A fauji finds himself being used as a symbol of misplaced patriotism whereas his concerns relating to pay and pension, welfare and other facilities are not being resolved.

CLEAR OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES: In this file photo, an Army officer instructs jawans during combat training at the High Altitude Warfare School at Sonamarg in Ganderbal, J&K. Mohd Amin War

Brig Gurinder Singh (Retd)

LAST month, when a friend posted a few photographs about the death of 10 safai karamcharis in Delhi on his Facebook page, he received a strange counter-argument, “So what? Aren’t the soldiers dying on the border?” That happened around August 15, when Indians are usually charged up with seasonal patriotic fervor, which this year was compounded by the Doklam crisis and the security situation in Kashmir. But it is quite distressing to note that the death of fellow citizens at the lowest rung of society, entirely due to callous and negligent contractors and officials, is trivialised by such insensitive references to the faujis. There is a growing trend of using soldiers as a shield to justify everything, invariably by those who have no knowledge of the structure, organisation, working ethos and culture of the defence forces.

Misconception in public

Code of conduct: There is a misconception in the public, especially after ‘surgical strikes’, that the day-to-day functioning of the Army is controlled/monitored/guided by the political leadership. In my four tenures (all before 2014) on the Line of Control in J&K in different capacities, including command of a brigade, I do not recall any incident where there was ever any ambiguity in the approach or condoning of any softness or lack of aggression by anyone. There has never been any doubt about the operational procedures and code of conduct, nor was there any looking back for the orders. But Sharmaji, our grocerywala, thinks that the Army has only recently been given permission to act aggressively (khuli chhoot) against infiltrators and terrorists. The utterances of Manohar Parrikar as Raksha Mantri, “The esteem of the Defence Services is lowered in the public as there has been no war in last so many years”, left one wondering about his understanding of security matters. His act of crediting the ‘Surgical Strikes’ to his own RSS training undermined the credibility of the armed forces.TV debates: To use border tension with Pakistan and China to whip up misplaced patriotic passion in TV debates is not a virtuous thought. It is okay for military officers to be taking part in such debates as defence analysts purely on military/security matters. But when they get drawn into noisy debates on nationalism, they do not enhance the reputation of the armed forces. At times, they are seen in such debates for their military demeanour as a symbol of nationalism, rather than their domain expertise. Then there is another category of self-proclaimed nationalists and well-wishers and spokespersons of the military, who have taken this pro-fauji discourse on TV and social media to altogether absurd levels. Do we need to belittle a businessman, an IT professional or a policeman by telling him that his contribution is nothing compared to that of a fauji? A soldier carries out his task because he is trained and conditioned that way and without any external considerations. Bollywood portrayal: Akshay Kumar, the film actor, recently displayed public pity on soldiers and the families of martyrs by giving a few lakhs in charity while promoting his film. Do we need to run the defence forces or the welfare of the families of the martyred soldiers on charity? This is because the public perception is largely based on inaccurate, fictitious and often larger-than-life portrayal of military men in our movies. Bollywood would serve the defence forces better if the nuances of military culture, warfare and the context are adequately researched before depicting a fauji character or theme in the movies. In this regard, our film industry should learn from Hollywood.This new-found fauji overdrive has been exploited by the advertisement industry, too. Though there is nothing wrong in exploiting the pro-military public sentiment for commercial gains, the depiction of soldiers/soldiering in such advertisements is nowhere near the real-life soldiering.  A soldier deployed at the Line of Control or other operational areas is neither a Rambo nor Robot. He detests inaccurate representation of his hardships or sacrifices being used for electoral or commercial purposes.

Defence minister’s post

Since May 2014, the post of Defence Minister has been held as an additional charge or by someone who always preferred Goan fish curry to Delhi butter chicken. With 20 months to go, the nation may have finally got a ‘full time’ Raksha Mantri. The new Defence Minister is entitled to be photographed in the cockpit of the fighter jet and on board a ship or a submarine. But the ‘full time’ minister should now address these long-pending issues concerning the uniformed personnel of the defence forces. 

