Vijay Mohan

A new war memorial and near-enough war-like situation is perhaps the right time for the country with a rich military heritage to visit  monuments that remember our war dead. With a chequered history having its boot prints from the shores of the Atlantic in the west to the backwaters of the Pacific in the east, hundreds of war memorials have been dedicated to the Indian soldier both at home and overseas where they have fought. Many are located within military stations, some in public places and a few small ones in villages or educational institutions to keep alive the memory of bravehearts who died defending our borders.

The practice of erecting war memorials goes back hundreds of years, both in India and other parts of the world when ancient rulers and kings constructed victory memorials to flaunt their exploits on the battlefield. Among the oldest in India is a carved stone, almost 800 year old, at the Kaitabhesvara temple in Karnataka. With its carvings of soldiers and a Kannada inscription dated 1235 AD, the stone eulogises the prowess of kings and warriors.

India Gate

The India Gate has been the nation’s iconic and most visible war memorial located on the Rajpath in the heart of the Capital. Initially constructed for Indian soldiers killed in World War I, it has served as a national memorial since 1972 after a simple edifice, surmounted with a reversed rifle capped by a helmet, was constructed under the India Gate’s arch. In a brass cauldron on each corner on the platform from which the black edifice bearing the inscription “Amar Jawan” arises, burns the eternal flame.

While the Prime Minister, accompanied by the three service chiefs, has traditionally laid a wreath here on Republic Day each year, a recent convention of the President doing the same on Independence Day has been introduced. The three Service Chiefs and top military brass pay homage at the memorial on assuming charge of their office and on the anniversary or Raising Day of their respective service, arm or branch.

Chandigarh War Memorial

The Chandigarh War Memorial is among the largest war memorials in the country with the names of about 10,500 personnel from the three services who died in the line of duty since 1947 inscribed on its walls. It has a unique architectural concept and design, with the central edifice consisting of three converging posts, signifying the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, emerging from a terraced circular base. It lies within a sunken circular arena about six feet below the ground level. The memorial was conceived by the late Lt Gen JFR Jacob, who had commanded a division in the 1965 Indo-Pak War and later negotiated Pakistan’s surrender in 1971, when he was the Governor of Punjab in 2004.

Twang War Memorial

Built in the memory of soldiers who died in the 1962 Indo-China War, the Twang War Memorial is located near the main town of Twang in Arunachal Pradesh. The 40-feet stupa-like structure, constructed in accordance with the local religious practices, is called Namgyal Chortan by the locals. The surrounding granite walls are inscribed with the names of 2,420 martyrs. Artifacts, maps, photographs, news clippings and remains of the war are displayed. A marble plaque reads, “In the memory of those brave soldiers who made supreme sacrifice defending the frontiers of Mother Land during the 1962 Sino-Indian war.”

Indian Military Academy War Memorial

Inaugurated by India’s most revered soldier, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in 1999, the Indian Military Academy War Memorial at Dehradun pays homage to academy alumni who have fallen in the line of duty. The structure replicates the Chetwode Tower, the edifice atop the academy’s main building. The circular memorial with its pillars and columns is built from Dholpur Stone and at the centre of the sanctum sanatorium is a bronze statue of a gentlemen cadet with a sword presenting arms.

Army Heritage Museum at Shimla

The 5,000-year-old history dating from Mahabharata era to the present times is on display at the Army Heritage Museum at Shimla, which is said to be the only museum of its kind in the country. Established in 2006 by the Army Training Command, it houses rare artefacts like the captured flag of 1st Bahawalpur Infantry Battalion of Pakistan, bust of Khudadad Khan, the first Indian to be decorated with the Victoria Cross, execution order of Mangal Pandey and original dress of the first commissioned women officer of the India Army, Major Priya Jhingan. Military philosophy, chronology of events, evolution of Indian military uniforms, arms from the Vedic period, weapons used in the world wars, formation signs, flags, honours and awards adorn its interiors. A section is dedicated to the 21 Param Vir Chakra recipients, rolls of honour and battles of Longewala and Tololing. UN peacekeeping missions, disaster relief operations, military music, music, sports and adventure activities are also featured.

