Col Lalit Rai , Vir Chakra … Commanding Officer (CO) of 1/ 11 Gorkha Rifles ( or the First Battalion 11 Gorkha Rifles ) which went to battle headlong during Kargil Operations at unforgiving altitude of 16000 Feet . The unit was awarded the Citation – “ Bravest Of The Brave “
By
Lt Gen PG Kamath (Veteran)
Last month, I visited Hampi for the second time. My first visit was during the time when I was at school and all that I was interested in was waiting for my snacks and meals. However, even in that frame of mind, I was struck by architectural wonders like the Stone Chariot, musical pillars, and the Divine statue of Lord Narasimha. Now going there after a lapse of more than half a century, the experience was completely different; it ought to be; otherwise, one probably would not have grown with the passage of time.
I spent three days going around Hampi; to be frank, one can spend over 10 days just to visualise the might and prosperity of the Vijayanagar Empire during its heydays. It was the capital city of Vijayanagar; a Hindu Empire that lasted for over 200 years. It is one of the largest ‘Open Area Museum’ in the world. One can spend days among the ruins of Hampi, and still would not be able to do justice to the massive structures that dot across an area of over 16 square miles. As per Wikipedia; in 1500 CE it was the world’s second-largest medieval-era city after Beijing. The layout of the city, its architectural splendour and its enormity would leave a visitor in awe and admiration and would not require any additional testimonials to conclude that it was the richest city in the world of its time. Hampi Museum has hundreds of statues of deities, kings and queens, and artefacts of the Vijayanagar Empire. The ruins of forts, gateways, palaces, lotus ponds, elephant stables, temples, prisons, lakes and other countless stone carvings and statues enthral the visitor who can experience its original magnificence when the city was at its height of glory and prosperity.
What I am writing is not a travelogue but to open the eyes of strategists, politicians, bureaucrats and higher judiciary. All of them should visit the site to learn first-hand a very important lesson before they assume their official appointment. The Justices of HC and SC who uphold the rights of every criminal at the cost of the security of a nation should compulsorily visit the site. The Vijaynagar Empire that ruled the entire Deccan for over two centuries was defeated in the Battle of Talikota in 1565 by a confederate of five sultans of the Southern Sultanate. After the war, the victorious armies looted, ravaged, pillaged, and plundered Hampi for the next six months leaving everything in desolate ruins. The wreckage of the once prosperous city, broken idols of famous temples, decapacitation of statues of deities, and defacing of beautiful architectural wonders bears testimony of a kingdom whose leaders had lost their strategic vision and neglected the defence of their country. The littered boulders of the surrounding stately hills appear to cry aloud; mourning for the once prosperous city that was decimated and vandalised: The hustle and bustle of its markets has been replaced with the haunting silence of the eerie nights broken only by packs howling of jackals which frequent the ruined city in search of rodents and carcasses of animals.
All because; the empire was not united. The battle was lost under a regent King Rama Raya as the prince was a minor. In the initial part of his rule, he waged several campaigns and consolidated his hold on the entire Deccan. He had literally won wars against all the Southern Indian Kingdoms and defeated individually the Sultanates of Deccan several times. Even the horses for his cavalry were imported from Oman and the empire boasted to have one of the best cavalries in India. However, the imports stopped and cavalry was reduced to a shadow of its former self. The infantry was poorly equipped with bamboo bows and arrows and short lances; most of them fought in bare torsos. Similar neglect faced the artillery guns. (Military History of India; Jadunath Sarkar; Life Span Publishers, New Delhi; 2019) At Talikota, the Army was led by Rama Raya aged 80 years and his brothers who were past their sixties. They continued to fight on Elephants as against the swifter Arabian horses of their opponent commanders. During the battles, the tables turned when two Muslim Generals; the Gillani Brothers of the Vijayanagar Empire with all their forces deserted and joined the Confederates of Sultans. Add to that Ram Raya fell from his elephant and was wounded. He was apprehended and brought before the Sultans who avenged their past humiliations by executing him instantly. It was not only a defeat in the war but the destruction of the might of an empire that had reverberated its power and pelf in Deccan which no one could challenge.
What lessons can we draw from the visit to Hampi? First and foremost; the nation-state is the most important treasure that every citizen, politician, bureaucrat, Judge, and government official needs to preserve. All our individual and fundamental rights which we so strongly defend can only be guaranteed to us if we have our Nation-State intact. Nothing can be more sacred than that. If our nation loses a war and foreign powers will dictate us and it would humble and humiliate our 1.4 billion people and debase our civilization. Do we even comprehend what is in store for us if we are not united? We have been a slave nation for nearly two and half centuries under the British and to preserve our Bharat we need to defend it, fight against divisive tendencies, unify our people, root out those who destroy the edifice of our nation for vote bank politics and those who instigate and support communal riots to break the nation for personal gains.
