This will be an upgrade of the current PAN/TAN 1.0 ecosystem, consolidating the core and non-core PAN/TAN activities as well as the PAN validation service
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Monday approved the PAN 2.0 project of the Income Tax Department with an outlay of Rs 1,435 crore.
The PAN 2.0 project aims to enable a technology-driven transformation of taxpayer registration services and has significant benefits. It includes ease of access and speedy service delivery with improved quality; a single source of truth and data consistency; eco-friendly processes and cost optimisation; and security and optimisation of infrastructure for greater agility.
“It is an e-governance project for re-engineering the business processes of taxpayer registration services through technology-driven transformation of PAN/TAN services for enhanced digital experience of the taxpayers,” according to a cabinet communique.
This will be an upgrade of the current PAN/TAN 1.0 ecosystem, consolidating the core and non-core PAN/TAN activities as well as the PAN validation service.
The CCEA further stated that the PAN 2.0 project “resonates with the vision of the government enshrined in Digital India by enabling the use of PAN as a common identifier for all digital systems of specified government agencies”.
Meanwhile, the I-T Department expects to surpass the direct tax collection target of Rs 22.07 lakh crore fixed in the Union Budget for the current financial year.
India’s net direct tax collections, comprising corporate tax and personal income tax, shot up by a robust 15.4 per cent to Rs 12.1 lakh crore, from April 1 to November 10 during the current financial year, according to the latest figures released by the CBDT.
The government’s target to collect Rs 22.07 lakh crore during the current financial year comprises Rs 10.20 lakh crore from corporate tax and Rs 11.87 lakh from personal income tax, non-corporate tax and other taxes.
ULFA was first declared a banned organisation in 1990
The Centre on Monday extended the ban on the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) for five years for continuing to work with the objective to secede Assam from India and maintaining links with other insurgent groups for extortion and violence.
The ULFA was first declared a banned organisation in 1990 and since then the ban has been extended periodically.
In a notification, the Union Home Ministry said ULFA, along with all its factions, wings and front organisations, has been involved in such activities which are prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India.
It said that the ULFA has declared its objective to secede Assam from India, continued intimidation and extortion of funds for their organisation, and maintained links with other insurgent groups for extortion and violence.
The outfit has possessed illegal arms and ammunition, indulged in 16 criminal cases, including several cases of explosions or planting of explosives in Assam during the period from November 27, 2019 to July 1, 2024, and planted several improvised explosive devices or explosives in the run-up to Independence Day, 2024, across Assam, the notification said.
During the last five years, the Home Ministry said, three ULFA hardcore cadres were killed in police or security force action, 15 cases were registered against its cadres with three chargesheets filed and three cadres prosecuted.
The ULFA was involved in 27 other criminal activities, 56 of its cadres were arrested and 63 cadres were surrendered. Besides 27 arms, 550 rounds, nine grenades and two improvised explosive devices were recovered from the possession of the ULFA members, the ministry said.
The Assam government has also recommended for declaration of ULFA as an unlawful association under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967).
“Now, therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), the central government hereby declares the ULFA along with all its factions, wings and front organisations as an unlawful association for five years with effect from November 27, 2024,” the notification said.
On December 29, 2023, the pro-talks faction of the ULFA, led by Arabinda Rajkhowa, had signed a peace accord with the central and Assam governments, agreeing to shun violence, surrender all arms, disband the organisation and join the democratic process.
However, the hardline faction of the insurgent group, led by Paresh Baruah, continues to involve in subversive activities. Baruah is believed to have been operating from his safe bases along the China-Myanmar border.
THE Russia-Ukraine war crossed the 1000-day mark on November 19 and the conflict entered a higher level of fire-power escalation on November 17, when US President Joe Biden finally gave the authorisation for the US Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS)…
THE Russia-Ukraine war crossed the 1000-day mark on November 19 and the conflict entered a higher level of fire-power escalation on November 17, when US President Joe Biden finally gave the authorisation for the US Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) to be used by Ukraine.
While this decision is being interpreted as a case of Uncle Joe finally showing ‘spine’, albeit rather late in the day, the potential for sudden and dangerous escalation — either accidental or deliberate — has increased in a visible manner.
