Recruits of Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment celebrate after the passing-out parade at an Army base on the outskirts of Srinagar on Saturday. Tribune photo: Amin War

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 5

As many as 242 recruits from J&K were inducted into the Army’s Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) Regiment at a colourful passing-out parade today.General Officer Commanding of Srinagar-based 15 Corps Lt Gen Satish Dua, who recently took over as the Colonel of JAKLI, reviewed the passing-out parade, which was attended by nearly 2,500 parents and relatives of the young soldiers. The soldiers of the regiment hailed from all regions of the state.Lt Gen Dua said soldiers from Kashmir had been proving their mettle in the Army and the number of local youth joining the Army was increasing.“I am myself from JAKLI. When these young soldiers join any regiment, they are no less than any other. They are better than the best. In JAKLI, we have approximately 300 soldiers who have been awarded with gallantry awards in the Kashmir region alone,” Dua told reporters on the sidelines of the function.He said the number of Kashmiri youth in the Indian Army was increasing. “.. All I can say that response to recruitment in the Army in different regiments is very enthusiastic. ..” he said.During his address to recruits, Lt Gen Dua congratulated the young soldiers for their immaculate parade.He asked the fresh recruits to work with dedication to take the name of the regiment to new heights.“Today you have become part of the Indian Army and JAKLI. We are all proud,” he said during his address.During the investiture ceremony, Lt Gen Dua also presented awards to the meritorious recruits.At the end of the parade, emotional scenes were witnessed as parents and relatives were seen hugging and kissing the new recruits. Some of them were seen taking pictures.“It is a proud moment for me and the family,” said a new recruit from north Kashmir whose sister was taking pictures with a mobile phone

Sher-e-Kashmir Sword of Honour for Rajiv Sharma

• Rajiv Sharma was awarded the Sher-e-Kashmir Sword of Honour for being adjudged ‘Overall Best Recruit’
• The Chewang Rinchen Medal was received by Iqbal Mohammad Baba of Baramulla for being adjudged “Best in Firing”
• Aamir Mushtaq of Bandipora bagged the Bana Singh Medal for being “Best in Drill”

