Union Minister of State for External Affairs Gen VK Singh (second from left) with VC Prof AK Grover and other dignitaries at Golden Jubliee Hall, PU, in Chandigarh, on Saturday. Tribune photo: Manoj Mahajan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 26

Indian universities should produce experts in defence strategic studies to guide military personnel not to repeat their old mistakes if any war is fought in the future. Former Army chief and Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Statistics and Programme Implementation (Independent Charge) Gen V K Singh stated this while addressing a seminar on ‘1962 War: an Appraisal’ at Panjab University here today. The event also marked the book release of “1962 The War That Wasn’t” by Shiv Kunal Verma.Referring to the PU Defence Studies Department where courses related to the strategic studies was going on, he said such departments were the need of the hour. He said in other developed countries special departments were created by the government so that specialisation and analysis of history and wars of the country could be done to understand the loopholes. This was done so that their soldiers did not repeat such mistakes in future wars. But in India, defence studies meant what we learn in NCC and nothing else, he said. During his address, he said those who did not learn from history suffered a lot in future.Referring to the 1962 war, he appreciated the courage of the Indian soldiers and said they performed well but the defeat was due to political establishment and leadership at the top of the military which lacked in taking the right decision at the right time. He stressed upon analysing the situation of 1962 war to learn what went wrong so that it should not be repeated by the military in the future.Clarifying the myth that after Independence,  the military was keen to go on war to show their might to the neighbours, he said during the 1962 war, military was not taken into confidence by political heads before taking a final call on the war. The political establishment cheated the military by not actively consulting it.Meanwhile, filmmaker and military historian Shiv Kunal Verma who authored the book “1962 The War That Wasn’t” mentioned that while signing the Panchsheel Agreement, India made concessions to China which was against the advice given by the military leadership. PU VC Prof Arun Kumar Grover called upon the Department of Defence and National Security Studies to reach out to the military leadership and retired military officers and create a think tank.  Gen Kulwant Singh, Maj Gen Rajendar Nath, Brig Amarjit Singh Behl and Brigadier DK Khullar also shared their views.The 1962 war veterans Maj Gen Rajendar Nath, Brigadier Amarjit Singh Behl and Brig DK Khullar were also present. They were given standing ovation by the audience.

Governor NN Vohra during a meeting in Jammu. A Tribune PHOTO

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 17

The Army today agreed to hand over vast lands under its possession to the state government before March 31.The decision in this regard was taken during a meeting between Governor NN Vohra Northern Command Chief Lt Gen D S Hooda here today.During the meeting, the Governor reviewed implementation of decisions taken in earlier civil-military liaison conferences in respect of all land matters relating to the Army.After discussions it was agreed that the Northern Command Headquarters would hand over 16.30 acre of state land held by it adjoining the Jammu University campus, 212 acre at the Tatoo Grounds, Srinagar, 456.60 kanal at High Grounds, Anantnag, land held by it at lower Khurba Thang in Kargil to the state government before March 31.Restoration of land under Army’s possession to the state was one of the major points in the “Agenda of Alliance” of the erstwhile PDP-BJP coalition government.In case of land at the lower plateau of Khurba Thang, it was agreed that the matter would be taken up before March 31 when Chief Secretary BR Sharma visits Kargil.The Chief Secretary has been named as the chairman of the committee set up to deal with all Army key location plan matters.Regarding the Tatoo Ground, the Governor and the Army commander will jointly visit the site before March 31 and discuss certain proposals regarding its utilisation.

Governor reviews security

• Governor NN Vohra on Thursday reviewed internal and external security management issues during a meeting involving civil, police, Army and central Intelligence agencies here. The Governor was informed about the redeployments undertaken to strengthen security management in the aftermath of the Pampore terror attack. The meeting also discussed various important issues relating to the effective enforcement of the counter infiltration and counter terrorism grids along the international border and LoC in the Jammu and Kashmir regions.

Indian Army agrees to vacate large portions of land in Kashmir

Jammu: In a significant development, the Indian Army on Thursday decided to vacate huge portions of land held by it close to civilian habitations in Jammu and Kashmir and hand over the possession to the state government. An official statement issued here said that “in extensive discussions” with Northern Command chief Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda at Raj Bhavan on Thursday, Governor N.N. Vohra reviewed the implementation of decisions taken in earlier civil military liaison conferences on all land matters relating to the army. It was agreed that the Northern Command would hand over 16.30 acres adjoining the Jammu University campus, 212 acres at Tatoo Grounds in Srinagar, 456.60 kanals at High Grounds in Anantnag, and also land held at lower Khurba Thang in Kargil. The land at Khurba Thang would be taken over before March 31 when the chief secretary visits Kargil. “Regarding the Tatoo Ground land, the governor and army commander will jointly visit the site, before March 31, to also discuss certain proposals regarding the utilisation of this land for creating a park, recreational facilities for youth etc.,” the statement said. The governor directed that the committee headed by the chief secretary will visit Jammu University, Kargil and Anantnag to fulfill all formalities on the spot and take over the sites. Vohra also arrived at an understanding with the army commander over the location of high altitude warfare school (HAWS) in Gulmarg. He will have a further meeting with Hooda. “The meeting also discussed issues relating to the notification of firing ranges at various places. It was decided that the chief secretary shall pursue the pending issues with the ministry of defence, particularly regarding the enhancement of the scales of rent payable for the required areas of land.” The demand to vacate these lands was high on the list of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti to pave the way for her heading the PDP-BJP coalition government in the state.