The worst enemies of our country are our politicians who have no love for the country. One leader incites people to execute a ‘Do or Die Battle’ to unleash communal riots in the country. There are CMs who cause communal riots before and after each election, and on the Ram Navami festival. Political parties across the country opposed the Farm Laws; the result is there for you to see; an artificial scarcity has been created by Middlemen by hoarding Tomatoes who are racking profits at the cost of the common man. There might be other reasons as well for the shortage but the role of the Middlemen remains substantial. There are politicians who go out on foreign jaunts and badmouth their countries in front of foreign audiences. Most politicians are corrupt to the core and they corrupt the people by giving doles. The Karnataka Dy CM has said that there are no funds for the year for developmental purposes; read; all funds have been exhausted by giving freebies as promised in the elections. Most opposition leaders for the Patna Conclave in Jun 2023 came in eight chartered planes; please think where has the money come from? Please let me know how can anyone amass hundreds and thousands of crores of rupees from one’s income. The richest MLA in the country has over 1400 crores; is it not a point to ponder?
Any measure for the benefit of our country is blindly and unilaterally opposed by the opposition leaders. CAA was to support the minorities in the countries having direct land borders with our country. It has nothing to do with the Indian Muslims. However, leaders across the spectrum deliberately mislead our Muslim brothers that they all will be segregated and herded into concentration camps and then pushed across the borders. Ridiculous to the core that the country will screen out 200 million Muslim brethren and push them across the borders. Our Indian Muslims are so well integrated within the country that no force on earth can deny them from being Indians. It is the politicians who sow discord and apprehension and spread insecurity among them. It is these politicians who are really enemies of the country. India is not a dustbin for refugees from across the borders to be accommodated; look at France and most European Countries which have lost their civilisational identity due to the influx of refugees. These migrants have no love for the country that has given them refuge.
UCC is there to uphold gender rights across the country and integrate the entire population and blend the nation into one judicial fabric. How can anyone oppose it? Why should anyone oppose it? Does it not give our Muslim sisters equality in inheritance and a voice in society? Of course, the Muslim clerics would oppose it; but so be it. Democracy is not meant to please every section of society. We should think of our nation to make it strong and united, socially stable with communal harmony, economically strong, and militarily formidable.
The next species who squander our country are Bureaucrats; the less said the better. A greedy and corrupt breed that rewards itself with pay, perks, and allowances for mismanaging the country; always sporting a self-righteous attitude claiming that they run the country. I will give subtle examples. Have you heard in any country or in any organisation across the world that values and rewards incompetency? You have not; isn’t it? It is the Indian Bureaucracy. In 2006 they instituted a measure to grant higher grades of pay to those who do not make it for the next promotion; ironically named “Non-Functional Upgradation.’ It literally means that they continue to function in lower grades but get paid a higher grade. Later, when they retire the higher pay would give them a higher pension: Ridiculous! Just imagine; we reward incompetency and give higher pay for being non-functional. Just read in the newspapers that bureaucrats can retain laptops, tablets, and mobile phones bought out of government funds after four years of use. Lovely; isn’t it? Just imagine why such a circular is issued. These greedy people want to retain it and with all its contents that would harm the security of the nation. The circular adds a perfunctory sentence that the concerned ministries are responsible to delete official information from the devices. Is it not laughable that anyone would ever do it? We know; how the ministries function. Similar circulars have been issued for retired CJI and Supreme Court Judges to get lifetime chauffeurs and domestic help after retirement. Are we being ruled by oligarchy or democracy? It is taxpayers’ money; have we authorised the government to facilitate bureaucrats and justices to milk the country?
We need to arrest the decay of our national ethos and our indifference to our nation-state. We all have what we have because we have a nation which we can call our own. We cannot let petty politicians destroy the fabric of our nation. We have corrupt leaders who provide doles based on religion, caste, and creed to fragment society. I will end by remembering the following three quotes.
Abraham Lincoln: “A house divided against itself cannot stand:” How true; a schismatic nation will decay, degenerate, and disintegrate. Beware of selfish politicians, greedy bureaucrats, and self-righteous justices; A Nation is a billion times greater than all of you combined.
“To every man upon this earth the death cometh soon or late; And how can man die better, than facing fearful odds; For the ashes our fathers, and temples of his Gods.” Horatius by Macaulay. We must defend our country, which has been nourished by the ashes of our ancestors and consecrated by our temples. We have no other country to call our own.
Jananī janmabhūmiśca svargādapi garīyasī; Mother and Motherland are superior to Heaven” Alas! Do we understand it? Hampi is an eye-opener. It opens the possibility of our end if we do not love our country and leave it to packs of wolves to squander it. Jai Hind!
Jammu, July 29
A landmine exploded near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district in the early hours of Saturday but there was no report of any damage, officials said.
The landmine exploded around 4 am amid incessant rain near the Khokhri post in Terwan village of the Degwar area, the officials said.
They said Army troops immediately conducted a search of the area but nothing was found.
The forward areas along the LoC are dotted with landmines as part of an anti-infiltration obstacle system to prevent terrorists from intruding into the Indian side from across the border. The mines sometimes go off after getting washed away by rains or forest fires.
