Monthly Archives: August 2018

Jammu, August 2

Northern Command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, accompanied by White Knight Corps Commander Lt Gen Saranjeet Singh, visited the Romeo Force at Maniyarwala in Rajouri district to review the operational preparedness and the prevailing security situation.Giving details, defence spokesperson, Jammu, Lt Col Devender Anand said the General Officer Commanding, Romeo Force, briefed the Northern Command chief on the prevailing security situation and the preparedness of the force in dealing with the same.He said the Northern Command chief also visited forward posts where he was briefed in detail on the actions being undertaken to ensure a robust counter-terrorist grid. He interacted with the soldiers and exhorted them to remain vigilant.“The Northern Command chief also visited the Nagrota military station where he was updated by the White Knight Corps Commander on the prevailing security situation and the current arrangements for the Amarnath yatra in view of the recent threats by the terrorist groups,” the defence spokesperson added.Lt Gen Ranbir Singh complimented the formation for the untiring efforts and reiterated the continued need to remain vigilant to counter the nefarious designs of the anti-national elements, he added. — TNS

London, August 25
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has described the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as a “very painful tragedy” and said he was “100 per cent” for the punishment for those involved in any violence against anybody.
Nearly 3,000 Sikhs were killed in the riots in 1984 following the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards when the Congress government was in power at the Centre.
Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to the UK, told the audience of UK-based parliamentarians and local leaders on Friday that the incident was a tragedy and painful experiences, but disagreed with the view that the Congress was “involved”.
“I think any violence done against anybody is wrong. There are legal processes ongoing in India but as far as I’m concerned anything done that was wrong during that period should be punished and I would support that 100 per cent,” he said.

“I have no confusion in my mind about that. It was a tragedy, it was a painful experience. You say that the Congress party was involved in that, I don’t agree with that. Certainly there was violence, certainly there was tragedy.”                
Later, during an interactive session at the prestigious London School of Economics (LSE) when he was again asked about the anti-Sikh riots, Gandhi said: “When Mr Manmohan Singh spoke, he spoke for all of us. As I said earlier, I am a victim of violence and I understand what it feels.”              
He was referring to the killing of his father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi by the LTTE in 1991.
“So, I am against any sort of violence against anybody on this planet. I get disturbed when I see anybody being hurt. So, I condemn that 100 per cent and I am 100 per cent for punishment for those involved in any violence against anybody. That’s crystal clear,” said Gandhi.
He said that people, who have not had violence inflicted upon them, think that violence is what one sees in movies.                                                      
 “That’s not what it is. I have seen people who I loved very much being killed. I have also seen the person (Prabhakaran) who killed my father being killed. 
“When I saw Prabhakaran lying on the beaches in Jaffna (Lanka), when I saw him being humiliated, the way he was, I felt sorry for him, because I saw my father in his place and his children in my place,” he added.
“So, when you are being hit by violence, when you understand it, it has a completely different impact on you.”  Gandhi said most people do not understand violence which is a horrible thing. 
Some Congress leaders have been accused of leading the killer mobs during the riots. They have denied the allegations. 
Earlier Gandhi had invoked Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh guru, during his address in Germany, drawing sharp reaction from the BJP which said Gandhi should apologise for the “heinous crime” at the Golden Temple. PTI

File photo of the Supreme Court.