Address soldiers’ issues

The soldiers will be better served if the issues related to their pay and pension are addressed, if the anomalies of the 6th and 7th pay commissions were tackled and the One Rank One Pension (OROP) was implemented in its entirety. The Reddy commission report to look into the shortcomings of OROP continues to lie in cold storage since November 16, while the faujis’ agitation at Jantar Mantar continues for more than two years. The misconceptions relating to free rations in peace stations, canteen facilities, buddy (sahayak) system must be seen in proper perspective. When the grant of Non Functional Upgradation (NFU) to defence officers is being contested by the government in the Supreme Court, even after a tribunal headed by a retired high court judge ruled in favour of defence officers, the faujis have reason to be angry. Inaction and indifference of previous governments to these matters cannot be an alibi or justification to defer or deny the soldiers their dues.  A fauji finds himself being used as a symbol of misplaced patriotism while his concerns relating to pay and pension, welfare and other facilities are not being resolved. Therefore, he has reason to be upset and angry. The saying goes, ‘new broom sweeps the corners clean’. Military cantonments are much cleaner than civil areas in the true spirit of Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan. Some broom-wielding is needed in the Ministry of Defence, too.The JNU-educated minister must make the right choice; resolve pending issues pertaining to defence personnel and focus on delivery on promises to soothe the ruffled feathers. She also must see how this unnecessary and unwarranted discourse of hyper-nationalism in the name of faujis can be stopped. 

He said the soldiers noticed suspicious movement near the LoC and challenged the suspects. Tribune file

Srinagar, October 2

The Army on Monday foiled an infiltration bid along the Line of Control (LoC) in Tangdhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir.“An infiltration bid was foiled on Monday by alert soldiers along the LoC in Tangdhar sector in north Kashmir,” an Army official said.He said the soldiers noticed suspicious movement near the LoC and challenged the suspects.“An exchange of fire took place between the sides,” he said, adding that a search operation was launched soon after the gunfire stopped.Further details are awaited. PTI

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 30

In an important development, the matter of the rank-parity is being looked into in ‘great detail’ by the Ministry of Defence (MoD), including the vital letter sent by the Prime Minister’s Office in December 2008. The letter mentioned setting up a high-powered committee to sort out parity issues.Top sources have confirmed that ‘no false equivalence’ will be allowed.  The rank-parity issue was highlighted by The Tribune in a three-part series recently.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)A  three-member committee headed by an Additional Secretary-rank officer had been tasked to study rank-equivalence norms between the armed forces and the civilians employed in the Armed Forces Headquarters, called the AFHQ cadre.The forces had lodged a serious protest, questioning the veracity of claims in the report and the documents relied upon.Sources said the MoD was looking into all angles of the rank-parity issue. Discussions are happening in the ministry and in no situation will the ministry stand to benefit or side with any one of the two sides — the forces and the AFHQ cadre of civilians. “The idea is not to benefit one side at the cost of the other, whichever that is,” sources said.Meanwhile, the MoD, in a bid to promote domestic defence manufacturing, is mulling on formulating a method under which obtaining security clearance from the Home Ministry, if delayed, will be “deemed to be approved”.After a recent meeting between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and representatives from the industry, the defence ministry is now discussing measures to help private sector industries get a final clearance, in case their request has been pending for a long time.The MoD has also asked the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to prepare a list of defence technologies it has developed and has not been given to any government or private sector for manufacturing. “Some technologies have already been given to private sector. We will work with DRDO to make a list of items which can be commercialised,” said a source.

The Elphinstone railway stations foot overbridge where a stampede took place, in Mumbai. PTI

Mumbai, October 31

The Army will hep build a new foot overbridge at the Elphinstone Road station, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis today said as Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal visited the station, where a deadly stampede took place last month.Fadnavis, who accompanied Defence minister Sitharaman and Railway Minister Goyal, said the Army will also help in building foot overbridges at two other stations here.23 people were killed in a stampede on the Elphinstone Road station foot overbridge (FOB) last month.”We are taking the Army’s help in building a new FOB at the Elphinstone Road station and at two other suburban train stations in Mumbai,” Fadnavis told reporters at the venue.”I have been informed that the work on these bridges will be completed by January 31,” he said.After the stampede on September 29, railway officials posted police personnel to manage the crowd on busy platforms, evicted hawkers from suburban train stations and started speeding up infrastructure projects on suburban network. — PTI

