Army men in Shopian after the militant attack on Thursday. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

Wednesday morning’s ambush of the Army patrol, which claimed lives of three soldiers and injured five others, including two officers, has yet again put the spotlight on the increasing dangers for the Army. It is a siege-like situation for the Army, where its operations, movements and camps are increasingly coming under terror attacks.More worrying is the intensity and frequency of such attacks and the mounting public support for the militants who have been inflicting casualties on soldiers.Shopian incident is to be read as the peaking of such attacks on the Army. These worries deepen when militants get away with such audacious attacks with the help of the support of their overground sympathisers who cordon off the encounter site.The way Indian soldiers are losing their lives in ambushes and encounters with militants is simply inexplicable. Something is definitely wrong somewhere, which the Army has not been able to correct despite the vow of Army Chief General Bipin Rawat that ruthless measures would be taken against the terrorists and their sympathisers who have deadly and disruptive intentions.There has been no tangible improvement in the situation. In fact, it has stirred more anger and deepened feelings to take revenge on the forces by the crowds, apparently the risk-taking supporters of the militants.The militants have come to rest in the core of the psyche of sections of people who thrive on anti-India sentiment. They want to shield militants at huge costs. The risks in such situations are very high but they also are aware that the security forces cannot fire at them with guns because that would embarrass India at the international fora. That has emboldened them.Already the global human rights watch groups have accused the security forces of using “excessive force” against the stone-throwing protesters.The frequency with which the militants have appeared to have gained an upper hand as far the casualty ratio is concerned is a highly disturbing scenario. It is disturbing because it sends an alarming message that the militants are invincible and the Army is vulnerable in Kashmir.In the same line, it is also read that militants enjoy this advantage because of the public support that has been demonstrated when the stone-throwing crowds have not only disrupted the anti-terror operations but have also forced the Army to abandon their operations.Equally dismaying is the point that people have turned visibly hostile to the Army and are unafraid of taking on the soldiers. This speaks of their love for militants and hatred for India, for they believe that India has sent its “occupational forces” to rule the state. This narrative is at the heart of the whole trouble in which the Army is increasingly becoming a target.

CM condemns killing of three Army men, civilian at Shopian

Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 23

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti condemned the killing of three Army personnel in a militant attack at Shopian in the wee hours today.The Chief Minister said violence had never been and could never be a mean to address issues. She said the unending cycle of violence in the state had brought untold miseries to the people and collective efforts were needed to get the state out of the morass of death and destruction.Mehbooba Mufti also expressed deep grief and anguish over the death of a civilian in the incident.She conveyed her sympathies with the bereaved families of the soldiers and the civilian.

In this handout photograph released by Pakistan’s Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) on November 29, 2016, Pakistan’s newly-appointed army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa attends the change of command ceremony in Rawalpindi. AFP photo

Islamabad, February 20After days of silence, Pakistan Army on Monday dismissed as “disinformation” a media report that said army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa urged officers to read a book about how India succeeded in keeping the military out of politics.The Nation newspaper reported on February 12 that Bajwa addressed a gathering of senior army officers of Rawalpindi Garrison in the General Headquarters in December and recommended ‘Army and Nation: The Military and Indian Democracy Since Independence’ written by Steven Wilkinson.The book provides details of changes made in the structure and recruitment pattern of the Indian Army to suit the fledgling democracy in the new country.Army Spokesperson Major General Asif Ghafoor issued a brief statement to reject the contents of the report.”News/comments quoting COAS’ address to officers at Rawalpindi regarding book ‘Army and Nation’ is a disinformation,” he said in the statement posted on Facebook.It had been reported that Bajwa in the address dwelt on the thorny issue of civil-military equation in the country where the army has ruled for almost half of the history since independence in 1947.The report said the new army chief in a poised manner communicated it to his officers in unequivocal terms that there should be cooperation and not competition between army and civilian leadership of the country.”The army has no business trying to run the government.The army must remain within its constitutionally defined role,” Bajwa was quoted as saying.He also urged officers to read Wilkinson’s book, according to the report. — PTI

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Can those supporting terrorism be called terrorists too? – Watch panel discussion

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Aircraft to ramp up capability to detect enemy missiles

BENGALURU: The Indian Air Force (IAF) on Tuesday inducted its first indigenously developed airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system, mounted on a Brazilian Embraer-145 jet, ramping up its capability to detect enemy aircraft and missiles.

The Netra AEW&C system has been developed by the Defence Reasearch and Development Organisation (DRDO) and has a range of around 200 km.

The aircraft was handed over to the IAF on the opening day of Asia’s largest airshow Aero India-2017, more than six years behind schedule.

