Nurpur, February 17
The family of Sepoy Masar Deen (35) was shattered as soon as the news of his sudden demise reached Riyali village in Fatehpur on Sunday. He had a heart attack yesterday and died in a Manipur hospital. He was with the Assam Rifles 25-Battalion and is survived by his wife and three sons. Sources said the body would arrive at the village tonight.
Prem Sharma, naib tehsildar, has announced relief for the bereaved family. — OC
Ahmedabad, February 18
The wife of an Army jawan allegedly committed suicide in Gujarat’s Devbhoomi Dwarka district as she had become anxious about his safety, the police said on Monday.
Meenakshi Jethwa (22) had become worried about her husband Bhupendrasinh’s safety especially in the wake of the attack on a CRPF convoy earlier last week, they said.
She was found to have hanged herself from the ceiling of her house in Khambhaliya town Saturday.
Her husband, posted at Gulmarg in Jammu and Kashmir, was visiting home on leave when the incident took place.
The couple had got married only two years ago.
Meenakshi did not want him to return to Kashmir, said a local police official.
Jethwa had told his wife about how he once narrowly escaped an avalanche while on duty. This, in addition to the February 14 attack in which 40 CRPF jawans were killed, made her all the more apprehensive, the police official said.
“As the date of his departure neared, she got depressed and hanged herself,” the police official said, adding that further probe was underway. – PTI
The withdrawal of the most favoured nation (MFN) status to Pakistan is largely of symbolic value. Pakistan had never reciprocated with MFN status for India, which means it maintained discriminatory trade barriers against India. The 200 per cent duty on imports from Pakistan may pinch slightly more. Along with it, the recall of the High Commissioner in Islamabad, and the briefing by the Foreign Secretary to envoys from all major countries may have achieved its initial purpose of exposing the deep decline in bilateral ties. There have been other successful initiatives in the past: persuading China to drop its objections to Pakistan getting listed by the Financial Action Task Force and the sharp drop in US military aid, though that can also be traced to the shift in the Afghan security calculus.
Indian diplomacy is offering an alternative to inter-state hostilities, but Pakistan PM Imran Khan, who would tweet on every minor communal discord in India, is deafeningly silent. Even the Kartarpur initiative was marred by the hidden communal agenda of stopping non-Sikh pilgrims. With peace remaining elusive, the Pakistan government will fail to fulfil its promise of economic prosperity to the electorate if India relentlessly turns the diplomatic screws. However, the Pakistani media’s glorifying reportage of the Pulwama massacre bodes ill. For, like the Indian media, it has rapidly slipped down the slope of jingoism, turning the dominant political narrative fervidly anti-India.
It is getting tougher for India to do business with such a neighbour. This reinforces the need to remind China about the languishing Wuhan spirit of reconciliation, to recognise India’s restraint and allow the UN to list Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist. India will lose its moral and diplomatic upper hand if it reduces its anguish to mere breast-beating jingoism. There is really no need to talk about retaliation or to settle scores overnight. What needs to be done should be done quietly and purposefully without the government or the Opposition trying to take political mileage out of this ghastly incident.
Islamabad, February 19
Pakistan has sought the UN’s urgent intervention to “defuse tensions” with India, the Foreign Office said on Tuesday, following one of the worst terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir in which 40 Indian soldiers were killed.
On February 14, 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were killed in Kashmir’s Pulwama district in a suicide attack claimed by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad terror group.
The attack has heightened bilateral tensions with both New Delhi and Islamabad calling back their envoys.Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday, seeking his help to reduce the tensions between the two countries, Pakistan Foreign Office said.
“It is with a sense of urgency that I draw your attention to the deteriorating security situation in our region resulting from the threat of use of force against Pakistan by India,” Qureshi wrote in the letter.ndia has rejected any third-party interention in the Kashmir issue and has maintained that all outstanding matters in Indo-Pak ties should be resolved bilaterally.Qureshi, in his letter, said the Pulwama attack on Indian CRPF soldiers was ostensibly and even by Indian accounts carried out by a Kashmiri resident.