Sea War Memorial in Visakhapatnam

Built in 1996 to commemorate the victory of the Eastern Naval Command in 1971, the Victory at Sea War Memorial in Visakhapatnam carries the epitaph, “The nation that forgets her defenders needs no ancestors” on the central tower’s base. Located near near the Submarine Museum, it represents all three services, with a T-55 tank, a Gnat fighter plane and the Navy’s P-21 missiles that were used to wreak havoc on Karachi harbour on December 4, 1971 being displayed. It was off Visakhapatnam that Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi sank.

Kargil War Memorial

In the world’s second coldest inhabited place, Dras, stands the memorial commemorating the sacrifices of bravehearts who were martyred in the Kargil conflict in 1999. Every year on July 26, known as Kargil Vijay Diwas, a ceremony is held to pay tributes to the martyrs. Several modifications and additions have been made over the years, the latest being a giant national flag, weighing 15 kg hoisted atop a 100-foot staff in 2012.

Siachen War Memorial

The story of Siachen remains unparalleled in the history of warfare. Nowhere else have soldiers fought and held ground for so long and at such desolate heights, where more men have fallen to the vagaries of nature than to enemy bullets. The Siachen War Memorial is situated in the rugged, barren landscape of the base camp on the banks of the Nubra that flows from the glacier that is also the world’s highest battlefield. The names of all soldiers who have died in Operation Meghdoot since its launch in 1984 are etched at the memorial.

At a time when war clouds are hovering over the sub-continent that has witnessed countless wars and conflicts, a vast new monument has been unveiled in the Capital to honour men and women in uniform. First proposed by the Armed Forces in 1960, the National War Memorial was finally dedicated to the nation on February 25 this year. “The intent of the design is to look at the memorial as a place were soldiers are reborn. The design concept is interpreted as four concentric circles of varied elements as layers with its own functionality and expressing different emotions of protection, bravery and sacrifice through spaces,” says Yogesh Chandrahasan, the project architect.

An open competition for the design was floated by the government in August 2016. Out of 428 entries received, Chennai-based WeBe Design lab won the first and third place. In 2017 first winning entry was commissioned for building the memorial.

The outermost circle, Rakshak Chakra (circle of protection), personifies the territorial control of the borders by the armed forces, with trees being the major elements and arranged in a specific order of circular arrangement, inspired from the formations of soldiers, signifying their firm presence and hold on the ground.

Next is the Tyag Chakra (circle of sacrifice), metaphorically representing the deployment of soldiers in concentric circles on the battlefield, as depicted in the epic Mahabharat. Each granite block represents a martyr, on which his name and rank are engraved. The wall holds name of 25,942 martyrs, who have sacrificed their life since Independence.

The Veerta Chakra (circle of bravery) has been conceived as a subterranean colonnaded semi-open corridor holding stories of valour. The gallery holds six bronze murals which depict the six important battles fought by Indian soldiers post-Independence.

The focal point of the memorial is the innermost circle, Amar Chakra, symbolising the immortality of soldiers who attained martyrdom. The obelisk in the center holds the eternal flame at the bottom with the four-headed Ashoka Lion emblem perched at the top.

The Param Yodha Sthal is unique space dedicated for recipients of the Param Vir Chakra, India’s highest award for gallantry. The park is designed around existing trees; accommodating, bronze statues of 21 recipients.by

“We were a team of eight architects, led by Yogesh Chandrahasan that conceptualised and designed the memorial,” adds Udhaya Rajan N, a partner in the firm. Spread over 42 acres adjoining India Gate, the design of the memorial is subterranean with the built form not exceeding 1.5 metres above ground level.  The design was conceived carefully to retain the character of the existing public open space and the aesthetical sanctity of Lutyen’s planning.

