Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha. — File photo

New Delhi, September 1

IAF chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha on Thursday indicated that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) would have been India’s had the country gone for a military solution rather than taking a “moral high ground”.Raha also rued that air power had not been fully utilised by the Indian government till the 1971 Indo-Pak war.In unusually candid remarks, the Air Force chief termed PoK as a “thorn in our flesh” and said India did not follow a “pragmatic approach” to security needs.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)He said India’s security environment is vitiated and aerospace power, as part of the military power, would be required to deter a conflict in the region and also ensure peace and tranquillity.”Our foreign policy was enshrined in the charter of the UN, charter of the Non-Alignment Movement as well as Panchseel doctrine.”We have been governed by high ideals and we really did not follow a very pragmatic approach, to my mind, to security needs. To that extent, we did ignore the role of the military power to maintain conducive environment,” Raha said at an aerospace seminar here.He said India as a country was “reluctant” to use military power, especially air power, in deterring adversaries, in deterring a conflict and when involved in conflict the country has been drawn into several times in the past.He said when hordes of raiders attacked Jammu and Kashmir in 1947, it was the transport planes of the IAF which helped Indian soldiers and equipment to reach the battleground.”And when a military solution was in sight, taking moral high ground, I think we went to UN for a peaceful solution to this problem. The problem still continues. PoK remains a thorn in our flesh today,” he said.Raha said that in 1962, air power went under-utilised because of the fear of a skirmish.”In 1965 conflict, we did not use air power against East Pakistan because of political reasons despite Pakistani Air Force operating from East Pakistan attacking our air bases, infrastructure, aircraft on ground. We had severe setbacks but we never retaliated,” he rued.The IAF chief said the only time when air power was fully utilised was in 1971 war and the three forces blended completely resulting in the creation of Bangladesh.”But the situation has changed. We are ready to use air power to defend ourselves and deter a conflict,” he said. — PTI

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Jammu, August 13

Reacting to the all-party meeting on Kashmir held in Delhi on Friday, Gurdev Singh, president, Jammu Kashmir Sharnarthi Action Committee, welcomed the statement of the Prime Minister and unanimously supported by all parties in the meeting to declare Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as the fourth region of J&K.In a statement issued here today, Gurdev Singh urged upon the Centre to transform these assertions into a reality to finish the Kashmir dispute. He said the displaced persons from PoK were the worst sufferers and victims of the dispute between India and Pakistan. — TNS

Army holds medical camp in Tral

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 13

The Army organised a medical camp for local residents in south Kashmir’s Tral.A defence spokesman said the medical camp was organised at Kahlil village, 5 km from Tral town.“In a collaborative effort with the civil administration, a team of Army and civil doctors provided quality medical treatment to the poor and needy persons of Kahlil and nearby villages of the Tral area. Many patients were also referred to SDH, Tral, for further specialised treatment. They were also educated about various diseases, basic health, hygiene, sanitation and drug abuse,” the spokesman said.

Lt Gen Chand visits Hisar cantonment

HISAR: Lt Gen Sarath Chand, general officer commanding in chief, Sapta Shakti Command, visited the army cantonment here on Saturday. The army commander complimented the division on the professionalism exhibited during the recent exercises—Shatrujeet and Meghprahar. During the visit, the army commander interacted with officers, junior commissioned officers and other ranks and sensitised them on the security related issues. The officer stressed on operational readiness, mental robustness and directive style of command.

Army organises weapons and band exhibition in Kapurthala

KAPURTHALA: As part of Independence Day celebrations, the Ghurki Brigade, under the aegis of Goldren Arrow Division, exhibited a wide array of weapons and equipment at the Kapurthala military station on Saturday. Deputy commissioner Jaskiran Singh inaugurated he function at the Army Public School here.

HT PHOTODeputy commissioner Jaskiran Singh and SSP Rajinder Singh with army officials during an exhibition of weapons in Kapurthala on Saturday

The event was aimed at exhibiting military capabilities of the elite arm to visitors.

Army officials said tanks, guns and other weaponry were put on display.

The show received an overwhelming response from the civilians, especially youths and students.

Visitors were enthralled by the impressive display by the army bands conducted by the units of the station.

Deputy commissioner Jaskiran Singh, with senior superintendent of police, Rajinder Singh, visited the venue and army officials informed them about displayed weapons and their use.

