Jotirmay Thapliyal,Tribune News Service,Dehradun, December 13

Lieut Lalit Thapliyal, who was awarded the coveted Sword of Honour at the passing-out parade of the Indian Military Academy yesterday, was in all probability the first cadet from the Garhwal region to get this highest honour in the 83-year-old glorious history of the academy.  Lalit, who belongs to Adali village, near Kotdwar in Pauri Garhwal district, is a Rimocollion. He had won the overall silver medal in the National Defence Academy (NDA) before joining to the IMA for further training. While boys from the Garhwal region had been coming to the IMA in increasing numbers in the recent times and a few of them had even won gold and silver medals, the coveted Sword of Honour had eluded them. Akshat Joshi from Kumaon was awarded the Sword of Honour in 2013.The Sword of Honour is presented to a cadet who excels in the passing-out course. The best cadet gets this prestigious honour. Lalit has been a keen sportsman, which can be gauged from the fact that shortly after passing out of the IMA, he left to play hockey for an Army team and would return to Dehradun by December end. An avid sportsman, Lalit also loves to play squash and has been part of the IMA squash team. A proud father, DN Thapliyal, is vice principal at Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC), Dehradun, and has completed 28 years of service.  “It is a proud moment not only for me but also for the entire Uttarakhand that a local boy has bagged the coveted Sword of Honour,” Thapliyal said while speaking with The Tribune. Asked whether his son was the first Garhwali to win the Sword of Honour, Thapliyal said he had enquired about it and in all probability he indeed was the first. Thapliyal’s daughter Swarnima is a Captain in the Indian Army. Capt Swarnima’s husband Gaurav, who hails from Himachal Pradesh, had bagged the Sword of Honour in 2010.He said it was a matter of honour for him that his children had kept up the glorious tradition of Garhwalis by joining the Army. He admitted that institutions such as the RIMC and also Sainik School play an important role in grooming and encouraging school students to make a career in the Army. Lalit studied at Silver Oak School, Garhi Cantt, before joining the RIMC in class VII. His mother Yashoda, a teacher by profession, gives the credit to his son for successfully completing training.

Bringing laurels to state

• The Sword of Honour is presented to a cadet who excels in the passing-out course. The best cadet gets this prestigious honour. Lalit has been a keen sportsman, which can be gauged from the fact that shortly after passing out of the IMA, he left to play hockey for an Army team and will return to Dehradun by December end. An avid sportsman, Lalit also loves to play squash and has been part of the IMA squash team.

Abohar, December 13

A 27-member Sri Lankan Army youth delegation is touring Rajasthan as part of their visit to India to strengthen Indo-Sri Lankan ties.The delegation, which is comprised of students from various Sri Lankan Army schools and wives of senior Sri Lankan Army officials, were joined by a team of Indian students of various Army public schools from all over India in Delhi.Team leader Shriyani Ambanpola, wife of the Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Sri Lankan Army, and other members interacted with Vineeta Sahni, Regional President, Army Wives Welfare Association, South Western Command, yesterday.Shriyani said they were impressed with the high standards of Army schools in India and the rich cultural heritage of Rajasthan. — OC

Border village boy passes out from IMA

Abohar, December 13

Abhishek Dhamu has done his village Sabuana proud by graduating from the Indian Military Academy.His father Anil Dhamu said Abhishek was always focused and dedicated. He decided to become an Army man when he was at school. After middle school, he got admission in the Rashtriya Indian Military College in Dehradun that is known to send several pupils to the National Defence Academy. — OC

Victory parade held to honour war heroes

Our Correspondent,Fazilka, December 13

To commemorate the victory of the 1971 Indo-Pak war, a parade to honour the “saviours of Fazilka” was organised here today.The parade led by Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani, Major General Bipin Bakshi, GOC, 16 Infantry Division, MP Sher Singh Ghubaya, Brig VK Sharma and Deputy Commissioner Ravinder Singh marched through the town bazaars.The town was decorated with flowers and Clock Tower was decked up beautifully. There was festive spirit across the town. Paragliding by Army jawans was an added attraction.Forty war heroes, veer naris and kin of martyrs participated in the victory parade. The victory parade concluded at the Clock Tower chowk where the dignitaries recalled the supreme sacrifices and paid tributes to the martyrs.The victory parade was organised by the Shaheedon ki Samadhi Committee, Asafwala (Fazilka), the local Army formations and the civil administrations jointly.To begin with the two-day programme Major General Bipin Bakshi, GOC, 67 Infantry Division, visited the war memorial complex at Asafwala village.