New Delhi, August 19

The Supreme Court has restored the honour of an Army veteran who was among the officers who led the Operation Blue Star in 1984 and upheld a decision to exonerate him of charges of alleged misconduct and award him a rank of Lieutenant Colonel post-retirement.The top court upheld the decision of Armed Forces Tribunal setting aside the “punishment of reprimand” awarded to Major (now retd) Kunwar Ambreshwar Singh on charge of retaining certain electronic items recovered during the operation to flush out Sikh extremists from the Golden Temple Complex.A Bench of Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bushan dismissed the appeal of the Centre against the AFT order but reduced the cost imposed on the government from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 lakh.“We see no merit in this appeal and the same is, accordingly, dismissed. However, we find that the costs of Rs 10 lakhs imposed upon the appellant is quite excessive. We reduce the said costs to Rs 1 lakh,” the Bench said.The AFT, Lucknow, in its verdict on August 11 last year had exonerated Singh of all charges and set aside the order passed by the Chief of the Army Staff refusing to grant substantive rank of Lt Col by time scale to him and all other directions which deprived him promotional avenues.It had said, the government will promote Singh notionally on the substantive rank of Lt Col (Time Scale) along with his batch mates for the purpose of payment of arrears of salary and post-retirement dues, pension and other benefits.“The effect of Operation Blue Star of June, 1984 is still haunting and the present case is offshoot of said operation wherein a commissioned officer of Indian Army is struggling for justice since last 33 years,” the tribunal had observed.Singh was commissioned in the Army in 1967. As a Major in the 26 Madras Regiment in June 1984, he was posted at Jalandhar as part of the 38 Infantry Brigade and 15 Infantry Division. It was then that he was assigned the task to flush out Sikh extremists from the temple complex in Amritsar.The tribunal in its order noted that Singh, following the command of his superior Lt Col KMG Pannikar, led initial entry into Golden Temple Complex and apprehended one of the ‘sevadars’ of Jarnail Singh Bhindrawala.He also apprehended a large number of extremists, recovered a huge cache arms, ammunition, explosives and documents and had made clearance of Western and Southern Parikrama, final clearance of Akal Takht, neutralisation of Gurdwara at Dukh Bhajan Berry, the facts not denied by the Army or the government.After the completion of the operations, the officer was undisputedly recommended for Ashok Chakra. The government did not categorically deny the fact of recommendation of the gallantry award to Singh, but maintained it was a confidential record and may have been weeded out.The tribunal noted that the problem started on June 8, 1984, when some troops of the Unit recovered four electronic items, which included one Videocassette Recorder, one-three-in-one music system, one Akai Deck and one colour TV.“The items were brought to Battalion Headquarters in presence of Lt Col Pannikar. According to the petitioner, troops requested that these items should be kept as souvenirs, which was acceded by Lt Col Pannikar. It was Lt Col Pannikar, who instructed Capt Rajiv Chopra to bring the four electronic items and keep them in Unit Lines at Jalandhar,” the tribunal order said.It said that Army and the government have failed to establish even an iota of charges against Singh who seems to have been “arbitrarily and vexatiously” prosecuted and punished.The tribunal said that those who actually took the decision to retain the items as souvenir have been promoted to higher ranks and enjoyed higher status and rank of Army service and a person who has worked hard with appreciation in his service career, recommendee of Ashok Chakra, suffered because of no fault.The AFT had set aside a court of Inquiry finding which had blamed five officers, including Singh, for illegal detention of four electronic items.“We have noticed that from the finding and opinion expressed by the Court of Inquiry and the statements of the witnesses under Court of Inquiry, no case is made out solely against the petitioner. No recovery was done from petitioner’s house. Items were recovered from his neighbour’s house…,”the tribunal had noted. — PTI

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 17

The Army has said the situation in the conflict-torn Kashmir valley, where the number of youth joining the militant ranks has been on the rise, is stable but fragile.Northern Command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh made this statement earlier this week during a review of the security situation and after conducting a tour of the Line of Control as well as the hinterland, said sources.“If I was to give you an overview of the situation in Kashmir, it is stable however fragile. The violence parameters which we have seen in 2018 are relatively better as compared to 2017 and earlier years. You would have all seen that there were a large number of stone-throwing activities last year but this year it is relatively less,” he said at the meeting.The Northern Command chief held Pakistan responsible for vitiating the atmosphere in the state by pushing in militants from across the LoC. “Security forces are in full control, and we should be able to handle any of the contingencies that may arise,” he observed.So far this year, 128 youth have joined militancy whereas over 123 were killed both on the LoC and in hinterland. As many as 52 security forces personnel have also been killed. There have been 137 infiltration attempts this year.