The DC thanked Brigadier Rajesh Panicker, station commander, Kapurthala military station, for organizing the event, which helped in strengthening the bond between locals and the army.

XI Corps’ initiatives for veteran fraternity

THE STEPS TAKEN BY GENERAL JS CHEEMA AND HIS FORMATION, XI CORPS, TO RESOLVE VETERANS’ PROBLEMS ARE INDEED GROUND-BREAKING

From page 1 I’ve always thought that serving personnel are best suited to serve the cause of veterans. Apart from in-depth knowledge of their requirements there’s also deep empathy for their former comrades. Punjab’s bulwark, XI Corps has done sterling work in this regard. Under Adhikar exservicemen project were helped to realise their pension arrears in 2006 after bottlenecks had been singled out and remedial action taken. Communication, stimulus and appreciation aided in achieving objectives. I was impressed by two innovative ideas. The efficiency of pension disbursing offices was increased by refining their operating milieu and reaching out to them through seminars. Instead of lamenting the inefficiency of bank clerks in calculating arrears the trouble was taken to suitably train them. Individual pension variances of 1,107 pensioners amounting to `88.6 crore were resolved.

PHOTO: XI CORPSTriple Olympian and war hero Colonel Haripal Kaushik, VrC, being honoured by General JS Cheema, GOC, XI Corps, on the occasion of the Sikh Regimental Centre’s biennial reunion at Jalandhar on August 6.

Similar novel efforts have been made by XI Corps in respect of the arrears of OROP and the 6th Pay Commission. The results are there for all to see. A total of `508.61 crore has been disbursed by various disbursing offices and banks in clearance of the backlog to 3,11,007 veterans, war widows and veterans’ widows in the last four months. Under Sahuliyat project, placement nodes at Jalandhar and Ludhiana have provided employment to 1,276 entitled persons including 35 widows in the last two years. Special widows’ conclaves with a total presence of 1,026 women were held during this period in Amritsar, Ferozepur and Jagraon. Relevant authorities were in attendance resulting in resolution of 524 cases relating to family pensions. I can go on and on in similar vein. As General JS Cheema, commanding XI Corps moves to his new assignment overseeing the development and modernisation of infantry (he’s from the Sikh regiment) he’ll have the satisfaction of having done some path-breaking work to ameliorate veterans’ condition. Efforts have achieved real results.

SRC HOCKEY TEAM REUNION

The Sikh Regimental Centre has been one of the most significant teams in Indian hockey. To take only one decade, 1970-80 of it’s over sixty-five year history; it had during this period won no less than 54 national tournaments, been runner-up in 62 and in others mostly reached the semi-finals. The Nehru Gold Cup, Delhi 1973, 1976, Beighton Cup, Calcutta 1972, 1974, Murugappa Gold Cup, Chennai 1974, and 1976 are just some of the championships won by the team. The veterans of the SRC mostly settled in Punjab get together biennially to relive heady memories of their playing days and inspire the current team.

On August 6, the SRC veterans met at Jalandhar. The event started with the honouring of undoubtedly their greatest player, Colonel Haripal Kaushik. He played the 1956, 1960 and 1964 Olympics as the Indian centre-forward. In between his resolute defence of Tongpeng La against the Chinese won him the Vir Chakra in 1962. Present were Modan Singh, passing whose indomitable defence wasn’t a piece of cake for even the most aggressive forward and Brigadier Harinder Chimni, centre-forward of the 1975 World Cup winning team. WESTERN COMMAND GETS NEW CoS

General Iqroop Ghumman is the new chief of staff at headquarters Western Command. A June 1981 NDA/IMA graduate the general served with 17 guards, at that time an anti-tank battalion equipped with the Milan anti-tank guided missile (now a tracked reconnaissance unit).