MALIK Muhammad Ahmad Khan, Special Assistant on Defence to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, has admitted during a TV interview that drones are being used to smuggle drugs across the border into India. Khan, who represents Kasur city in the Provincial Assembly, let the cat out of the bag while seeking a special package for the rehabilitation of flood victims of his constituency. He expressed the apprehension that the victims, if deprived of timely help, could join the smugglers who were using drones to push heroin into India via Kasur, which is located close to the Line of Control.
This admission by the PM’s adviser leaves no room for doubt that drone-based drug trafficking is taking place right under the nose of the Sharif government, which is doing little or nothing to deter the smugglers. Despite irrefutable evidence, Pakistan has for long been in the denial mode about its role in aiding and abetting cross-border terrorism in any form. In recent years, drones have emerged as an effective means to send drugs and weapons into Indian territory, particularly the border state of Punjab. During last week’s conference on Drug Trafficking and National Security, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had urged Home Minister Amit Shah to make the registration of drones compulsory, while highlighting that unmanned aerial vehicles were increasingly being used for cross-border smuggling of weapons and heroin. In response, Shah had announced that a new drone policy, featuring a host of restrictions, would be unveiled soon.
A robust, airtight policy is a must to counter the drone menace. At the same time, Khan’s revelation has given India a golden opportunity to corner Pakistan on this pressing issue. The Union Government, which is spearheading the nation’s war on drugs, should leave no stone unturned to expose the neighbour on international platforms over its complicity in promoting narco terror.
Brisbane, July 29
Four air crew members were missing after an Australian army helicopter ditched into waters off the Queensland state coast during joint military exercises with the United States, officials said on Saturday.
The MRH-90 Taipan helicopter went down near Hamilton Island, a Great Barrier Reef tourist resort, at about 10.30 pm on Friday, Defence Minister Richard Marles said.
A search was under way to find the crew, and their families had been notified, officials said.
A rescue helicopter reported spotting debris on Saturday morning near Dent Island in the Whitsunday Islands group.
The Taipan was taking part in Talisman Sabre, a biennial joint US-Australian military exercise that is largely based in Queensland. This year’s exercise involves 13 nations and more than 30,000 military personnel.
Marles said the helicopter had ditched, which refers to an emergency landing on water. He said it was taking part in a mission that involved a second helicopter, which immediately started a search and rescue operation.
“Defence exercises, which are so necessary for the readiness of our defence force, are serious. They carry risk,” Marles told reporters in Brisbane. “As we desperately hope for better news during the course of this day we are reminded about the gravity of the act which comes with wearing our nation’s uniform.”
Defence Force Chief Gen Angus Campbell said Queensland state authorities, members of the public and US military personnel were taking part in the search.
New Delhi, July 29
The Navy has rescued 36 Indian fishermen, who were stranded in the Bay of Bengal. INS Khanjar, deployed in the Bay of Bengal, safely brought back the fishermen, who were stranded 240 km from the Tamil Nadu coast.The fishermen were on board three fishing vessels, which were towed by the warship for over 30 hours in challenging sea conditions, the Navy said today.
INS Khanjar detected three fishing vessels — Sabarainathan, Kalaivani and V Sami — these had been stranded at sea for over two days due to rough weather conditions, without fuel, provisions and engine breakdown. The Naval warship supplied the fishing vessels with the necessary provisions and towed them to Chennai.
Islamabad, July 29
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will arrive here on Sunday on a three-day visit to participate in the 10th anniversary celebrations of the ambitious multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the foreign office said on Saturday.
The Vice Premier, who is a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, will visit Islamabad from July 30 to August 1 at the invitation of Pakistan, the statement from the FO said.
“Vice Premier He will attend the 10th-anniversary celebrations of CPEC and call on the President and the Prime Minister,” FO said, adding that He will also be the chief guest at an event celebrating the decade of the CPEC.
The CPEC is a collection of infrastructure and other projects under construction throughout Pakistan since 2013.
The CPEC, which connects Gwadar Port in Pakistan’s Balochistan with China’s Xinjiang province, is the flagship project of China’s ambitious multi-billion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
India has protested to China over the CPEC as it is being laid through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
The BRI was launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. It aims to link Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Gulf region, Africa and Europe with a network of land and sea routes.
The BRI is seen as an attempt by China to further its influence abroad with infrastructure projects funded by Chinese investments all over the world.
The initiative also led to allegations of smaller countries reeling under mounting Chinese debt after Sri Lanka gave its Hambantota port in a debt swap to China in 2017 on a 99-year lease.
Vice Premier He has played a prominent role in China’s international economic relations and implementation of the BRI.
As the Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission (2017-23), he also was instrumental in the planning and execution of multiple CPEC projects in Pakistan.
The Pakistan FO said that the visit reflects the importance attached by Pakistan and China to further deepen their “All-Weather Strategic Cooperative Partnership”. It also reaffirms support on issues of each other’s core interests; enhances economic and financial cooperation; advances high-quality development of CPEC; and explores new avenues for strengthening trade and investment ties between the two countries.
