Monthly Archives: August 2018

 The Jallianwala Bagh, enclosed within an area of seven acres, is the site of one of the most brutal massacres in the world history. Located in the vicinity of the Golden Temple complex, it is managed by the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Trust, which was established under the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Act, 1951. Several structures such as the Amar Jyoti, Martyrs’ Well, portico pillars representing the British soldiers, bullet marked walls and statues of nationalist leaders have been preserved inside. The premises contain several structures, a martyrs’ gallery and museum dedicated to the memory of 1,600 people, who died at the hands of the British soldiers led by General Dyer on the fateful day of April 13, 1919. The martyrs’ gallery contains a number of paintings, including those of some political leaders and one showing a number of people dead at Jallianwala Bagh. A portrait of Udham Singh is on display at the gallery and his ashes are kept in the museum. Last year, the Centre approved a renovation project that aims at building an additional museum inside the bagh and preserve the sanctity of the place, which is a memorial of national importance.

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 26

Lieutenant General Manoj Kumar Mago on Wednesday took over the command of ‘Chetak Corps’ from Lieutenant General Ajai Singh at Bathinda military station.

Prior to this, he was Director-General Operational Logistics and Strategic Move in the Army Headquarters.

An alumnus of Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Lt Gen Mago was commissioned into the Brigade of the Guards.

During his 35-year career, he has served in Siachen, Kargil Sector during Op Vijay, Desert Sector during Op Parakram, tenanted seven tenures in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir, Nagaland, Assam, and served with the Strategic Forces Command.

Besides being an instructor at Army War College, Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare Institute and the Guards Regimental Centre, he has also served in United Nations Peace Keeping assignments on two occasions at Somalia and Congo.

He has been awarded the Yudh Seva Medal and Sena Medal (twice) for distinguished services.

Guardians of Governance (GOGs), who are also known as the eyes and ears of the government, are now on a mission to raise awareness among people in the district, so that they do not believe in any kind of rumours and don’t hesitate in getting themselves tested. They have been appointed for the work under ‘Mission Fateh’. The district head of GOGs said as many as 136 GOGs were lending services in the district and the announcements were being made through speakers in temples and gurdwaras as to what precautions residents should take in order to save themselves from contracting the virus.

Making up for jobs lost in pandemic

Those who lost their jobs during the pandemic were given a chance to grab one at a placement camp organised by the district Employment Department at Modern Institute of Advance Education in Nawanshahr. Rupinder Kaur, district employment generation and training officer, said candidates would be selected for posts such as hardware technician, computer typist, manager and IELTS trainer among others in the camp. Candidates who are graduates, post graduates or those who have completed their higher secondary and those holding degrees including computer hardware diploma, computer application diploma were eligible to apply

Last-minute cancellations!

Industries Minister Sunder Sham Arora’s visit to Nawanshahr was scheduled for Wednesday, which got postponed. Notably, he was coming to monitor the Covid situation in the district and had to visit the Civil Hospital to check the arrangements for Covid patients. There was also a meeting with political leaders, followed by a press conference. An invitation was also sent to the media, but the plan got cancelled at the last moment. The administration officials said he would visit soon.

Practising what he preaches

SDM Nawanshahr Jagdish Singh Johal got himself tested voluntarily just to motivate people and show them that getting tested for Covid was not a big deal! His report came out to be negative and he gave out a message that if reported on time, the disease could be controlled. He said several rumours and fabricated news regarding the disease were making the rounds on social media just because of some notorious people, and no one should believe in these rumours. “The tests are being done so that further spread of the virus can be controlled,” the SDM said, adding that strict action would be taken against those spreading rumours.

