Deepender Deswal Tribune News Service Hisar, February 13
Haryana Agriculture Minister Jai Prakash Dalal said 200 farmers who died during the ongoing protests would have died anywhere—remarks that could be seen as insensitive.
Dalal, who was addressing a press conference in Bhiwani, said the farmers who died during the protests would have “died even if they were home (ye ghar par hote toh bhi marte)”.
He followed up this remark by saying that one only had to look at the data on deaths to know this.
“They have died in the same ratio of deaths. Would 200 people have not died in a lakh or two in the last few months,” he said, adding heart failures and illnesses usually caused deaths.
He then accused the protesters of having been spurred on “Left activists who dance on China’s tunes to create a hostile environment” to drive out investment.
He also called Bharatiya Kisan Union’s national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait a ‘sadak chhap’ (vagabond) leader with vested interests.
He claimed another leader from Western Uttar Pradesh was brewing trouble in Haryana. Although he did not name anybody, he seems to be hinting at Yashpal Malik.
How does PLA see India’s strategic ambitions? Chinese military document holds clues
Representational image | Indian Army tanks at the Republic Day parade | Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint File Photo
New Delhi: India has always seen itself as a regional power and has wanted to dominate the Indian Ocean Region — this is how Beijing perceives New Delhi’s strategic ambitions, according to a recently translated document on China’s military strategy.
The US-based China Aerospace Studies Institute (CASI) translated a 2013 document, which is a doctrine of China’s Academy of Military Sciences.
The document traces the evolution of India’s strategic thought — as perceived by China — and gives a broad outline of the People’s Liberation Army’s military strategy. Of note is the fact that such documents are drawn up only once in about every 13 years.
In episode 682 of Cut The Clutter, ThePrint Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta analyses the aspects of the document that talk about India, using it as a unique opportunity to look at India from the lens of its biggest adversary.
According to the document, China sees India’s strategic thought as having developed in multiple stages after Independence.
The first stage is ‘Limited Offensive Strategy’, between 1947 and 1960, occurring right after Independence, when India was a young, economically backward and militarily weaker nation.
According to the Chinese, India laid major emphasis on building its economy rather than defence. However, since Pakistan remained a threat, there was limited offence but increased deployment on the Western front, and movement to the northern frontiers along Tibet, which, from the Chinese perspective, is south of the McMahon line.
“Essentially, what that means is that India asserted control over new regions of Arunachal Pradesh, or what the Chinese call South Tibet. But I suspect this is also an oblique reference to the fact that it was in this period that India went up to Tawang and asserted control,” said Gupta. By 1958, according to the Chinese, India gained control over all contested areas near the India-China border.
Between 1960 and 70, the paper says India’s strategy focused on expansion on two fronts, especially after the 1962 war, when the country started building its military power. In 1964, it started a defence modernisation plan with the first defence five-year-plan, pegged at Rs 5,000 crore. The paper says this led to two things — it gave India greater strength for its operations in the West, and provided in-depth defence against China.
In the next two decades, between 1970 and the late 1980s, the paper notes, India’s objective was to maintain land and control the sea. According to it, India had contained Pakistan at this point and its focus shifted towards gaining control over the sea, particularly the northern part of the Indian Ocean. India started focusing on building its Navy to gain power in South Asia.
In the 90s, the focus shifted from regional offence to regional deterrence. By this time, the paper says, the traditional view of annihilatory war had changed. So, India tried to build influence in an entire region on the back of a strategy of regional deterrence, from the Himalayas to the Indian Ocean, from Iran in the West to Myanmar in the East.
By the 21st century, India’s economy boomed, making it stronger than its South Asian neighbours, and leading to its strategy evolving again. The paper also notes that India’s strategy became two-pronged — practising defensive deterrence against China and punitive deterrence with others.
Characteristics that define India’s strategic thought
The Chinese paper notes that there are four inter-woven characteristics to India’s strategic thought. It says India has a strong geopolitical core since the nation believes it’s the heart of Asia, and its region of influence is South Asia. The paper also says Pakistan and China are India’s biggest obstacles in achieving its geopolitical goals.
Indo-centricism has been identified as another objective, one the Chinese think India has inherited from the British. India considers itself the heart of the continent, and regions at its peripheries, including Kashmir, Assam, Bangladesh, Sikkim and Bhutan, are its internal line of defence. The country also wants Tibet as a buffer zone with China. The paper says India relies on the Chanakyan philosophy, dealing with peripheral nations as rivals and regions that are far off as friends.
According to China, India wants to dominate South Asia and the Indian Ocean Region, and rise as a first rate world power for which a strong but limited offensive is needed. The paper also says India has been ‘nibbling’ away at Chinese territory in the meantime.
“Chinese say this ‘nibbling’ has been done rather carefully, to turn defence into offence during war time,” Gupta said.
Finally, the paper says, India’s strategic thought emphasises deterrence in all directions. This analysis breaks India’s deterrence strategy into two distinct halves — ambition for dominance and ambition for deterrence.
“India knows that its military power is limited, so for the second one, India has reached out to countries like the US and Japan, and improved its relations to get more people into the tent… you can see that the Chinese scholars had foreseen the coming up of the Quad in 2013,” Gupta said.
A 165-ft Tricolour was hoisted at the Joint Check Post, Hussainiwala, right opposite the Pakistan’s 145-ft flag near the zero line.
Ferozepur MLA Parminder Singh Pinki unfurled the flag in the presence of senior BSF, civil and police officials. — Anirudh Gupta
CRPF convoy attack case: NIA files chargesheet against Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorist Naveed Babu has been accused of planning and executing attack on the CRPF convoy in J&K’s Banihal in March 2019 along with other terrorists
The anti-terror probe agency NIA on Saturday said it had filed a supplementary chargesheet in a special court in Jammu against Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorist Naveed Mushtaq Shah alias Naveed Babu in a case relating to the attack on the CRPF convoy in Jammu and Kashmir’s Banihal in March 2019.
