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Our Correspondent

Jaipur, July 19

On the issue of changing the 200-year-old British-established military ranks’ nomenclature, the South Western Army Commander GOC-in-Chief Lt General Cherish Mathson on Thursday said there was a review going on and nothing has been decided yet though “we are all to offer our recommendations to the army”.”It is a process that has started, and as and when its decided, it will be promulgated in Army,” Mathson told media at high tea after inaugurating a two-day “Defence Correspondents Course” here. Asked about cadre review, especially of Colonel to Major General at the time of retirement, he said, “It is just a thought process at this moment. It is under a deliberation state. We are to offer our recommendations. Let it come to a shape.” Recently, in defence circles in Delhi, an Indian Army internal note said the minimum rank for officers at the time of retirement should be Major General. It has suggested the number of regular commissioned officers to be reduced, the rank of Brigadier be done away with while quicker promotions be given to all officers.On Army’s idea of abolishing cantonments mooted recently, the Commander said, “I do not think there would be any problem in it. Many areas in Nasirabad and Ambala have been exercised for the use of the civilians. I am very much in favour-that is what highest level has considered.”On stone-pelting incidents in Kashmir, Lt Gen Mathson said the forces could not reply to stone throwers and it is the civil administration and the government’s responsibility to control this. Though this has been brought under control now, he claimed.On enemy country’s social media warfare against India on borders, he said the younger generation has got an inclination toward such fake news, views or messages. “Very important thing is that we should all identify such fake news affecting us. We need to control it on social media too.”

Arun Joshi

My thoughts were thrown back to the Kargil war of 1999 as I stood in front of War Memorial in Drass — the second coldest place in the world after Siberia that had borne the maximum brunt of the nearly two-month-long conflict. An officer of the Indian Army was narrating the tales of incredible valour of the soldiers who sacrificed their “today for our tomorrow”. The Indian Army had scripted a fresh chapter in mountain warfare. Tiger and Tololing hills bear a testimony to that.The Pakistan army had broken an “unwritten agreement” by intruding and capturing the abandoned 400 Indian posts during the winter of 1998-1999 covering a 150-km stretch overlooking critical portions of the Srinagar-Leh highway with the geostrategic objective of cutting off the Indian access to the Siachen glacier — reckoned as the highest battlefield of the world at a height ranging between18,000 feet and 21,000 feet.This is called treachery. But, what happened thereafter is a bigger treachery that Pakistan committed with humankind. The Indian Army was forced to set up a new corps — 14 Corps — and station its troops on the trans-Himalayan heights ranging from 14,000 feet to 18,000 feet. Pakistan also stationed its troops at the heights on their side after facing a humiliating defeat in its misadventure. With so much interference on the Himalayan heights where so many glaciers rested untouched became routes of all-terrain vehicles. The results are there for all to see. The glaciers have receded and the water flow has diminished in rivers.Had the Pakistan army not done what it did, the size and the glory of the glaciers would have stayed as they were in 1999. Pakistan is guilty of unleashing this disastrous situation. And, it sounds absurd when Pakistan leaders accuse India of choking the natural flow of waters to their side.The years since 1999 have taken a toll on the environment. This is a cause-and-effect phenomenon and the climate change worsened the situation. Thousands of toxic smoke-emitting vehicles on both sides of the Line of Control that divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan carry arms, ammunition and ration by passing through a fragile ecosystem. Thousands of troops of India and Pakistan now remain stationed at the heights throughout winter. This situation of increased human interference with nature is the creation of Pakistan 19 years ago.Earlier, there was no such interference when nature would replenish the glaciers with heavy snowfall.Pakistan has a lot of explaining to do and also to tell the people of this state that why it undertook that misadventure that led to permanent interference with nature. What is happening on this side of the LoC is happening in Gilgit-Baltistan on the other side of the dividing line, too.The temperatures are unacceptably high. There is a danger of the temperatures going still higher.It is a scientifically proven fact that diesel vehicle emissions are unhealthy for the environment. Its soot and particles pollute the air and damage the forests. It is dreadful to imagine the damage the multiplication of such vehicles has caused to the fragile environment since 1999. It is continuing.All wars are bad, but what Pakistan did in 1999 inflicted environmental disaster on the generations to come. The glaciers are receding in these Himalayan heights, and the day is not far when the whole of Pakistan would curse the architects of the Kargil intrusion. Parched fields and shortage of drinking water have already become a reality.