Over 550 defence and aerospace firms, including 279 foreign companies, are taking part in the biennial event being held at the Yelahanka air force base.

A senior IAF officer said, “The induction of the AEW&C aircraft is the highlight of the airshow for the air force.

We need to swiftly scale up our airborne surveillance capabilities.”

India inked a $208-million contract for three Brazil-built Embraer-145 planes in 2008 as part of a DRDO programme to scale up the IAF’s AEW&C capabilities.

The deal was in the news last year due to kickback allegations.

The IAF currently operates three Israeli Phalcon airborne warning and control system (AWACS) mounted on Russian IL-76 heavy-lift planes and there areplanstobuytwomore.

The system has a range of 400km. The numbers are not enough to cover the eastern and western sectors during offensive operations.

In 2015, the defence ministry accorded its acceptance of necessity, the first step towards making an aquisition, for a $760-million project involving mounting two such indigenously developed surveillance systems on the European Airbus A330 platform.

India is considering a proposal to buy a total of six A330 aircraft on which the AWACS may be mounted, taking the value of the deal to around $2.5 billion.

The first such aircraft could be inducted by 2025.

The radar system to detect far off targets will be developed by the DRDO.

Airbus Defence & Space was the only bidder for the AWACS India programme, making it the first single vendor project to be cleared by the BJP-led NDA government.

FGFA PLAN FACING ISSUES, SAYS PARRIKAR

Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday acknowledged that a multi-billion dollar programme to co-develop a stealth fighter with Russia was facing some issues.

Parrikar’s comments came three days after Hindustan Times reported that the fifth generation fighter aircraft project was facing an uncertain fate with the government mulling to set up a panel to find how India would benefit from it.

“There are some issues to be addressed in terms of manufacturing, how it will be exported after the project is completed and what approvals will be required,” the minister said.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 13

Lashing out at the Modi-led Union Government over its “failure” to secure the nation’s borders from continued militant influx despite its tall claims in the wake of the surgical strikes, Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh today pointed out that the much-touted demonetisation move had clearly failed to check either the inflow of terrorists or fake currency from Pakistan into India.He said Sunday’s encounter in Kashmir and reports of Pakistan pushing fake Rs2,000 currency notes into India via Bangladesh were proof enough that the ill-conceived “notebandi” decision was not helping curb terror, as claimed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Stronger and sterner measures were needed to ensure fool-proof border security if the nation and its people were to be guarded against frequent external assaults, said Capt Amarinder.The PPCC chief also questioned the continued imposition of cash curbs on the people, demanding to know how depriving the common man of his own hard-earned money was helping the government crack down on terrorism and black money.

NEW DELHI: A Parliamentary committee has come down heavily on the government for its alleged failure to prevent terror attacks on security installations, saying lessons have not been learnt from Pathankot attack and that there was something “seriously wrong” with the counter-terror establishment.

HT FILEThe terror attack took place on January 2, 2016.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home in its report, which was tabled in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, took stock of overall performance of ministry of home affairs.

Despite several steps reportedly taken by the government to strengthen security measures, it has “comprehensively failed” to prevent recurrence of such subsequent attacks in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pampore, Uri, Baramula, Handwara and Nagrota, it said.

“The Committee observes that the government has not learnt any lesson from the Pathankot attack,” the panel noted, saying there remains an urgent need to further strengthen the security network and plug the “serious gaps” in security establishment and intelligence gathering/sharing that have come to the fore in the recent attacks.

The panel, headed by former Union home minister P Chidambaram, expressed its inability to understand that “in spite of terror alert sounded well in advance, how terrorists managed to breach the high-security airbase and subsequently attack.”

Taking note of the intelligence input and kidnapping and subsequent release of a Punjab superintendent of police (SP) and his friends, the committee wondered whether the security agencies were “so ill-prepared to anticipate threats in time and counter them swiftly and decisively.”

“The panel feels that something is seriously wrong with counter-terror security establishment as despite the fencing, floodlighting and patrolling by Border Security Force (BSF) personnel, Pakistani terrorists managed to sneak into India from across the border,” it said.

AAP candidate Balbir slams Gen JJ Singh for grilling voters

Tribune News Service

Patiala, February 8

After Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief Capt Amarinder Singh took a dig at Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate from Patiala (Urban) General JJ Singh for grilling the voters of Jai Jawan Colony, now Aam Aadmi Party candidate Dr Balbir Singh too has slammed the General for his behaviour.After holding a meeting with the voters of Jai Jawan Colony for supporting him, Dr Balbir Singh said voting was one’s personal right and no candidate should be offended if a person does not vote for him.“I am surprised that the General took the matter personally. As a responsible leader, our duty is to take care of each and every resident of our constituency irrespective of whether they have voted for us or not,” he said.Dr Balbir said he would always be grateful for the love and support he was given by Patiala residents and promised to stand by them in every thick and thin.“The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is committed towards transforming Punjab completely and restoring its lost glory. If voted to power, the party will immediately initiate development works in the constituency to make Patiala a smart city,” said Dr Balbir.