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Ambala, October 24

The Defence Minister has decided to give military farms in Ambala, Belguam, Secunderabad, Jammu and Meerut on lease to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).The Cabinet Committee on Security gave its approval on July 14 to close down all 39 military farms within three months. Fourteen such farms had already been shut down.Sources say it was decided in a meeting chaired by the Defence Minister recently to give these five military farms on lease to the ICAR.The sources say the Eastern Command has also been asked to identify military farms for leasing out to the ICAR in the Northeast and East.Dr Nandoo Yadav, general secretary, Military Farm Non-gazetted Employees’ Union, says: “Giving out the farms on lease is not a solution as after sometimes, the farms will be closed down.” The farms were to be closed by October 14 and the cattle handed over to the government agencies, veterinary universities and gaushalas, but no one came forward to take cattle. Now, the farms are expected to be closed by March 2018.”Yadav says permanent employees will be shifted to other departments, but there are no directions regarding temporary employees. With the closure of all farms, hundreds of temporary employees working in these farms for the past 20 to 30 years will be sacked. “Those who have been sacked so far have not been given any gratuity or compensation. They have not even been served any notice. Labour laws have been violated and hundreds of employees have been denied their legitimate rights,” he adds.The union has requested the Defence Ministry and the Prime Minister to review the decision. “The ministry has been advised not to close down the farms instantly. A policy should be adopted not to rear calves and sell them to the local population. By this way, 30 per cent strength of the animals will reduce every year and the department will close down automatically within three years,” he adds.The union had approached the SC against the Centre’s decision to close down 39 military farms across the country, but the court had asked it to approach the High Court first. The union approached the Delhi High Court on Monday and the case would come up for hearing this week, he says.

A joint party of the police, the Army and the CRPF nabbed the two militants, who were riding a mnotorcycle. Tribune file

Srinagar, October 16

Security forces have unearthed a militant module with the arrest of three ultras from Kulgam district of Jammu and Kashmir.Kashmir Inspector General of Police Munir Khan on Monday said three militants–two from the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and one from the Hizbul Mujahideen–were arrested over the past three days from south Kashmir.“On October 14, two terrorists with the intention to snatch weapons of personal security guards of a protected person fired a few rounds at Kund in Qazigund area. But they had to beat a retreat due to the hue and cry raised by locals,” Khan told reporters here.

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He said on receipt of this information, a joint party of the police, the Army and the CRPF established a check point and nabbed the two militants, who were riding a mnotorcycle.“They were identified as Khursheed Ahmad Dar and Haziq Rather. One pistol, some ammunition and a live grenade were recovered from their possession. They belong to LeT,” he added.Khan said an over-ground worker of militants–Rameez Yatoo, who worked in a medical agency in Kulgam, was arrested.“Arms and ammunition were recovered from his home. He had helped the militants in carrying out the attack on the police vehicle at Damhal Hanjipura on Saturday in which one cop lost his life,” the IGP said, adding that the attack was carried out by militants of Hizbul Mujahideen.Khan said the offer of surrender to local militants still held good. “They should lay down their arms and we will provide all support in rehabilitating them.”Police on Friday had arrested a Jaish-e-Mohammad militant, who was involved in the attack on a cavalcade of works minister Naeem Akhtar last month, from Tral area of Pulwama district. PTI

IGP, Kashmir, Muneer Khan (left) and CRPF IG Zulfikar Hassan address the media in Srinagar. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 16

Security forces in Kashmir on Monday made a renewed offer of surrender to local militants even as three local militants were arrested in the past few days.“We again appeal to local militants to surrender and live a normal life,” Inspector General of Police, Kashmir, Muneer Khan said at a press conference in Srinagar.He said they would fully support the local militants who surrendered before the security forces, even during gunfights.“Even if they surrender during encounters with the security forces, we are ready to accept such surrenders,” Khan said.Senior security officers had last month also made a joint appeal to local militants to surrender. The CRPF IG (Operations), Zulfikar Hassan, who was present during the media briefing, said they were appealing to local militants to not come under the influence of foreign militants.Khan said three militants, including two from the Lashkar-e-Toiba and one from Hizbul Mujahideen, were arrested in the past three days from south Kashmir. The three militants were today presented before the media.The IGP said the two Lashkar militants Khur sheed Ahmed Dar and Haziq Rather who tried to snatch weapons from the guards of a protected person in Qazigund, Kulgam, were arrested on October 14 in a joint operation.Khan said overground worker Rameez Yatoo, who helped militants of the Hizbul Mujahideen carry out the attack on a police vehicle at Damhal Hanji Pora in Kulgam, was also arrested.“Yatoo works in a medical agency in Kulgam. Arms and ammunition were recovered from his home,” the IGP said.On the mysterious braid-chopping incidents in Kashmir, the IGP said they had begun scientific investigation in such cases.“There is no cooperation from the victims or from their families. We have started scientific examination of the cases,” Khan said while ruling out the need for lie-detector test of the victims.Khan said SSPs and SHOs had been instructed to collect the samples of blood to know about the chemical used for making the victims unconscious.Inputs on Musa

• IGP, Kashmir, Muneer Khan said the police were analysing the input that radical militant Zakir Musa had held a meeting with a group of foreign Lashkar-e-Toiba militants in Budgam district who had infiltrated recently into the Valley
• “We are verifying the inputs about the meeting,” Khan said
• On braid-chopping incidents in Kashmir, the IGP said they had begun scientific investigation in such cases