Majid Jahangir & Suhail A Shah

Tribune reporters

Srinagar/Anantnag, August 17

Militants unleashed a fresh wave of violence on Friday, leaving a soldier, woman and an elderly man dead and three others injured across the Valley.The day began with the killing of a soldier in a gunfight in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district in the wee hours.The gunfight erupted at Kralgund in Handwara, some 90 km from Srinagar, when joint teams of the police, Army and CRPF launched a cordon and search operation after inputs about militant presence.“As the searches were being carried out, militants hiding in the area opened fire on the forces, critically wounding a soldier,” the police said. “The soldier was shifted to the Army’s 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar, where he succumbed.”The Srinagar-based defence spokesman identified the slain soldier as Rifleman Ram Babu Shahi, 25, a resident of Chitwan in Nepal.Sources said militants managed to escape after the shooting. A massive combing operation was later launched to trace the militants.A brief gunfight also broke out at Mir Mohalla in Bandipora district during a cordon and search operation. However, again the militants managed to give the security forces the slip. During the CASO, clashes broke out between the protesters and the forces.On Friday afternoon, a woman was shot dead in south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.A police officer from Pulwama said 38-year-old Shameema Akhtar of Koil village was shot dead in Drubgam village. The incident, according to the police, took place about 1 pm today.“The woman was visiting her parents in Drubgam. She was shot just outside her parent’s house,” the officer said. “Preliminary reports suggest that the Hizbul Mujahideen was behind the killing.”Not more than 15 minutes after the woman was shot dead, a 70-year-old civilian was killed and three others were injured in a grenade attack in the Awantipora area of Pulwama district .“The grenade, aimed at the SSP office, fell on the roadside where it exploded leaving four civilians injured,” a police official said. “One of the injured, Abdul Ahad (70), later succumbed to his injuries.”

Army to have helipads on all forward postsJammu: At a time when the Pakistani army is becoming unpredictable on the Line of Control (LoC) and resorting to unprovoked ceasefire violations, the Indian Army is improving its communication lines to remain prepared for any eventuality. Efforts are being made to connect all forward posts on the LoC by road to make them accessible at any time. Sources said that during a meeting of officers, Northern Command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh said: “We are trying to construct helipads at every forward post so that if there is any need, our soldiers can be brought down immediately through helicopters,” he said. The Army has also updated the communication system in forward areas. Apart from mobile connectivity, three more communication lines have been set up so that soldiers remain connected with their headquarters. TNS

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 17

Faced with increasing instances of cross-border smuggling and to check unauthorised movement across the border fence, the Border Security Force (BSF) is introducing face recognition-based access-control system at gates through which farmers move to till their land.As a pilot project, one such system is being installed at a border post to monitor and regulate movement.During a visit to Amritsar, BSF Director General KK Sharma said Pakistani smugglers were trying to push in more contraband into India and that seizures by the BSF had gone up in the recent past. Connivance of some border residents, including those who cross the fence for farming, is a known fact.According to BSF sources, the face reader, with ruggedised hardware, should be fixable on a fencing gate, naka or observation post.The system, having a storage capacity of at least one lakh entries, will have a camera with infrared source for low-light conditions, that will be linked to a laptop and handheld tablets.“The system will also have information about unwanted persons such as known smugglers, criminals or blacklisted persons and generate a different alarm for them on recognition,” an officer said. “Additionally, the system will be able to register additional information in respect of farmers like vehicle, animal, farming tools, farm products and personal belonging, besides keeping a record of other persons such as helpers or labourers accompanying registered farmers by taking their photograph,” he added.

For nearly 50 years, there has been no thunder of passing trains over the bridge at Hussainiwala.  The dedication of a new bridge at the site by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday will not bring the trains to resume the now-interrupted run from Mumbai to Peshawar. That has to await better times in Indo-Pak relations. Destroyed in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, the bridge also was a symbol of India’s defensive mindset that was more in evidence on the China border where the then prevailing strategic mindset was to deny infrastructure to opposing armies to roll in. That mentality was mothballed on the China border. But for the doubters, the bridge’s reconstruction should allay any remaining doubts. This is sacred land in more ways than one. It is not only the site of pitched battles with Pakistani troops in 1965 and 1971. It was here that locals took matters in their hand and did not allow the cremation site of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and his comrades to lapse into obscurity. It is hard to believe that this land was in Pakistan till 1961 when Jawaharlal Nehru brokered an exchange that brought 12 villages into India. If sentimentality to bring back the cremation site of the martyrs was the overriding then, the nostalgia element in Sitharaman’s dedication of the bridge was also a nod to the martyr’s memorial of the freedom fighters whose sacrifices put India’s fight against colonialism in high gear. Since Indo-Pak ties are in a limbo, the immediate use of the bridge will be to promote business, agriculture and better movement of Army vehicles and ammunition.  The high-kicking and foot-stamping by border guards at Hussainiwala, less belligerent than at Wagah, will continue. But the once-principal road crossing between India and Pakistan has to await better times to become operational again. Till then, the restored bridge will stand out as a symbol of an extended hand of friendship to Pakistan if it can curb the incubation of anti-India militants on its soil.

