Jammu, November 8

A soldier was killed in a gunbattle with terrorists who, aided by cover fire by the Pakistan army, tried to cross the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district on Friday, a defence spokesman said.

The Indian Army observed suspicious movement of terrorists in the Krishna Ghati Sector of Poonch district around 2.30 am, he said.

In the exchange of fire, sepoy Rahul Bhairu Sulagekar sustained gunshot wounds and was evacuated to the nearest medical aid centre, where he succumbed to his injuries. “The Pakistan Army violated ceasefire and abetted terrorists who were involved in suspicious movement in the Krishna Ghati sector in Poonch district around 2.30 am,” the defence spokesman said.

Sulagekar, 21, belonged to Uchagaon village in Belgavi district of Karnataka. He is survived by his mother.

“He was a brave, highly motivated and sincere soldier. The nation will always remain indebted to him for his supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty,” the spokesman said.

According to reports, the terrorists were part of the BAT team, who had infiltrated into this side of the LoC to attack an Army listening post. — TNS

Two Army men killed in Kupwara road mishap

Srinagar, November 7

Two Army jawans died in a road accident in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said on Thursday.

An Army vehicle met with an accident in the Langate area of Kupwara on Wednesday night due to poor visibility caused by heavy snowfall, an Army official said.

Rifleman Bhim Bahadur Pun and Gunner Akhilesh Kumar died in the accident, the official said.

A wreath-laying ceremony was held here to pay tributes to the deceased jawans, the official added. — PTI

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dera Baba Nanak, November 5

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is yet to respond to Pakistan government’s proposal of waiving the requirement of a passport for Sikh pilgrims to travel through the corridor to Kartarpur shrine, following which confusion reigns supreme.

Five days after Pakistan PM Imran Khan tweeted about the waiver, the online portal established by India still asks for a copy of the passport to be uploaded.

Officials claim Khan’s tweet holds no relevance till the MEA comes up with clear-cut instructions. The government has also yet to make it clear the nature of the ID card to be carried by pilgrims if at all a passport is not required. Khan’s so-called waiver, meanwhile, has evoked strong reactions.

Dubai-based businessman SPS Oberoi, who is making liberal donations, said it was beyond the jurisdiction of the Pakistan PM to announce the passport waiver.

“It is a matter to be sorted out between two countries,” he said. “He can waive off the $20 fee. However, on that count he is maintaining silence. Let both countries talk and settle the passport issue while Khan should waive off the service tax fee not only on November 9 and 12 as envisaged by him but on all days,” said Oberoi.

Officials, not willing to be named, said the Pakistan PM was “politicising and communalising” the corridor opening by announcing waivers for just Sikhs.

“Perhaps Khan is unaware that thousands of Hindus, both in India and abroad, follow the teachings of Guru Nanak and regularly visit gurdwaras,” added Oberoi.

Meanwhile, the Pakistani government has announced that devotees can cross over from 7 am till 11.30 am and will have to return between 12.30 pm and 5 pm. Pilgrims will have to complete all the formalities at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) in Dera Baba Nanak before they can proceed to the Pakistan ICP, 600 m away.

The passing-out ceremony of soldiers of Ladakh Scouts Regiment in Leh on Saturday. Tribune photo

Our Correspondent

Jammu, November 2

As many as 164 youths join the Army’s Ladakh Scouts Regiment as young soldiers in Leh on Saturday.

An impressive ceremony, conducted as per the traditions of the Army, was reviewed by Major-General Sanjiv Rai, General Officer Commanding (GOC), Trishul Division. It was attended by a spectrum of civil and military dignitaries, including war heroes of the regiment and parents of the recruits.

A spectacular attestation parade was held at the Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre, Leh, to mark the entry of 164 well-trained recruits into the regiment as soldiers.

These soldiers, hailing from all regions of Ladakh, took oath in unison to serve the nation. The reviewing officer congratulated them for the impressive parade and urged them to devote their life in service to the nation as proud soldiers of the Army.

He also complimented the parents of the young soldiers on having motivated their wards to join the regiment. He exhorted the young soldiers to continue to strive hard in pursuit of excellence in all spheres and take a solemn vow to uphold the sovereignty of the nation against all odds in the true spirit of the Army.

Young riflemen who did exceedingly well during the training were awarded medals for their outstanding performance during training. Gaurav Padaks were presented to the proud parents whose wards joined the regiment as young soldiers.

