Monthly Archives: August 2018

It was flagged off from the Army Base Workshop in Pune

The Army has rolled out its first overhauled Armoured Recovery Vehicle (ARV) based on the T-72 tank. The ARV is used to recover tanks that have broken down or been hit during conflict. It was flagged off from the Army Base Workshop (ABW) in Pune. Airbornics Defence and Space Private Limited (ADSL), a subsidiary of the JCBL Group, was the industry partner for the project. As part of the work, ADSL overhauled the ARV by dismantling the vehicle, replacing critical components and repairing or substituting assemblies.Rishi Aggarwal, Managing Director of JCBL Group, said, “We are honoured to partner with the Army for the overhaul of this platform.”

n this episode of The Tribune interview, senior Congress leader and former minister Manish Tewari says Indian democracy is strong but weaponisation of social media as the one seen in the 2010 Arab Spring is a worry amid Nepal and earlier Sri Lanka and Bangladesh crises. He also terms cross voting in the recent Vice Presidential election as the betrayal of leadership

#ManishTewari #Congress #delimitation #IndianDemocracy #SocialMedia #Politics #LokSabha #Parliament #IndianPolitics #Democracy #breakingnews

The apex court said in a secular framework, which respects religious identity and ensures civic equality, the law must provide a neutral and workable route by which marriages through “Anand Karaj” were recorded and certified on the same footing as other marriages.

The Supreme Court has directed several states and union territories to notify within four months the rules for registering “Anand Karaj” or the Sikh wedding ceremony.

The apex court said in a secular framework, which respects religious identity and ensures civic equality, the law must provide a neutral and workable route by which marriages through “Anand Karaj” were recorded and certified on the same footing as other marriages.

“The fidelity of a constitutional promise is measured not only by the rights it proclaims, but by the institutions that make those rights usable. In a secular republic, the state must not turn a citizen’s faith into either a privilege or a handicap,” a Bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta said.

In its September 4 order, the Bench said when the law recognised “Anand Karaj” as a valid form of marriage yet left no machinery to register it, the “promise was only half kept”.

“What remains is to ensure that the route from rites to record is open, uniform and fair,” it said.

The top court passed the order on a plea seeking directions to various states and UTs to frame and notify rules under Section 6 of the Anand Marriage Act, 1909 (as amended in 2012) to facilitate registration of marriages solemnised by the Sikh rite commonly known as “Anand Karaj”.

The Bench said by the 2012 amendment, Parliament inserted Section 6 casting a duty upon the states to make rules to facilitate registration of such marriages, to maintain a marriage register and to provide certified extracts, while clarifying that omission to register would not affect the validity of the marriage.

The Bench said according to the petitioner, while a number of states and UTs had notified rules pursuant to Section 6, which deals with registration of marriages, several others had not yet done so. Referring to Section 6, the Bench said it imposed a positive duty on every state to create a workable registration machinery for “Anand Karaj” marriages.

“That duty is not contingent on the size of the beneficiary group in any jurisdiction, nor can it be deferred on the footing that other marriage laws exist in parallel,” it said, stressing that availability of registration bears directly on equal treatment and on orderly civil administration.

Uneven access to a statutory facility across states and UTs, the Bench said, produced unequal outcomes for similarly situated citizens while underlining the harmonisation with the existing registration regimes as “practicable and necessary”.

“Where a general civil marriage registration framework is in place, it must receive applications for registration of marriages solemnised by Anand Karaj on the same footing as other marriages and, if the parties so request, it should record that the ceremony was by the Anand rite,” the Bench said.

Every respondent state and UT which hadn’t yet notified rules under Section 6, was therefore directed to do so within four months.

“With immediate effect and until such rules are notified, each respondent shall ensure that marriages solemnised by Anand Karaj are received for registration under the prevailing marriage-registration framework without discrimination,” it said.

The Bench directed the Centre to act as the coordinating authority, and compile and present a consolidated status report before it within six months indicating compliance by the states and UTs.

Gen Dwivedi reviews training facility in Arunachal’s Likabali

Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi inspects a drone lab at Likabali in Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday

he Army has accelerated the induction of drones and counter-drone systems under a new initiative called ‘eagle in the arm’, which aims to train every soldier to use a drone just as he is taught to use a weapon.

Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi today visited one such facility — a drone lab at Likabali in Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh — where drones have been deployed and soldiers are being trained. Officials said the plan is to make each soldier capable of operating a drone, much like carrying his own rifle.

Depending on the unit’s role, drones will be used for combat, surveillance, logistics and even medical evacuation. Counter-drone measures are being inducted in parallel to create a layered system capable of neutralising enemy unmanned platforms.

