Monthly Archives: August 2018

The political co-habitation between BJP and PDP in J&K has come to an end. There is no dearth of the inevitable ‘I told you so’ experts who claim that they had predicted it long ago. Equally, there are those who claim that they had the prescience to know of its failure from day one. However, in dealing with the vexed and long-festering problem in the State, which has defied solution for all these years, choosing a new direction was a bold and correct decision.   As such, the experiment failed, is no reason that it should not have been tried.
The question now is what next? It has been suggested that the security forces must go ‘all out’ to hunt down the 200-odd terrorists reportedly present in the Valley. True that. But it ignores the fact that when – and if – the SF are able to do so, there is no denying that more will trickle in from across the border, following the same methodology that these 200 have done. The supply line is unending.
Another view is that the Hurriyat leaders being the real source of the problem, and a conduit for the inflow of funds and other wherewithal for the terrorists, must be imprisoned. This fetches a cautionary call by some. It is argued by the soft pedal group that the present Hurriyat leaders are soft, and if they are taken away, a more hard-line leadership is likely to take over. However, this apprehension is unfounded. Among the terrorists or their supporters, there is nothing known as a soft or  there is nothing known as a soft or hard category. Their mindset is all the same, working against the interests of the country. Since money link of the present Hurriyat leaders with their mentors or handlers in Pakistan has already been established, they must be incarcerated without delay, and must be kept away from circulation in the State. The reality of their active involvement in fuelling unrest cannot be overlooked on a mere apprehension that their successors would tow an even harder line.
In the aftermath of sudden political developments, the flow of debate lost sight of the real issue. Killing terrorists in not synonymous with finishing terrorism.  More will keep coming despite our best efforts to check their infiltration. For indoctrinated militants, who are determined to kill and are prepared to die, no security system can ever be fool-proof. Countering terrorism is akin to tackling the menace of malaria. Swatting mosquitoes in not the solution; their source of breeding has to be neutralised. That brings us to the basic question. We have to deter Pakistan from sending terrorists and from perpetrating violence in the Valley.
Read more at:
http://www.indiandefencereview.com/news/the-kashmir-valley-what-next/

MEERUT/DELHI: 

Major Handa and Shailza Dwivedi, wife of Major Amit Dwivedi, met about three years ago in Nagaland, where both the officers were working together, the police said. Ms Dwivedi then moved to Delhi after her husband was transferred.

“He knew her since 2015… He was obsessed with her… He wanted to marry her,” said senior police officer Vijay Kumar.

Ms Dwivedi had left home on Saturday morning for a physiotherapy session at the Army Base Hospital in Delhi Cantonment, the police said.

30-year-old Shailza Dwivedi was found dead inside the Delhi cantonment.

An official vehicle assigned to her husband had dropped her outside the hospital. When the driver went to pick her up, he was told that she had not turned up for the session on Saturday, the police said. Half-an-hour later, she was found dead.

The police said they had got a call from passers-by about a body on the road. It appeared that she had been run over by a car, but when the police examined the body, they found her throat was slit.

Preliminary investigations indicated that Ms Dwivedi was last seen getting into another car from outside the hospital, the police said.
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Today, the police said Major Handa reached Delhi on Saturday to meet Ms Dwivedi and picked her up from Delhi Cantonment in his Honda City car. They said he ran her over to disguise the murder as an accident. “He called her on Saturday, slit throat with a knife and ran his car over body,” Mr Kumar said.

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Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, June 15

In the wake of intermittent spells of rain, the Mandi district administration has issued an advisory urging people, especially tourists, to take precautions while using the Chandigarh-Manali NH-21 between Mandi and Kullu. The stretch on the Pandoh dam-Kullu-Bhunter route is prone to landslides owing to the ongoing four-laning work.According to information, a landslide triggered by heavy rain damaged a vehicle near Hanogi on Thursday. The passengers, all tourists, escaped unhurt. However, the national highway remained blocked for several hours, leading to a long traffic jam. Only one-way traffic was allowed on the route till 7 pm.Sources said the district administration was mulling using an alternate route via Katola between Mandi and Kullu to ease traffic congestion in such a situation.Mandi SP Gurdev Chand Sharma said tourists were advised to be careful while using this route, especially during rain. “A police team has been deployed near the Hanogi Temple to assist commuters in case of any emergency” he added.