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Schoolchildren see weapons displayed by the Border Security Force at the BOP octroi near the India-Pakistan international border, at Suchet Garh on the outskirts of Jammu on Monday. Photos: Inderjeet Singh

Our Correspondent

Jammu, November 18

At least 150 students of different schools from Jammu today visited the border outpost (BOP) on International Border in RS Pura sector. The objective was to get first-hand knowledge of tough conditions being faced by soldiers there.

The 36th battalion of Border Security Forces (BSF) organised the visit on the direction of Ministry of Home Affairs. “Students were taken to forward BOPs of the BSF along the international border at RS Pura sector and were shown weapons and special equipment used by forces to check infiltration across the border,” official sources in the BSF said.

The students were briefed about the origin, role and task of the BSF. A documentary highlighting the role played by BSF in nation building, including a photo gallery, was shown.

“They were also briefed about the BSF’s contribution in combating militancy in Punjab, J&K, North East and their role played in liberation of Bangladesh as well as in combating extremism in the Maoist-affected areas,” the official said.

Sandeep Dikshit
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 13

US Congress members will examine witnesses on the situation in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) for the second time in just over three weeks.

The Tom Lantos Commission Human Rights Commission, named after the only Holocaust survivor to serve in the Congress, will examine witnesses on the human rights situation in J&K on Thursday, said an announcement from this bipartisan Congressional Human Rights Caucus.

The commission comes down the pecking order than a House committee or subcommittee and witnesses have been known to refuse to turn up. The situation in J&K was critically panned by a sub-committee of the US House of Representatives on October 22. Though two speakers, Arti Tikoo Singh and Ravi Batra, weighed somewhat in India’s favour, the overall trend went against its August 5 crackdown due to critical presentations from Nitisha Kaul and Angana Chatterji.

Co-chair of the Commission, James P McGovern, has been critical over the J&K lockdown and had recently written to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asking him to put pressure on New Delhi to end its communications blackout and release all those “preventatively” detained.

However, the announcement on the hearing makes an attempt to include the views of all sides. It notes the increased militarisation and the economic and social consequences of the lockdown but also notes that militants have targeted migrant workers from outside J&K, and have threatened businesses to maintain a protest shutdown.

The Tom Lantos Commission has done much to soften the impact of the hard state in several countries. But it has also been accused of inadvertently help build up public opinion for the 1991 Persian Gulf War. When Lantos was alive, the Congressional Human Rights Caucus had heard an anonymous Kuwaiti woman who narrated horrific abuses by Iraqi soldiers. Her statement was used by then President George Bush and several Senators to justify a military attack on Iraq. Later, this woman turned out to be the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US.

The Guru’s life and teachings provide a vision for the creation of a sustainable and egalitarian community, which has great relevance today

Baba Nanak with Bhai Bala and Mardana. Repousse by Sujan Singh on copper, of the mural panel from the Bairagi Thakurdwara at Ram Tatwali, Hoshiarpur

Nadia Singh

Guru Nanak is hailed as a champion of humanism.  However, a little known aspect of his philosophy is its distinct “eco-sophical” tradition. This tradition has profound lessons in chartering a path of sustainable development, especially in the face of the current socio-ecological crisis facing humanity. Guru Nanak’s understanding of the socio-economic and ecological constructs of society mirrors the concept of the “three pillars of sustainability” — social equity, environmental protection and economic well-being. It has been recognised by international agencies like the United Nations that these three pillars are fundamental to the creation of inclusive, environment friendly societies. Guru Nanak’s writings reveal that he had an astute knowledge of the interdependence between the social, ecological and the economic realms of life. He provided a new vision to his followers, wherein all the three realms work in harmony with each other. Guru Nanak was a lover of nature, and recognised the inherent link between the human and the non-human world. At the same time, he was cognisant of the societal ills associated with greed, materialism and appropriation of wealth.  He established an alternative model of development based on community sharing, voluntary service and pooling of resources in the society he established at Kartarpur. The most fundamental aspect of his vision was its focus on egalitarianism. He strove to protect the interests of the most marginalised and vulnerable sections of society.