Rezang La battle, Rewari

The Rezang La battle, fought against the Chinese in November 1962 at the height of 18,000 feet in Ladakh was one of the most decisive battles fought against China and is officially recognised as a “rare battle in military history” with the fighting being hard and bitter and troops going beyond the call of duty. A memorial to this battle stands at Rewari, Haryana. With a Sudarshan Chakra adorning the memorial’s edifice, the names of all martyrs have been engraved on it along with comments of some senior officers regarding the gallantry of the soldiers who fought the battle.

fat Mohidin

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 9

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has written to the top security brass in Kashmir, telling them to be on the highest alert as the Jaish-e-Mohammad is planning a Pulwama-type suicide attack.

In a written security advisory, accessed by The Tribune, sent by the Director, Security, MHA, to the top security brass in Kashmir it has said that “it is reported that the JeM outfit members active in Pulwama district are preparing for another fidayeen/spectacular attack in next three days. Although the said terrorist attack was scheduled to be launched after two weeks, the group has decided to pre-pone it, owing to the developments happening on the Indo-Pak front and anti-militancy operations against the JeM,” said the advisory.

On February 14, a JeMsuicide bomber, Adil Ahmad Dar,had rammed his explosive-laden car into a CRPF convoy on the Pulwama highway, killing 40 personnel.

Officials in the Valley have been asked to be on alert as the JeM is planning another attack.

“In view of the above, the peripheral security of vital installations and forces guarding the installations be kept on alert to thwart any such attack.”

The oil companies in the state have also been advised to keep on alert the forces guarding the vital installations.

In a written communication to the J&K Police, they have been asked to furnish the details of the two JeM militants, one local and another foreign named as Muna Bihari who are said to be in possession of “crude bomb lot”. The said group, according to the security agencies, are active in Pulwama and Shopian villages.

General Raymond Thomas emphasised on the need for furthering military cooperation in the field of technology and military-to-military exchanges between the two countries.

A statement said both the generals deliberated on the developing regional security environment (file)

NEW DELHI: 

General Raymond Thomas, the Commander of the US Special Operations Command, met Army Chief General Bipin Rawat here Friday, during which the two officers deliberated on the developing regional security environment and discussed Pakistan’s “continued support to terrorism”, according to a statement.

General Raymond Thomas emphasised on the need for furthering military cooperation in the field of technology and military-to-military exchanges between the two countries.

“Both the generals deliberated on the developing regional security environment, issue of global terrorism and Pakistan’s continued support to terrorism was also discussed,” the statement said.

The visit of the senior US Army officer comes days after the Indian Air Force struck at the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed’s biggest training camp near Balakot, deep inside Pakistan, on February 26.

A day later Pakistan also retaliated by attempting to target Indian military installations. However, the IAF thwarted the plan.

The Indian strike on the JeM camp came 12 days after the terror outfit claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a CRPF convoy in Kashmir, in which 40 personnel were killed.

The statement further said in the current scenario, the Indian Army remains fully prepared for emerging challenges.

“In the last three weeks, disinformation campaign by the adversary on digital media has increased. All ranks have been well sensitised of these disinformation campaigns and all ranks can see through the lie, deceit and deception of the terror sponsors,” the statement said.

Lt Gen Ranbir Singh, Northern Command chief, accompanied by the White Knight Corps Commander, Lt Gen Paramjit Singh, visited forward posts in the Akhnoor sector on Friday to review the operational preparedness and the prevalent security situation.

Lt General Ranbir was briefed on the actions taken to meet the challenges of the increased ceasefire violations through superior and aggressive domination of the LoC being exercised by the troops to exert pressure on Pakistan and defensive measures put in place to thwart the designs of the adversary. TNS

OFB gets Defence Ministry’s nod for producing 114 long-range artillery gun ‘Dhanush’

NEW DELHI: The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) has received a bulk production clearance from the Indian Army and the Defence Ministry for production of 114 ‘Dhanush’ artillery guns, officials said Tuesday.

‘Dhanush’ is the first long-range artillery gun to be produced in India and it is a major success story of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The OFB has received a bulk production clearance from the Army and the Defence Ministry for production of 114 first-ever indigenous artillery gun ‘Dhanush’, it said, adding, the clearance was received on Monday.