The charges have been framed under various sections of Ranbir Penal Code (RPC), Explosive Substances Act, Jammu and Kashmir Public Property (Prevention of Damage) Act and Unlawful Activities (Pervention) Act- UAPA.
In the chargesheet it has been alleged that accused Naveed Babu, who is a former constable of Jammu and Kashmir Police, had deserted the force with arms and ammunition in 2017 when he was posted as a guard at FCI, Budgam, NIA officials said, adding that he later joined the terrorist group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen and became an active terrorist.“Investigation has established that accused Naveed was actively involved in the planning and execution of the attack on the CRPF convoy in Banihal along with other terrorists Riyaz Ahmed Naikoo, Rayees Ahmed Khan and Dr Saifullah Mir, who were subsequently killed in encounters with security forces.
“The deceased terrorists Sahil Abdullah Bhat, Adil Bashir Sheikh and Zubair Ahmed Wani were also actively involved in preparation of the explosives that went into the making of the IED,” said a senior NIA official
Charges have also been abated against the deceased terrorists involved in the conspiracy, the official added.
“The case relates to an attack on the CRPF convoy at Tethar, Banihal, in Ramban district of J&K by a terrorist who had exploded an explosive laden Santro car on March 30, 2019 with the intention of killing security personnel and waging war against the Government of India,” the NIA said in a statement.
In this regard, an FIR was registered at Police Station Banihal and the NIA re-registered the case on April 15, 2019 and took over the investigation of the case, it said, adding that the agency had earlier filed chargesheet against six Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terrorists for their role in the attack.
Deep Sidhu, Iqbal Singh taken to Red Fort to recreate crime scene The Crime Branch is studying the route taken by Sidhu and Iqbal to reach Red Fort when the violence broke out on January 26 during the farmers’ tractor rally
iqbal Singh (donning a blue turban) was seen at the Red fort on February 13, in New Delhi. Tribune Photo: Mukesh Aggarwal
New Delhi, February 13
The Delhi Police Crime Branch, probing the Red Fort violence on Republic Day, took the arrested accused Deep Sidhu and Iqbal Singh to Red Fort on Saturday to recreate the crime scene.
The Crime Branch is studying the route taken by Sidhu and Iqbal to reach Red Fort when the violence broke out on January 26 during the farmers’ tractor rally. The Crime Branch is probing if it was part of a larger conspiracy.
Forty-five-year-old Iqbal Singh hails from Ludhiana. He, along with Punjabi actor-activist Deep Sidhu and others, was part of the tractor rally that changed course and created chaos in the national capital. His videos went viral on social media where he was purportedly heard threatening cops on duty and inciting protesters to go on a rampage.
Following the violence, Delhi Police announced cash reward of Rs 1 lakh each for Deep Sidhu, Jugraj Singh, Gurjot Singh and Gurjant Singh, and Rs 50,000 each for Jagbir Singh, Buta Singh, Sukhdev Singh and Iqbal Singh for their alleged involvement in the violence that saw at least one person die and several injured, including policemen.
Sidhu and Iqbal Singh are in police remand and the Crime Branch is probing all angles to the violence and also who else aided them on January 26 and sheltered them when they were on the run. — IANS
Farmer agitation may soon become international issue, says Subramanian Swamy The BJP MP says human rights groups plan to approach the International Labour Organisation of the United Nations on the issue of farmers’ agitation
Subramanian Swamy took to Twitter on Saturday to criticise the Centre’s treatment of the farmers’ agitation.
The BJP MP said the farmers agitation may soon become an international issue as human rights groups plan to approach the International Labour Organisation of the United Nations.
“The farmer agitation may soon become an international issue. Human rights groups plan to approach the International Labour Organisation, UN Body, in which India is a member, which could take it up. As Chairman of Labour Standards, I produced, in 1996, a three volume Report for Govt,” Swamy tweeted.
MC MP Mahua Moitra during the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament in New Delhi on February 11, 2021. PTI file photo
Tribune News Service New Delhi, February 13
Trinamool Congress Member of Parliament Mahua Moitra has claimed she is being put under “some sort of surveillance” after Border Security Force (BSF) officers were deputed outside her Delhi residence.
Mitra raised this allegation in a letter addressed to the SHO of Barakhamba police station, which was also marked to Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava, and has requested withdrawal of the security which she “neither ask nor want”.
The force as per her was deputed outside her house late on Friday night and it was done after a visit from SHO of Barakhamba Police Station visited her the same evening.The Krishnanagar MP has alleged the officers were noting all the movements coming in and going out of her residence.
“The conduct of these armed officers indicates that they are making notes of movements to and fro from my residence, it appears to me that I am under some sort of surveillance. I wish to remind you that Right of Privacy is a Fundamental Right, guaranteed to me, as a citizen of this country, under the Constitution of India, 1950,” Mitra wrote in her letter.
“Upon making inquiries, I was informed that the armed officers from Police Station Barakhamba Road for my protection, however, I being an ordinary citizen of this country, did neither ask or want any such protection. Therefore, you are kindly requested to withdraw these officers,” she added.
CHANDIGARH COUNCILLOR IN SUPPORT OF MOHALI MC CANDIDATES
Gurbax Rawat speech during a public Meeting at sector 68 Mohali Smt. Gurbax Rawat Councillor & Former Deputy Mayor Chandigarh addressing public at sector 68 Mohali during a public meeting for MC Election Mohali in presence of S. Balbir Singh Sidhu (MLA Mohali, Punjab)