Simran Sodhi

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 7

The Opposition in the Rajya Sabha today targeted Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar for his remarks on surgical strikes where he had credited the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) ideology, instead of the soldiers.The issue was raised during the zero hour by Congress member Shantaram Naik who said the Defence Minister, in a statement, had credited the RSS ideology for the surgical strikes instead of the brave soldiers, while in another statement the minister said India had never carried out surgical strikes before. Naik also urged the minister not to make policy statements outside Parliament.The Congress leader suggested that the minister should not “ridicule” the country by making statements which could be construed to be “in a bad taste”.He also referred to the statement made by the minister on nuclear doctrine at a recent book launch. Naik said Parrikar had then “articulated a personal view which is contrary to India’s ‘no first use’ of nuclear weapons. This doctrine has come for adverse comments from many strategists”.“If the Defence Minister is making an aggressive posture, how the government had failed to ensure reciprocal visit (to Pakistan) after it permitted a Pakistani delegation to visit sensitive areas in Pathankot,” he asked.Naik’s views received support from other members, including JD-U leader Sharad Yadav and Anand Sharma of the Congress. As Opposition members sought the minister’s reply, Deputy Chairman PJ Kurien said he could not ask the minister to respond.

T he Constitution of India came into being on January 26, 1950. This was the day on which the first Republic Day parade was held. It was commanded by Brigadier (later Lt Gen and Army Commander) Joginder Singh Dhillon from the Corps of Army Engineers. I was serving in the Army at that time and Brigadier Dhillon was our Brigade Commander in 1951. What I know of that parade is that it was led by the Navy and not the Army because of some confusion. However, I do not claim to be sure of this.

NSG commandos at the 68th Republic Day parade at Rajpath in New Delhi on Thursday.

Since then, Rajpath has become synonymous with January 26 parade. It was quite in the fitness of things to celebrate the formation of our Republic to bring joy to all Indians. But to continue doing so seems to be divorced of logic. India, barring France, is perhaps the only democracy that focuses on its military prowess on the day of national rejoicing. Such a display on January 26 serves only two purposes. One, to make it clear to our adversaries that militarily we are strong and capable. Two, to restore confidence in the public about our military strength to thwart mischief by the enemy.

Today, with a major breakthrough in information technology, there is hardly any information about the hardware of any country that remains hidden. In any case military might needs to be exhibited on the battlefield and not on a solemn national occasion.

Now think of the colossal expenditure that we incur on this extravaganza year after year by moving manpower and equipment from all over the country to Delhi and by tying it down to the national capital for about two months. We suffered heavy casualties in the Kargil war due to our outdated and poor equipment. And we are not better even today. Instead of wasting crores of rupees on this display of military might, we should spend this amount on equipping ourselves with the latest hardware and other equipment. No doubt, Republic Day should continue to be celebrated, but certainly not in this manner. It should be celebrated as a day of rejoicing over our achievements, by rewarding the deserving for their good work and by honouring our soldiers for their gallant actions. We should also declare it as a day of pledge by all Indians to some national service that they would carry out during the ensuing year.

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 24

As the Army awaits a new set of artillery guns, two separate classes of the weapon’s home-made version will be showcased at the Republic Day parade as part of the ‘Make in India’ push.Dhanush, produced by Ordnance Factory Board, and Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System, being made by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), will complete the India-made troika along with the Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas, at the parade.This is the first time that locally made products will signify the virtual coming of age for the Indian defence equipment production.In case of Dhanush, the Army has carried out ‘user-validation’ trials in the Himalayas during the ongoing winter. A total of six guns are being tested-fired in snow and in conditions where temperature hovers around minus 10 degrees. A production-level prototype is being tested and this is supposed to be the last lap of trials before the ordnance factory starts bulk production.Dhanush 155 MM/45 calibre gun is based on the 1980s’ Bofors FH-77B/39 calibre artillery gun designed and aided by the transfer of technology (ToT) clause signed with the Swedish company.The gun’s bore, or its gun barrel, is 155 millimetres. Calibre relates to barrel length —the greater the calibre, the longer the barrel, resultantly its ability to fire increases.Dhanush has several improvements over Bofors to make it a modern weapon.The other gun is the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System, which was successfully tested in Odisha in December. Though the DRDO is its producer, most parts have been built by two private firms — Tata Power Strategic Engineering Division and Kalyani Group have made a prototype each. The barrels of the gun come from the ordnance factory.