To meet the training requirement, drone centres have been set up at premier academies such as the Indian Military Academy (Dehradun), Infantry School (Mhow) and Officers’ Training Academy (Chennai). The aim is to embed drone operations as a standard capability across all arms of the Army, officials said.

The Army is pursuing a dual thrust: arming soldiers with drones while simultaneously strengthening counter-drone defences. That drones are no longer niche but “essential elements of the battlefield” was evident during Operation Sindoor with Pakistan (May 7–10).

By institutionalising training, raising more drone units and aligning force structures, the Army intends to ensure that the “soldier of tomorrow” carries a drone that extends his vision, reach and power on the battlefield.

In July, Gen Dwivedi, in his address at the Kargil Vijay Diwas celebrations in Drass, had announced that every infantry battalion will have a dedicated drone platoon, while artillery regiments will be equipped with counter-drone systems and loiter munitions.

These dedicated units are being raised as ‘Divyastra’ batteries — infantry battalions equipped with drones and indigenous air defence systems. The Army has a layered air defence system that showed it prowess during Operation Sindoor.

Deceased served as Master Chief, Class II, at Colaba in south Mumbai, and had joined duty four months ago

The decomposed body of a 33-year-old Navy official, who went missing during a trek at Matheran hill station near Mumbai earlier this month, has been found in a gorge, police said on Thursday.

The deceased, identified as Surajsingh Amarpalsingh Chauhan, served as Master Chief, Class II, at Colaba in south Mumbai, and had joined duty four months ago, an official said.

Chauhan had gone for Bhivpuri-Garbett trek at Matheran on September 7, and later went missing, he said.

When he did not return home and his mobile phone was also switched off, his family members approached the Cuffe Parade Police Station in south Mumbai with a missing person complaint and a case was registered.

The decomposed body was recovered on Monday after a trekker alerted Neral Police Station near Matheran in neighbouring Raigad district, the official said.

Earlier, after receiving the missing complaint, the police launched a probe and Chauhan’s location was traced to Matheran area.

Accordingly, a search was launched by police teams with the help of forest department, Sahyadri rescue team and other agencies, Neral’s assistant police inspector Shivaji Dhavale said.

However, Chauhan, a native of Rajasthan, remained untraceable for more than a week.

On Monday, a trekker, walking in the hilly terrain, found a decomposed body in a 50-foot-deep gorge behind a temple near the Pali Bhootwali dam and alerted police.

The police, along with rescue teams, rushed to the spot and the body was later sent for postmortem to the government-run J J Hospital in Mumbai, the official said.

In the CCTV footage of Bhivpuri station and nearby areas, Chauhan was seen walking alone for the trek, he said, adding no foul play was suspected.

The initial autopsy report has not mentioned the cause of death and the viscera has been preserved, the official said.

The Neral police have registered a case of accidental death and a probe is on into it, he added.

Pakistan’s plan to trigger an uprising in Kashmir came to naught in the absence of local support

Capt Amarinder Singh

THE 1965 India-Pakistan war officially began on September 6, but Pakistan’s covert infiltration into Kashmir commenced earlier with Operation Gibraltar, launched in early August.

This operation aimed to incite a civil uprising in Kashmir and was orchestrated under the leadership of then Pakistan Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He presumed that Kashmiris were ready to revolt and would welcome Pakistani forces as liberators.

A high-level meeting to plan this operation took place on May 15 at the headquarters of Pakistan’s 12 Division in Murree. It was attended by President Ayub Khan, Chief of Army Staff Gen Muhammad Musa Khan, Chief of the General Staff Gen Malik Sher Bahadur and others. It was decided that a specialised force, codenamed Gibraltar Force, would be deployed in various sectors across the ceasefire line.

This force consisted of six main groups — Tariq, Qasim, Khalid, Salahuddin, Ghaznavi and Babur. Each group was assigned specific targets in Kashmir. The objective was to infiltrate Indian territory, sabotage communication lines and infrastructure, and trigger an uprising, creating conditions for a larger military offensive by Pakistan.

At the time of Operation Gibraltar, 12 Division’s area of responsibility covered a 640-km front. The operation had three primary objectives:

(1) Disrupt Indian military and civilian control of J&K.

(2) Encourage, assist and direct an armed revolt by the people of Kashmir against military occupation.

(3) Create conditions for an advance by the Azad Kashmir forces into the heart of ‘India-occupied’ Kashmir, followed by its eventual ‘liberation’.

The plan of the GOC (General Officer Commanding) of 12 Division, Maj Gen Akhtar Hussain Malik, envisaged two phases — first, to create a shock wave by launching attacks on selected targets and thus prepare the ground for an uprising, and second, to integrate it into the guerrilla operations.