“The gun is equipped with inertial navigation-based sighting system, auto-laying facility, on-board ballistic computation and an advanced day and night direct firing system. The self-propulsion unit allows the gun to negotiate and deploy itself in mountainous terrains with ease,” the ministry said.

‘Dhanush’ has been mechanically upgraded to fire standard NATO 155 mm ammunition and can accommodate the bi-modular charge system (BMCS) which has resulted in increasing the range, it said.

It has also been electronically upgraded to enhance the firing accuracies, laying speeds of the existing gun and to provide compatibility with various kinds of ammo as well, the statement said.

The performance of the gun has been evaluated under arduous conditions in several phases.

“The guns travelled extensively in towed and self-propelled mode in all terrains viz desert and high altitude with each gun clocking over 1600 km. Such an extensive exercise was carried out by the user for the first time for any gun system under the process of induction,” it added.

The manufacture of a 155 mm modern artillery gun was initially a challenge for the OFB. This was due to change in the vision parameters from 155×39 calibre to 155×45 calibre.

The OFB received the Transfer of Technology (ToT) documents pertaining to 155×39 calibre and then converted it to 155×45 calibre successfully, the statement said.

‘Dhanush’ is the product of joint efforts by the OFB and the Army with contributions from the DRDO, DGQA, DPSUs such as Bharat Electronics Limited, PSUs such as SAIL and several private enterprises.

The media has repeatedly said over the last few months that sniping is a new modus operandi at the Line of Control between India and Pakistan and the Army is losing this new war due to ageing equipment.

Out dated equipment is a concern, and therefore the Indian Army has just bought new deadly sniper rifles for the Northern Command – .50 Calibre M95 by Barrett and the .338 Lapua Magnum Scorpio TGT by Beretta – to replace the Russian Dragunov.

But contrary to media’s claims, sniping is not a new phenomenon, and is in fact a tried-and-tested way of achieving moral ascendancy along the Line of Control (LoC) and the Indian Army hasn’t fared poorly. Improvisation has largely made up for lack of adequate equipment.

Also read: Deadly new sniper rifles are here for Northern Command soldiers along LoC

A force-multiplier

The Soviet-era Dragunov sniper rifle has been the mainstay of the Indian Army in conventional operations along the LoC as well in counter-terror missions. However, the 800-metre effective range offered by the Dragunov is now insufficient for modern-day warfare.

Yet, the Indian Army through improvisation, correct training and selection has created an environment wherein sniping has become a force multiplier. The adversary too hasn’t been static on this front.

I recall on the first day of my command at Siachen in 1995, we lost an outstanding young officer, keeping vigil on his post from behind a four-feet wall, to a single shot fired by the enemy. Investigation showed that the shot was fired by a medium machine gun (MMG) from a range of 4,200 metres. It is definitely not a range from which an MMG is fired, but improvisation made it possible.

Sources within the Indian Army say that there is no despair over inadequate sniping equipment because improvisation has made up for it, with even anti-material rifles being used for sniping now. However, improvisation alone cannot ever be a permanent solution to fighting the adversary; soldiers won’t say it but they know it.

The purchase of new sniper rifles, with enhanced range of 1500-1800 metres, was much-needed, but their arrival doesn’t guarantee overnight success. Some degree of improvisation and innovation will again be the key to ensuring optimum utilisation.

Also read: The new danger in Kashmir: Cold, calculating snipers who are wary of close contact

How to maximise effectiveness

The effectiveness of a weapon can be maximised when the user is confident about it, its technical characteristics including faults have been well-understood, and the required talent pool has been created for it among the fighting units.

All this can happen fast, given the Indian Army’s penchant to pursue an aim with utmost focus. But it also needs to add institutional weight behind the effort, through reintroduction of the sniper training course and sniper competitions, which stopped several years ago. Those who acquire requisite skills after rigorous training must be suitably rewarded.

Introducing the Sniper Badge is the first such step and only those meeting the stringent standards must earn the right to display it. Shooting ranges of 1,800 metres and beyond are not available along the LoC. There is little scope for the troops deployed to train with the equipment unless select batches are sent for training at the ranges in desert areas or central India. The best training ground, of course, is the LoC itself and there is no doubt that a simultaneous on-the-job training, while fighting the adversary, can continue there.