I am not ideologically aligned. I am also not much enthused by the two extremes of the national and anti-national debate since the foundations of India can hardly be shaken by polarized views at both ends. I am not against human rights activists since checks and balances, arguments and counter arguments, make any system more robust. I am even not impressed by retired officers of the military shouting out loud about the ‘sacrifices’ of our uniformed personnel as if other professions have no role to play in the largest democracy. I would say that the milkman who rings your bell every morning is playing an equally important role.

But then, this piece by Kavita Krishnan with a shrill headline talking of ‘Systematic Sexual Violence by the Army’ still makes me queasy. And it is not a random write-up but a drop in a series of such propaganda.

Never the one to defend wrongdoing by uniformed men and women, even by my harsh standards, this tirade mainstreams stray incidents of the past. It broad-brushes an entire organization based on individual aberrations. Should it mean, and I asked this on social media, that tomorrow if a university professor is involved in a theft, we blast off with lines like “Systematic Theft by Teachers”. Or if a Chartered Accountant is involved in an economic offence, “Systematic Fraud by CAs”? No end to such senseless overstretching of logic! How loosely has the word ‘systematic’ been used, where is the data? Where is the empirical backup?

Strange also is the bogey raised time and again by some members of the intelligentsia that the Defence Services let off lightly their personnel accused of crimes. In fact, the opposite is true. Constitutional Courts have time and again reprimanded the Defence Services for awarding punishments that are disproportionate to the offence. We ourselves feel that at times charges are trumped up and exaggerated and a single offence broken up into multiple charges. We have, on the contrary, raised a voice that military law does not meet Constitutional or international norms under the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights for separation of powers. And we say this since we find that though discipline is paramount for the forces, the basic judicial norms are hazy in the military leading sometimes to excessive punishment and a much higher incidence of conviction and punishment than normal rates, arguably in order to ‘set examples’. Military Justice hence needs to be rationalized, but not since it lets off people scot-free as is being wrongly propagated, but since, it, at times, results in harsher punishments than warranted.

Any person who has served in uniform, especially of the Defence Services and the Central Armed Police Forces, would be able to say with certainty that much of the officers’ time in operational areas is spent on sensitizing troops on dealing perceptively with the elderly, women and children. Not just in India, but almost in all democracies. Black sheep, just as they exist in our society, are bound to be found in the uniformed forces, being the extension of the same society.

My request to Ms Kavita Krishnan would plainly be not to scandalize the very delicate issue of crime against women. Such baseless headlining not only results in painting a wrong picture of our forces but also trivializes the very grave matter of sexual violence by giving it a backdrop of falsehood. The only thingsystematic here is the careful surgical maligning of our forces in an irresponsible and unethical manner. Our forces are being projected as some ragtag militia from the middle ages.

But more than that, it demoralizes our men and women in uniform, who are serving in trying circumstances away from their families, but who, unlike Ms Krishnan, rather unlike all of us, do not have the luxury of effectively voicing their opinion or issuing rebuttals or writing opinion pieces and participating in debates. In fact, bound by service regulations, they have no voice at all, which makes them an extremely soft target.

India believes in defence services, not offence services, as some would try to fallaciously project. Do not make them your whipping boy.

Posted by Navdeep / Maj Navdeep Singh at 10:02 PM

Govt of India issues guidelines on recovery of excess amount from employees

The issue of recovery of excess amount from pensioners and employees has remained quite vexed since the past many years. The problem was compounded with the Supreme Court taking a varied view in various decisions.

Going into great detail of the subject, the Supreme Court in December 2014 however laid down the law quite clearly inStateof Punjab Vs Rafiq Masih wherein certain guidelines were postulated for such cases.

To the credit of the Central Government, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has today issued a universal circular implementing the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the ibid case.

The circular is significant since it is probably for the first time that a department has floated a universally applicable pro-employee circular in this regard. Though departments are quick in circulating decisions of High Courts and Supreme Court rendered against employees, it is rarely that a similar exercise is conducted when law is laid down in favour of employees or retirees.

The said Office Memorandum issued today, detailing the cases where recovery is impermissible, can be accessed and downloaded by clicking here.