Kyiv had long sought such approval for the use of long-range western origin missiles, but this had been withheld by Washington as a measure of prudence and restraint to keep the conflict limited and confined to the two adversaries. It is pertinent that this green signal has been given when the Biden presidency is in what is described as its ‘lame-duck’ phase. This is the period after the US election results for the White House are announced (usually early November) and January 20, when the new incumbent assumes office — in this case, President-elect Donald Trump.
Kyiv lost no time in using its new weaponry and launched the ATACMS missiles against targets in Russia on November 20 and followed this offensive with the Storm Shadow missiles supplied by the UK. Earlier, Russia was accused of inducting North Korean troops into the conflict and also using drones supplied by Iran — thereby widening the scope of the war from a binary conflict (Russia-Ukraine) and according it a wider multinational nature. This has pitted Ukraine, supported by the US and some of its allies, against Russia, which is receiving tangible military assistance from North Korea and Iran.
Moscow retaliated almost immediately and on November 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his military had carried out an attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro, using “a new conventional intermediate-range missile.” Classified as Oreshnik, this has been identified as an experimental medium-range ballistic missile.
Putin stated: “In response to the use of American and British long-range weaponry, on 21 November this year, the Russian armed forces carried out a combined strike on one of Ukraine’s military-industrial complex sites.” The sub-text of the use of the hypersonic Oreshnik missile was that if the US-led alliance chose to escalate the lethality of the conflict, Russia would respond in an assertive manner. Putin added that Russia was “ready for any developments and if anyone still doubts this, they shouldn’t. There will always be a response.”
Will this response be nuclear? This is the worst-case scenario that many European nations fear and Putin has stoked this anxiety by revising Russia’s nuclear doctrine to cater to a wide range of exigencies that go beyond pristine deterrence.
Russia’s earlier nuclear doctrine was framed in the traditional template that was limited to the core mission, meaning that the nuclear weapon was meant only to ‘deter’ the adversary (the USA) from even contemplating the use of such apocalyptic capability. The second condition was to repel a conventional military attack that threatened the existence of the state.
However, the revised November doctrine announced by Moscow has expanded the spectrum and states that any attack by a non-nuclear power supported by a nuclear power would be considered a joint attack. It further adds that any attack by one member of a military bloc (in this case, the US-led alliance) would be considered an attack by the entire alliance.
Moscow has drawn attention to its nuclear capability since the early stage of this war that began in February 2022 and this has been repeated many times. However, the received wisdom is that Russia would not cross the red line and some western commentary has dismissed this as mere posturing. But such complacency may be misleading and dangerous.
It merits recall that the 1962 Cuban missile crisis between the USA and the former USSR that began in mid-October that year almost plunged the world into a nuclear war. This apocalyptic eyeball-to-eyeball brinkmanship was averted by the last-minute sagacity and prudence of the two leaders — US President John Kennedy and Soviet President Nikita Khrushchev. They decided to ‘blink’ together on November 20, 1962.
This resolute political decision at the summit level was taken despite the hawks in both nations urging escalation. The strategic restraint exercised by the captain of a Soviet submarine was fortuitous and the nuclear taboo was not violated.
Will such restraint be exercised in these volatile times?
By unveiling the Oreshnik, Russia has demonstrated an ordnance capability that is proximate to the nuclear weapon — but without atomic radiation. Russian media has reported that Oreshnik is a new generation of Russian intermediate-range missiles with a range of 2,500 km and could be extended to 5,000 km.
Hypersonic in nature, it has a speed between Mach 10 and Mach 11 (exceeding 12,000 km per hour) and is, hence, undetectable and the current anti-missile technology would not be able to intercept the missile. It was also highlighted that an Oreshnik launched from the Russian base at Kaliningrad would strike the following European capitals in a very short time span (all in seconds): Warsaw 81; Berlin 155; Paris 412; and London 416 seconds.
The escalatory dynamic in the Russia-Ukraine war that has gathered ominous traction since mid-November will test the acumen of the strategic and security establishment of the principal interlocutors. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov noted on October 3 that the danger of a direct armed clash between nuclear powers cannot be underestimated. “What is happening has no analogues in the past, we are moving through unexplored military and political territory.”
The Russia-Ukraine war has crossed the 1,000-day mark and is poised at a critical cusp. A civilian nuclear accident or deliberate military incident would both be catastrophic and the lame-duck phase in US governance should not be allowed to inadvertently abet either possibility. The Trump 2.0 presidency which follows will be disruptive and quixotic and 2025 could see more turbulence.
