeavours. He presented to the Governor a copy of “Kashmir and the Sikhs”, translated in English by him from its original Punjabi version, which was written by his late father Anoop Singh Sodhi. — TNS