PUNJAB NEWS :: 27 MARCH 2017–
Within a month of its inauguration the Trump Administration lost its National Security Adviser (NSA). Lt Gen Michael Flynn was forced to resign due to unauthorised contact with the Russian ambassador. His replacement is Lt Gen HR McMaster, about whom very little is known in India. However, President Trump has got it absolutely right on this appointment.
McMaster is considered a modern day warrior thinker or better still, a scholar warrior. A proven warrior in battle he is also a competent and brilliant doctrine man, which is rare in military circles. India officialdom needs to know more about this man it will deal with in the next four years, and perhaps much longer, going by the record of competent soldiers in the US armed forces.
I consider myself fortunate to have met McMaster, when we were fellow faculty for a few days last year at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Five minutes of checking his profile and i knew i had met a military intellectual of no mean achievement.
At relatively lower ranks he had held some very challenging appointments but not before proving his mettle in battle. In the First Gulf War, as a cavalry officer with nine tanks under his command, he had a typical ‘meeting engagement’ with a force of approximately 80 tanks of the Republican Guard, considered the centre of gravity of the Iraqi army. The Americans destroyed all 80 tanks and McMaster became a legend.
For two years he taught military history at West Point, something like being an instructor at IMA. Between 2002-06 he commanded a squadron of his own regiment, finished a research assignment at Stanford University and served in a series of staff appointments at the US Central Command with General John Abizaid, finally becoming the virtual brains trust of the Command. This was while he held the rank of colonel. The wonder is how often nations and armies credit a talented colonel as the brains trust of a field army.
The real achievement was yet to come. In 2004 McMaster was assigned to command the 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment. His task was to hold and secure Tal Afar, a township in northwest Iraq close to the Syrian border, a task performed in a patchy way thus far by US troops.
McMaster’s answer to the needs of the environment was application of mind to irregular warfare, a people-centric approach and a cultural understanding. The happiness he created by listening to the Iraqi people, taking their advice on many aspects and restoring their self-esteem and identity created such positive turbulence that it led to President Bush personally praising the regiment’s efforts.
A 2006 New Yorker article gives a graphic account of the turnaround at Tal Afar brought about by McMaster’s people-centric approach. The concept wasn’t any different to that which the Indian army has pursued in Jammu & Kashmir.
McMaster joined the International Institute of Strategic Studies, London, in 2006 to research on political-military integration in hybrid war situations. That is the crying need in our own situation in J&K. A year later he was advising General David Petraeus on the writing of US counterinsurgency (COIN) doctrine. He has been called an exceptional talent and the best one star officer the US army has produced in years.
McMaster’s case is an apt one for the Indian armed forces to examine. It is all about talent management and nurturing. Senior officers with insufficient experience in the field of their functioning remain in the learning loop for long without being contributors. As the brightest officer McMaster surpassed others for later promotion but never remained in the command stream; in the Indian army he would have been condemned to being approved for ‘Staff Only’ with no scope for further promotion.
In 2014, McMaster was identified by Time magazine as being among the hundred most influential people in the US. He has risen to NSA at the relatively young age of 54, and what the future beholds for him only time will tell. But his is an excellent example of how talent is spotted and nurtured.