Nature, part of the Creator 

Guru Nanak’s thinking on environment differs from other Bhakti philosophers of the time, who treat Nature as primarily an object of worship.  In contrast, his writings focus on nature as a part of the creator, implying that caring for nature and its preservation is essentially a form of worship. Several passages in Guru Granth Sahib elucidate this fact.  The most famous of these is, “Air is our teacher, water our father and the great earth our mother; day and night are the male and female nurses.” Guru Nanak also displayed an astute awareness of the   “dialectical” relationship between the human and the non-human world so that one cannot survive without the other.  He writes, “You yourself the bumble bee, the follower, the fruit and the tree.  You yourself the big fish, tortoise and the cause of causes.”  This understanding of the relationship between humans and Nature is reflective of ideas in modern day ecology.   In his famous aarti, he evokes the image of the entire universe as participating in worship and compares the grandeur of creation with the small scale of the Hindu form of worship of lighting an aarti (flame).

Guru Nanak’s philosophy displayed a keen insight into the inter-linkages between the social and ecological aspects of life. He was a revolutionary thinker who recognised that all humans are essentially composed of matter, “Born out of flesh, in flesh does man live”. He condemned the purification rituals espoused in the Manusmriti as meaningless and merely a means to give divine sanction to the injustice and humiliation by one section of the society of another. Even as a child, he challenged the practice of caste superiority and ritualism, associated with the practice of wearing the Hindu sacred thread, janeu. He asked the priest, “What difference would it make?” When he did not get a satisfactory answer, he refused to do so and proclaimed, “It is righteous deeds that distinguish one person from another.”  He went on to say, “Make compassion the cotton, contentment the thread, continence the knot and truth the twist.  This is the sacred thread of the soul and if thou has it, O priest then put it on me.” Guru Nanak emphasised that all humans are created equal and should be bestowed with equal rights, irrespective of caste and gender.

Champion of equality

Guru Nanak was born in a pre-capitalist society. However, he was keenly aware of the fact that materialism and appropriation of wealth are hurdles in the creation of an egalitarian, ecologically friendly society. He denounced moh (materialism) and lobh (avarice) as the primal sins and equated them to pollution. “Pollution of the mind is greed; the pollution of the eyes is to look with covetousness upon another’s wealth; the pollution of the ears is to listen to slander.”

He was a vociferous critic of the imperialist tendencies of the Mughal empire.  Addressing his acolyte, Bhai Lalo, he wrote, “Babar leading a weeding array of sin hath descended from Kabul and demanded by force the bride, O’Lalo.”  He also expressed anguish at the treatment of women following Babar’s invasion, while being incarcerated in Sayyidpur prison, “The Muslim women read the Koran and in suffering call upon God, O’Lalo. The Hindu women of high caste and others of low caste may also put in the same account, O’Lalo.”

Nanak went on long travels (udasis), but did not advocate asceticism. Instead, he focussed strongly on giving back to the community. He wrote, “Asceticism lies in remaining pure amidst impurities.” At the end of his first udassi, around 1521, he built a community in Kartarpur as a model of a sustainable society. It was based on the three pillars of sangat, pangat and langar to promote community ownership, voluntary service and pooling of resources. Guru Nanak said, “They alone who live by the fruit of their own labour and share its fruit with others have found the right path.”  The practice of langar became one of the hallmarks of the community in Kartarpur and promoted social solidarity. It also acted as a direct blow to the caste system and untouchability. In a fitting tribute to Guru Nanak, the langar has become the cornerstone of the Barcelona World Parliament of Religions held every year.

Guru Nanak’s life and teachings provide a vision for the creation of a sustainable, egalitarian community, which has great relevance in today’s times.  Unfortunately, his legacy has not been sufficiently followed in praxis by the Sikh community. His vision of holistic development through the integration of social, economic and ecological realms is yet to be realised. As a whole the Sikh community has still to become the model of a casteless, egalitarian, community driven, environmentally conscious society, which Guru Nanak had envisioned.

— The writer is a lecturer in Economics, Northumbria University, UK

His vision of ecology as inter-connected with his world view of universalism and social egalitarianism is vital in our times

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Rajmeet Singh
Tribune News Service
Dera Baba Nanak, November 9

Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu was on Saturday the centre of attraction at the integrated check post as the Amritsar (East) MLA made it a point to greet everyone. The pilgrims there gave Sidhu the credit for the “success of the Kartarpur corridor”.

Sidhu said: “It was the almighty who was behind the opening of the corridor.”

Sidhu, while interacting with the public, said he did not get along with those who “challenge my character”.

While talking to The Tribune, Sidhu said that after leaving the cabinet he had been meditating for 15 to 17 hours in a day and had lost 25 kg.

In a lighter note, he said, “As a result, all my old clothes fit me.”

He said: “Though I have the visa now, had the Ministry of External Affairs not allowed me to visit Kartarpur, I would have gone there with my wife five days later.”