He said attributing the attack to Pakistan even before investigation was absurd.
He alleged that for domestic political reasons, India deliberately ratcheted up its hostile rhetoric against Pakistan and created a tense environment.
Qureshi wrote that India has also hinted that it might abandon the Indus Waters Treaty, asserting that it would be a grievous error.
“It is imperative to take steps for de-escalation. The United Nations must step in to defuse tensions,” Qureshi said.
He said India must be asked to conduct an open and credible investigation in the terror attack.
“You may also consider asking India to refrain from further escalating the situation and enter into dialogue with Pakistan and the Kashmiris to calm the situation down,” he wrote.
The foreign minister requested that the letter should be circulated to members of the Security Council and General Assembly.
Pakistan has repeatedly asked the UN to intervene in Kashmir. Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had also sought the US intervention, saying America was the “most relevant” party to get involved in the Kashmir issue.
The US, however, has time and again reiterated that it is for India and Pakistan to discuss and decide on the pace and scope of their bilateral relationship. PTI
Islamabad, February 15
Pakistan has condemned the terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district and said it is a matter of grave concern even as it rejected India pointing out Islamabad’s link to the incident without investigations.
At least 42 CRPF personnel were killed and five injured on Thursday in one of the deadliest terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir when a Jaish suicide bomber rammed a vehicle carrying over 100 kg of explosives into their bus in Pulwama district.
Pakistan’s Foreign Office, after keeping quiet for hours, issued a statement after midnight.
The attack in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir “is a matter of grave concern,” it said.
“We have always condemned heightened acts of violence in the Valley,” the FO said.
Pakistan also rejected that it was in any way involved in the attack.
“We strongly reject any insinuation by elements in the Indian government and media circles that seek to link the attack to the State of Pakistan without investigations,” the FO added.
India on Thursday slammed Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack carried out by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and asked the neighbouring country to stop supporting terrorists and dismantle terror infrastructure operating from its soil.
India also strongly reiterated its appeal to all members of the international community to support the proposal to list terrorists, including JeM chief Masood Azhar, as a designated terrorist under the 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council, and to ban terrorist organisations operating from territories controlled by Pakistan.
The White House asked Pakistan to immediately end “support” and “safe haven” to all terror groups as it strongly condemned the Pulwama terrorist attack.
“The United States calls on Pakistan to end immediately the support and safe haven provided to all terrorist groups operating on its soil, whose only goal is to sow chaos, violence, and terror in the region,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a late night statement on Thursday.
Condemning the attack, the US State Department said in a statement that it was “resolutely committed” to working with the Indian government to combat terrorism in all its forms. PTI
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, February 13
Two Hizbul Mujahideen militants were killed in a gunfight with security forces on Wednesday in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, the police said.
The militants were killed following a gunfight at Gopalpora village of Budgam. They have been identified as Hilal Wani and Shoaib Lone, both residents of south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, the police said.
The police in a statement said the two slain militants were involved in several terror attacks and arms and ammunitions were recovered from their possession.
The police said Hilal was a senior commander and had been categorised as an ‘A++’ militant — signifying that he was in the list of most-wanted militants and also carried a bounty of Rs 12.5 lakh.
The gunfight erupted at Gopalpora when the security forces received information from “reliable sources” about the presence of militants in the village following which a cordon and search operation was launched.
A senior police officer said the search was launched late in the night and contact with militants was established early on Wednesday morning. “When we were conducting the searches, militants fired from a house which was retaliated,” the officer said.
The firefight continued for several hours and concluded at 7 am with the killing of both the militants, the official said, adding that the militants were planning to carry out an attack in the area even as the specifics of it were not immediately known.
The bodies of the militants were later handed over to their families after medico-legal formalities.