The infiltration was scheduled to begin on August 5. That day, a Gujjar boy named Mohammad Din reported to the Indian police his encounter with suspicious armed men in the forest near Tangmarg. The 19 Division was alerted. Indian patrols intercepted and killed several infiltrators. They were identified as members of the Salahuddin group led by Major Mansha Khan. It was the first confirmed intrusion of the war.

Similar incidents occurred in other sectors. In the Rajouri area, Capt CN Singh of 2 Garhwal Rifles led a small patrol that attacked a stronger Pakistani unit. He was killed in action and posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra.

On August 8, two Pakistani officers — Capt Ghulam Hussain and Capt Mohammad Sajjad of 18th Azad Kashmir battalion — were captured. The documents found on them and their interrogation revealed vital information about the Pakistani plan to infiltrate the Kashmir valley.

The Gibraltar Force groups had already crossed into India and broken into smaller units, as planned. However, contrary to Pakistani expectations, the Kashmiris did not support them. Instead, locals often reported infiltrators to the Indian authorities.

Each group had distinct goals:

n Tariq: Disrupt road traffic over Zoji La, take control up to Amarnath and Gagangir.

n Qasim: Destroy bridges on the Bandipura-Gandarbal road; coordinate with Salahuddin in Hazratbal.

n Khalid: Attack infrastructure at Handwara and Sopore; destroy Kupwara power station.

n Salahuddin: Sever road links, destroy bridges and communications, neutralise key political figures and capture the Srinagar radio station and airfield.

n Ghaznavi: Attack targets in Rajouri-Naushera, assist Salahuddin and cut off roads to Srinagar.

n Babur: Target Udhampur HQ and disrupt communications.

Indian forces inside the Valley were limited — only four J&K militia battalions and an AT (animal transport) company. Reinforcements were rushed; 4 Sikh Light Infantry and 2/9 Gurkha Rifles were sent in immediately. Additional brigades were pulled in from Leh and Jammu.

The infiltration began unravelling quickly: the Tariq group never reached its objective due to high-altitude casualties; Qasim managed some attacks but withdrew by September 4 due to no local support; Salahuddin initially withdrew after being detected. It re-entered but withdrew again by August 18 after failed attacks; Ghaznavi was the only group still active by the time the ceasefire was declared but it had a limited impact.

On August 8, the J&K government panicked and sought the imposition of martial law. However, Lt Gen Harbakhsh Singh, Western Army Commander, cautioned against such a move. He reasoned that it would validate Pakistani propaganda and demoralise Kashmiris, who might start cooperating with the raiders out of fear. His advice was accepted.

Army reinforcements arrived under challenging conditions. One aircraft carrying troops and Lt Gen Harbakhsh Singh landed in Srinagar in poor weather with no navigational aids, a feat accomplished by Wg Cdr Chandan Singh.

The Indian response was swift: On August 11, orders were issued for offensive operations; 68 Brigade (led by Brig Zoru Bakshi) and 93 Brigade (led by Brig Zora Singh) were assigned a pincer attack through the Uri-Poonch bulge; 104 Brigade targeted the Kishanganga bulge. The Siri Force was raised on August 14 under Maj Gen Umrao Singh to manage counter-infiltration inside the Valley.

On August 13, Pakistan launched renewed attacks. That morning, Maj Haq Nawaz Kiani’s group attacked 8 Kumaon at Naugam. The battalion CO, Lt Col MV Gore, was killed. Indian retaliation forced the attackers to withdraw.

Brig Manmohan Singh, then commanding 162 Brigade, was moved to take over the command of 191 Brigade; he was tasked with the recapture of posts in the 191 Brigade area that had been taken by the enemy.

By mid-August, Operation Gibraltar had largely failed. Its key assumptions — especially local support from Kashmiris — proved false. The Indian forces responded with well-coordinated reinforcements and aggressive counterattacks.

India should dedicate a day to remember the monumental contribution of its soldiers

Manish Tewari

THE annals of global history often overlook a profound truth. The monumental contribution and sacrifices of Indian soldiers during the two World Wars. It is forgotten not just by the Western powers that benefited from their service but tragically by even the very nation in whose name they served professionally with quiet dignity and fortitude.

There needs to be recognition that these soldiers, notwithstanding whether they served in the British Indian Army, the Indian Legion or the Indian National Army, ultimately shed their blood for a civilisational continuum called India, even though it was unfortunately colonised at that time.

