Monthly Archives: August 2018

In 2000, armyman Gurcharan Singh came close to becoming the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal. The leaders of sport in the Army decided that it was time to do something — Mission Olympics was launched in 2001. Three years later, Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore climbed the podium at Athens, having won a silver in shooting.

Rohit Mahajan
Sports editor

A little woman, who usually does her best work in a shiny leotard, her face dazzling with bright makeup, has become an inspiration to several personnel of the Indian Army.

The little woman is Dipa Karmakar, who missed an Olympics medal in gymnastics by a hair’s breadth, and the men she’s inspiring are gymnasts on the rolls of the Indian Army. Two weeks ago, at the Inter-Services Gymnastic Championship, a senior officer said: “Dipa’s excellent performance at the Olympics has given a great confidence to budding players, which is a very positive thing for us.”

The soldier-sportsmen

From a professional point of view, the interest of the Indian Army has been most significant and natural in sports such as shooting, mountaineering and sailing, and the reasons are obvious. The Army operates its Marksmanship Unit in Mhow and High Altitude Warfare School, Gulmarg. Famous alumni from these institutions are Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, Vijay Kumar and Jitu Rai, and Narendra ‘Bull’ Kumar, who is credited with securing Siachen for India. The first Indians to climb Mount Everest were all armymen, and the first among them was Avtar Singh Cheema. As for sailing, the sport has been primarily propped up by the Indian Army, with sailors getting training at the Army Rowing Node in the College of Military Engineering, Pune.

The Army’s engagement with sport, however, goes much beyond warfare-oriented sports. From Dhyan Chand to Milkha Singh to Jinson Johnson and Neeraj Chopra, tens of sportspersons have a very strong bond that’s impossible to break — the one created by the Army. At this year’s Asian Games, 11 out of the 69 medals were won by men affiliated with the Indian Army, including gold by athlete Neeraj Chopra and boxer Amit Panghal.

Modern sports were introduced to India by the British, and the Indian Army in British India played a leading role in sport — the Army Sports Control Board (ASCB) was set up in March 1919, on the lines of the British body with the same name.

In 1945, the ASCB was merged with all sports organisations of the three Services, and the Services Sports Control Board (SSCB) came into being. The SSCB focuses on 18 sports in inter-services events, which have contributed international medallists such as shooter Vijay Kumar, boxers Suranjoy Singh, Dingko Singh and Kaur Singh, race-walker Chand Ram, and hockey stars such as Manohar Topno, Ignace Tirkey and Sylvanus Dung Dung, among others.

The Pune-based Army Sports Institute trains national and international level archers, athletes, boxers, divers, fencers, weightlifters and wrestlers. Nine sportspersons who train there had qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, including three marathoners.

Also in Pune, several sportspersons train at the Army Institute of Physical Training (AIPT), which initially focussed only on athletics and boxing but now also includes sports such as basketball, volleyball and karate. A gymnastics node was established in 2004 there, and in recent times, as this sport became more popular in India (courtesy Dipa Karmakar), armymen in greater numbers are taking to gymnastics. The AIPT’s focus is also on training instructors who can then go on to impart training and coaching at various units of the Army.

Mission Olympics

Starting in 1984, India had come back empty-handed from three consecutive Olympic Games. At the next two Olympics, India won a bronze medal —Leander Paes in 1996, Karnam Malleswari in 2000. In 2000, an Army boxer, Gurcharan Singh, came close to becoming the first Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal — some say he had won his quarterfinal bout, some said he lost in the final seconds of the fight.

The leaders of sport at the Indian Army decided that it was time to do something — programme Mission Olympics was launched in 2001, the idea, obviously, being to win medals at the Olympic Games. Three years later, an armyman, Major Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, climbed the podium at Athens, having won a silver medal in shooting. Eight years later, in London, Havildar Vijay Kumar emulated him, winning a silver in shooting.

The Indian Army’s athletes could not get a medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016, but it has long-term plans and hopes.

Felicitating the Army athletes who won medals at this year’s Asian Games, Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat, said: “The Asian Games was just a trailer and you will get to watch the full movie during the Olympics. That’s our endeavour for Mission Olympics.”

That might seem very optimistic, but the Army is serious about nurturing and producing international medallists — it provides equipment, support staff, coaching, accommodation and proper diet to its athletes. In other words, everything is taken care of, and then there’s job security as well. Another factor, which the Army’s athletes swear by, is discipline.