Hilal Wani was ‘A++’ ultra
Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, February 6
Even as the ruling BJP today accused the Congress-ruled UPA-II government (2009-2014) of “leaking” information of a “fake” Army coup to the media, records of Parliament show the Manmohan Singh-led government had then made it clear that “troop movement” was purely for training purposes.
The issue had cropped up in April 2012 when a newspaper ran a story alleging that the Army, then headed by General VK Singh, made an unauthorised movement of troops towards Delhi on the night intervening January 16 and 17, 2012.
Around the same time, the General, who is now a minister in the Modi government, had challenged his date of birth in the Supreme Court.
A reply in Parliament given by then Defence Minister AK Antony on April 25, 2012, said on January 16, 2012, one of the units of 50 Para Brigade carried out mobilisation to practice mounting from an alternative airfield other than Agra, during “fogged-out conditions/non-serviceability” of the Agra airfield due to operational reasons.
Agra is the home base of the Para Brigade. This column came to the location of one unit at Gurgaon on January 17, 2012. Mobilisation practice was under the 50 Para Brigade. The 33 Armoured Division based at Hisar was to carry out an exercise with troops in March-April 2012, Antony had said.
As a precursor to this exercise, a Mechanized Infantry battalion was mobilised by the formation commander towards Bahadurgarh (north-west of Delhi) to validate its loading, movement and occupation in poor visibility conditions.
The battalion reached the area of Bahadurgarh during morning hours on January 17, 2012, and proceeded to occupy the designated dispersal area as per standard operating procedure. Having validated their mobilisation drills, both Columns moved back subsequently.
There was no report received in the Ministry of Defence from intelligence agencies on January 16/17, 2012, as regards such troop movement, Antony had said.
The movement was aimed at refining the mobilisation drill and ensuring operational preparedness of the Army despite adverse weather conditions.
At a meeting of the parliamentary panel later, Defence Secretary Shashi Kant Sharma said the movement was a routine activity, which did not require any permission from the government. He is learnt to have told the panel that no standard operating procedures had been breached.
Itanagar: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat reviewed the preparedness of the Indian Army along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) during his two-day visit to Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, Defence sources said Monday. Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,080 km border with China, 520 km border with Myanmar and 217-km border with Bhutan.
The Army chief started his North East tour with a visit to the Spear Corps headquarters, Rangapahar Military Station, Dimapur in Nagaland on Sunday, they said. Gen Rawat reviewed the operational preparedness of Spear Corps and expressed satisfaction with the preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and lauded its people friendly counter-insurgency operations, officials said.
Acknowledging that the troops have been ensuring peace and tranquility in the region by their dedicated hard work in difficult terrain and operational conditions, he told officers and troops during interaction to work tirelessly and in a professional manner to accomplish their task.
The Spear Corps, besides undertaking extensive counter-insurgency operations in North-East is also responsible for operations along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh that borders China. The Army chief called Arunachal Pradesh Governor Brig (Retd) B D Mishra and held talks with him at Raj Bhavan here.
Praising the state people for helping the Indian Army in a big way, Gen Rawat stressed on their united efforts in national interest. Acknowledging the efforts of the governor in facilitating recruitment of states youth, he had said the armed forces boast of many Arunachalees who are good officer.
Indias sovereignty and territorial integrity are intact because of the Indian Army, the governor said. The Army chief left for New Delhi on Monday after concluding his two-day visit to the North East.
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Gurdaspur, February 4
The mystery shrouding the name of the agency, central or state, that engraved the names of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Badal on the Kartarpur Sahib foundation stone has deepened with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) claiming it had no information.The NHAI, which was initially believed to have suggested the names of the dignitaries to be etched on the stone, said “no information existed in its office.”
Dera Baba Nanak MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa had filed an RTI with the NHAI seeking information on whose decision it was to include the names of leaders who were neither part of the central nor the state government, an obvious reference to the Badals.The ceremony, held on November 26 at Dera Baba Nanak, was jointly presided over by Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.
