New Delhi, April 1

For the first time, Pakistan today admitted to having used F-16s in the February 27 air duel with IAF fighter jets, even as it claimed to having shot down two of Indian jets without losing any of its F-16s.

“We shot down two Indian jets in self-defence. India can assume any type of their choice, even F-16. Pakistan retains the right to use anything and everything in its legitimate self-defence,” the Director General of Pakistan’s Inter Service Public Relations said. Some weeks ago, Pakistan had said it had not used an F-16.

Indian Air Force spokesperson Group Captain Anupam Banerjee dismissed the fresh claim, saying: “We had (on February 27) lost only one fighter jet piloted by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman. The rest is a pack of lies.” 

On February 27, the IAF and Pakistan Air Force were locked in a duel over Nowshera in J&K.

A MiG-21 piloted by Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman was lost, while the IAF shot down an F-16.

On March 4, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, while speaking at a function at Sulur, Coimbatore, had said: “Obviously, I think they have lost an F-16 aircraft in that combat.”

The Director General of Pakistan’s Inter Service Public Relations, in a statement today, said it was with reference to repeated Indian claims about the shooting down of a Pakistan F-16 by India and use of F-16 in an air battle on February 27.

“No Pakistani F16 was hit by Indian Air Force… Later, when two Indian jets crossed the Line of Control (LoC), they were shot down by Pakistan Air Force (PAF). Whether it was F-16 or JF-17 which shot down two Indian aircraft is immaterial,” the ISPR said.

As regards the PAF action across the LoC, it was done by JF-17 (a Chinese-origin plane) from within Pakistan airspace, the ISPR added.

PK Jaiswar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 27

A day after the registration of a fraud case against an Army man, a high drama was witnessed outside his residence at Mahal village where a number of victims held a demonstration against him. The protest went on for around 15 minutes following which family members in the house reportedly threatened them of dire consequences, forcing them to move away. The family allegedly asked them not to create any scene.

The prime suspect, Manjit Singh, is presently posted in the eastern side of the country. The victims alleged that they took loans from commission agents and borrowed money from relatives in order to give a hefty sum to Manjit Singh, the accused. They alleged that that the accused threatened to kill them whenever they demanded money.

Gurvel Singh of Bhindi Aulakh alleged that he gave more than Rs 8 lakh after selling his land for getting his son and relatives recruited into the Army. He said he was introduced by Sahib Singh of Chak Dogra village in Ajnala. Sahib Singh has filed a police complaint against Manjit Singh.

Major Singh, another resident of Chak Dogra village, alleged Manjit also had the registry of his one-acre land. He said he gave Rs 1.50 lakh to him for getting his son recruited into the Army.

Sahib Singh said he worked as a labourer at the residence of the accused in Mahal village. Manjit Singh assured him that he could recruit their wards into the Army without any physical examination. He also asked him to inform other people in his village if they wanted jobs for their wards. Sahib Singh informed many villagers who approached Manjit through him.

He said around 67 persons had been duped of Rs 80 lakh in the past two years and he was leading a lavish life by defrauding people. He used to demand Rs 5 lakh for the same and used to take Rs 1.50 lakh to Rs 2 lakh in advance.

They alleged that many people had complained to the police about the fraud, but the latter did not bother and even discouraged them from registering FIRs. He said they had approached the SSP (Amritsar rural) in this connection for lodging the complaint.

The Kamboh police have registered a case under Sections 420 and 406 of the IPC against him. Harpal Singh, SP (Investigations) said the matter was under investigation. He said the accused would be asked to join the investigation and the Army authorities would be informed about this.

Shyam Sood

Rajouri, April 13

The Pakistan army violated the 2003 truce agreement 513 times in the last 45 days along the Line of Control (LoC), said a senior Army officer on Saturday.

“During the last about 45 days, the Pakistan army has violated the 2003 truce agreement 513 times and used heavy weaponry (artillery guns) over 100 times to target Indian forward areas and civil population,” said Lt Gen Paramjit Singh, General Officer Commanding (GOC), White Knight Corps.

He said the Pakistan army rarely disclosed its fatalities while the Indian Army gave due respect to its martyrs.

After paying homage to martyrs on the occasion of Rajouri Liberation Day, Lt Gen Paramjit Singh said, “The Army will take strong and effective action against every nefarious activity along the LoC,” the GOC said.

“Whenever Pakistan uses artillery fire on the LoC, it gets the same response. People are safe till the Army is on the border,” he said.

About the “politicisation” of the armed forces, the GOC said, “The Army is working under the Constitution and has its own task and mandate. It does not want to be involved in such disputes.”