The scale of India’s contribution was staggering. During the First World War, the Indian Army expanded from about 150,000 personnel in 1914 to around 1.4 million by 1918.

By the time the Second World War culminated, this figure had swelled to an astonishing 2.5 million personnel, constituting the largest volunteer army in history.

Following the near destruction of the British Expeditionary Force in the opening months of World War I, the arrival of 28,500 Indian troops in France by September 1914 provided a critical reinforcement without which the Western Front might have collapsed. Field Marshal Auchinleck, Commander-in-Chief of India, later conceded that Britain “couldn’t have come through both wars if they hadn’t had the Indian Army”.

During the First World War, Indian Expeditionary Forces were deployed across an astonishingly broad geographical spectrum — from the Western Front to East Africa, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Gallipoli and beyond.

The pre-war Indian Army had developed considerable expertise in conducting operations across diverse terrains and climates. This versatility proved invaluable to British strategy, which required simultaneous campaigns across radically different operational environments.

The Indian Army functioned as an imperial fire brigade, deployed to critical sectors where its specialised capabilities could achieve maximum effect. Nowhere was this more evident than in the Middle East, where Indian formations constituted the overwhelming majority of British imperial forces.

On the Western Front in 1914, Indian soldiers played a crucial role in preventing a German breakthrough during the First Battle of Ypres, where they held approximately one-third of the entire British lines despite having recently arrived from garrison duty in India.

Military historians have recognised and applauded the fact that the pre-1914 Indian Army was “a leading professional force” with “high training standards both for regular warfare and for small wars”.

At the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915, Indian cavalry units conducted a critical counterattack that prevented German forces from exploiting a breach in Allied lines. In Mesopotamia, despite the disastrous surrender at Kut al-Amara, a failure attributable to British command deficiencies, Indian units subsequently demonstrated remarkable operational effectiveness during the capture of Baghdad and further advances into Persia.

The Second World War witnessed an even more dramatic demonstration of Indian military prowess across vastly different battlefields. In North Africa, Indian formations proved pivotal in both offensive and defensive operations against Field Marshal Rommel’s Afrika Korps.

The 4th Indian Infantry Division established itself as one of the most effective Allied formations in the desert campaign, contributing significantly to the victory at El Alamein. At Monte Cassino, Indian soldiers fought with extraordinary determination under appalling conditions, with the Gurkha regiments particularly distinguishing themselves in mountain combat.

The most significant contribution occurred in the Asian theatre. Following the disastrous British defeats in Malaya and Burma in 1942, Indian formations constituted the bulk of the Commonwealth forces available to defend India itself and eventually launch counteroffensives into Southeast Asia.

Indian units provided the majority of the combat power in the victories at Imphal and Kohima in 1944, described as the ‘Stalingrad of the East’. The Fourteenth Army, which contained substantial Indian components, became the largest single field army in the British imperial order of battle.

The Indian contribution extended to even include specialised capabilities and encompass broader geopolitical considerations. The Royal Indian Navy expanded significantly during the Second World War, contributing to naval operations in the Indian Ocean and protecting vital sea lanes against Japanese and German threats.

The availability of Indian manpower allowed Britain to maintain her global empire while simultaneously fighting major conflicts in Europe, a strategic luxury unavailable to other European colonial powers. France, for instance, lacked equivalent colonial military resources, contributing to her rapid defeat in 1940 and subsequent dependence on Allied support for liberation. The Netherlands also could not draw upon substantial colonial military forces, limiting its ability to contribute to Allied campaigns.

What makes the sacrifices of Indian soldiers particularly poignant, and what justifies our national remembrance, is that they did not fight merely as imperial mercenaries. They were also motivated by the promise of self-determination — a promise repeatedly made and cynically betrayed.

In 1917, Edwin Samuel Montagu, Secretary of State for India, dangled the prospect of ‘self-government’ for India in exchange for wartime loyalty. Yet, after World War I, instead of freedom, India received the repressive Rowlatt Act and the horrors of Jallianwala Bagh.

The Montagu-Chelmsford reforms of 1919 offered not ‘responsible government’ but a diluted parody of autonomy. Similarly, during World War II, the British despatched the Cripps Mission in 1942, offering Dominion status post-war, a proposal Gandhi astutely dismissed as a “post-dated cheque drawn on a failing bank”.

The yearning for independence also manifested in the actions of those who opposed the British Raj through armed struggle. The 1915 Singapore Mutiny, orchestrated under the foiled Hindu-German conspiracy, was a clear manifestation of the simmering discontent.