I had made a passing reference in a previous book about the trial of officers of Subhas Bose’s Indian National Army (INA), at the Red Fort in Delhi in November-December 1945, hastening Indian Independence. A history professor and rector of…
I had made a passing reference in a previous book about the trial of officers of Subhas Bose’s Indian National Army (INA), at the Red Fort in Delhi in November-December 1945, hastening Indian Independence. A history professor and rector of Exeter College, Oxford, Rick Trainor, encouraged me to expand on it. I embarked on the project at St Antony’s College, under the guidance of Faisal Devji, professor of Indian history at Oxford.
I delved into the papers of Commander-in-Chief of armed forces in India Gen Claude Auchinleck, Viceroy Archibald Wavell, records of the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) mutiny and the British parliament, not to mention the archives of British and Indian newspapers. The question I asked myself was — how did the Indian freedom movement revive after World War-II, and what gave it an impetus so quickly?
In 1939, the Indian National Congress had elected governments in eight out of the 11 provinces. It, however, sacrificed this predominance by resigning in protest against Britain hauling India into its war against Germany without consulting it. In 1942, the Congress was banned as an organisation, and most of its leaders and many of its workers were imprisoned after its ‘Quit India’ uprising. In effect, for the greater At a loss on how to revive the struggle when it was un-proscribed in August 1945, the issue of the INA fortuitously fell on its lap. The INA was vanquished in battle. Knowledge about its attempt to liberate India militarily, though, had been suppressed from the Indian people by British war-time censorship. When information about the endeavour began pouring out, the Congress adroitly seized on the resultant public anger. Mahatma Gandhi proclaimed, “The hypnotism of the Indian National Army has cast a spell on us.”
The party was extended an even bigger windfall when the British embarked on the court martial of defectors from the British Indian army to the INA on charges of treachery. Indian newspapers rendered saturation coverage to a rousing performance by Congress activist and advocate Bhulabhai Desai as he defended three INA officers — Shah Nawaz Khan, Prem Sahgal and Gurbaksh Dhillon — in the first centrepiece trial.
The choice of accused by the British was unwittingly a Himalayan blunder. A Muslim, Hindu and Sikh on the dock: India exploded with unified fury. Civic demonstrations, cutting across communal lines, turned violent, particularly in Kolkata. The RIN ranks mutinied.
The charismatic Jawaharlal Nehru toured the length and breadth of India, relating riveting tales of INA’s heroism.
Wavell and Auchinleck beat a hasty retreat. Under the British Indian Army Act, only death penalty or transportation for life could be administered for treason. They did not dare to impose either.
The Intelligence Bureau director, Norman Smith, reported “the appearance of threatening posters” vowing 20 English deaths for every INA man hanged — in Delhi and Kolkata — and warned that it “does not make the position in respect of Europeans as satisfactory as could be wished”.
After the trial, the Governor of Punjab, Bertrand Clancy, informed Wavell, “The conclusion of the first INA trial and the arrival of the three ‘heroes’ in Lahore gave rise to a continual orgy of extravagant welcomes, speeches and entertainments… One disturbing feature is the attendance of [British] Indian army personnel in uniform at meetings held in honour of the INA accused.”
In a note to General Officer Commanding-in-Chiefs under him, Auchinleck laid threadbare that any attempt to enforce a sentence “would have led to chaos in the country at large and probably mutiny and dissension in the army, culminating in dissolution”.
Nehru told the media that Khan, Sahgal and Dhillon “were not released owing to demonstrations in India, but because the Indian army had demanded their release”.
Shaken by the Indian reaction to the trial, the United Kingdom’s new Labour Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, asserted in the House of Commons, “It is no good applying the formulas of the past to the present. The temperature of 1946 is not the temperature of 1920 (Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement) or of 1930 (Salt March), or even of 1942.” He explained that “the tide of nationalism” in India “has spread right through, and not least perhaps among some of those soldiers who have done such wonderful service in the war [referring to Indians in British Indian armed forces]”.
The Lahore session of the All India Congress Committee in 1929 passed a motion demanding ‘Purna Swaraj’ or complete Independence. The British authorities paid no attention. Only in March 1942, with Japan having swept through South-East Asia and arrived at India’s doorstep in Myanmar, did Stafford Cripps, a minister in Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s war cabinet, rush to India with an offer of conditional dominion status. The Congress rejected this.