We should follow the teachings of

Today, just by worshipping and bowing our heads before Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, we think that we are following teaching and preaching of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. We should remember & never forgot that it was the “Dasmesh Pita” Guru Gobind Singh Ji who always fought against the injustice and become the possibly one & only ‘Sarbansdani’in the world, who sacrificed four sons, father & mother, even himself, while fighting for the noble cause of justice and religion. It is a quite surprising fact that nowadays most of the politicians, religious leaders and religious business houses have forgotten the principals of Guru Gobind Singh Ji. And their aim is only to satisfy their false ego by achieving unlimited targets of money, which comes all the way from means of corruption, bribes and embezzlement in election as well as religious funds. And they further use this money to increase corruption for increasing their political as well as religious influence and status. The present SGPC President, Avtar Singh Makkar is also such a leader who is using the ‘Guru Ki Golak’ in righteous way and spending ‘Guru’s Maya’ on betterment of humanity, medical services, education, “Amrit Sanchar” and “Dharam Parchar” as well. And despite of religious & political interventions, his sincere efforts are still continue. I have personally interviewed various Jathedars and SGPC Officials and even SGPC President on this issue, and moreover, during my 48 years of journalism career I have observed that if politicians are sincere in serving humanity and they have non-controversial thinking, no one can even think about embezzlement and corruption. I want to ask all the political & religious leaders, police & government officials journalists & Professoionals, that how many of them really fellow the principles of ‘Sarbansdani’ Guru Gobind Singh Ji and how many of them can sacrifice their sons and families for the sake of justice and curb the evils from the society? May be no one will reply! All are running for money lust, glamour, fashion and ego. It seems there is no end. I pray to Dashmesh Pita to teach such a lesson to greedy & selfish enemies of Sikh Panth & humanity, in the way. He taught lesson to the tyrannical moghuls and pathans.

Ajay BanerjeeTribune News ServiceNew Delhi, December 9

Serious questions about “fair play” are being raised on the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission (CPC) as the armed forces are ready with a written protest to be given to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.The representation has the views of all three services — the Army, the Navy and the IAF — and questions the very basis of the recommendations of the CPC and its calculation for pay and allowances for the defence personnel. Sources said the forces were ready with a written representation and have cited concrete examples of how the CPC has created additional anomalies over and above the ones pending since the previous commission constituted a decade ago. The facts presented before the commission are erroneous and the 899-page report has inaccuracies while dealing with military salaries is said to be contention of the representation. The forces have questioned the lowering of benchmarking of the three services. Till now equation of the balance was vis-à-vis the Indian Police Service. The Army Commanders and their equals in the Navy and the IAF were on a par with the Director Generals of Police. In the pecking order, the Chiefs of the services are above the Secretaries to the Government of India and also the DGPs.  The 7th pay commission has removed the parity with the IPS and the new benchmarking is with central paramilitary forces. The issues of high rate of supersession and early retirement age in the armed forces have not been addressed while factoring in the salaries. The pay panel’s take on allowance is another issue over which armed forces are unhappy. The high altitude allowance for an officer in the Army posted at the Siachen glacier will be Rs 31,000 while in the civilian services there is tough area allowance which is about 33% of the basic salary. After the 7th pay commission, this would work out to be in excess of Rs 50,000 for the IPS and IAS.