Subedar Rajiv Arokia won two silver medals at the Asian Games. Coming from a modest background, he says he could not have imagined being able to afford each aspect of his life and training, if he were not in the Army. “If I was a civilian, I would have to worry for everything: food, water, stay. But not in the Army. For any problem, the army is there to solve it,” Rajiv Arokia said after his return from the Bangkok-Palembang Asian Games.

India’s brightest prospect for an Olympics medal in athletics, Neeraj Chopra, got a sense of self-reliance after joining the Army. “My father is a farmer, mother a housewife and I live in a joint family… For me, it is a sort of a relief because now I am able to help my family financially, besides continuing with my training,” Chopra said after joining the Army as a JCO last year.

Since then, he’s won two gold in multi-sport events this year, the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games. Chopra is likely to win unprecedented success for India in international sport, and even the Olympic Games — with a bit of help from Indian Army.

rohitmahajan@tribunemail.com

Pakistan in collaboration with China will manufacture eight submarines for its maritime force. “The production will start in one to one-and-a-half-year time,” said Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works Project Director Commodore M Jahanzeb Ahsan at the IDEAS 2018, a four-day long event held at the Karachi Expo Centre.

“Half of the eight submarines of advanced version will be developed in China while the other half in Pakistan,” said Commodore Ahsan.

Pakistan and China developed understanding for the manufacturing of the submarines sometime in 2011, he said.

The top three countries with the highest number of submarines in the world are; North Korea with 86, China 73 and US 66, according to www.globalfirepower.com.

Pakistan has developed indigenous drone technology – BURRAQ Surveillance UAV – which was unveiled for exports at IDEAS 2018.

The drone was launched for export purposes after Pakistan’s armed forces successfully used it in different operations during the last three years.

“All the parts, including autopilot system, navigation and communication systems and camera, in the drone are developed indigenously, except for the engine which was not developed here due to the cost factor,” Global Industrial and Defence Solutions Pakistan Director Sales and Marketing Asad Kamal told.

Some Middle Eastern countries have shown interest to acquire the drone. “We are in talks for the potential export,” he said.

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 5

Tributes were paid to the heroes of the Chhamb battle of 1971 at a solemn ceremony at Pannu War Memorial in Akhnoor under the aegis of the Crossed Swords Division on Wednesday.

A contingent of the 5 Sikh Regiment comprising Junior Commissioned Officers and other ranks was also present. It also paid homage to the heroes of their unit.

A defence spokesman said: “During the 1971 Indo-Pak war, a Company of the 5 Sikh Regiment was entrusted with the vital role of defending the important approaches to the Chhamb sector under the leadership of Major DS Pannu.”

“Over a period of four days, the brave soldiers successfully repulsed as many as 14 attacks, thereby foiling the designs of the Pakistan army in the sector. The brave soldiers stood fast till the end despite all odds and inflicted prohibitive losses on the enemy. Many of them, including Major DS Pannu, the Company Commander, sacrificed their lives in the line of duty in the finest traditions of the Indian Army,” he said.

On the solemn occasion, Maj Gen Rajinder Dewan, General Officer Commanding, Crossed Swords Division, Col NJS Pannu (retd), brother of Late Major DS Pannu, who was awarded the Vir Chakra posthumously, and other serving and retired soldiers laid wreaths at Pannu War Memorial.

A kirtan, ardas and langar were also organised at the memorial. A number of ex-servicemen and locals also attended the ceremony and paid respects to the brave sons of the nation.

In a sign of improved India-China ties, a senior Colonel of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is currently in India for a year-long course in military management. Sources said the officer is currently with the College of Defence Management in Secunderabad, Telangana. He arrived in March this year. In another sign of the thaw in relations, the two armies will hold a counter-terrorism military exercise named ‘Hand in Hand’ in Chengdu between December 10 and 23. The joint exercise was cancelled in 2017. India will send 130 soldiers of the 11 Sikh Light Infantry.

India and China have exchanged personnel for courses in their military establishments but it was discontinued after a trust deficit between the two countries, especially after the 73-day stand-off in Doklam, Bhutan, last year.

“This is a good development. India and China are mature nations committed to improving relations further,” said Lt Gen SL Narsimhan (Retd), a member of the National Security Advisory Board.
He said more of such activities would result in improving mutual understanding.

The exchange of officers had started about 20 years back but it had few takers. The maximum exchange took place in 2003, when once officer each from the Army, Navy and Air Force went from India to China for a course in their military establishments.

We salute “Cartoos Sahib,’ whose fearlessness and commitment to duty is not just legendary but also unparalleled in the history of the Indian armed forces.

Several extraordinary war tales have undoubtedly emerged from the battle of Sylhet; from both the Indian and Bangladeshi fronts. However, nothing will come close to the bravado of Major General Ian Cardozo, who amputated his own leg after stepping on a landmine.