Had been swept away in a landslide while patrolling in December last

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, June 14

A pall of gloom descended on Makroli village in Indora area of Kangra district as body of soldier Shammi Singh was cremated with full military honours on Thursday afternoon.A large number of locals, including BJP MLA from Indora, Rita Dhiman and BJP MLA from Gagret in Una district Rajesh Thakur participated in the last journey of the late soldier.Father of the deceased soldier Kirpal Singh is a farmer. “We were hoping against hope that my only son might return home. However, a call from army authorities a day before that his remains have been recovered shattered all our hopes. He was sole bread earner in the house as I just do farming in small piece of land we own in Makroli village”, he said.Sources here said that though Shammi Singh had gone missing about six months ago, his family failed to get any assistance from the state government. When asked, SDM Indora, Gaurav Mahajan said that since the body of the late soldier had not been recovered no assistance could be provided to his family. Now the case for assistance from the state government would be processed, he said.The remains of Shammi Singh, who had gone missing on December 11 fighting nature’s fury in Kashmir’s frontier Naugam Sector in Kupwara district last year, were recovered by the Army on Wednesday after snow melted.Shammi Singh was part of an operational team which was serving at the formidable heights along the Line of Control in Uri and got swept away due to a landslide while patrolling along with two other soldiers. While the dead bodies of other soldiers were recovered by the Army the last remains of Shammi Singh could only be recovered now after snow meltThe Army release said that search and rescue operations recommenced after the snow melted this year. The search ended on June 13. At a ceremony at BB Cantonment, Maj Gen S K Sharma, Chief of Staff Chinar Corps, paid homage to the martyr. His last remains were flown to his native Makroli village on Thursday.Shammi Singh (26) had joined the Army in 2012. He is survived by father, mother and two sisters.

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 12

The Army on Tuesday launched its ‘Kashmir Super 30 (Medical)’ project under which the aspirants will be provided coaching for admission to various medical colleges in India.The Army’s project is afull-time residential programme providing coaching and guidance to the aspirants for a period of 12 months to clear the entrance examinations of various medical colleges across the country.Srinagar-based defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said the programme was being executed by a Kanpur-based NGO, National Integrity and Educational Development Organisation (NIEDO), which would provide the faculty for academics and the Army would oversee the overall administration, logistics and infrastructure with requisite annual funding from Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited.The prestigious centre located at Srinagar was inaugurated by the Chinar Corps chief, Lt Gen AK Bhatt.The spokesman said after the signing of a memorandum of understanding at the headquarters of the Chinar Corps on March 15, NIEDO carried out an exhaustive selection process across Jammu and Kashmir by conducting a written examination for over 1,400 students which was followed by screening tests and interviews of the 170 shortlisted students. “Finally, only 30 bright, talented and aspiring students have been selected for training for a period of 12 months,” he added.Lt Gen AK Bhatt complimented the selected students and urged them to continue their hard work. “I will be happy to see you all joining the medical colleges across India next year,” he said.