Nikhil Bhardwaj
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, March 23
Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal caught two traffic cops while they were taking bribe from a commuter near Doraha this morning.Manpreet referred the matter to Ludhiana Police Commissioner Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh. Later, DIG, Ludhiana Range, SK Kalia suspended Manjit Singh and Harjit Singh of the Khanna police and initiated an inquiry.Sources said Manpreet was on his way to Chandigarh from Ferozepur in his Innova. He was driving the car, which had no beacon or escort vehicle. When he reached near the Gurthli bridge, he spotted the duo taking bribe for not challaning a motorist.Harjit folded his hands and asked Manpreet to pardon them. “The government pays you around Rs50,000 per month as salary and you people are still resorting to corrupt practices. You should sit at home. There is no room for corruption,” the FM told him.When Harjit asked Manpreet to “shoot” him rather than taking “strict” action, the minister said, “There are many people who don’t have jobs… You are still getting a handsome salary.”More than 100 ‘unfit’ traffic cops shiftedLudhiana: A day after giving compulsory retirement to three traffic cops over challaning of a Sikh girl, Commissioner of Police Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh on Thursday shifted over 100 traffic police personnel who were found unfit for the job during a recent exercise conducted by senior cops. Their ranks range from constable to inspector. “These cops have been sent to other departments,” Kunwar Vijay Pratap said. Meanwhile, when contacted on the challan row, DGP Suresh Arora said, “I have sought a report from the Commissioner of Police. I will take action after going through the report.” Traffic ASIs Davinder Singh and Kulwinder Singh and head constable Neelkanth had been given compulsory retirement. TNS
LUDHIANA : The Punjab government’s asking its ministers to give up red beacons, escort and security has started showing results! Finance minister Manpreet Badal on Thursday caught on camera a traffic cop accepting bribe. Travelling in a private vehicle without a sign of VIP, the minister saw the cop accepting bribe at Gurthali Bridge in Doraha. He shot a video of the episode and forwarded it to Ludhiana police commissioner Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh.After finding that the cop was from Khanna, the commissioner referred the matter to Khanna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajjit Singh Hundal. After investigation, the Khanna SSP suspended two cops, identified as head constables Manjit Singh and Jagjot Singh
2 cops suspended as Manpreet films them taking bribe
LUDHIANA: The Punjab government’s asking its ministers to give up red beacons, escort and security has started showing results! Finance minister Manpreet Badal on Thursday caught on camera a traffic cop accepting bribe. Travelling in a private vehicle without a sign of his position, the minister saw the cop accepting bribe at Gurthali Bridge in Doraha.
He shot a video of the episode and forwarded it to Ludhiana police commiss ionerKunwar Vijay Partap Singh.
After finding that the cop was from Khanna, the commissioner referred the matter to Khanna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajjit Singh Hundal. After investigation, the Khanna SSP suspended two cops, identified as head constables Manjit Singh and Jagjot Singh.
Manpreet Badal was on way to Chandigarh from Ferozepur via Ludhiana after attending the martyrdom day function of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev at Hussainiwala border.
Manpreet was driving his Toyota Innova SUV when he saw the cops accepting bribe from a commuter at Gurthali Bridge. Manpreet filmed the episode through his mobile camera.
Police commissioner said the finance minister telephoned him and also sent the video clips on Whatsapp. “I investigated and found that the errant cop was from the traffic wing of Khanna police and referred the case to Khanna SSP,” he said.
Khanna SSP Hundal confirmed the suspension of the cops.
“We will investigate from whom the cop accepted bribe and how much money he had taken. But they have been suspended with immediate effect and a departmental inquiry initiated against them,” said the SSP.
He said the video has only confession of the policeman seeking apology from the minister.
APOLOGY DRAMA
After the cops came to know that they have been videotaped, head constable Manjit Singh came near finance minister Manpreet Badal’s vehicle, seeking apology. “Tuhadi jutti te mera sar, ek baar bakhsh do” (You can hit my head with shoe, forgive me once)”. Manpreet rebuffed the cop saying “you are getting ₹50,000 as salary and still accepting bribe”.
On Wednesday, when Ludhiana police commissioner Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh gave premature retirement to three traffic cops for challaning a Sikh woman in defiance of his order, nearly half of the cops who attended a briefing convened by him in the evening were drunk, if the officer is to be believed. As per the commissioner, 20% of the cops didn’t attend the meeting and about 30% of the men in the traffic wing comprising 254 personnel were physically unfit.
The commissioner ordered a major reshuffle in the department on Thursday, transferring almost all the staff posted with the traffic wing elsewhere. He also reduced the strength of the traffic wing in city by 60% to ‘streamline traffic through selfpolicing’.
The commissioner also ordered that no cop will be deployed in the traffic wing for more than a year. Also, those aged 40 and above will not be posted with the traffic wing, he said. He also abolished the post of traffic munshi with a duty officer, who will an assistant sub-inspector level officer and at least a graduate, assisted by a constable.
‘CALL WAS MADE TO DGP TO DEFAME ME
The commissioner said a call was made to the DGP (law and order) by ‘someone’ from within the police department informing him that “I had ordered that Sikh women should be challaned”. He said challaning a Sikh woman two-sheeler rider for not wearing a helmet was a well-planned conspiracy to defame him by creating a controversy on the basis of religion. The commissioner had ordered that no challans be issued in Ludhiana for the next one month.
“It was a well planned attempt to defame me by creatinga controversy and giving it a religious colour,” he said. He, however, said he was reconsidering his ‘no-challan’ order.