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Activists of the Voice of Ex-servicemen Society carry out a foot march in Amritsar on Tuesday. PHOTO: RK SONI

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 9

In order to raise voice against the ‘exploitation’ and ‘discrimination’ with Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) and Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs) at the hands of their senior officers in the Army, the Voice of Ex-servicemen Society started a foot march from Amritsar here today, which will culminate at Jantar-Mantar in New Delhi.Members of the society started the march from Gateway of India at Attari, paid obeisance at the Golden Temple and also paid tributes at the Jallianwala Bagh during the foot march. BK Jha, national spokesperson of the society, said they would pass through various areas in Punjab and Haryana and culminate the march at Jantar-Mantar on August 25. He said the main motive behind this foot march was to raise the issue of discrimination and exploitation of low- rank officers in the Army, which was considered as a disciplined force.“Officers in the Army still suffer with colonial mindset as they force low-rank officers to polish their shoes, take their pet dogs for walks or made to do other household works,” Jha alleged. He said after retirement, the JCOs, NCOs and other officers faced discrimination and rude behaviour in canteens, sainik rest houses and sainik welfare offices.He alleged that there was discrimination while allotting gas agencies, CNG pumps, petrol pumps, etc, after retirement as a part of officers’ rehabilitation programme.Veer Bahadur Singh, president of the society, said after the third pay commission, the pension of 97 per cent jawans and JCOs was reduced from 75 per cent to 50 per cent on the pretext of poor economic conditions and now, on the OROP issue, they were completely ignored by the government as well as those so called leaders who ‘fought’ for it.

File photo for representation only.

Kolkata, August 7

The Indian Air Force has now started flying civilian passengers twice a week in the remote Andaman and Nicobar islands.A Dornier 228 aircraft, flown by a crew of the Air Force, connects Port Blair with Car Nicobar and Campbell Bay—the two islands which lie further south in the archipelago.Meant solely for use of defence forces, IAF aircraft fly civilians only during cases of emergency, but this is an exception.At present, aerial transport in the form of Pawan Hans helicopters is available to very few islanders in Campbell Bay.Lt General A K Singh (Retd), Lt Governor of the union territory, said an extended Air India flight to Car Nicobar was withdrawn recently as the lease of the aircraft had expired after which they approached the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Civil Aviation to improve inter-island connectivity.“The Defence ministry has now given us the aircraft for civilian use. We are collecting the airfare from passengers and paying the air force some charges based on the number of flying hours. Our tickets are subsidised for islanders,” he told PTI from Port Blair.The twin engine turbo-prop aircraft which can cruise at a speed of 200 knots can carry up to ten passengers.Fitted with modern avionics, the aircraft is widely used for transport of air force personnel.“The new aircraft is for the people but run by the administration of the union territory as it is they who do the bookings,” said Colonel Yogesh Sharma of the tri-service Andaman and Nicobar Command.Sharma said by providing a much faster transportation alternative to the islanders it will add a new dimension to passenger traffic network in the Bay of Bengal islands.The IAF Dornier takes one hour from Port Blair to reach Car Nicobar Island from where Campbell Bay is another hour away.The entire journey is about 300 km.The air force has been working closely with the local administration on disaster management for a long time. Every year they receive multiple requests for evacuation of civilians during severe medical emergencies.All airbases, airstrips and helipads in the chain of islands are under the control of the defence.In the absence of adequate transport network, the new flight service has got an enthusiastic response from locals.The Lt Governor said improving connectivity and communication are the two biggest areas of focus for them.He said they want to create a balance of air and sea connectivity and have therefore placed orders for buying new ships for various routes with the central government’s support.From next year some of these ships are expected to start plying. — PTI

Tribune News Service

Three aspirants from Fatehgarh Sahib failed the dope test, conducted on 37 of 375 candidates, during the first day of the Army recruitment drive today. A total of 2,514 candidates from Fatehgarh Sahib had turned up for the recruitment drive, of which 1,800 passed the the initial screening process. They were then asked to participate in the physical test and 375 of them cleared it. The authorities then conducted dope test on 37 aspirants, of which three failed the test. The recruitment process for Patiala, Fatehgarh Sahib, Sangrur, Barnala and Mansa  is underway at the Army grounds on the Patiala-Sangrur highway. As many as 33,911 candidates had applied online for the recruitment drive, which would continue till August 13.

General KJ Singh western command Chandimandir along with his wife. Tribune Photo: S Chandan

Officers and troops of the Western Command, Chandimandir, on Saturday bid farewell to its General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Lt Gen KJ Singh, who hangs up his boots on July 31 after 39 years of service .He laid a wreath at the Veer Smriti war memorial and reviewed a guard of honour. He was felicitated by senior officers and later driven out in a traditional horse-drawn carriage with his wife.Lt Gen KJ Singh will spend the last day of his service with his regiment, 63 Cavalry, near Amritsar, into which he was commissioned in 1977.