Tribune News Service
Srinagar, May 26
Four militants were killed in a gunfight with the Army on the Line of Control (LoC) after an infiltration attempt from across the border with Pakistan was foiled early on Saturday, officials said.The operation, which is still in progress, was launched in north Kashmir border area of Tanghdar, around 120 km from here.“Four terrorists were killed while attempting to infiltrate early morning on Saturday,” a defence spokesperson said. With IANS
LHUNZE WAS IN THE NEWS WHEN PRESIDENT XI URGED TIBETAN HERDSMEN ALONG THE ARUNACHAL BORDER TO “SET DOWN ROOTS” AND SAFEGUARD “CHINESE TERRITORY”.
BEIJING: China on Monday defended large-scale mining operations in the Himalayas close to the Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh to extract minerals worth billions of dollars, saying it has “full sovereignty” to carry out “geological” activities in the region.
China has begun the operations in Lhunze county of the Tibet Autonomous Region, next to Arunachal Pradesh, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported on Sunday.
The report said a huge cache of gold, silver and other precious minerals valued at about $60 billion has been found in the remote and ecologically fragile area.
“I have also noted the report mentioned by you. The area mentioned by the report totally belongs to China,” foreign ministry spokesperson Lu Kang told a regular news briefing.
“China conducts regular geological and scientific research on its own territory. It is completely within China’s sovereignty. China always attaches importance to protecting the ecological environment. We hope relevant media can refrain from hyping up based on groundless report,” Lu said. Quoting its sources, the Post reported that “the mines are part of an ambitious plan by Beijing to reclaim South Tibet, a sizeable chunk of disputed territory currently under Indian control”.
It added that “China’s moves to lay claim to the region’s natural resources while rapidly building up infrastructure could turn it into ‘another South China Sea’”.
Spokesperson Lu didn’t directly deny the report but seemingly dismissed the insinuation about reclaiming South Tibet, which is how Arunachal Pradesh is known in China.
Lu said: “I hope the media can stop hyping up based on groundless report, and the area mentioned by the report belongs to China’s territory and the geological and scientific activities are conducted on China’s territory.”
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet and this claim is part of the bilateral dispute over 3,488 km along the Line of Actual Control.
Referring to the part of the Post’s report that said China is rapidly building infrastructure to turn the area into another South China Sea, Lu said, “I can tell you that China’s position on the IndiaChina boundary is c
Suhail A Shah
Bijbehara, May 15
A policeman was killed and another injured after militants opened fire at a police vehicle at Bijbehara town of Anantnag district on Tuesday.The slain cop has been identified as Special Police Officer (SPO) Bilal Ahmad Shah of Verinag in Anantnag district while the injured has been identified as Head Constable Abdul Rasheed Munshi of the Ganderbal area. The shootout took place at about 4 pm along the Srinagar-Anantnag highway in the Pazalpora area. According to police reports, the militants targeted the vehicle (Tata Sumo) of the Bijbehara police station.“The militants opened fire at the vehicle near Pazalpora. It was retaliated by policemen but unfortunately two of our men were seriously injured,” a police officer said, adding that the militants managed to flee from the spot. The injured policemen were rushed to the nearby Sub-District Hospital, Bijbehara, where doctors declared SPO Bilal Ahmad dead. “The Head Constable suffered bullet wounds on his legs. He has been referred to Bone and Joints Hospital in Srinagar. He is out of danger,” Medical Superintendent Showkat said. Later, a wreath-laying ceremony was held for the slain SPO at District Police Lines, Anantnag. Following the shootout, the security forces rushed to the area and a cordon and search operation was launched.
Honour in a uniform is priceless, sacrosanct and trumps all. The apathetic ignorance of the sensitivities, emotions and challenges that beset the Indian Armed Forces and the uniformed fraternity is painful
Since time immemorial, military uniforms are freighted with inviolable and complex symbolisms that are seldom understood in its entirety outside of the ‘uniformed’ fraternity, first and foremost, because it is a unique cut-of-cloth that is ‘earned’ and not ‘bought’.
The gentleman/lady cadets who get the honour and privilege of partaking the solemn ‘pipping ceremony’ understand the enormity of ‘burden’ that their specific uniform affords on each of them for the rest of their lives. The distinguishing features of each of these uniforms are borne of the sacrifices, blood and soul-stirring valour that compose the various elements of the uniform.