Those given premature retirement on Wednesday were: ASIs Kulwinder Singh, Davinder Singh and head constable Neel Kanth.
To prevent crime against women, the commissioner has formed two all-woman teams to check eve teasing and harassment of women.
If Captain Amarinder Singh’s first innings as chief minister of Punjab is remembered for sending the Badals to jail, an anti-corruption drive and a bold stand on SYL issue, the second innings that started three days back will be defined by how he deals with bad financial health of the state, SYL controversy, unemployment and his ‘famous’ coterie.New state finance minister Manpreet Badal has already said that the government has inherited a financial mess from the SAD-BJP government. The state has a debt burden of Rs 1.7 lakh crore. So, it’d appear the next five years are not going to be smooth.The Akali Dal dismisses his allegation. Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa, SAD general secretary, says every new government claims that their predecessor left nothing for them. “The Congress is doing the same. We started development works at a mega scale across the state. Would it have been possible without having a sound financial health?” he asks.He says that everybody thinks that the present government will continue with the development work and fulfill the promises they have made to the people. “We do hope that Amarinder would not resort to vendetta politics against the Akalis or BJP workers.” AAP’s HS Phoolka, who is also leader of the opposition in the Assembly, met the new Chief Minister on Friday and promised to play a constructive role. “We expect them to protect Punjab’s interests in the SYL, end drug menace within four weeks and give a job to each household. Amarinder Singh must remember that his party has been given a thumping mandate. If they treat it as an election jumla as the BJP does, then AAP will hit the roads,” he said.AAP thinks that the coterie around the Captain is the key troublemaker. “The Captain is a well meaning man, but the problem is his coterie. I have seen him for two decades being surrounded by the same set of people. They never allow him to see the real picture,” says Sukhpal Khaira, AAP’s chief whip. “The CM must first throw out the corrupt if he wants government to function.”The BJP says the party will wait and watch. “At this moment, we are hopeful that the new government will continue the welfare schemes started by our government,” says Madan Mohan Mittal, former cabinet minister.For Communist Party of India, the biggest concern is promises made by the Congress in its manifesto. “It is time to deliver on Rs 2500 allowance promised to the unemployed youth. The countdown has begun for making Punjab drugs-free within four weeks and for employment in each house,” says Hardev Singh Arshi, state CPI secretary.
Srinagar, March 17
In a rare denouncement of Pakistan, the separatist camp in Kashmir today said Islamabad’s proposal to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as its fifth province is “unacceptable”, saying it will have a “damaging impact” on the state’s “disputed status”.“Any proposal to declare Gilgit-Baltistan as (the) fifth state of Pakistan is unacceptable,” Syed Ali Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik said in a joint statement here. The separatists said the people in Jammu and Kashmir have “always accepted the role of Pakistan as a party to the issue; however, any step which may hamper the disputed status of Kashmir is unacceptable”.The rare denouncement of Islamabad comes days after reports that a committee headed by Pakistan PM’s adviser on foreign affairs, Sartaj Aziz, has proposed giving the status of a province to Gilgit-Baltistan. Made up of seven districts, it is the northern-most territory of the erstwhile monarchical state of J&K as it existed prior to 1947.The separatists said the proposal “will have a damaging impact on the disputed status of the state… unless and until the people are provided an opportunity to decide the future course through a referendum, no division, alteration and changes are acceptable”. — TNS
Tribune News Service
Jaipur/New Delhi, March 15
Three persons were injured when an Indian Air Force Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet on a routine sortie crashed into a field at Devaniyon ki Dhani, 10 km from Barmer’s Sadar police station, around 2 pm today. Two pilots on board the aircraft escaped unhurt.The three injured villagers — Naranaram, 60, his wife Dallu, 58, and son Hanuman, 40 — were taken to the Barmer District Hospital where their condition was stated to be serious, a police officer said.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Both pilots ejected safely after the Sukhoi developed a technical snag, Defence Public Relations Officer Lt Col Manish Ojha said. The IAF has ordered a Court of Inquiry into the incident.The aircraft had taken off from the Uttarlai airbase in Barmer. As the aircraft hit the ground, some of its flying parts hit the three villagers. The crashing jet created a crater in the sand and also damaged some thatched houses. The seventh crash of the frontline fighter jet since April 2009 has rekindled the debate of upgrading the aircraft originally purchased from Russia and subsequently licence-produced at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) facility in India.On Russia’s recommendation, 400 engines of the twin-engine aircraft have undergone modification at HAL’s Sukhoi engine plant in Orissa. The Su-30 MKI is a twin-engine aircraft and can land even if one of its engines fails mid-air. But this limits the pilot’s ability to attack or withdraw during conflict.