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 15

At least 70 militants have infiltrated into Kashmir from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir so far this year.According to the Multi-Agency Centre, 70 militants, mostly from the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad, had managed to sneak into the Valley this year, sources said. MAC is a nodal agency that comprises security and intelligence officials for assessing the ground situation.“Infiltration attempts are being constantly made. The Army has been able to eliminate at least 60 militants along the Line of Control in Kashmir. However, 70 militants have been able to sneak into the Valley,” the sources said.However, a senior Army officer said the ground input was that around 45 militants had managed to sneak into the Valley.“According to the Army and police assessment, around 45 militants have managed to infiltrate into the Valley. There is some discrepancy with the MAC figures and that is being looked into,” the senior Army officer said.However, he maintained that infiltration figures were less than last year’s.At least 87 militants had managed to enter the Valley till September last year, and the number went to 112 till the end of the year, the highest since 2012.The Army officer claimed that militants from across would be now be making desperate attempts to sneak into the Valley as snow closes the mountain passes along LoC in the region for the next five or six months of winter.“We are expecting more action along the LoC as more attempts will be made to push militants in the coming months,” the officer said. “We may also see BAT action close to the LoC and we are ready for the challenges. Recently, three BAT attacks were foiled along the LoC in Kashmir.This year 166 militants, including top commanders of the Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish have been killed by the security forces this year so far. There are over 220 militants active in Kashmir.

The new ADG, Major-Gen Jugesh Chaudry, of PHH & CNCC Directorate visits the NCC HQ at Sarabha Nagar. Tribune photo

Ludhiana: The New ADG Major General, Jugesh Chaudry of PHH&C, NCC Directorate, visited the NCC Group head quarter at Sarabha Nagar. He was welcomed by the Commander Brigadier Narinder Kumar. The ADG took stock of the training being carried out and appreciated the efforts being put by instructor, ANOs and cadets. The ADG spoke with the cadets, the instructors and the ANOs at the PI Club at Punjab Mata Nagar. He encouraged the cadets to take part in all the NCC activities and take maximum advantage of facilities such as shooting, riding and flying for better career opportunities. He also felicitated the instructor, cadets including Cadet Ashiyna, who won the ‘Best Cadet’ award in the PM Rally 2017.

Srinagar, October 11

Two policemen have been detained for questioning on charges of supplying ammunition to militants in Shopian district of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said on Wednesday.The policemen were detained in Shopian following disclosure made by two over-ground workers who were arrested earlier this week, police sources said.Director General of Police SP Vaid confirmed that the policemen had been detained.“They have not been arrested yet. They are being questioned as part of the investigations,” Vaid said. PTI

JeM commander killed in Baramulla gunfight

Umer Khalid carried reward of Rs 7 lakh; 3 Hizb ultras shot

Subedar Raj Kumar

Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, October 9

Umer Khalid, the chief operations commander of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), was today gunned down in a brief gunfight at Ladoora Baramulla, 60 km from Srinagar. Later in the evening during search operations in Gatipora, Shopian, three Hizbul militants holed up inside a house were shot dead.Policemen in civvies today laid a naka near Ladoora village, located along the Baramulla-Handwara highway, following intelligence inputs that Khalid was in the area. “Intercepted and challenged by the police, Khalid hurled a grenade and opened fire. The police retaliated. Injured, Khalid took refuge in a residential building. Subsequently, a joint operation was launched and the militant was neutralised in a brief gunfight,” said a police officer. Sources claimed Khalid was not carrying any rifle.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Khalid had been operating in the area for the past two or three years and was instrumental in arranging recruits for the terror outfit, the police said. He had recently carried out an attack on an SPO and his seven-year-old son at Handwara. An A++ category terrorist, he carried a cash reward of Rs 7 lakh on his head.Reports had warned of Jaish planning more fidayeen attacks in Kashmir. The police believe Khalid had a role in the two recent attacks — one on the BSF battalion headquarters near the high-security Srinagar airport and the other on the District Police Lines at Pulwama. The attacks were carried out by Jaish’s “Afzal Guru Squad”.State police chief Shesh Paul Vaid called Khalid’s killing “a big success for the forces”. He said more than 160 militants had been killed this year so far.

JCO from Kangra dies

• In Drang, Budgam district, a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) of 53 Rashtriya Rifles, Subedar Raj Kumar, 46, a resident of Khanni Nurpur, Kangra, was killed when a patrol party was attacked on Sunday night.