G Parthasarathy

Chancellor, Jammu Central University & former High Commissioner to Pakistan

The strength and resilience of a country are determined by the courage and fortitude its people manifest, when they face challenges, or are threatened. The people of India faced their most serious challenge when the country was engulfed, in 1918, by a deadly flu pandemic, in which an estimated 14-17 million people died. Over a hundred years later, India, like the rest of the world, is facing a similar challenge from the coronavirus pandemic. This pandemic has been accompanied by a serious military intrusion by China. Under Xi Jinping’s leadership, China is seeking to become a dominant power in the world. China often uses its military muscle to fulfil its territorial ambitions, across its entire Asia-Pacific neighbourhood. What China had evidently not bargained for, is the determination of the Indian Government, armed forces and people to fiercely resist its territorial ambitions in Ladakh.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi met in Moscow recently to urgently address issues pertaining to border tensions. The main decision which emerged was that both sides would avoid any action that could escalate tensions, while abiding by their past commitments and agreements to maintain peace along their border. The actionable part was that the army commanders of India and China would soon meet to continue their dialogue and pull troops back. This Chinese incursion was accompanied by crass jingoism, threats, bluff and bluster in the Chinese media against India, voiced by the Chinese Communist Party’s international mouthpiece, the Global Times.

China’s tantrums became sharper after the implications of India’s counter-moves across the Pangong lake sank in. After taking control of the high mountain tops in this region, the Indian Army has positioned itself to block Chinese forces which challenge its access to the Depsang area and the Daulat Beg Oldie airfield. India can now freely move across the region, as it has in the past. New Delhi is ready for a dialogue between military commanders. China, however, has serious issues it has to address, on its side. Areas which it now controls will be largely submerged by the coming winter snow, which commences in October. Unlike their Indian counterparts, who have lived through winter in Siachen, the Chinese do not have similar battle experience. There should be no question of any withdrawal from areas that India now controls in Ladakh, till China agrees to exchange maps on the exact location of the LAC, and serious negotiations for resolving the border issue make headway.

Then PMs Manmohan Singh and Wen Jiabao concluded an agreement in 2005 on the ‘Political parameters and guiding principles for settlement of the India-China boundary question’. The agreement noted that the ‘boundary should be along well-defined and easily identifiable natural geographical features, to be mutually agreed upon by the two sides’, and that the two sides ‘shall safeguard the interests of their settled populations in border areas’. China refuses to define the contours of the LAC that it claims to respect. It uses this ambiguity to its advantage by laying down arbitrary claims to territory without any sound historical basis, or evidence.

It is equally important now for India to make use of the fact that there is growing international concern at China’s arrogance. Unlike his predecessors, President Xi Jinping enjoys an aggressive display of economic and military muscle. China ignores international conventions and seizes, or seeks to seize, control of maritime areas of its neighbours across the South China Sea. It also behaves aggressively on territorial issues with Japan and Taiwan. Remembering its humiliating defeat, when it invaded Vietnam in 1979, China is particularly harsh in threatening Vietnam, whose ships are accosted regularly, on what are Vietnamese waters. ASEAN countries have now joined hands and demanded that China should abide by the UN Convention of the Law of the Seas, which it has been found guilty of violating by an international tribunal, whose verdict it rejected. Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a hard time when his hosts in European countries he visited recently, including Germany, France, Norway, Italy and the Czech Republic, expressed concerns on issues ranging from human rights violations in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, to Huawei’s 5G ambitions.

China’s focus on relations with India is predominantly aimed at redrawing its borders, while marginalising Indian influence regionally and globally. It has also sought to exploit India’s rule-based trade and investment policies. Developing countries across Asia and Africa are now finding that they are unable to repay credits (described as ‘aid’) extended by China. They are then compelled to grant China access to their mineral resources, electrical power, and ports for military use. Across our Indian Ocean neighbourhood, such fears are rampant in countries ranging from Tanzania, Kenya and Ethiopia to the Maldives, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. New ‘enthusiasts’ for Chinese assistance, like the Oli regime in Nepal, will soon be compelled to join those already disillusioned about Chinese aid. China’s much-touted One-Belt One-Road project, which includes CPEC, is turning out to be a white elephant. Despite this, China will continue its policies of backing Pakistan militarily, economically and diplomatically on the Kashmir issue. India has no choice but to deal with these challenges.

A key element in India’s strategy to deal with Chinese assertiveness and territorial expansion is the formation of Quad, comprising Australia, Japan, the US and India. China is already showing signs of concern and nervousness at this development. Quad should associate Vietnam and Indonesia in its maritime security activities. It should also have a European dimension, through a close association with France. Strategic containment of China’s ambitions requires a significant measure of global cooperation.