An Army officer, Major Aditya Kumar, was named in a complaint over the shooting of three civilians in Shopian in January.

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Jalandhar, august 10

For the first time in Punjab, 21 members of the Indian Air Force, Adampur, musical band performed patriotic songs in an auditorium at the CT Group of Institutions, Shahpur campus, to mark 72nd Independence Day.Dressed in their professional uniforms, the officers enthralled audience the audience of about 1,000 persons. With various patriotic numbers, the two- hour performance began with the motivational words of the Flight Lieutenant Uday Kiran who was accompanied by Managing Director CT Group, Manbir Singh, Campus Director Dr GS Kalra and Abhishek Soni, Deputy Director, Center for Career, Planning and Counselling (CCPC).Flight Lieutenant Uday Kiran said, “Music has always been a part of the defence culture, strengthening the mood, and inspiring officers to move forward. The IAF has a strong tradition of its own when it comes to military music and musicians. Our band has performed at various places in the country and even in abroad. Today, we performed live for the first time in Punjab.”—TNS

An IAF position paper instead recommends strengthening of joint operations command, says integrated theatre commands will be a strain on resources.

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) has recommended the strengthening of the joint operations command (JOCOM) for better synergy among India’s military services, arguing that this would do away with the need for integrated theatre commands (ITC).

The IAF has argued that the integrated theatre commands would strain its resources, according to a position paper read by ThePrint.

This comes days after defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government wanted the military to move towards creating theatre commands.

“We want a bottom-up approach, create the base and then add layers to it, that way it will not be top-down,” she said at a press conference Friday, adding that the “issue of jointness is very dear to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s heart”.

The IAF position was circulated within the military and the political leadership first in August last year but it has now gained greater currency since a serving navy officer, Rear Admiral Monty Khanna, wrote in a paper for the military think-tank Centre for Joint Warfare Studies (CENJOWS), alleging that the IAF had a “hidden agenda” in opposing theatre commands.

The IAF has taken offence to the paper in which the Rear Admiral, a chief instructor with the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, has alleged that the IAF was opposing theatre commands as it was intent on keeping avenues for promotions of its senior officers.

While the JOCOM comprises the chiefs of the armed forces or commanders designated by them to synergise operations, an ITC would essentially be helmed by a theatre commander (from any of the three armed forces) and would include within it a land forces component, a maritime forces component and an air component.

In an ITC, operational commanders at the field-level would ultimately report to the theatre commander irrespective of service. The JOCOM would maintain the independence of each service that would continue to report to the respective service chief. 

‘Only integrated service’

In its position paper against the ITCs, the IAF has argued that it is the only service that is integrated, bottom-up, with each of the other two armed forces (navy and army). It has stated that its assets were always readily available to the other services, including after the terror attacks at the Pathankot Air Force Station in January 2016, and after the Uri attack, when it was involved in the conduct of the September 2016 “surgical strikes”.

The IAF has further argued that since its mandate is to guard India’s territorial integrity and airspace — meaning that it is not essentially an ‘expeditionary’ force (operating way beyond the homeland) such as that of the US— a JOCOM would facilitate the distribution of its limited assets depending on the contingency. The JOCOM technically exists even today but, the IAF has argued, it must meet at least once a month in peacetime and more often depending on the exigency.

One IAF official told ThePrint that its latest Gagan Shakti exercise had tested the concept of distributing assets in three contingencies: a live western border (with Pakistan); a live northern border (with China) and with both borders being live. It swung aircraft and other platforms from the west to the east and to the north.

This was possible because of the very nature of the air force (any air force) that is mandated to guard a largely contiguous territory such as India’s, the IAF has argued. A single Hercules C-130 aircraft has flown the land borders of India in a single day without requiring to land. (It was fuelled in mid-air). “The IAF does not feel that it is constricted by space,” said the officer.

‘Surprised that Admiral went public’

The officer said it was surprising that the Navy Admiral had chosen to go public with what is essentially a “churning and head-banging within the military” on a professional issue of force restructuring and command authority “when there are service rules against doing so.”