The fire that has scalded the traditional social and cultural ties between the chattis biradris was set off on Valentine’s Day, when the world was exchanging the message of love. Ever since Jats were perceived to be ‘displaced’ by the BJP’s non-Jat-dominated Manohar Lal Khattar government in October 2014, an uneasy calm has prevailed in the community. Many Jats found consolation in the promise by the chief minister to implement reservation in jobs and educational institutions.Fatigued by assurances, community leaders displayed restlessness as the government delayed its response following legal hurdles. Also, the BJP remained tongue-tied as its Kurukshetra MP Raj Kumar Saini openly chided the Jats. This is perceived as a precurser to the unprecedented anarchy across the state. Yet right from day one, the failure of the government machinery to deal with the emerging situation was visible. There was no heads-up for the “inexperienced” BJP leadership as to how to deal with the quickly unfolding volatile situation. Civil servants and district administration kept waiting for directions, which never came.”When Haryana was burning, the state police turned into mere information gatherers. All they did was brief their political bosses about the nature and the extent of damage. The advice of some officers, such as the IG Rohtak, forewarning the government about calling in paramilitary forces were ignored. In hindsight, the same officer has been transferred and suspended for dereliction of duty,” says a senior Haryana minister.The Jats’ Swabhiman rally at Sampla in Rohtak was a warning enough. The Hindi word ‘Swabhiman’ (self-respect) was chosen in response to a series of ‘invectives’ unleashed by Saini. Temperatures were rising as some youths were not ready to wait any longer for a government response to their ultimatum till March 31. This led to ‘direct action’ to block the National Highway-10.Moderates among the agitators demanded a Jat leader must assure them of reservation. Since both Jat leaders in the state cabinet, Captain Abhimanyu and OP Dhankar, were not available on February 14, no such assurance came. Yet the agitators agreed to lift the blocked if the district administration took their memorandum to the CM. The deputy commissioner spoke to some leaders on phone, but avoided a one-on-one. Humiliated, the agitators started blocking other roads. The agitation had by then began to be run by “invisible forces.” When Dhankar spoke to the CM in the presence of Captain Abhimanyu on February 15 in Rohtak amid the swearing-in of panches and sarpanches, Khattar announced that the government would wait till March 31 for the report of a committee set up to deal with the issue. The Jat agitators felt the government was merely buying time. They started blocking more roads. By Feb 17, Rohtak town came to the emerging might of the Jat protesters. The next day, non-Jats expressed their bitterness and frustration over road blockades and disruption of normal life. Local traders took out a procession that was seen as an ‘anti-reservation’ march. The government’s inability to assess the gravity of the situation set the stage for the havoc that followed. A small clash led to rumours about Jat agitators having been beaten up. Hundreds of Jats from adjoining villages gathered in Rohtak. The police cracked down on Jat students who they alleged had thrown stones at them. The police went inside Jat College and Neki Ram Sharma College and singled out the students after checking their identity cards. All this only added fuel to the fire. For the agitators, it was time to for ‘revenge’. They went to the local IG Office and damaged the property, vandalised the local RN Mall, looted guns and ammunition from a private armoury, burnt vehicles and finally set the house of Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu, with his family members inside, on fire. The protesters also burnt down schools.The rioting then, shifted to neighbouring Jhajjar and Bhiwani. Meanwhile, the Centre realised that the situation was beyond Khattar’s control. BJP chief Amit Shah called Khattar on Feb 20 and told him to step back. The ‘war room’ shifted to Delhi where Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar and Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju met at Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s residence. State BJP leaders also met separately and concluded that announcing reservation for Jats was the only way out. This was meant to douse the fire. Instead, another squabble began, this time within the BJP with the Jat and non-Jat ministers taking divergent views. Health Minister Anil Vij has let it be known that those who indulged in arson and violence cannot be given compensation. Education Minister Ram Bilas Sharma, while briefing the media, did not say anything about the compensation part. Even when his briefing was on, Dhankar tweeted that families of those killed will be given a job and Rs 10 lakh compensation besides protection against registration of false cases. Sharma came back to the media and repeated Dhankar’s tweet. Non-Jat ministers are opposed to this announcement, causing a vertical split in the Khattar cabinet.As normalcy returns, incidents of inhuman tragedy, tales of horrors like the Murthal gang-rape are coming out. The administrative machinery is clearly divided on caste lines with officials taking a stand based on their loyalty to political masters. The manner in which government machinery failed is apparent from the trail of destruction left behind.

Worst affected

• Rohtak
• Jhajjar
• Bahadurgarh
• Hisar
• Bhiwani
• Jind
• Gohana
• Sonipat
• Kaithal
• Karnal
• Panipat

Death toll

• Jhajjar 13
• Sonepat 8
• Rohtak 5
• Jind 2
• Kaithal 1
• Hisar 1

Saw women being molested, say truckers

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 27

More witnesses have mustered the courage to speak about the horror on NH-1 near Murthal in the wee hours of February 22 with four of them telling the media that they had seen women, their clothes torn, being dragged out of their vehicles and taken to nearby fields by armed goons.Police personnel have now been deployed at the Ghannaur-Murthal stretch where the women were allegedly raped. Chief Minister ML Khattar told mediapersons today that he was considering setting up a special team comprising women officer to look into the allegations.Meanwhile, the three-member team headed by DIG Rajshree today visited the “crime site”. One of the members said they had been receiving obnoxious calls after their phone numbers were made public yesterday.An eyewitness said not had he seen women being molested, but infants being roughed up too. They said the goons, some riding motorcycles, chased and attacked the terrified women as they cried out for help. But there was no policeman to rescue them. “Calls on 100 went unattended,” he alleged. Truck driver Yadvendra, a resident of Fatehgarh Sahib, said,“I was stranded near Apollo School on NH-1 on February 22. I saw youths  smashing windowpanes and setting vehicles ablaze.” He said he was robbed of his bag containing Rs 6,500. “As I ran towards the fields to save myself, I saw several goons molesting women,” he said.Trick driver Niranjan of Pathankot, who was also stranded near Apollo School, said: “I saw hooligans torching vehicles. Some youths asked stranded women to escape to nearby villages. This was a trap. I did not see women being raped, but their shrieks said it all.”Sukhwinder Singh, whose vehicle was torched, said: “It was near Pipli Khera village (near Ghannaur) that women were molested and their children dragged away.”Satbir Satti of Adampur, who was on his way to Delhi on February 22, said he saw two women (he later learnt they were NRIs)  running helter and skelter without slippers and dupattas as a mob chased them. Satti, whose Ertiga car was set ablaze, said: “While one woman was from Calgary, the other was from Edmonton. I heard people saying they had seen hooligans dragging women to nearby fields.”Satti’s neighbours said he had narrated the horrific incident to them on his return from Delhi on February 25. “My aunt, whom I was to drop at the airport, is yet to come to terms with what she saw that day. She too had to hide herself in a dhaba,” he said.(Inputs by Parveen Arora, BS Malik and Deepkamal Kaur)