Farmers stand outside the DC office after submitting a memorandum in Bathinda on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, March 8

About 18 villages here today heaved a sigh of relief after getting an assurance from the Army that it would remove a net from the Bathinda distributary of the Sirhind canal that passes through the Bathinda cantonment.Residents of villages were at loggerheads with the Army in the cantonment that had placed the net in the Bathinda distributary of the Sirhind canal.Panchayats of villages, including Gehri Buttar, Jodhpur Romana, Gehri Bhagi, Mehta, Shergarh, Bhagwangarh, Gurusar Sainewala, Phullomitthi, Sangat Kalan, Jassi Bagh Wali, Kishanpura, Naruana, Jai Singh Wala, Baho Sivian and Meeya today gathered here and approached the Bathinda Deputy Commissioner for the second time to get the issue sorted out.Hamir Singh, sarpanch, Jai Singhwala village, said: “The villages at the tail end, including Jai Singh Wala, Phullow Mithi, Sangat, were facing too much issues as there was no water for irrigation. Shortage of drinking water was also being faced by residents. We have earlier approached the executive engineer but to no avail. However, today the DC had assured to address our grievance.”Executive Engineer (Irrigation) Upkaran Singh said: “Farmers approached us two months ago and we had written a number of times to the Army and had even held meetings with them in this regard but today with the intervention of the DC, the matter has sorted out.”After the Pathankot terror attack, the Army in the Bathinda cantonment put up the net in Bathinda distributary, which used to get blocked after a few hours following waste and weeds gathering around the net. The cleaning of the Sirhind canal is not being done by the Irrigation Department due to lack of funds. However on Tuesday, Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Basant Garg met the GoC, Army Sub Area, Major General Jaggi, who assured to remove the net from the distributary.“I met Maj Gen Jaggi today and discussed the matter. The flow of water was halted due to the waste collected around the net and residents faced problems due to the same. However, Army officials had assured us to remove the net from the canal,” the DC said.

NEW DELHI: The Indian Army, which has built a pontoon bridge on the Yamuna for the Art of Living Foundation’s upcoming World Culture Festival, is likely to build one more to ease movement of lakhs of people who are expected to attend the controversy-ridden mega event.

The development came even as there was criticism from some quarters, including the social media, about using Army to build the floating bridge for such an event.

“Lakhs of people are expected to turn up. There is a question of law and order and also fears of stampede. Permission has been granted by concerned authorities to host the event. If a permission has been given, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure everything is run smoothly,” highly placed defence soures told PTI.

They said the organisers had approached the defence ministry seeking six such bridges but the Army was asked to erect only one. A second bridge has been erected by the PWD.

“The Delhi Police has now given a report saying that there are fears of stampede and hence the Army might build another bridge,” the sources said, adding that a Minister from the Delhi government has also written to the Ministry highlighting the need for such bridges.

The sources said defence minister Manohar Parrikar had asked the defence secretary to look into the issue. During his interaction with the Army, the force wondered whether their personnel should be used to help a “private event”.

“The minister was of the view that since permission has been granted, it is the responsibility of the government to ensure everything was fine. The Army, which has the expertise, was asked to step in keeping the larger good of people in mind,” the sources said.

They added that the Army has been used during Kumbh Mela and even the Commonwealth Games.

Told that the event has come under the scanner of the National Green Tribunal, which looks after the environmental issues, sources said the Army is only helping people and it is up to the concerned authorities to grant permission or withdraw it.

President Pranab Mukherjee will not be attending the festival in the wake of controversy over holding the three-day cultural function on the Yamuna flood plains beginning here this Friday.

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said Friday that India, with the third largest military in the world (with over 1.3 million soldiers), needs to “cut flab.”

The Indian Army will be the first to adopt the leaner force plan, since it has the largest manpower in the armed forces. “I have asked the Army to identify the areas, it will take time and cannot be done overnight,” Parrikar said, NDTV reports.

Clearing misconceptions following the recent Union Budget 2016, where the defence outlay was not part of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s presentation, Parrikar revealed that the total allocation for defence in the budget was Rs 3,41,000 crore, including defence pensions. Pensions were allocated at Rs 82,000 crore, and for new equipment purchases the Ministry of Defence gets Rs 70,000 crore.

He noted that due to “ill-management” $3 billion was lying unused in an account with the US government for the government-to-government deals between India and US. Parrikar claimed that the ministry “re-calibrated” it and has since brought down the unspent money.

He also added that about Rs 13,000 crore of unspent capital funds will be returned.

Meanwhile, Parrikar’s statement of making the armed forces leaner has created ripples among the jawans, according to The Telegraph.

The report cited senior military officials as saying that armed forces can cut down the manpower but only after induction of new technology. The obsolete technology has increased the workload of the armed forces, pressuring the infantry battalions.

When asked about the Rafale aircraft negotiations, Parrikar called himself a “tough negotiator” who does not reveal his cards. The defence minister cryptically said that he will “cross the bridge when the time comes.”