From the colour, lanyard, beret, badges and heckles, each carries a historical legacy, commitment and the spirit of all those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice in upholding the sheen of the said uniform and by that extension, the nation.
Besides, the functionality of distinguishing the classification of combatants in an orderly manner, it embeds the inviolable pride and emotional rationale on to the wearers to do some irrational acts of bravery and sacrifice in the line of duty.
Befittingly, on retirement, one ‘hangs the uniform’ and not discards, and certainly never ‘sells’ the same, whatever be the commercial gratification. Within the Indian Armed Forces, the physical manifestation of naam, namak, nishan (reputation, fidelity, flag/standard), is the uniform. Little wonder, the Armoured Corps pride on calling themselves ‘Black Berets’, the Para-commandos on wearing their ‘wings’ on the chest, or the Rajput Regiment, its fiery laal saafa!
Today, emotions within the uniformed fraternity (including veterans) are fraught with uncertainty — from the debilitating shortages of personnel, materials, welfare, facilities to a sadly transactional relationship with the society-at-large, which only wakes to the ‘uniform’ as the last course of hope, when everything else fails. The language of military citations, ‘going beyond the call of duty’ has gained an unfortunate expanse wherein, any natural disaster, policing/administrative failure, to even the failures of railway engineers, is seconded to the Indian Armed Forces.
Yet, the parallel optics of the ingrained behavioural conduct that becomes part of an individual’s DNA, once the uniform is adorned, is apathetically and unprecedentedly ignored with the reality of bravehearts protesting in a disciplined manner for over 1,000 days on the footpaths, asking only for what was promised, and later dismissed as jumla. This backdrop has made the institution wounded, affronted and hyper-sensitive to any perceived sense of trivilisation, liberty and casual-usurpation of its elements of izzat or dignity.
Similarly, the Indian Navy is replete with sagas and traditions of sacrifice to uphold its own codes of seamanship — the poignant citation of Captain MN Mulla MVC reads, “….whilst the ship was sinking…refused to save himself by giving his own life-saving gear to a sailor. Having directed as many of his men as possible to leave the ship, Capt Mulla went back to the bridge to see what further rescue operations could be performed. In doing so, Capt Mulla was last seen going down with his ship”.
Having zealously honoured, guarded and protected their words and elements, it is little wonder that the news that a Naval ‘uniform’ worn by an actor (Akshay Kumar), which was to go under the hammer, militated against the sensibilities of the uniformed fraternity.
The struggle to explain the sacrosanct nuances of the ‘uniform’ were raw when an infuriated veteran lamented, “Uniform is earned with your blood, toil and sweat which is placed on the mortal remains of a soldiers along with the tricolour”.
The other indecorous, inelegant and unwarranted tenor of mutual exchange aside, the flare-up was deeply symptomatic of the societal divide in ‘understanding’ and ‘empathy’, between the Armed Forces and the civilian citizenry.
For a soldier, a uniform is like a flag (of the unit, service or a nation) and there are laid down protocols and procedures to handle its disposal in consonance with the dignity, formality and emotions attached to it. There are written and unwritten rules governing the ‘uniform’ and its potential ‘misuse’, even if it is for a good purpose. Irrespective of the nobility of the ‘use’ and the
accompanying intent (in this case, to raise funds for animal welfare), the sanctity of the uniform ought to trump all other passions, causes and considerations!
The uniform simply stands for a lot more than any individual, cause, or even a military combatant, who too is subjected to the upheld constraints, restraints and privileges on the uniform. While the Indian Armed Forces also do their own bit for various civilian causes and to contribute towards the same for example, blood banks, medical camps among others, but not at the cost of their hallowed traditions, rules and regulations.
Therefore, the well-meaning actor’s plea that, “I and my wife are doing some work with good intention for a good cause”, does not hold ground.
Either a piece of clothing is a ‘costume’ or it is a ‘uniform’ and difference is not just semantics, and to use it inter-changeably could be construed as a deliberate affront, especially in the times that be.