The IAF has also repeatedly pointed out that it needs more assets. The 32 squadrons (and dwindling) of fighter aircraft that it currently has is not enough for its mandate. There is a reason why the IAF has been authorised 42 squadrons “and that is to fulfil our mandate”, explained the officer.

“It is because we can decide where and when and which platform to deploy that maintaining integration with the navy and the army at all levels is important to us. We are not against jointness. But we do not favour the imposition of foreign concepts like the ITC (Integrated Theatre Commands) whose operational value in our environment is suspect,” said the officer.

Tribune News Service

Solan, August 11

Major Dhyan Chand’s statue in Kasauli cantonment is facing neglect. It seems that the authorities did not have time to fix the damaged hockey stick, which has a white tape around it.Though the structure, named after him in 2015, catches the fancy of visitors, the white tape looks like a blot.An inscription bearing a brief history about this three-time Olympic gold medal winner has also been placed below the statue.“It is appalling to note that the authorities have no time to repair the hockey stick. Rather they have chosen to undo the damage,” said Raman Aggarwal, a tourist. He said this was an insult to the iconic player who had brought laurels to the nation through his legendary game.Junior engineer, cantonment board, Satish Kumar, said it would be rectified soon as it had not been brought to their notice, adding that the statue was installed to give respect to the hockey player who was also an Army Major.The cantonment board has undertaken a slew of measures to beautify the town by installing plaques of about 12 Param Vir Chakra awardees from Major Dhyan Chand Chowk till the Sunset Point on the upper Mall.

THE Centre’s move to launch a National Database of Arms Licences is a positive step in curbing the misuse of arms. It would assist law enforcement agencies in identifying weapons used for criminal activities as well as those involved in so-called “accidental” shootings like celebratory firing. Such incidents have become more common in the recent past. Firearm ownership is a privilege in our country and with it comes the responsibility to take care of the weapon, ensure its security and that of the people. Indeed, getting an arms licence is always a tough task. India has the distinction of having some of the most stringent gun laws in the world, but lack of a shared database made it difficult to keep track of licensed weapons, or to identify one if it is used in a crime. The issuance of unique identification numbers to gun owners, and the centralised, computerised database would streamline the process of tracking the ownership of weapons. The lead time given to gun owners is sufficient, and the system should be able to roll out by April next year. India has the notable distinction of being one of the toughest nations to get a gun licence in. This has allowed the country to keep a check on owners of licensed weapons, even as the security forces fight to keep illegal arms under check. While the authorities are required to establish the need for a gun before issuing a licence, there have been cases of persons of dubious character being issued gun licences. The unique identification number assigned to gun owners and the simple fact of all the data being computerised and available will also help in weeding out undesirable elements. Civilised societies do not need gun-wielding citizens. If some are licensed to carry arms, they must be open to scrutiny and checks by appropriate government agencies.

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 2In what could pose a threat to several retired Army officers, gangsters in Punjab are reportedly looking to kidnap or target those who participated in Operation Bluestar in June 1984.Intelligence agencies have informed the Army that some of its officers who were part of the operation—launched to flush out armed militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar—could still be serving. In the past few years, names of several gangsters have cropped up in Punjab Police records of having links with foreign-based organisations.General AS Vaidya, who was the Army Chief during Operation Bluestar, was gunned down near his house in Pune in 1986. Lt Gen KS Brar (retd), who was then (as a Maj Gen) leading the operation, survived a knife attack by youth in London in October 2012. Four people have been convicted for the same.Another senior officer who was part of the operation, Lt Gen Ranjit Dyal, the then Chief of Staff, Western Command—died of age-related causes in January 2012. The local gurdwara in Panchkula refused to conduct his final prayers and the Army then provided a Sikh priest at his home. Gen K Sundarji, former Army Chief who was then the Western Army Commander, died in 1999.Some of the Army officers who were young Lieutenants or Captains in 1984 are still serving while a majority of officers have retired. Some of them have been provided security by the local police whereever they live. Others just maintain a low profile and don’t discuss their role in Operation Bluestar even in private.Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, during whose tenure the operation was carried out, was killed by her guards in October 1984. In December 1999, her daughter-in-law and then Congress president Sonia Gandhi visited the Golden Temple and expressed ‘deep anguish’ and regretted the 1984 happenings. Each year in June, a ‘Ghallughara (meaning massacre) week’ is observed.