New Delhi, March 14Pakistan’s military has reared “good” terrorists for cross-border missions while battling “bad” militants that fail to toe its line, Vice-President Hamid Ansari said on Tuesday.Attacking Pakistan for use of terrorism as state policy, he said the most virulent factor fuelling terrorism is state sponsorship of and collusion with terrorists.”A case in point is Pakistan’s use of extremist groups as an instrument of foreign policy is well documented…,” he said while addressing the third Counter Terrorism Conference organised by India Foundation.Ansari said the availability of financial resources is critical to the success of these extremist groups as misplaced sense of charity, or religious duty, on the part of citizens contributes to it.”Linked to it is the misuse of institutions intended to impart faith-based education. Instances of it abound in Pakistan and Bangladesh and also in other countries of the Indian Ocean littoral.”These misinterpret religious texts to induce intolerance which, in turn, promotes a narrow and bigoted approach that is conducive to use of violence,” he said.Ansari said essentially, the Pakistani military has reared “good” terrorists for cross-border missions while battling “bad” militants that fail to toe its line.He also said the powers which created conditions for the rise of ISIS are the same which are claiming to be its victim.”In recent times, the rise of ISIS or Daesh in Syria-Iraq has caught the attention of the world. Yet, even a cursory study of the factors that led to the rapid rise of such dangerous forces reveals that the very actors, who now claim to be threatened by it, have been responsible for creating the conditions–directly or indirectly–that led to its rise,” he said.Ansari said the removal of existing regimes and subsequent breakdown of governance resulted in extremist groups capturing the political initiative by exploiting the resentment and anger of the local populations and carrying out terrorist acts with impunity.”The repeated attempts at regime change by force and with utter disregard for the local ramifications and fall-outs, had led to the quagmire- whether it be in Syria-Iraq that led to ISIS; or, Afghanistan which led to Taliban/Al Qaida; or, Libya that led to Al-Jama’a,” he said.The so-called war on terror has bred its own brand of deprivation and suffering with hundreds of people being killed or injured, even if they were not related to terrorist activities, he said.”This has led to anger and a desire to seek justice by any means, resulting in extremist action and terrorist violence,” Ansari said.In the aftermath of wars, the impacted communities are caught in a vicious circle of population pressures, resource stress, popular discontent and political instability making them susceptible to a pervasive extremist culture, he said.”Weak or dysfunctional states are more likely to host terrorist groups that target not only their host states but also carry out transnational attacks,” he said.According to Ansari, the stated motivation of each terrorist group related to addressing grievance of political nature, very often embedded in and seeking empowerment from ethnic, nationalist, or religious sources.He said cross-border terrorism promoted by regimes as ‘war by other means’ on their neighbours is the most abhorrent which India have had to suffer for a number of years.”Such terrorism is sustained by external agencies and states. There is now wider recognition that this is the type of terrorism which creates conditions for growth of terrorist networks into massive conglomerates with international operations,” he said.The Vice-President said neither pious denunciations nor generalised prescriptions are sufficient to combat terrorism in all its manifestations.”A beginning has to be made in each case by understanding its operational philosophy, strategy and tactics, its targets and support systems,” he said.He said since unprovoked violence is inimical to human nature, groups and individuals resorting to terrorism or violent extremism seek to cloak their acts in motivations premised on value systems – secular, ethical or faith-based – that could be cited in justification.”This notwithstanding, the political temptation to attribute it to individual creeds is often overwhelming and, for the same reason, must be resisted if strategies and tactics to counter terrorism are to be both credible and productive,” he said.Ansari said use of indiscriminate force and heavy handed action debases the protection of human rights and can lead to an institutionalisation of oppression — fostering a culture of impunity within state security forces and agencies.He said at the same time, countries being taken by a surprise terrorist attack face the problem of responding swiftly without causing economic and societal disruptions.”We need a flexible frame-work of security that respects the diversity of security perspectives and developmental choices of member states and is based on a clear renunciation by all parties of the threat or use of force against any other state, aimed at promotion of connectivity in accordance with international law to promote and protect the well-being of all peoples who inhabit the Indian Ocean region,” he said. — PTI