The actor’s insistence on calling it an “original Naval uniform I wore in Rustom” — is to tread on raw emotions. It is equally important for the uniformed fraternity to explain its concerns and sensitivities in a manner behooving the institutional conduct, which mandates certain dignity and respect in expression. The concept of ‘OLQ’s (officer-like-conduct) cannot be frittered away towards reckless bravado and
intimidation.
The challenge is for the twain of the reel-heroes to meet and understand the world of real-heroes, and their frustrations in the ‘new-normal’ world of today. Ironically, much like the plot of the movie Rustom itself, honour and fidelity is worth life itself for the soldiers.
No further grandstanding is required from either side, as it is not about the intent of the people involved in this fracas — but of a larger issue of an institution that still proudly puts no commercial ‘price’ to its honour, irrespective of the changed and disinterested world around.
(The writer is a former Lt Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, and Puducherry, and a military veteran)
New Delhi, April 30
Former Chief of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Idris Lateef died at his home in Hyderabad on Monday. He was 94.Lateef was Chief of the Indian Air Force from September 1978 to August 1981. The Air Chief Marshal was involved in various far-reaching policy and equipment-related decisions as he slowly rose in hierarchy. At some stages of his career, he was involved in the induction of Jaguar fighter jets, MiG 25 (a spy plane) and MiG 23. The MI-series attack helicopters and the AN 32 transport planes started fructifying while he was the Chief.On retirement, he served as Governor of Maharashtra, the Lieutenant Governor of Goa and finally as Ambassador to France from April 1985 to April 1988. His wife Bilkees Lateef died in October last year. — TNS
Pakistan Rangers may be using `heat-resistant dress` to avoid detection by the Thermal Imaging Devices installed by the BSF on the international border, claim intelligence agencies.
NEW DELHI: The heightened surveillance and border paroling by the Indian security forces may have compelled the Pakistan Rangers (Pakistani border troops) to devise new ways to avoid detection and take aim at their Indian counterparts.
According to the inputs gathered by the intelligence agencies, the officials of Pakistan Rangers are now relying on ‘heat-resistant dress’ to avoid detection by the Thermal Imaging Devices installed by the Border Security Force (BSF) to keep an eye on any suspicious activity from across the international border.
The Pakistan Rangers may be using ‘thermal camouflage suits’ to avoid detection by BSF’s night vision devices, the reports said. This has come to light after a BSF jawan was killed along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir in an indiscriminate firing by the Pakistan Rangers on May 18.
This “disturbing” first-time instance has rattled the BSF and the Army which is responsible for ensuring security at the International Border between India and Pakistan and the un-fenced Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
Twenty-eight-year-old Constable Sitaram Yadav of the 192nd battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) was shot with a precise close-range aim by either a militant or Special Service Group (SSG) trooper from the Pakistani side at about 1:30 am on May 18, the intelligence agencies said.
The 192nd Battalion mans a forward post along the IB in the RS Pora region of Jammu and Kashmir.
The official sources claimed that Yadav was immediately evacuated by two other BSF men present in the nearby post but he later succumbed to his bullet wound in his left eye.
A scrutiny of the local Hand-Held Thermal Imager (HHTI) showed that a very-grained black shadow like movement was recorded on the monitor and it came very close to the BSF post and fired shots, that is suspected to have hit the jawan leading to his death, the electronic surveillance report said.
However, the HHTI, deployed in the border areas for night vision and surveillance, could not clearly pick the black shadow of an approaching man as he might be wearing a ‘thermal camouflage suit’ that insulates the body heat of a person, the report said.
HHTI picks up the body heat signatures of a living being – a human or an animal – and creates a silhouette that helps the BSF and the Army to check infiltration bids and attacks on their posts in the dead of the night.
“The electronic surveillance of the incident is being analysed and nothing can be ruled out. It could be a new camouflage overall that the Pakistani side is using to take a close aim and hit Indian troops at the border or it could also be an indigenous way of wearing a wet-sack like clothing to evade the HHTI radar,” a senior officer in the security establishment was quoted as saying by PTI.
The officer said that this “menacing stealth operation”– carried out either by terrorists, the SSG or Pak Rangers – is a worrying development and is being investigated thoroughly.
”There are such thermal camouflage or insulation suits available across the globe that are used for such tactical and surprise attacks on the enemy and before anything is conclusively said, all aspects of this latest development have to be studied as it concerns border security,” the officer added.