The British position remained unchanged when the first INA trial began on November 5, 1945. In a matter of 18 weeks, though, this dramatically altered to complete Independence, with Attlee conceding this in the House of Commons on March 15, 1946.
The INA trials have generally been a footnote in the cataloguing of the Indian Independence saga. My paper, now a book, examines to what extent they impacted the final phase of India’s quest for freedom
“No trial in India either by court martial or in the civil courts,” wrote Nehru, “has attracted so much public attention or dealt with issues of such fundamental national importance… those three officers and the Indian National Army became symbols of India fighting for her Independence… a trial of strength between the will of the Indian people and the will of those who hold power in India… The trial put a final end to a chapter of India’s history… those who watched it from day to day, or those who will read about it in the printed page will sense how that end draws near and the page is being turned for us to begin the new chapter.”
— ‘The Trial that Shook Britain’ by Ashis Ray has been published by Routledge
Hezbollah fires 170 rockets at Tel Aviv after Beirut airstrike kills 29; scores hurt
US ceasefire plan awaits Tel Aviv’s nod | Conflict has displaced over 1 mn in Lebanon
Lebanon’s Hezbollah fired 170 rockets at Israel on Sunday, with Israeli media reporting that a building had been hit near Tel Aviv, after a powerful Israeli airstrike killed at least 29 people in Beirut the day before.
Israel also struck Beirut’s Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs, where intensified bombardment over the last two weeks has coincided with signs of progress in US-led ceasefire talks.
Hezbollah, which has previously vowed to respond to attacks on Beirut by targeting Tel Aviv, said it had launched precision missiles at two military sites in Tel Aviv and nearby.
Police said there were multiple impact sites in the area of Petah Tikvah, on the eastern side of Tel Aviv, and that several people had minor injuries. Television footage showed an apartment damaged by rocket fire in Petah Tikvah, and video from the medical service MDA showed cars burning.
The Israeli military (IDF) said of the 170 rockets fired, many were intercepted. At least four people had been injured by shrapnel.
On Saturday, it had carried out one of its deadliest and most powerful strikes on the centre of Beirut.
Lebanon’s health ministry on Sunday raised the death toll from 20 to 29. It said 84 people had been killed in all on Saturday, taking the death toll to 3,754 since October 2023.
The Israeli offensive has uprooted more than 1 million people in Lebanon.
Israel says its aim is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from its north due to rocket attacks by Hezbollah, which opened fire in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Sunday said a US ceasefire proposal was awaiting final approval from Israel.
Iran preparing to respond: Official
Iran is preparing to “respond” to Israel, Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to the country’s supreme leader, said in an interview published by Iran’s Tasnim news agency on Sunday. On October 26, Israeli fighter jets had carried out three waves of attacks on Iranian military targets.
Security forces conduct search operation in Jammu’s Sidhra
The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Sunday conducted a search operation in Sidhra area on the outskirts of Jammu city following information that terrorists had planted an IED, security officials said. However, the four-hour-long search operation in the Sidhra bypass…
The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Sunday conducted a search operation in Sidhra area on the outskirts of Jammu city following information that terrorists had planted an IED, security officials said.
However, the four-hour-long search operation in the Sidhra bypass area was called off around noon after no explosive material was found, they said.
A party of the Special Operation Group (SOG) launched the search operation this morning after getting information that terrorists might have planted an improvised explosive device (IED) on the main road adjoining a famous temple.
Police along with a bomb disposal squad and metal detectors rushed to the scene and conducted a thorough search operation on both sides of the bypass road near Bajalta Morh and adjoining forest area, the officials said.
Got Rs 25,000, free ration from Army: Father of Kishtwar ‘torture’ victim
Sitting in a mud house in Kuath village of Chas area in Kishtwar, 60-year-old Abdul Rashid awaits the return of his son, Mushtaq Ahmad, who is undergoing treatment at an Army facility. Mushtaq was among four men allegedly beaten by…
Sitting in a mud house in Kuath village of Chas area in Kishtwar, 60-year-old Abdul Rashid awaits the return of his son, Mushtaq Ahmad, who is undergoing treatment at an Army facility. Mushtaq was among four men allegedly beaten by soldiers on suspicion of aiding terrorists in the forest area. These terrorists are believed to have been responsible for killing two Village Defence Guards (VDGs) and a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) earlier this month.