He said the Army with the help of people, security forces, civil administration had succeeded in wiping out militancy from Rajouri and Poonch.

“Since the enemy (Pakistan) can revive militancy, the Army has not been withdrawn from Rajouri and Poonch districts,” said the GOC, White Knight Corps.

The Army’s morale was high and it was at the highest alert along the border, the Army officer added.

About the sniping incidents, the GOC said only three such cases had been reported till February 26. He also expressed his concern over the increase in militancy-related incidents in Kishtwar.

Regarding terror camps, he said, “No change has been reported and the figure is the same. After the IAF strikes, top leadership of terrorists has been eliminated in Kashmir.”

With a little under a week remaining for Lok Sabha election, all political parties are searching for ways to keep the atmosphere heated. But even then, one has to admit that the question of national security and the army is milked more frequently in battle 2019, than in any recent electoral exercises.

In the last 24 hours, two cabinet ministers, the prime minister, the head of a ruling party, the head of an Opposition party and a former finance minister have all spoken on the armed forces. If mentions in speeches of politicians could reap real-life dividends then it would not be a leap to say that the nearly 15 lakh people in the armed forces could be looking for huge benefits from whoever would come to power. Yet that is hardly ever the case, so why does the army return to everyday discourse every time there is a particular electoral test?

The year 2019 is particularly amenable to bringing up the security forces. The worst attack on security personnel in decades, on 14 February at Pulwama, ended up not just opening up a fresh soft spot for the army in the minds of the people but also setting the tone of the electoral campaigns in the Lok Sabha election.

The Pulwama attack also ended up in India “exacting revenge” on Pakistan through the controversial Balakot attack. This strike, the toll of which has been questioned as part of the Opposition’s offensive against the BJP, has now become the Bharatiya Janata Party’s favourite refrain in the campaign circuit. Narendra Modi himself has perfected a line from having used it in every speech, “We entered their houses and exacted revenge for our soldiers, and they question our army?”

“We do not question the army,” the Opposition is quick to correct, “but the government’s account.”

The army is apparently unassailable by parties on either end of the political spectrum, so ahead of the 2019 polls, the scurry for each party to establish itself as the custodian of the army’s best interests is a mad one. The Election Commission even had to categorically mention that the armed forces cannot be used as election propaganda.

No surprise then that it has found mention in the Congress’s manifesto, in the backlash to the manifesto and the rebuttals to the backlash to the manifesto.

The Congress has not only proposed to reduce the presence of the Indian Army and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) in the Kashmir Valley in its manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it has also said that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act will be looked into once again. While these have pleased a section of people, the BJP has been quick to slam the entire manifesto in general and the parts pertaining to the armed forces in particular.

While Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has called it “dangerous“, a true mark of how dangerous its suggestions might have been is perhaps in the fact that the Defence Minister herself was compelled to sit in a press conference to address the points of the manifesto pertaining to the army and its personnel. “Something very insidious is going on here,” Nirmala Sitharaman said on Wednesday, referring to the Congress’s decision to take another look at AFSPA. And yet, the government on Wednesday itself withdrew AFSPA from four areas of Arunachal Pradesh, while extending it to three others in the state, proving at least that in some situations a relook is indeed merited.

But it is easy to drive the discourse towards more emotive issues like hypernationalism, when facts on ground about basic lifestyle index throw a worrying picture. It would not be incorrect to state that the more the poverty grows, jobs decrease, economy suffers and education opportunities dry up, the more a nation’s pride hinges on its army.

No wonder, then, that Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath referred to the Indian Army as “Modi ji ki sena” and no wonder that Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee then went on to scold Adityanath for “such blatant personalisation and usurping of our beloved Indian Army”.

In India especially, the places where the army and paramilitary are active to the point of affecting the daily lives of the people are sufficiently remote. It may fire pellets and injure people in Jammu and Kashmir, subjugate tribals in the name of capturing Maoists and physically and sexually harm people living in the border and remote areas, but so huge and self-important is the Indian hinterland that these human interest issues scarce develop into ones meriting Parliament time, let alone election planks. What makes news is the nationalism plank.

So solid is the army’s reputation that it is now beneficial for any government or political party to allege that questions on the army’s performance are equal to siding with Pakistan. In the warm afterglow that cascaded upon the BJP government in the days following the 2016 surgical strike on Pakistan after the Uri attack, leaders of the party, including those serving in the government, wasted no time in establishing that they were one with the Army.

