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The recent violence has brought the Punjabi Colony in Shillong into the limelight and it remains that way because of the incalcitrant attitude of a small section among the majority Khasi population. The small enclave in Shillong has housed Punjabis, mostly Sikhs, for two centuries and counting. After the violence against the Sikhs, the state was expected to provide succour and assurance about their safety. The Meghalaya Government, however, is sending adverse signals about its intention by dusting out a 15-year-old plan to relocate the Sikh families that live there. The last thing that a minority community that has been at the receiving end of violence should have to fear is dislocation from homes. The National Commission for Minorities’ direction to maintain status quo is thus a positive development that gives a breather and allows various parties concerned to find ways to promote communal amity.The state’s urban department puts the number of inhabitants at around 6,000 Sikhs and 4,000 Hindus. Even if the number is less, a minority needs to be treated with extra empathy. However, the local administration and the residents operate on different wavelengths. If the Sikhs are resisting their relocation, people living in places where the population is supposed to be relocated are also up in arms. A small incident had triggered the earlier violence, and it is clear that the security forces will have to continue to play a role in protecting the minority community.It is noteworthy that there has been no loss of life unlike during  the distressing progroms witnessed against the Bengalis, Nepalis and Biharis. But the communal colour which the clash took has similarities with the earlier targeting of minorities. It is sad that Khasis, themselves in a minority outside Meghalaya, did not show the required sensitivity in dealing with another minority community in their midst. The tribal and religious loyalties need to be subsumed under the requirements of justice, the rule of law and the administrative dharma. Those who live in the Punjabi Colony are as much a part of Meghalaya as anyone else. They must be treated and made to feel as such.

Rifleman Aurangzeb of the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAKLI) posted with 44 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) was killed by terrorists on 14 Jun 2018 after he was abducted at gunpoint near Shopian in south Kashmir. The 25-year-old Gujjar Muslim from Poonch was part of the operation which neutralised Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) leader Sameer Tiger and was on the terrorist outfit’s hit list along with his company commander Major Shukla who was then convalescing in a hospital due to a bullet wound.

Aurangzeb was abducted soon after he stepped out of his 44 Rashtriya Rifle company post near Shadimarg in Shopian and hailed a private car to Shopian town in order to take another cab to Poonch, his hometown, to reach home for Eid-ul-Fitr, the festival depicting the end of the 30-day period of fasting (Ramzan). Many other JAKLI soldiers from the Valley would have done the same to reach their homes.

Now, fresh versions of the killing have revealed that a local woman who Aurangzeb had befriended could have been forced by the terrorists to part with information about his travel plans. Since mobile communication is now freely available in Rashtriya Rifles camps, Aurangzeb did not need to physically meet her often, as would have been the case in earlier years; information exchange would have taken place through the airwaves.

The involvement of a local woman adds to the many questions that people less aware of the ways of soldiers in the Valley are already asking, such as: what was a JAKLI soldier doing with an RR unit affiliated to the Rajput Regiment; why was he sporting a beard and long hair against normal army practice of proper grooming; why was he allowed to proceed alone on leave against the established practice of catching an organised convoy from Srinagar and traveling under escort; isn’t the security of individual soldiers the responsibility of the Indian Army? These need answers and some additional explanations to restore the full professional confidence which Indians have in the Indian Army.

From a generic point of view, it must be known that there is no consistent pattern of terror activity in the Valley. The 44 Rashtriya Rifles has long been deployed in Shopian, one of the hotbeds of terrorism in Kashmir. The RR units have a personnel relief system wherein almost half the manpower turnover every year but most units stay where they are adding to the continuity in intelligence gathering and familiarisation with the operating environment. So, every soldier does two years and a little more as a tour of duty.

Operations are like adrenaline to soldiers and they can take tremendous stress and strain. Many a time small team operations are launched to set up larger operations; the formers are much more stressful. An inherent system of adherence to SOPs exists at all times but is contingent upon the environment and certain freedoms and leeways are always permitted. That is because these are not conventional operations and need much more individual and team guile, local knowledge of history, culture, personalities, ability to cultivate sources and to merge with the environment when necessary. Aurangzeb’s work was just that — the enhancement of local contact and liaison; a dangerous work at any time.

A successful high profile operation against Sameer Tiger had exposed him somewhat. It was a practice by higher commanders in earlier years wherein they preferred to ease out those officers and men who were exposed or had a personal threat focused against them. Yet, that is not always necessary if the unit is confident of adhering to the time-tested basic SOPs with everything else being flexible.

So, Aurangzeb was with the 44 Rashtriya Rifles like many other local soldiers for the purpose of liaison, language and for a better understanding of local conditions. Growing hair and beard in an operational environment is no big deal as this helps hide the ‘fauji‘ in the soldier. It is a risky business, thus it’s necessary to ensure that full precautions are taken at all times.