The year was 1971 and India was waging war with Pakistan to help expedite the liberation of Bangladesh. While his battalion, the 4/5 Gorkha Rifles was deployed in what was then East Pakistan, Major General Cardozo (who was a Major at that time) was enrolled in a course at the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, Tamil Nadu.

Following the death of the officer who was the second-in-command of the battalion, an immediate replacement was to be found, and the concerned officials zeroed in on Major Cardozo. His posting was cancelled, and he was ordered to leave immediately.

His timely arrival was of immense help to the battalion, which was severely short on manpower. Through a swift military offensive that lasted only 13 days, India successfully defeated Pakistan and liberated Bangladesh.

It was during this time that the Major earned the nickname ‘Cartoos Sahib,’ as the soldiers in his battalion couldn’t pronounce his name!

This was also the war that witnessed Indian Army’s first-ever heliborne operation. In fact, the battalion of only 480 men charted history when they accepted the surrender of about 1,500 men that included three Brigadiers, a full Colonel, 107 officers, 219 Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO), and 7,000 troops from the Pakistan Army!

After the fall of Dhaka, when the Indian Army was rounding up the prisoners of war (POWs), Major Cardozo, who had gone to help the BSF commander in charge of the count, met with an accident that would change his life forever—he stepped on a landmine, and lost most of his leg in the resulting blast.

A part of his leg which had remained attached to his body, could not be amputated surgically because due to the extensive war wreckage, no form of medical anaesthesia or surgical equipment was available.

There was no time to waste, so he asked the doctor on duty to cut off the leg. Due to the lack of equipment, the doctor refused to perform the task, which prompted the Major to order his sahayak (orderly) to amputate his leg with his own khukri

When he too refused, Cardozo cut it off himself and dispassionately said, “Now go and bury it.”

It was Major Mohammad Basheer, a captured Pakistani Army Surgeon, who operated on Cardozo.

This incident would have meant the end of field duty for any other officer, but Major Cardozo was not going to be demoted to staff duty, and allow the impairment take control of his life. He valiantly fought for the commander’s position and even surpassed the ‘two-legged’ officers during the intense physical fitness examination.

History was created when he went to become the first war-disabled Army officer to command not just a battalion but also a brigade. For the uninitiated, a brigade in the army is typically composed of three to six battalions plus supporting elements.

And it wasn’t a cakewalk. Despite acing the fitness test, the medical officers didn’t clear Major Cardozo, so he took his case to General Tapishwar Raina, the then Chief of Army Staff. Impressed by Cardozo’s resilience, the General asked him to accompany him to Ladakh.

Upon observing that Major Cardozo could easily walk through the sturdy mountains with the snow hardly affecting him, the General personally recommended that the Major command a battalion. The incident repeated itself when Major Cardozo motioned for the brigade commander’s position, and emerged victorious once again. He reasoned that if he was capable of commanding a battalion, so should he be capable of commanding a brigade.

Thanks to Major General Cardozo, three other army officers later went to become army commanders. In fact, one of the officers, who was a double amputee, went on to become the Vice Chief.

After retirement, Major General Cardozo served as the Chairman of Rehabilitation Council of India from 2005 to 2011. A recipient of military decorations like the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) and the Sena Medal (SM), the 81-year-old currently resides in New Delhi with his wife, Priscilla and has three sons.

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We salute “Cartoos Sahib,’ the 1971 war veteran, whose fearlessness and commitment to duty is not just legendary but also unparalleled in the history of the Indian armed forces.

The MoD, ignoring service HQs had unilaterally amended the gazette notification containing recruitment rules for the GMBOA in 2017, opening doors for a Joint Secretary-ranked bureaucrat to be appointed.

The Canteen Stores Department (CSD) had been established in 1948 alongside the Navy canteen services. The reason for its creation was to provide military personnel with their basic needs, despite remoteness of their location. It initially commenced with a few items in its inventory, which has grown to over 4,000 presently. Its profit in the last financial year, earned from mainly military personnel was Rs 1,253 crores. It is under the overall supervision of the defence minister but run by army HQs.

It was created solely for military personnel, which was subsequently extended to civilians paid from defence estimates in 1966, against military advice. Despite serious objections by the military community, this facility was subsequently extended to retired civilian staff too, thus adding 650,000 entitled personnel.

Retired civilians had restrictions on some items of purchase for which they objected to the Defence Ministry (MoD). The MoD has been attempting to force service HQs to remove these restrictions, which they are resisting, as it would impact availability to genuine customers, the serving and veteran community, due to budgetary constraints. Restrictions pertain to costly items including cars etc. There are already limitations on procurement by military personnel, but if opened for all, it may become nigh impossible for military personnel to obtain these items or ensure long waits.