Azhar Qadri
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, August 8Four militants were killed and a Special Forces soldier injured in a fierce gunfight in a thick forest area of north Kashmir’s Sopore sub-district on Wednesday, officials said.The militants were killed in Baramulla’s Dooniwari forest area as the gunfight raged through the day. Army’s Special Forces units were pressed into service, a defence spokesman said.“Four militants have been killed while the operation is still on,” defence spokesman Rajesh Kalai told The Tribune.The exchange of fire between militants and security forces began early morning as security forces cordoned off the jungle area after the police suspected presence of five militants in the area.A soldier from Army’s elite Parachute Regiment was injured in the initial firefight and was hospitalised with a bullet injury in the thigh, the officials said.Helicopters were pressed into service to transport soldiers even as the counter-insurgency operation was put on hold for the night.A police official said the cordon was intact. “It is a thick forest area and movement is difficult during evening and night, so we have put the operation on hold and will resume it at the first light on Thursday,” he said.No bodies of militants had yet been recovered and the identity of the outfit involved was not immediately known, the official said.This is the second major gunfight in north Kashmir in two days. On Tuesday, four soldiers, including a decorated Major, and two militants were killed in Gurez sector of Bandipora.

Nitish Sharma

Over 16 years ago Major Yogesh Gupta sacrificed his life while fighting terrorists at Surankot in Jammu and Kashmir on July 12, 2002, but his father is still waiting for a gallantry award for his brave son.Martyr’s father Ved Prakash Gupta says, “Yogesh killed four dreaded terrorists but no gallantry award was announced for him posthumously. His mother had written numerous letters to all concerned, including the Ambala GOC, the President, the Prime Minister’s Office, Union Ministry of Defence, and state government officials, but to no avail. She died last year with her desire of a gallantry award and a memorial to her son unfulfilled”.The battle casualty report of Yogesh Gupta states, “Based on specific information ‘Operation Prachand Prahar’ was launched with 9 Para (SF). At 4.30 am, contact was established with terrorists at Ranjati. In the ensuing gunfight, Major Yogesh Gupta suffered severe gunshot wounds in the abdomen. Despite being severely injured, Major Yogesh Gupta valiantly continued to engage the terrorists and killed four of them. A total of five hardcore terrorists were killed in the gunfight and Major Yogesh Gupta attained martyrdom”.“If this is not bravery, what are gallantry awards given for? Either the Army should say it had prepared a wrong casualty report or tell why the martyr has not been honoured so far,” adds Ved Prakash.He says, “After years of struggle we got a letter from the Army in October last year that the case has been examined and as per the MS Branch, Army headquarters, they did not receive any citation for a gallantry award. Honours and awards are conferred within a specific period from the date of the act qualifying for such recognition. Since the act pertains to 2002, which is more than 15 years’ old, it is not feasible to have it processed at this late stage”.The martyr’s father says, “I still remember, after my son’s martyrdom, the Commanding Officer mentioning his name being forwarded for the Ashok Chakra, but now we have been told that they did not receive any citation for a gallantry award. But we have been raising the issue for last several years, and now we are told that it is not feasible to have the case processed at this stage. If the Army did not receive the citation, at least it should have taken action on our requests made all these years”.“We are demoralised and are not expecting much. But we will continue our fight. If needed, we will approach the Punjab and Haryana High Court too,” he says.Besides the gallantry award, the family has been struggling to get a memorial or a chowk in Ambala named after Major Yogesh Gupta.After years of struggle, the family now sees a ray of hope. Ved Prakash says, “It was an attempt to keep the name of the martyr alive. Officials of the Municipal Corporation Ambala recently told us that soon a chowk in Ambala Cantonment will be renamed after Major Yogesh Gupta. We will be grateful to the local administration and Health Minister Anil Vij if a chowk is renamed after Yogesh”.  

Jammu, August 2

On the occasion of China’s Public Liberation Army (PLA) Day, a ceremonial border personnel meeting (BPM) was held between the Indian Army and PLA at the Chushul-Moldo meeting point in eastern Ladakh on the Line of Actual Control (LAC).The ceremonial meeting was marked by saluting of the national flags by delegation members.A defence spokesperson said after saluting the national flags, the leaders of both delegations addressed the meeting. This reflected the mutual desire of maintaining and improving relations at the functional level on the border, he said. After that a programme showcasing Chinese culture and traditional grandeur was organised. The defence spokesperson said both the delegations interacted in a free, congenial and cordial environment. “The delegations parted amid feeling of friendship and commitment towards enhancing the existing cordial relations and maintaining peace along the LAC,” he added. — TNS