The Congress may have not ridden an entire poll wave based on the army’s performance like the BJP is doing now, but it has been no better in trying to garner the support of the army’s ranks at a crucial time in its own story — the 2014 polls. In the interim budget before the polls, then finance minister P Chidambaram had allocated Rs 500 crore to the Defence Pension Account for implementation of the One Rank One Pension scheme for the defence forces of the country.

“It is an emotive issue, it has legal implications, and it has to be handled with great sensitivity,” Chidambaram had said in Parliament. Shortly after the session, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi held a press conference, notes LiveMint, where they highlighted that this was “a historic and necessary” step. “The armed forces personnel should feel that the country is backing them,” Rahul had said.

OROP found its way into the 2019 budget announcement by acting finance minister Piyush Goyal too. This time, Goyal saw fit to mention that the UPA had only brought the scheme after having stayed in power for 10 years but it was his government that led to scheme coming to fruition.

Your guide to the latest election news, analysis, commentary, live updates and schedule for Lok Sabha Elections 2019 on firstpost.com/elections. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram or like our Facebook page for updates from all 543 constituencies for the upcoming general elections.

Ambika Sharma

Tribune News Service

Solan, April 1

Shimla Lok Sabha seat is all set to witness an interesting contest with a former Army officer taking on an Air Force personnel as both the Congress and BJP have fielded ex-servicemen from this constituency.

The Congress has chosen a septuagenarian Col DR Shandil (retd), a sitting MLA from Solan. The BJP has fielded former Senior Non-Commissioned Officer from the Indian Air Force, Suresh Kashyap (47), sitting MLA from Pacchad.

Shimla Lok Sabha seat, a known Congress bastion earlier, was wrested by the BJP in the past two occasions.

Shandil is also a two-term MP where he had won the first Lok Sabha election on Himachal Vikas Congress’ ticket in 1999 but went on to join the Congress and won in 2004. However, he suffered defeat in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. But he went on to win two successive Vidhan Sabha elections from Solan. Armed with adequate experience, Shandil might be the best bet for Congress but he is haunted by a sizeable anti-incumbency.

The BJP on the other hand appears to have done its homework well by choosing a new candidate in the form of Suresh Kashyap as the sitting MP Virender Kashyap had failed to perform as per the party’s survey. Though Kashyap will have the advantage of receiving good support from Sirmaur as this is the first occasion when the party has given ticket to a candidate from this district, but being new he is yet to be introduced to the electorate in Shimla as well as Solan districts.

The fact that polls are slated to take place at the last leg of the polling season on May 19, it will serve as an advantage for this new candidate to tour Shimla and Solan districts extensively.

With the BJP having already begin its campaign with women, youth and SC sammelans taking place in all districts and even Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur having addressed public meetings in Solan, Shimla as well as Sirmaur to introduce Suresh Kashyap, his campaign has begun well. The Congress was yet to put its house in order as it was yet to even finalise candidates for two of the four seats.

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 13

Almost three years after 19 persons had lost their lives in a massive fire that had broken out at the Central Ammunition Depot (CAD), Pulgaon, it has now emerged that the Army had made multiple requests to the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for removing defective anti-tank mines from the depot but no action was taken on the requests.

A petition filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court by the widow of Lt Col RS Pawar, herself an Army officer hailing from Rohtak, has averred that the Army had in strong terms put on record that the matter was being “delayed deliberately” and “dragged unendingly,” thereby posing a serious threat to safety and security of personnel and endangering the establishment.

No effective action whatsoever was taken by the OFB, ultimately leading to the tragic blast in depot, one of the largest in Asia, on May 31, 2016 because of defective mines. Two officers, including Lt Col Pawar, who was posthumously decorated for gallantry, and 17 others were killed and a huge stockpile of ammunition was destroyed.

Taking cognisance of the petition filed by Maj Reenu Ohlan, the High Court has issued notices to the Department of Defence Production (DDP) and the OFB. Besides seeking compensation “as the court may deem fit” from these two establishments, she has also sought action on the directions passed by the Defence Minster for fixing accountability and culpability in the incident and also for ensuring time-bound removal of all defective ammunition to prevent any such catastrophe in the future.

It was the mandate of technical experts from the OFB and the Quality Assurance directorate to remove the mines categorised as defective. The Army, which controls the CAD, is not authorised to handle such ammunition. In fact, there was another blast at CAD, Pulgaon in 2018, in which six persons were killed.

Pointing out that the though the Army and the Department of Defence (DoD) in the MoD are supporting her, she has averred that there has been total apathy, negligence and indifference on part of the DDP and OFB.