The General Manager and Chairman Board of Administration (GMBOA), responsible for the daily running of the entire CSD network was always a serving military officer of the rank of a Major General, appointed on contractual basis for three to four years. Last week, the MoD issued a notification appointing a Major General, posted in another appointment in Mumbai, on a temporary basis for a duration of six months or selection of a new GMBOA, whichever is earlier, as against a permanent appointment.

The MoD, ignoring service HQs had unilaterally amended the gazette notification containing recruitment rules for the GMBOA in 2017, opening doors for a Joint Secretary-ranked bureaucrat to be appointed. This unilateral action angered the military and Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, the then senior most chief, wrote to the defence minister, Arun Jaitley, on the subject. No action was taken.

In August this year, when the current air force head of the CSD moved on promotion, it became evident that the MoD was contemplating appointing their own. The three service chiefs jointly approached the defence minister in August, who temporarily stalled the action.

Hence, a temporary appointment was announced. Based on the meeting, service HQs subsequently forwarded an official communication to the MoD, objecting to the unilateral amendment. This communique has been languishing in the MoD, without being processed.

The bureaucracy appears to be planning to delay the case for six months, hoping for a change in defence minister or government, enabling them to push forth their agenda. The intention behind appointing a bureaucrat is to dilute CSD facilities by opening it to other central government organizations, making it almost redundant as also to amend rules on sharing profit earned by the CSD. Logically, if desired for others, a similar organization can be created, rather than dilute an existing one.

CSD profits have already been used to fund the Sanskriti school in Delhi, which was created for children of bureaucrats. Most of the profit is kept by the government, the small portion which is returned to the armed forces is utilised for creating facilities and providing financial assistance to veterans.

The bureaucracy is seeking to grab every institution of the military that it can, despite having no role in the running nor even being entitled to it. It is now an open conflict between the bureaucracy and the military on controlling military assets.

Evidently, the military is spending more time battling its own MoD and bureaucracy, which suddenly seems to have grown wings, rather than handling cross-border threats. At every stage, the bureaucracy seeks to delay, deny and prevent the armed forces from moving ahead. Surprisingly, this action appears to have the support of the defence minister, who permits it to act, either knowingly or unknowingly.

In addition, in a recent communique to Cantonment Executive Officers (CEOs) and Local Military Authorities (LMAs) responsible for the security and well being of cantonments, Minister Nirmala Sitharaman issued a clear warning. Open all roads ignoring security aspects or face the consequences. She ignored military security concerns. After her last directions, the army had already opened most roads keeping a few closed for security purposes.

She is evidently following the philosophy that the armed forces interest ‘come last, always and every time’, the exact opposite of what her role as the defence minister should have been. With such a head at the MoD, there is no wonder that the ministry is working in a coordinated manner to denude the armed forces of every institution they have, including those on which a majority of the forces depend. Military hospitals are being opened to ‘Modicare’ and the CSD being taken over by the bureaucracy. Cantonments are already open. What could be next??

Never in the history of the country have the armed forces been pushed to such depths that they are forced to fight for their rights and dues. The defence minister can threaten the armed forces, as she did in the cantonment case, only because they are disciplined and respectful. But she cannot direct her own ministry not to cross limits in denuding the status and institutions of the armed forces.

Is this the status and standing of the armed forces that PM Modi promised in his Rewari rally of 2013? Are his directions to her to break every military institution, degrade its status and lower its prestige? If these are not his directions, then she needs to be firmer with her MoD than the military. She must ensure that her bureaucracy does not cross limits. She should remember that as military institutions fall, anger against the government would only rise.

The writer is a retired Major-General of the Indian Army.

He made the statement in Pune while addressing a gathering of soldiers and officers who were disabled in the line of duty. The function also included a dance and song performance by disabled soldiers, men and women.

Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat Thursday warned that officers and jawans of the Armed forces “who cannot withstand stress” and “feign disability citing high blood pressure, diabetes and hypertension to avoid operational duties and earn extra money” will soon face action from the Army headquarters.

He made the statement in Pune while addressing a gathering of soldiers and officers who have been disabled in the line of duty.

He said, ”The Army will continue to provide all possible assistance, even of financial nature, to the truly disabled soldiers. But I am warning those who feign disability to earn extra money, will soon face action from the Army headquarters that they will not like. (This type of) disability cannot become a reason to avoid operational duty at the cost of lives of officers who continue to perform the duty till the last breath.”