But we need more than just a gung-ho approach to streamline the creation of a talent pool that once existed in the Infantry units.

Sniping war will continue

It is important to know why sniping is a difficult operation at the LoC and yet easy enough to grab opportunities when they present themselves. Recently, a one-star rank officer of the Pakistan Army was seriously injured in an exchange of fire in the Lipa sector. It led to the Pakistanis targeting two JCOs on our side in the Kupwara sector. Both operations, the Pakistani and ours, involved the use of snipers. Many more exchanges have been reported over the last year. The LoC posts are virtual citadels with a labyrinth of deep communication trenches to afford movement within the post without enemy observation, but there are a number of other places where any movement is under observation.

Terrain domination in some areas give either side the advantage of observation, and vegetation is not available everywhere for cover. A quid pro quo situation exists at most places along the LoC where there are mutual vulnerabilities that prevent risk taking by either side. He who has the ability and confidence to prevent exposure of potential targets becomes the psychological winner, a major contribution to moral ascendancy at the LoC. It forces a lot of movement by night.

Also read: The enemy at the gates has a new weapon and Indian Army needs to wake up

At the LoC, the Indian Army will always be forced to offer more targets than the adversary not only because of the higher quantum of deployment, but also due to the nature of it. Deployment in small detachments in tactically unsound positions along the LoC to prevent infiltration is common; tactically unsound may seem strange to older soldiers, but the fact remains that in counter infiltration the aim is to prevent terrorists getting across and not the defence of some real estate. This increases vulnerability especially when the LoC fence is under reconstruction or maintenance.

The idiom ‘two can play this game’ is applicable all along the LoC. While ceasefire will remain on paper, violations will take place. Sniping exchange, however, is largely unreported and therefore remains outside the purview of public gaze.

The sniping war, therefore, will continue even as other means of moral domination emerge. The arrival of new sniper weapons, combined with improvisation and a return to the old-world sniper training culture, will definitely help in turning the tables on the adversary to a greater extent.

The author, a former GOC of Srinagar-based 15 Corps, is associated with the Vivekanand International Foundation and the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. He is the Chancellor of Central University of Kashmir.

Masood Azhar. — File photo

New Delhi, February 18

Maulana Masood Azhar, the dreaded architect of some of India’s biggest terror attacks, was an “easy man” to handle in custody with one slap enough to make him blurt out details of his movements, says a former police officer who interrogated him several times.

Azhar, who used a Portuguese passport to enter India through Bangladesh and reach Kashmir, was arrested in February 1994 in Anantnag in South Kashmir.

In custody, intelligence agencies did not have to use “coercive method” against Azhar to extract information as he started speaking after the “first slap” from an army officer and gave deep insights into the functioning of terror groups operating from Pakistan, the officer said.

“He was an easy man to handle and a slap from an army officer shook him completely,” former Director General of Sikkim Police Avinash Mohananey, who interrogated Azhar many times during his two-decade tenure in the Intelligence Bureau, told PTI.

After his release in exchange of passengers of hijacked IC-814 flight of Indian Airlines in 1999 by the then BJP government, Azhar formed Jaish-e-Mohammed and scripted many audacious terror strikes in India, including on Parliament House, Pathankot air force base, army camps in Jammu and Uri, and the latest suicide attack on CRPF in Pulwama which claimed the lives of 40 personnel.

While in custody, Azhar, in his early 50s now, shared information about recruitment process and functioning of terror groups in Pakistan at a time when the intelligence agencies were still grappling to understand the proxy-war unleashed by Pakistan’s espionage agency ISI, said Mohananey, a 1985-batch IPS officer who headed the Kashmir desk in the agency at that time.

“There were several occasions when I met him in Kot Balwal jail and interrogated him for hours together. We did not have to use any coercive method as information flowed consistently from him,” he said.

Azhar gave the Indian agencies vital insights into diversion of Afghan terrorists into Kashmir Valley and merger of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and Harkat-ul-Jehad-e-Islami (HuJI) into Harkat-ul-Ansar, represented by him as its general secretary, the officer said.