Following public outrage over the incident, the Army initiated a probe and promised support to the affected families, providing them Rs 25,000 each and free ration for three months. “While we cannot accept what has happened to our sons, the Army has supported us with money and ration,” said Abdul. He added that his son and the others—Sajad Ahmad, Abdul Kabir, and Mehraj-ud-Din—remain in poor condition at the Army facility.
“We are allowed to meet them daily, but their condition is dire. They seem unlikely to walk for a long time,” Abdul lamented. Being daily-wage labourers, the incident has not only caused emotional distress but also severe financial hardship for their families.
Last Wednesday, photos and videos of the four men, showing bruises on their faces and bodies, went viral in Jammu and Kashmir. The incident drew widespread condemnation, prompting Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to call for a transparent inquiry and the court-martial of the soldiers responsible for the act.
According to Abdul, the Army summoned the four men to a local camp based on a false tip-off from someone in the village, leading to the alleged torture. Mushtaq, who supports a family of six siblings, including five sisters, lives in a modest mud house with four rooms. The other families involved are similarly impoverished.
Farooq Ahmed Kripak, the former Sarpanch of Keshwan panchayat, stated that senior police and Army officials had assured stringent action against the perpetrators. “The Army is also providing ration to these poor families, which has been a relief in these trying times,” he said.
Kishtwar district has seen a rise in terror activities, with intelligence agencies suspecting that Pakistani infiltrators have reached the mountainous region and were carrying out attacks on security forces. These terrorists are believed to receive support from local Over Ground Workers (OGWs), as surviving in dense forest areas without external help is difficult.
Meanwhile, the Army’s investigation into the incident continues, with assurances of accountability and support for the victims’ recovery.
Agnipath shadow over India-Nepal defence relations
CHIEF of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Upendra Dwivedi’s five-day visit to Nepal (November 20-24) — during which the honorary rank of General of the Nepal Army was conferred on him — was marked by efforts to improve military cooperation between…
CHIEF of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Upendra Dwivedi’s five-day visit to Nepal (November 20-24) — during which the honorary rank of General of the Nepal Army was conferred on him — was marked by efforts to improve military cooperation between the two countries. Sadly, unlike the pre-Agnipath times, the occasion attracted only routine attention in that country. A diplomatic void was created when India introduced restrictive terms of engagement under the Agnipath scheme in 2022, different from the traditional long-term service and pension in place since 1947. Nepal signalled its disapproval of the new arrangement, even as both sides have maintained a ‘diplomatic lull’, pushing the Indian Gorkha Brigade towards a cul-de-sac. Not a single Nepali Gorkha has been recruited since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Strangely, Gen Dwivedi arrived at Tribhuvan International Airport in a Bhutan Air flight; in better times, chiefs would come in an IAF aircraft. Still, pomp and ceremony were provided by the Nepal Army. Its second Brahmin Army Chief, Gen Ashok Sigdel, hosted a private dinner for the Dwivedis. Nepali Army Chiefs have traditionally been Ranas, Chhetri Thapas and Thakuris.
President Ram Chandra Paudel conferred the honorary rank of General on Gen Dwivedi, a ritual introduced in 1969 by then Army Chief, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, popularly known as Sam Bahadur. He created a Gorkha cell in the Army headquarters and initiated welfare measures, including treks by young Gorkha officers to recruitment areas of Nepal. Gen Sigdel will shortly visit New Delhi for an ‘exchange ceremony’ and will be feted just like Gen Dwivedi.
Gen Dwivedi also flew to Pokhara, the hub of Gorkha ex-servicemen, who number 1.25 lakh. He addressed Gorkha veterans about welfare measures, steering clear of Agnipath. He flew to Muktinath Temple, where he rang the Bipin Bell installed by late COAS Gen Bipin Rawat, who was from the Gorkha regiment. Gen Dwivedi’s predecessor, Gen Manoj Pande, when asked by Indian journalists after a similar visit to Nepal in 2023 about the future of Gorkha recruitment, had said: “If Nepal does not send Gorkhas, their vacancies will be given to others (non-Gorkhas)”. That is precisely what is happening to fill the manpower shortfall from Nepal in 39 Gorkha battalions with Kumaonis, Garhwalis, Nagas and other hill tribes. A Gorkha battalion has 60 and 40 per cent Nepali and Indian-domiciled Gorkhas, respectively.