Following specific information about militants’ presence the security forces started a cordon and search operation at Gahand village. Tribune file

Tribune News Service
Srinagar, April 13

Two militants were killed as a gunfight broke out between security forces and militants in Shopian district on Saturday.

Following specific information about militants’ presence the security forces started a cordon and search operation at Gahand village and as they tightened the cordon, the hiding militants fired triggering the encounter.

The two slain militants were affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammad and were identified as Abid Wagay of Rawalpora Shopian and Shahjahan Mir a resident of Amshepora Shopian.

“They were wanted by law for their complicity in a series of terror crimes including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities,” a police spokesman in Srinagar said. With IANS 

New Delhi: Rear Admiral Mahesh Singh NM on Saturday assumed charge as Flag Officer Commanding Karnataka Naval Area (FOK) at a ceremonial parade at Karwar. Details and pictures from the ceremony have been shared on the official Twitter account of the Spokesperson of the Indian Navy.

SpokespersonNavy

✔@indiannavy

Rear Admiral Mahesh Singh, NM assumes charge as Flag Officer Commanding Karnataka Naval Area (FOK) at a ceremonial parade at Karwar.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, he was commissioned into the #IndianNavy in Jan 1987 & is a Navigation & Direction specialist 1/n

His notable sea appointments include commissioning crew of INS Akshay and Jyoti, Executive Officer of Frigate Tabar and Command of missile vessel INS Nirghat during Op Vijay, MCGS Vigilante whilst on deputation to Government of Mauritius and the LPD INS Jalashwa 2/n

Rear Admiral Mahesh Singh is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1987 and is a Navigation and Direction specialist.

He has commissioned the crew of INS Akshay and Jyoti and also served as the Executive Officer of Frigate Tabar and Command of missile vessel INS Nirghat during Operation Vijay, MCGS Vigilante while on deputation to Government of Mauritius and the LPD INS Jalashwa.

Martyr Amin Chand

Rajender Sharma, great-grandson of martyr Haqim Amin Chand, is a businessman in Amritsar. Amin Chand hailed from Murad Pura Hakima Wala, a village inhabited by physicians of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. On April 13, 1919, Amin Chand left for Jallianwala Bagh, all decked up in black clothes as a mark of protest. He was at the forefront of the resistance and the following  day, when his body was found, it was so badly riddled with bullets that the last rites were performed by NGO Sewa Samiti in the city only instead of being taken to the village.

Martyr Hari Ram

HP Minister Suresh Bhardwaj honours Mahesh Behal.

Mahesh Behal, grandson of martyr Hari Ram, heads the Jallianwala Bagh Shaheed Parivar Samiti. When the Rowlatt Act was introduced, Hari Ram, a petition writer, would often tell people how dangerous the legislation was. A close associate of Pt MM Malviya, he was active in the freedom movement.  

Martyr Wasoo Mal of Amritsar

Capt Amarinder Singh honours Sunil Kapoor, great-grandson of martyr Wasoo Mal.

Sunil Kapoor, great-grandson of martyr Wasoo Mal, runs a textiles business in Amritsar’s old market. He is trying to keep the families of martyrs together through the Jallianwala Bagh Freedom Fighters Foundation. Lala Wasoo Mal Kapoor was a prominent cloth merchant of Karmon Deori area of Amritsar and liberally funded activities of freedom fighters. He was hit by two bullets at Jallianwala Bagh and six days later at the age of 45, he succumbed to his injuries at Civil Hospital, Amritsar.

Build grand memorial to martyrs: HP minister

Naina Mishra
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 13

Himachal Pradesh Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj today urged Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh to build a grand memorial in the memory of civilians massacred at Jallianwala Bagh.

Speaking during the event, Bhardwaj said: “Last year, I went to Jallianwala Bagh and was saddened to see the memorial built there. We have not been able to build a memorial that would give justice and depict the martyrs’ sacrifices.”

“The Jallianwala Bagh massacre will be remembered till eternity as it marked the beginning of the freedom struggle of India,” he said. While condemning the Rowlatt Act, he said, “The Rowlatt Act was a black Act that aimed at suppressing political leaders’ voice and permitting imprisonment of suspects without trial.”

“It can also be described as the first-ever law that targeted press freedom after the ‘Emergency’ period, which also crippled our fundamental rights. The Act was censured by the revolutionaries of that time.”

Bhardwaj said the way “our unarmed men were fired at on the orders of General Dyer cannot be forgotten. It was a deadly massacre of thousands of civilians who had gathered peacefully at Jallianwala Bagh”.

The Himachal Minister said his state had always “stayed upfront at the service of the nation and our soldiers at the border were rendering selfless service for the country”.