In the heat of operations, as successful as those of 44 Rashtriya Rifles (I still consider it as one of the best units under my command), it’s easy to get carried away with the over-confidence, the nonchalance and the romance of small team operations. That is where the senior hierarchy comes in. An experienced senior commander especially one who has experienced similar environment will, on the one hand, encourage innovation, guile, and fearlessness, he will also quietly ensure that the basics are never forgotten.

Many a commander I have known at brigade and division level institute a system of their staff resorting to taking turns to ensure that limited micromanagement for security is always in place through reminders to appropriate appointments in units. A system many soldiers have followed adheres to nightly calls to high-risk units on the Line of Control (LOC) and the counter-terror grid to speak to officers, men motivating them and appreciating their achievements but also equally rendering advice on precautions and drills which in moments of elation must not be forgotten; adding own experience to this is always good as many senior officers these days are those who have been actively involved in such operations at junior levels. This system adds to written advisories which sometimes take time to permeate lower down.

A lapse must not be allowed to label the Rashtriya Rifles units as unprofessional and insensitive; they hardly function in a zero-error environment. Yet, such lapses are highly avoidable as the risk for operational effectiveness may still be taken but not for individual safety. The security of soldiers is very much a collective responsibility. Gladiatorial type-casting is the other phenomenon to avoid as it gives a false sense of bravado in this unpredictable environment.

Lastly, the Rashtriya Rifles has been the best thing which happened to the Indian Army, it’s the boldest experiment in years. For the Indian Army, it is worth debating whether some additional turnover of units, from high risk to lower intensity environment and vice versa, will be in order. No doubt the continuity of the units despite a 50 percent turnover of personnel has held out well, but some units continue to remain in risk-prone areas far too long hogging all the glory while others receive little such chance.

A befitting tribute to late Rifleman Aurangzeb will be the absence of any further isolated killing of a soldier through the best adherence to drills and orders without losing full operational control.

The author is a retired lieutenant general and former general officer commanding 15 and 21 Corps

Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, July 8On militant commander Burhan Wani’s anniversary on Sunday, militant group Hizbul Mujahideen released pictures of new recruits that include brother of an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer.Shamsul Haq Mengnoo, 25, a resident of south Kashmir’s Shopian, was pursuing his BUMS from a government college at Zakura on the outskirts of Srinagar and went missing from May. Shamsul’s elder brother Inamul Haq is 2012 IPS batch officer who is posted in north East.“Yes, Shamsul has joined Hizbul,” a police officer said.The picture of Shamsul holding a gun shows his date of joining militant ranks on May 25, 2018.  His code name shown in the picture is Burhan Sani. Over the past two years, it has been a trend of the new age militants they announce their joining by releasing pictures with guns on social media.  Shamsul is the fourth highly-educated youth to join militant ranks this year.  Hizb has reportedly also released pictures of over a dozen other new recruited militants on Burhan’s anniversary.  Over 50 youth already have joined militant ranks so far this year.Meanwhile, normal life was affected across Kashmir Valley on death anniversary of militant commander Burhan Wani.  His killing in 2016 had triggered a six month long unrest that led to the killing of nearly 80 people.  Authorities had imposed curfew in Tral- the native town of Wani and restrictions were imposed in many part of Srinagar to ensure peaceful day.

Srinagar, July 1

The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) is all set to launch a special unit of over 800 women commandos to deal with stone throwers, among whom women are increasingly figuring, in Jammu and Kashmir from mid-July, say officials of the force.The CRPF, which is handling internal security in Jammu and Kashmir along with the state police, took the step to launch a special women’s unit as the number of women stone throwers is rising in the strife-torn region.The officials in the 3.5 lakh strong force said the initiative was taken as commandos had to face criticism from human right activists whenever they took action against women stone throwers.Women commandos are currently getting one-and-a-half month training at CRPF’s Humhuma recruitment training centre here and the force has decided to deploy them with their male colleagues whenever any stone-throwing incident is reported in the Valley.Like their male counterparts, the women personnel of the unit will be equipped with full body protection suits, helmets, wooden sticks, tear gas shotgun shells as well as pelargonic acid vanillyl amide (PAVA) shells or chilli-filled grenades, plastic bullets and other necessary things used to control the crowd during incidents of stone throwing.“Stone-throwing incidents have been repeatedly challenging security forces across the state. It is more challenging than militancy,” Zulfiqar Hasan, Inspector General (Operations), CRPF, said.“We are in the process of launching a special CRPF women commando unit to deal with women as well as men who throw stones. Over 800 women personnel are being trained here for the purpose,” said Hasan.Asked about the exact time of their deployment, he said, “Our women commandos are about to complete their training. They will be used to deal with stone throwers within 15-20 days.”“As we had to face denunciation from public and human rights departments for using force against women stone throwers, we thought of raising a women force to deal with the situation. Stone throwers have often been accused of hindering anti-terror operations in Jammu and Kashmir and it has been observed that women have started participating in such incidents in recent times,” said the IG.Controlling stone-throwing becomes all the more sensitive when women are involved, said another CRPF officer. He said the decision to deploy women commandos would be a big help for the CRPF. “These commandos are being given rigorous training, including being blindfolded to deal with night-time deployment and repairing malfunctioning weapons in under a minute,” he said. — IANS