After his arrival in India from Bangladesh in 1994, Azhar travelled to Saharanpur before reaching Kashmir where he held meetings of warring factions of HuM and HuJI to formulate a common policy, Mohananey said.

“I came on a forged Portuguese passport for ensuring that HuM and HuJI are together in the valley. It was not possible for me to cross the Line of Control on foot,” the police officer recalled Azhar telling them.

A man of mannerism and etiquette during interrogation sessions, Azhar used to give detailed answer to any question that was asked to him, he said.

The Jaish chief, during his stint as a journalist with ‘Sada-e-Mujahid’, a tabloid published from Karachi, had in 1993 travelled with a group of Pakistani scribes to some countries, drumming up support for “Kashmir cause’, he said.

Mohananey recalled that Azhar would often boast that police could not be able to keep him in custody for long as he was important for Pakistan and the ISI.

“You are underestimating my popularity. The ISI would ensure that I am back in Pakistan,” the police officer recalled him as saying.

Surprisingly, some foreigners were kidnapped from Delhi 10 months after his arrest in February 1994 and the kidnappers had demanded his release.

The plan failed with the arrest of Omar Sheikh, who was also released in the 1999 exchange, and was later involved in the gruesome beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in Pakistan.

Another attempt to free him was made by a shadow group of Harkat-ul-Ansar, Al-Faran, which demanded his release in exchange of five foreigners kidnapped in Kashmir in July 1995.

Before shifting out to another posting, the officer said, “I met him again in 1997 when he was in the same jail. I informed him that I was proceeding to a new posting to which he wished me good luck.”

“I was at new posting when I heard about his release on December 31, 1999 in exchange for passengers of IC-814. He really meant it when he said that we would not be able to keep him for long,” he said.

The JeM chief is now believed to be in his native Bahawalpur in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

The then BJP-led NDA government had released Azhar, along with Omar Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar alias ‘Latram’, in exchange of passengers of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 from Kathmandu to New Delhi which was taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan.

After the negotiations failed with hijackers, the government succumbed to their demands and the then external affairs minister Jaswant Singh took the three terrorists to Kandahar in Afghanistan in a special plane to ensure the release of passengers of the hijacked plane. — PTI

Shyam Sood

Rajouri, February 16

Head Constable of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Nasir Ahmed, who was killed in a suicide attack in Pulwama district on Thursday, was laid to rest with full state honours at his native Dodassan Bala village in Rajouri district on Saturday.

Themartyr was posted in Jammu and was deputed as the commander of the CRPF convoy, which had left Jammu for Kashmir on Thursday.

Minister of State in the PMOJitendra Singh, former Deputy CM Nirmal Singh, state BJP president Ravinder Raina, MP Jugal Kishore, CRPF IG B Chouhan, CRPF DIG Nitu Bhatacharya, Rajouri DC MA Asad, Rajouri SSPYougal Manhas and senior Army officers paid homage to Head Constable Nasir at his village.

Thousands of people had gathered in the village to pay their last respects to the martyr.

The coffin draped in a Tricolour was brought in a procession about 12.30 pm and the martyr was laid to rest in the presence family members, relatives and dignitaries.

Jitendra expressed his condolences to the family of the martyr, who is survived by wife, minor daughter and a son.

The minister also interacted with Sehraj-ud-Din, elder brother of the martyr, who is a head constable in the J&K Police and at present posted in Jammu. He directed the senior officers to get him posted in Rajouri, if he wanted, so that he could take care of the family.

“The CRPF will always stand by the side of Nasir’s family and we are thankful to the entire nation for showing solidarity with the family,” said CRPF DIG Nitu Bhatacharya.

‘Establish school in Nasir’s name’

• Thousands of people had gathered in Dodassan Bala village of Rajouri district to pay their last respects to Head Constable Nasir Ahmed
• Minister of State in the PMO Jitendra Singh paid tributes to the martyr in the village. He also met the family and expressed his condolences to them. He asked the Rajouri Deputy Commissioner to establish a school in the name of martyr