Tribune News Service

Shimla, February 25

The Assembly today paid tributes to the four martyrs who laid down their lives in anti-terrorist operations at Pathankot and Srinagar and mourned the death of former colleague and four-time MLA from Gangath in Kangra district.Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said the nation was proud of the martyrs who had made the supreme sacrifice fighting the militants. “Not just Himachal but the entire country is proud of these soldiers,” he said. He said the state government had decided to give Rs 20 lakh to the families of the martyrs as a mark of respect.He also lauded former MLA Des Raj from Gangath in Kangra who passed away on February 1, 2016. “He remained a member of this House on four occasions in 1982, 1990, 1998 and 2007 and always worked for the uplift of the weaker and downtrodden, for which he will be always remembered,” he said.Leader of the Opposition PK Dhumal said the BJP MLA worked relentlessly for ensuring the development of his constituency. “As Chairman of the Finance Commission and member of various committees, he made immense contribution for which he will always be remembered,” said Dhumal. He also paid tributes to the four martyrs.

Islamabad, February 24

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today said Pakistan wants to have good ties with all neighbours, including India, and asserted that mutual cooperation was vital for the socio-economic uplift of both countries.Sharif made the remarks during a meeting with India’s newly appointed High Commissioner in Pakistan Gautam Bambawale who called on him at the PM House here.An official source said the two discussed various aspects of India-Pakistan relations and agreed on the importance of improving the relations.“Pakistan was pursuing good relations with all its neighbours, including India, as mutual cooperation was vital for the socio-economic uplift of both the countries,” Sharif was quoted as saying by the state-run APP news agency.Sharif extended a warm welcome to the new High Commissioner and hoped he would work to bring the two countries closer. Bambawale, who arrived in Pakistan last month to assume the charge of the High Commission, thanked the Prime Minister for the welcome and expressed the hope that his role would be beneficial in strengthening relations between the two nations.An official of Indian mission refused to share what Bambawale discussed with the PM during a meeting today. — PTI

Pathankot attack: India awaits Pak SIT

• India on Wednesday said it was awaiting a visit by Pakistan’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) and other details in connection with the Pathankot terror attack, days after Pakistan authorities registered an FIR in the case
• Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh said NSAs and Foreign Secretaries of the two countries were in regular touch and that Pakistan conveyed to India that leads provided to it about the attack were being probed

NEW DELHI: The CBI registered a cheating case against three senior army officials for allegedly causing a loss of Rs 2.12 crore to a military farm in Maharashtra by making fraudulent payments to a private firm for milk supply.

Those named were Colonel PK Bahuguna, Lieutenant Colonel JK Joseph, and Lieutenant Colonel Ajit Singh Bhadouria. “CBI has registered a case on allegations that the three entered into a conspiracy with a firm based in Pune, Aasha Associates, during January 2009 and December 2012 when they had worked as the officer-in-charge of a Pimri-based military farm,” said a CBI spokesperson. CBI accused the officers of making “fraudulent” payments against the supply of milk by the Zilla Sahakari Doodh Utpadak Dairy, Pune, to the farm.