A day before the event when the stone was brought, a controversy broke out when a livid Randhawa publically ridiculed the NHAI which, he claimed, “etched the names of the Badals without following protocol.”
An IAS officer attached in the CM’s office also faced the ire of the ministers as it was believed he was the one who instigated the NHAI to etch the names of Badals. The officer is known for his proximity to Parkash Singh Badal.
“The Badals had nothing to do with the construction of the Kartarpur corridor. They are mere MLAs of an Opposition party and not part of any government. Even my name and that of Gurdaspur MP Sunil Jakhar was included on the invitation card at the eleventh hour. It was a clear breach of protocol,” said Randhawa.
He alleged he had concrete information that the Badals had arm-twisted Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari to give the impression to the Sikh masses that they were in the forefront of the struggle to get the corridor sanctioned. He said he would move the appellate authority— Chief General Manager-cum-Regional Office, NHAI, Panchkula in this case—to ferret out the exact information.
Dera Baba Nanak, February 4
The question in the minds of stakeholders is whether the construction of the proposed Dera Baba Nanak-Kartarpur Sahib corridor beats the impending election code or not, if the tardy progress is any barometer.
Sources say the EC could announce the schedule of the General Election in the last week of February or March first week. The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), the agency engaged by the Union Government to oversee the project, is left facing severe time constraints.
The NHAI has already entrusted Dera Baba Nanak SDM Ashok Sharma for land acquisition. The officer has prepared maps of land that has to be taken over for the 4.25-km road.“This process will be completed in a few days after which tenders will be floated. Once the first spade is dug, the EC’s code will be ineffective as it can’t halt ongoing projects,” said an officer engaged in land acquisition.
The venture is divided into two parts — the building of the road and the Integrated Check Post (ICP). With the formalities for laying the road almost complete and work likely to commence in mid-February, all eyes are on the ICP and whether its construction would beat the code.If at all the work is stalled, it would resume only in June after the new government assumes power. Sources say if this happens, the corridor may not see the light of the day at least not before the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak kick off in November. — TNS
The crash of the multirole fighter Mirage 2000 as it was taking off in Bengaluru and the death of two intrepid test pilots has dealt a heavy blow to the Indian Air Force and the ambitious Make in India initiative. It has also knocked the wind out of the sails of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). What adds to the worries is the fact that the Mirage was freshly upgraded and serviced by HAL under a 2015 contract and was being test-flown by young ace pilots before its re-induction into the Air Force.
The horrendous crash rate of MiG-21 — dubbed ‘flying coffins’ — is still fresh in public memory. In recent months, there have been a slew of crashes, including a Jaguar aircraft, a MiG-29 and Sukhoi 30 MKI. Though the overall annual crash rate has come down after the induction of the British Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT), it hovers close to the red line, as the bulk of our air frames are, alarmingly, over two decades old. Some Sukhoi-30 squadrons are the exceptions.
Mirage 2000 was first inducted into the force in 1984 and proved its worth during the Kargil War with its accurate bombing runs that snapped the Pakistani supply line to intruders on mountain-top fortifications. The Friday crash was the 11th such, bringing down the three-squadron fleet of the IAF to 48. In 2011, India had inked a $2.4-billion contract with the original manufacturers to upgrade the fleet. While two aircraft were upgraded in France, it fell upon HAL to pick up the baton for the rest.
The probe will establish the actual cause, but prima facie HAL stands humbled in public perception. The spotlight is back on its technical capabilities. Several of its projects, including the Mirage upgrade, are trailing behind schedule. As imports often lead to political fracas which delays replacements, India must pump in funds to reduce foreign dependence. It speaks of our national security commitment when the IAF is expected to fix-and-fly refurbished planes. The ‘make do’ approach comes at an exorbitant cost, of both man and machine.