800 personnel under training 

• Over 800 women personnel are being trained for the purpose
•  The CRPF, which is handling internal security in J&K along with the state police, decided to launch a special women’s unit as the number of women stone throwers is rising in the Valley
•  Commandos of the force had to face criticism from human right activists whenever they took action against women stone throwers

Major Nikhil Rai Handa being taken to a court. PTI file

New Delhi, June 29

An Army major, arrested for allegedly killing another officer’s wife, was on Friday sent to 14-day judicial custody by a Delhi court after the police did not seek his further remand. Metropolitan Magistrate Manisha Tripathy sent Major Nikhil Handa, who was produced before the court on expiry of his four-day police custody, to Tihar Jail here, while allowing the application moved by the crime branch of Delhi Police seeking the same.“Accused is remanded to judicial custody for 14 days. To be produced on July 13, 2018,” the magistrate said.Handa was arrested on June 24 from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh for his alleged involvement in the killing of another Major’s wife in west Delhi on Saturday.The court also held as “infructuous” the applications moved by the counsel for the accused — one for medical examination of Handa every day during police custody and another application seeking lawyers’ assistance at the stage of interrogation.“Since the accused has been sent to judicial custody remand, both the applications have become infructuous and are disposed of,” the court said.During the hearing, the investigating officer told the court that several recoveries were made during the four-day custody and he was no more required for interrogation.The counsel for Handa, advocate Sanjeev Sahai, moved an application to have a 10-minute meeting with the accused, which was allowed by the court.The Delhi Police told the court that it yesterday recovered the knife, allegedly used by Handa to slit the throat of a fellow Army officer’s wife, from a spot near the Meerut-Muzaffarnagar highway. Traces of burnt clothes were also recovered from the spot, it said.The woman’s body was found with her throat slit near the Brar Square in the Delhi Cantonment area.Initially, the police was informed that a woman had died in an accident. Later, when they inspected the body, it was found that her throat was slit, the police had said.The accused had allegedly run a car over her face and the body in order to make the incident appear as an accident, the police have claimed. — PT

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, June 29

A militant was killed in an encounter that broke out on Friday between security forces and militants in the forests of Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said.A police official said security forces launched a search operation in the forest of Kupwara following information about the presence of militants there.He said the exchange of firing was going on between the two sides. With agencies

Tribune News Service
Srinagar, June 23Days after Governor rule was imposed in J&K, the Chief of Army Staff, Gen Bipin Rawat reviewed the security situation along the Line of Control and hinterland in Kashmir.Gen Rawat arrived in Srinagar on Saturday and immediately visited forward posts along the LoC in the frontier districts of Kupwara and Baramulla, where he was briefed on all aspects of operational and logistical preparedness.He was accompanied by the Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh and the Chinar Corps Commander Lt Gen AK Bhatt.”The chief was appreciative of the measures and Standard Operating Procedures instituted by the units and formations to meet the challenges posed by the inimical elements,” army spokesman said.Commending the performance of the troops in the recent successful operations, the Army Chief stressed the need to maintain the extra vigil to defeat the evil designs of hostile forces and assured his full support to further strengthen the security posture.Later in the day, the Army Chief called on the Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhavan in Srinagar and discussed the overall security situation in the Valley.

Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Monday met the family of martyred soldier Aurengzeb who was kidnapped and killed by terrorists in Kashmir last week.

Rawat spent over 30 minutes with the parents of Aurangzeb who was a rifleman with 4 Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry. His bullet-ridden body was found on June 14 at Gusoo Pulwama after a day long search operation.

A video has also surfaced on the internet in which the trooper is seen being interrogated by suspected Hizbul Mujahideen militants about the encounters he had participated in.

The video is believed to be taken moments before the army jawan was killed by militants.

The rifleman was abducted by militants at Kalampora in Pulwama when he was on his way home in Rajouri district for Eid celebrations.

The soldier’s family has also demanded PM Modi to take action. “I want to ask PM Modi if he’s listening to me, why are you appeasing stone-pelters and separatists? Punish the terrorists who killed my son. Why was Ramzan ceasefire announced? Terrorists have no religion, then why operations were stopped against them during Ramzan?” Mohammad Haneef, Aurangzeb’s father had said earlier.