The function also included a dance and song performance by disabled soldiers.

Aradhika Sharma

Why are most faujis so humorous?” I enquired of Brig Neeraj Parashar. He responded: “Well, since a fauji’s role is to die for the country with a smile, he may as well practice the smile throughout his life. He certainly can’t practice  death!”

“On a more serious note, however”, he continues “since the protection of the country’s borders, even at the cost of their lives, is a prerequisite of the job, humour is a natural defence mechanism for the soldier. An attitude of nonchalance towards life makes the possibility of sudden death or disability less morbid and the daily rigours of fauji life, more endurable.” Armymen know that humour is the best antidote to melancholy, sadness, stress and depression, helping in elevating the mood and diffusing tense situations. A sense of humour indicates high emotional quotient and is a recognised leadership quality for military leaders.

There is an entire sub-section of literature devoted to Army humour. Reams have been written about humour in uniform, mostly by the faujis themselves. The internet has pages devoted to comicality in the army. Army humour appears as comic strips, one-liners, quips, jokes, parody, ridicule, pranks, double entendre and, of course, the famous “barracks jokes”, which are essentially bawdy jokes, rhymes and songs. Some of the milder jokes that have cracked up generations of people are:

What branch of the military do babies join?

The infantry!

What don’t you say to a marine?

I thought you had to be in relatively good physical condition to join the Marine Corps.

What happened to the soldier who went to the enemy bar?

He got bombed.

Reader’s Digest has been running “Humor in Uniform”, the hugely popular column now known as “Offbase”, which has been appearing for half a century and has published “more than 3,500 jokes, quotes, and funny stories from the more than a million readers who have submitted them.” These were compiled into a book with the same name. Several long-running cartoon strips have been based on the funnies in the Army. Mort Walker’s Beetle Bailey (begun on September 4, 1950), set in a United States Army military post where several maladroit soldiers are stationed, was a popular comic strip. Also noteworthy are George Baker’s Sad Sack, Dave Breger’s Private Breger and William Henry “Bill” Mauldin’s Willie & Joe, to name just a few. Hank Ketcham’s strip of Navy humor, was distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1970 to 1975. Nguyen Charlie by Corky Trinidad (later compiled into a book, Nguyen Charlie Encores) was a Vietnam war comic strip. The best Ordnance cartoons came from Sergeant Robert Vittur, USMCR, who found humour in the riskiest of occupations, bomb disposal. He created the popular EOD cartoon character, Mulvaney.

World War II demanded immense perseverance and courage from most American soldiers and gave birth to a lot of authors among whom was former soldier, Spike Milligan who wrote Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall, Rommel? Gunner Who?, Goodbye Soldier and Mussolini: His Part In My Downfall. The bestseller Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is set during World War II, from 1942 to 1944. It mainly follows the life of Captain John Yossarian, a US Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier.

MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors and the series of M*A*S*H books that followed were written by Richard Hooker, an American writer and surgeon. The novel was based on his own personal experiences during the Korean War at the 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

The Virgin Soldiers by Leslie Thomas (who was briefly involved with the military action against communist rebels in the Malayan emergency) spawned two film versions.

For reasons unknown, although the Indian Army has a long tradition of repartee, humour, bawdy songs and jokes, there aren’t too many officers who have written humour. Among those who have forayed into the realms of writing are Col Sudhir Jee Sharma with Military Anecdotes: Indian Military Humour.  Sajita Nair’s debut novel For She’s A Jolly Good Fellow is an amusing take on the life of a woman officer in the Indian Army while Militarily Crazy: The Lighter Side of Life in the Indian Army by Maj Gen. Anil Sengar is a compilation of humorous real-life stories of life in the Indian Army.

Ordered to Laugh: Essentially Indian Humour in Uniform by Sudhir Mudgal is supposedly an “authentic Indian military joke book”. Some fauji wives have also tried their hand at writing humourous books on Army life (Soldier & Spice: An Army Wife’s Life by Aditi Mathur Kumar, Fin, Feather and Field by Simren Kaur)

A specialty of army humour are the quips and one-liners that are, in fact, pithy doses of good sense, but full of wisdom. These form an essential part of the parlance of the armed forces the world over:

Military Expert: One who tells you what’s going to happen tomorrow – then tells you why it didn’t.

All battles are fought at the junction of two or more map sheets… printed at different scales.

Says Col Tarun Parashar: “Spontaneity and timing are essential to humour, as these are to military operations. A good joke is like a well laid ambush, sprung in time, to catch an unsuspecting audience off guard, and …well…. make them die laughing!!”