In Pokhara, I met several ex-servicemen who expressed concern over the OROP (One Rank, One Pension) — which, after the five-year review, has increased the pension mainly below and including Havildar rank — and Agnipath. They want their wards to join Agnipath as the last resort — due to 25 per cent re-enlistment even after four years’ engagement — saying: “Something is better than nothing”. A few even suggested taking the matter to court. Delegations of ex-servicemen have presented petitions to Chief District Officers in 77 districts of Nepal and met ministers who have maintained silence on Agnipath.
Nepali journalists asked me how the stalemate could be broken. My view is that Nepal and India should immediately start a dialogue on Agnipath — which neither side has raised during bilateral talks. I suggested that India should make an exception for Nepal — ideally exempt it from Agnipath (as certain specialists in technical and medical units have been) or at least raise the terms of engagement for Nepali Gorkhas to seven years and 50 per cent retention. A general review of Agnipath is in progress.
Agnipath does not create a level playing field for Nepali Gorkhas. Nepal’s economy is small; its nationals have been barred since the 1970s from joining India’s paramilitary forces, which have reserved jobs for demobilised Indian Agniveers. Nepal fears that demobilised soldiers will be an easy catch for dormant insurgent groups. In Nepal’s Parliament, former ministers called India’s unilateral alteration to the terms of engagement a violation of the 1947 tripartite treaty on recruitment between Nepal, UK and India, which legally it is not. India could have been gentle and diplomatic about the bolt from the blue.
A Nepali ex-serviceman, who is also a politician, told me that India wants to terminate recruiting foreign nationals into its Army to undo the colonial legacy and also have leverage with Nepal. Many believe NSA Ajit Doval was the architect of the project. Nepali communist politicians have long wanted to stop recruitment in foreign armies, and as they represent the majority in Parliament, Agnipath appears to be a closed issue. This is not the first time India has sought to stop Gorkha recruitment. In the 1970s, a proposal was mooted but quickly rejected by then PM Indira Gandhi on the recommendation of then Army Chief Gen GG Bewoor, who belonged to 11 Gorkha Rifles. The present Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Anil Chauhan, was also with Gorkha Rifles.
The Nepal Army celebrates its Raising Day annually in Delhi, recalling joint India-Nepal military activities with an audio-visual presentation including PM Modi’s 2014 statement in Nepal’s Parliament: “In all the wars India has fought, Nepalis have shed their blood.” His words are the greatest tribute to Nepal and its Gorkhas. But the Agnipath scheme is a rollback of that strategic sentiment.
Some former Indian ambassadors to Nepal have asserted, many of them in writing, that Gorkha ex-servicemen in Nepal constitute a pro-India constituency at a time when China is buying up strategic space with Left-leaning Nepali governments. Gorkha ex-servicemen, at times, have acted as a foil to anti-India sentiments. The recruitment of Nepali Gorkhas is not simply the hiring of foreign soldiers but creating a strategic bond between two sovereign countries and providing a foundation for defence cooperation between their armies, which the two Army Chiefs periodically sanctify. Gen Dwivedi just did this. But with Nepal, India’s political leadership needs to go beyond rituals.
Movement to Restore the Privileges and Honour of Military Rank Holders
An important movement led by Col GPS Virk aimed at restoring the privileges and status of military rank holders especially the veterans. This initiative is a response to perceived discrimination and a decline in the recognition of military ranks, which is a significant issue for many veterans and active service members.
Leadership: The movement is spearheaded by Col GPS Virk, who is advocating for the rights and privileges of military personnel.
Objective: The primary goal is to restore the privileges that should be afforded to military rank holders and veterans, addressing the systemic issues that have led to their degradation.
Call to Action: There is a strong invitation for individuals to join the movement against the system that is undermining the status of military ranks. This suggests a collective effort to raise awareness and push for change.
Community Support: Engaging with this movement may involve participating in discussions, rallies, or other forms of activism to support the cause.
If you’re interested in getting involved, consider reaching out to dialogues neXt or follow updates from Colonel GPS Virk on social media platforms to stay informed about upcoming initiatives. Your participation could help amplify the message and support the rights of those who have served the nation.