Rachna Khaira
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, May 24
Following the recent order of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to reopen all cantonment roads to the public, Army veterans in the country have waged a battle in this regard on the social media.With #Cantt security on the Twitter, the veterans have termed it a politically motivated decision to woo voters. Even families of serving and retired officers have joined the crusade, they have termed “Battle of open gates”. Sources said a senior official in the Southern Command had refused to open all roads before reviewing the security protocol and sought similar response from other commands.“Govt decides to open Cant roads to the public with immediate effect. Move will adversely affect security of military units and personnel stationed in Cants. Hawkers, political gatherings meetings & processions will become the norm. Wonder what made the Services top brass accept the move.” – posted by the Twitter handle by name Brig V Mahalingam.A Twitter handle by name Ginni Rastogi posting a letter on behalf of the Army families even asked the Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman as to what will the government do if they were held hostage.“What if anyone keeps us hostage? What will the government do? We all know what had happened at the family quarters of Jammu and Pathankot. Instead of tightening the security, the government has opened gates. Please reconsider your decision,” tweets Rastogi.In Jalandhar too, a feeling of anguish has been reported both in the serving and retired Army fraternity. Many senior officials have slammed the decision and said the move had once again separated the families in peace station as the jawans were told to put in extra working hours on security duties.“A cantonment like Jalandhar is open from all sides. The government should have first ensured to construct walls around the cantonment before allowing a free way to the general public. Now, it would be easy for anti-national forces to enter and escape from anywhere after causing damage to lives and Army establishments,” said an officer. Also, the Army fraternity has slammed the local MP for approaching the MoD with this demand. “They should have constructed link roads in the cantonment periphery instead of putting the Army security in jeopardy,” said another veteran.However, defending the front on behalf of the MoD, Lt-Gen HS Panag has termed the security risk in cantonment areas as a “bogey”. “Most have not read the cantt Board Act. Conceived as townships, never exclusively as military stations,” tweeted Gen Panag.He added that only type A land in cantonment areas were to be used exclusively by military and could be fenced with access denied to the general public.
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet.
Beijing, May 20
China has begun large-scale mining operations on its side of the border with Arunachal Pradesh where a huge trove of gold, silver and other precious minerals valued at about $60 billion has been found, a media report said on Sunday.
The mine project is being undertaken in Lhunze County under Chinese control adjacent to the Indian border, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet.
Projecting the mining operations as part of China’s move to take over Arunachal Pradesh, the report said “people familiar with the project say the mines are part of an ambitious plan by Beijing to reclaim South Tibet”.
“China’s moves to lay claim to the region’s natural resources while rapidly building up infrastructure could turn it into ‘another South China Sea’,” it said.
The Post report with inputs from local officials, Chinese geologists and strategic experts comes less than a month after the first ever informal summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping that was aimed at cooling tensions to avert incidents like the Dokalam military standoff last year.
The 73-day standoff marked a new low in bilateral ties.
Lhunze was in the news last October, just about two months after Dokalam, when Xi in a rare gesture replied to correspondence from a herding family in Lhunze County underscoring Beijing’s claim to the area.
The family is based in Yumai, China’s smallest town in terms of population, located close to Arunachal Pradesh.
Xi thanked the father and his two daughters for their loyalty and contributions to China, and also urged the people of Lhunze to “set down roots” to develop the area for the national interest.
The Post report said although mining has been going on in the world’s highest mountain range for thousands of years, the challenge of accessing the remote terrain and concerns about environmental damage had until now limited the extent of the activities.
But the unprecedented heavy investment by the Chinese government to build roads and other infrastructure in the area has made travel easy.
Most of the precious minerals, which include rare earths used to make hi-tech products, are hidden under Lhunze County, the report said.
By the end of last year, the scale of mining activity in Lhunze had surpassed that of all other areas in Tibet, it said.
People have poured into the area so fast that even local government officials could not provide a precise count for the current population, it said.
“Enormous, deep tunnels have been dug into the mountains along the military confrontation line, allowing thousands of tonnes of ore to be loaded and transported out by trucks daily, along roads built through every village,” it said.