Kishanganga dam dispute

Islamabad, June 5

The World Bank has asked Pakistan that it should accept India’s offer of appointing a “neutral expert” on the Kishanganga Dam dispute instead of insisting to refer it to the International Court of Arbitration (ICA), according to a media report on Tuesday.Pakistan considers the construction of Kishanganga Dam in Kashmir over the waters flowing into the western rivers a violation of the Indus Waters Treaty 1960. It wants the dispute to be referred to the ICA.World Bank president Jim Yong Kim, in a fresh communication, last week advised Pakistan to withdraw from its stand of taking the matter to the ICA, Dawn reported. The bank had on November 10, 2016, even picked a US chief justice, the rector of Imperial College, London, and the World Bank president for appointing chairman of the court to resolve the dispute over the dam, the report said.India says there are differences between it and Pakistan over the design of the dam and, therefore, the matter should be addressed by some neutral experts.A source privy to the development told the paper that Pakistan believed that acceding to India’s proposal of referring the dispute to neutral experts or withdrawing from its stand would mean closing the doors of arbitration and surrendering its right of raising disputes before international courts. “It will become a precedent and every time a dispute emerges between Pakistan and India, the latter will always opt for dispute resolution through neutral experts,” the source said.On December 12, 2016, the World Bank president had informed Pakistan through a letter to then Finance Minister Ishaq Dar that he had decided to “pause” the process of appointing the ICA chairman as well as the neutral expert. Dar had lodged a protest with the World Bank, telling it that Pakistan would not recognise the pause. He had asked the bank to play its due role in the matter.Pakistan believes that on the one hand the World Bank has tied its hands from raising the dispute at the ICA, and on the other, it has not blocked the Indian effort to complete the construction of the dam.The World Bank, an arbitrator in water disputes between India and Pakistan according to the 1960 treaty, did not even heed to Pakistan’s concern when provided with satellite images during a number of meetings with the bank that India was constructing the dam. The bank even denied Pakistan the opportunity to stay the construction of the dam, the report said.In February last year, the World Bank further extended its pause until the secretary-level talks between the two countries bore some fruits. Subsequently, four rounds of talks were held in February, April, July and September in Washington in which the bank was willing to appoint an international court to determine which forum under the treaty was proper — arbitration or neutral experts. But India did not accept it, the source said.The World Bank even declined Pakistan’s forceful plea on May 22, 2018, asking it to express concern by stating that it had “noted the inauguration of the Kishanganga Dam by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, the source added. PTI

A recent order by defence minister Nirmala Sitaram, to open up cantonment road for general public has created an uproar. While the general public seems to be rejoicing the decision as this has genuinely lessened some of it’s pain in commute but the armed forces community seems to be disheartened and is still assessing the issues that can be because of this decision.

Irrespective of who is right, one thing for sure has happened and has happened for the first time and that is both communities seem to be against each other. Kudos to Nirmala Sitaraman on achieving this.

Some of the concerns which have been voiced are mainly arising out of safety and security of highly sensitive areas, which also falls under the preview of these cantonments.

Concerns related to the safety of families who generally stay alone, as men would be posted far from their homes for duty, serving the nation has also been raised.

But there is one moot point which somehow seems to be missing.

Why do you think that such a mechanism was created, why did we create a secluded society which has its own area marked with no access/restricted access to general public / civilians? Why do they have their own schools/colleges, shopping malls(Canteens), their own mess for wining and dining and their own temple/mosque/gurudwara (all clubbed in one)? Their own police, their own courts? And then also ensuring that no one settles in any specific location by enforcing frequent transfers.

Why was such a setup created, a very secluded, kind of a cocoon? A world of its own. A society of its own type?

Army’s ability to function as the most reliable agency for the State comes from this very secluded nature of the institution. Why do police fail in controlling riots? Well, one of the reasons says – because they start associating themselves with rioters and instead of controlling, they start participating with them. The rioter could be his next door neighbour, the stone palter could be neighbor’s son, and so on and so forth. And even if the policemen want to remain unbiased he still carries the risk, as he has to go back to those same people, the same society which won’t be easy as you were tough on them.

That’s where army comes in. It is these same men who are staying in those cantonment, secluded, untouched, unrelated and unbiased to the outside world who come and finally help control situations like strikes and riots……leave terrorism aside, I am not even going there! They could do this only because for them everyone is same, everyone is unknown and no relation with anyone whatsoever. No religion, no caste, a totally pure unbiased approach to the situation. They just follow what State desires.

The strength and character of the institution derives lot of power from this very protective and secluded setup that has been created for them. The institution has successfully remained apolitical and secular even in these times where so much of negativity is flying.

The similar restrictions are put even on social media, where these men have been asked asked officially not to be part of any social media. No mingling at all.

If we want at least one agency to be able to work without any biases and deliver when all odds are against you, then please don’t touch this very basic setup. Understand this, the restriction is not on civilians, although it may look like, but the truth is that all these restrictions are placed on these men and their families.

There was no intention to trouble civil population, in fact for this reason, the cantonments are setup out of the town, it’s just that these towns have overgrown themselves beyond the cantonment areas leading to some trouble to public.

If required, Army should agree to uproot and setup a base outside the town but not accept this dictum. This is detrimental to the fabric of the institution, mark my word.