The Indian National Army (INA), led by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, and the Indian Legion in Europe were composed of soldiers who believed that Axis support could catalyse India’s liberation. They fought with the same patriotic fervour as their Allied-serving counterparts. The INA’s campaigns in Burma and the Indian Legion’s existence in Europe symbolised a desperate bid for sovereignty. History, always complex, is often convoluted.

Oxymoronically, post-Independence India has failed to adequately honour these sacrifices. While nations like Russia, France and China commemorate their war dead with grandeur, India remains curiously silent. While we decided to remain a part of the Commonwealth, we chose to forget those who had shed blood and martyred themselves for the same Commonwealth. In the narrative of the Indian freedom struggle, theirs was the inconvenient truth that was airbrushed out of history books.

As a nation that values her heritage and her future, India must establish a day of remembrance, not to glorify war but to honour sacrifice, not to celebrate an empire but to recognise the unwavering spirit of those who served with fidelity and honour in the global struggle against Nazism, fascism and Japanese expansionism in Asia. We owe them nothing less than everlasting remembrance.

Manish Tewari is Lok Sabha MP and former I&B Minister.

To commemorate the occasion, Lt Gen Mohit Wadhwa, Chief of Staff, Western Command, paid floral tributes to the fallen heroes

The Army’s Western Command celebrated its 79th Raising Day at Chandimandir today. On the occasion, Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, complimented all ranks for their selfless services demonstrated ably during Operation Sindoor and the recent flood relief operations in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. He exhorted them to continue to uphold the finest traditions of valour and remain steadfast in service to the Nation.

To commemorate the occasion, Lt Gen Mohit Wadhwa, Chief of Staff, Western Command, paid floral tributes to the fallen heroes by laying a wreath at the Veer Smriti war memorial in Chandimandir.

The celebrations this year were juxtaposed with the commemorations of the 60th anniversary of the victory in the India-Pakistan War of 1965, which was primarily fought by the Western Command.

Western Command was raised on September 15, 1947 amid the upheaval of Partition. Initially, established as Delhi and East Punjab Command, it was responsible for the defence of Delhi and Punjab regions.

Kukis ask Meiteis not to violate buffer zones

Animesh Singh Tribune News Service

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Manipur, tensions flared in the state’s Churachandpur district late on September 14. Residences of several Kuki-Zo leaders were targeted by unidentified miscreants.

The residence of an office-bearer of the Kuki National Organisation (KNO) was set ablaze. The miscreants also attacked residences of other tribal leaders, but were prevented from doing so by their supporters.

According to sources, the violence reportedly erupted in a protest against the arrest of two individuals accused of vandalism and damaging government property, including decorations done for commemorating Modi’s visit, on the night of September 12.

Sources told The Tribune that the authorities were on high alert in Churachandpur as security forces continue to monitor the situation to prevent further escalation.

Meanwhile, the Kuki-Zo Council (KZC), on Monday cautioned that as the conflict between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities had not been settled, no one from either side should cross the buffer zones under any circumstances.

The Kuki-Zo Council further warned of serious consequences if buffer zones were crossed. One of the key Kuki groups, it was also a part of the delegation that signed the peace pact with the Centre and the Manipur Government, earlier this month.

Referring to the September 4 tripartite agreement between the Centre, Manipur Government and the Kuki-Zo groups, the KZC clarified that it had not declared the reopening of NH-2, as it was a prerogative of the Centre.

“No free movement has been permitted on this route. We had only requested the Kangpokpi people to extend cooperation to the security forces, as directed by the Ministry of Home Affairs, while maintaining the safety of commuters along NH-2. As there is still no settlement between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities, no one from either side should cross the buffer zone,” said the notice.

“The KZC strongly condemns any attempt to twist or misrepresent our statement. Such deliberate distortion creates unnecessary confusion and mistrust at a sensitive time. We urge the Meitei public to take note of the above facts and act with utmost responsibility,” it added

To mark iconic MIG-21 fighter jet’s end of six-decade service

The Chandigarh Air Force Station will hold an air show from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm on September 26. The show will mark iconic MIG-21 fighter jet’s end of six-decade service in the IAF, which inducted its first Russian jet in 1963.

The IAF authorities have informed senior Punjab Government and district administration officials about the set of measures to be taken for the event at the administration level. The District Magistrate, Mohali, has enforced prohibitory orders to ensure safe flying environment and keep a check on dumping of garbage as well as meat shops in the vicinity.

Indian Air Force celebrated its 90th anniversary at Sukhna Lake, Chandigarh, on October 8, 2022. Hon’ble President Draupadi Murmu was the chief guest and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also attended the event.

On September 22, 2021, an air show was held at Sukhna Lake to commemorate Swarnim Vijay Varsh, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war.