Extensive power lines and communication networks have been established, while construction is under way on an airport that can handle passenger jets, it said.
With more mines being dug in Lhunze and surroundings, a county official told the Post that more than 80 per cent of the county government’s tax income came from mining.
The mines would also lead to a situation akin to “another South China Sea” arising out of the world’s highest mountain range, it said.
Zheng Youye, a professor at the China University of Geosciences in Beijing and the lead scientist for a Beijing-funded northern Himalayan minerals survey, confirmed to the Post that a series of discoveries in recent years put the potential value of ores under Lhunze and the nearby area at 370 billion yuan ($58 billion).
“This is just a preliminary estimate. More surveys are underway,” he said.
There could be more big discoveries as Chinese researchers learn more about the area. With strong financial backing from the government, they have already amassed extensive data on the region.
According to Zheng, the newfound ores could tip the balance of power between China and India in the Himalayas.
He said Chinese troops withdrew in the 1962 war from the areas in Arunachal Pradesh as they had no people to hold the territory.
The new mining activities would lead to a rapid and significant increase in the Chinese population in the Himalayas, Zheng said, which would provide stable, long-term support for any diplomatic or military operations aimed at gradually driving Indian forces out of territory claimed by China.
“This is similar to what has happened in the South China Sea” where Beijing has claimed much of the contested waters by building artificial islands and increasing its naval activity, he said.
Hao Xiaoguang, a researcher with the Institute of Geodesy and Geophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan, Hubei who specialises in India-China issues said Beijing was likely to take the same approach to the Himalayas as in the South China Sea.
As China’s economic, geopolitical and military strength continues to increase, “it is only a matter of time before South Tibet returns to Chinese control”, Hao claimed.
“What China (has) achieved today in the South China Sea was almost unthinkable a decade ago. I am optimistic (about) what will happen in the Himalayas in the coming years because President Xi has made it clear that ‘not a single inch of our land will be or can be ceded from China’, which definitely includes South Tibet,” he said.
But Hao said the Lhunze mining boom would not be expanded to other areas due to environmental reasons. In Lhunze, some of the newcomers are still acclimatising. The area is already teeming with people from different parts of China.
Weng Qingzhen, who owns a Sichuan restaurant in the county, said she moved there less than two months ago after friends and relatives told her about the mining boom. PTI
Army chief General Bipin Singh Rawat has ordered that no assistants (sahayaks) be placed at the disposal of retired generals and that soldiers not be allowed to stay in coveted stations such as New Delhi or other big cities for a period exceeding their tenure as part of his efforts to reform certain aspects of the army’s policies and behaviour that seem to be driven by legacy rather than logic, according to people familiar with the matter.
According to these people, who asked not to be identified, both the decisions are in keeping with Gen Rawat’s focus since he took over his first command (a Gorkha battalion): “Are we prepared for war?”
They added that Rawat believes that soldiers are meant to fight and serve at the front, not help retired army generals with canteen duties or caddying them around golf courses.
According to people familiar with the matter in the defence ministry, this has stirred things up with the former armymen taking up the matter with the defence minister; that hasn’t changed anything, though. Army Headquarters has made it known that commanding officers will be held responsible in case jawans belonging to their units are found at the disposal of retired generals.
On the second issue, the Army chief shifted out his personal drivers, who had completed six years in Army House, to other stations, the people familiar with the matter said. He has replaced his trained VVIP drivers who know the chaotic Delhi roads well with a fresh set of personnel, including one from Dimapur in Nagaland. This rotation is not limited to jawans but goes right up to the top echelons of the Indian Army.
The people familiar with the matter said that such changes are necessary because the September 29, 2016, Surgical Strikes and last year’s 73-day stand-off with Peoples Liberation Army at Doklam have disabused the notion among the army’s 1.1 lakh personnel that there will no war in the future.
On the operational front, the army is trying take war preparedness to a new level with key strike units asked to report the condition and serviceability of platforms, whether tanks or self-propelled howitzers, and stocks of ammunition.
The instructions are clear that equipment should be battle ready even if other platforms are cannibalised for much-needed spares. While platforms should be ready, there should be enough ammunition in the inventory. The army believes that it needs 10 days of ammunition inventory to take on Pakistan but 30 days if it comes to the formidable PLA.