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Shujaat Bukhari was probably killed to silence a voice of a free-thinker and to scare others like him

Aasha Khosa
Senior journalistShujaat Bukhari’s cold-blooded murder by terrorists in Srinagar’s busiest quarter is a chilling reminder of how journalists are among the most vulnerable targets in a conflict situation. Bukhari’s rise from a salaried journalist to the owner-editor of an English newspaper in a short span of time was the envy of many. He was ambitious and keen to play even bigger roles in life. Being articulate, Shujaat was the most sought-after Kashmiri journalist in the seminar circuits of New Delhi and even abroad and part of the back-channel efforts to make India and Pakistan settle Kashmir on the table.Though his newspaper — Rising Kashmir — was in no way promoting the Indian interests in Kashmir, terrorists couldn’t stand his enterprising spirit and free thinking. Probably, he had been under their watch for long and the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back happened recently when he wrote an article disapproving of separatists’ spurning of New Delhi’s offer of talks. He was probably done to death in the most ghastly manner to silence a voice of a free-thinker and also to send a chill down the spine of others who are trying to join the peace-and-talk bandwagon.Bukhari’s violent death reminds me of the time when my late husband George Joseph and I reported from Kashmir under a threat to our lives. Our fault was that we had simply reported a happening and a fact. However, those holding the gun want everyone to see the situation only from their perspective and in the process, they obfuscate the truth and kill the human spirit. They tried to do the same with us.On a cold winter day, the phone in our two-room apartment in Srinagar rang and George picked it. The caller said he was from Hizbul Mujahideen and claimed the largest pro-Pakistan group had split but no local journalist was ready to publish the news. The main faction of the Hizbul had issued a handout that had been quickly canceled (verbally), apparently on instructions from Pakistan. Now, this anonymous caller — from the marginalised and smaller faction — had approached us in the hope that we will not take sides (between the two Hizb factions) and expose the truth.It was quite a story. The Indian Express, for which George was reporting, carried it as a banner; The Tribune — I worked for it back then — too carried it on the front page.  The Hizbul split was one of the turning points in Kashmir’s militancy and if one goes through the archives of local newspapers today, it has never happened!The Hizbul reacted violently. It banned the circulation of The Tribune and The Indian Express in Kashmir and asked us to leave Kashmir within 48 hours.We continued to stay put and report from the Valley. Not to offend the terrorists further, George started using the Jammu dateline for his stories even as he was reporting from Srinagar. No journalist in Kashmir supported us; media activists in Delhi didn’t issue statements either. On a personal level, friends would praise us for being bold but none cared about how difficult it was for us. There were no trolls back then, but a majority of Srinagar-based journalists spread lies and propaganda about us to many visiting journalists from Delhi.One local Urdu newspaper wrote that we were ISI agents; a few days later, another one said we were IB agents. Another newspaper report claimed that George and I had received arms training in Zeevan! All this was meant to scare us and force us to leave Kashmir. George left after his office negotiated a deal with the Hizbul Mujahideen through a person who is today a member of the BJP’s national executive committee. He was transferred out of the Valley and the Indian Express resumed its circulation.I lived alone and worked for another year from Kashmir. Believe me, life wasn’t easy. To even buy veggies and groceries, I had to plan my camouflage of the day. To beat my loneliness and to vent my anger against what had happened to our lives, I started working hard on my stories. I was doing well and not giving a clue to anyone on my routine. And, then came reports in newspapers that I was being offered scoops by the government. Before this, terrorists had managed to scare away many veteran journalists, most of them Kashmiri Hindus and non-Kashmiris, through targeted killings of Lassa Koul, Director of Srinagar Doordarshan, and PL Handoo, an officer of the state information department.  A non-Kashmiri Muslim journalist working for the Times of India was manhandled in public and he left the same night. This gave rise to a bizarre situation: the international news agencies and newspapers were hugely interested in Kashmir and their search for local journalists ended with makeup artists and teleprinter operators. Over the last two decades, reporting from Kashmir has undergone a sea change; almost all regular news is being reported by Kashmiri Muslims. Shujaat was a product of this transformation and, in a way, he should have been hailed as a visionary and enterprising editor. His reporting and newspaper seemed to be in no conflict with the narrative unleashed by the separatists and yet he was killed.Prima facie, it seems that he took the threat to his life not so seriously or else he would not be moving out of his office at a predictable hour. His friends have scooped an insidious write-up about him by an anonymous writer on the worldpress.com. It was posted four weeks back and clearly targeted him for ‘betraying and making use of the movement.’Like all sane people, Shujaat Bukhari probably wanted his two children to grow and live in peace and, therefore, he tried to work for peace in Kashmir and paid with his life.