Sore points

• Removal of parity of armed forces personnel with the IPS and their new benchmarking with central paramilitary forces
• The high altitude allowance for an officer in the Army posted at the Siachen glacier will be far less than tough area allowance given to the IAS and IPS

New Delhi, January 10

Former Union Minister Manish Tewari’s confirmation of a media report of a ‘non-notified’ movement of a unit of the army towards the national capital in 2012 has sparked off a row, with both Minister of State For External Affairs VK Singh and Tewari’s own party — the Congress — dismissing the claims.Singh, general of the Indian Army at the time of the supposed incident, called Tewari, ‘jobless’.“Manish Tewari ji has nothing to do these days. There is this book of mine, ask him to read it and everything will be clear to him,” he said.Singh was referring to his autobiographical book ‘Courage and Conviction’ in which he has crticised the Indian government on several issues, including corruption and the role of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in Operation Bluestar.This comes a day after Tewari said the story was ‘unfortunate but true’.”At that time, I used to serve in the Standing Committee of Defence. And it’s unfortunate, but the story was true. The story was correct. I am not getting into an argument. All I am saying is that to the best of my knowledge that story was correct,” said Tewari during a book launch function here.A media report entitled ‘”The January night Raisina Hill was spooked: Two key Army units moved towards Delhi without notifying Govt’ in a leading Indian daily on April 4, 2012, claimed on the night of January 16, 2012 — the day General VK Singh approached the Supreme Court over his date of birth issue — central intelligence agencies reported an unexpected (and non-notified) movement by a key military unit from the mechanised infantry based in Hisar (Haryana) as a part of the 33rd Armoured Division (part of 1 Corps, a strike formation based in Mathura and commanded by Lt Gen AK Singh) in the direction of the capital, 150 km away.The daily claimed the report was a meticulous reconstruction and a very sober interpretation of the movement of two key Army units towards New Delhi on the night of January 16–17.VK Singh called the report “absolutely stupid”.The BJP also questioned the timing of the “admission”.“Manish Tewari’s comments raise the question about the timing of the statement. His comments become a suspect. I would only ask why was he quiet when his government had denied that there was anything like this happening when they were in power,” BJP leader Siddharthnath Singh said.Tewari hit back at VK Singh and told him to read his book first.“Why is Right H”onble MP from Ghaziabad getting so antsy of course I would love to read his book provided he promises to read mine — in offing,” Tewari said in a tweet.UPA government was at the Centre at the time of the supposed incident. We deny report: CongressTewari’s own party, the Congress, denied the claims.  “We on behalf of Congress very clearly and categorically want to deny this report,” party spokesperson P C Chacko said.Another party spokesperson, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, said there is no truth in the report. “I am again clarifying there is absolutely no truth in it (claims about troop movement in 2012), he said.”My colleague was neither a member of the Cabinet Committee on Security, nor any relevant decision making body,” Singhvi said, adding some troop movements are necessary, inbuilt and inevitable part of the defence mechanism.”It was inappropriate, unnecessary and completely wrong to suggest that there was any truth in those allegations when made,” he said.

Isolated in his own party, Tewari said: “Whatever I said yesterday, I have nothing more to add or subtract.” — Agencies

HAVING worn the Army uniform for 37 years, I shall now switch over to civvies in the next few days. This uniform has become my ‘second skin’ (as General Pervez Musharraf would say when politicians were hell-bent on him removing it). It is indeed difficult to come to terms with the much-loved uniform resting in the wardrobe. If you see a person in civilian clothes dress up in Army uniform, you would be amazed to see the aura it adds to his personality. Medal ribands, incuding those of gallantry awards, brass stars with coloured backings, shoulder titles denoting the regiment, the red ribbon worn on a turban by a Colonel and above ranks and other accoutrements give the soldier a sense of high esteem which only he can feel.
Every morning, I wore the uniform ensuring that my stars were shining, boots were polished and not a thread was missing in any buttonhole of the uniform. There was never a dilemma of choice because the Red Book issued by the Army clearly defines what and how to wear. In fact, dressing in a military manner over the years gives a sense of aversion towards persons dressed rather slovenly. Once I was horrified to see my son dressed in jeans resting half way at his posterior and about to fall down, while going to college. My rebuke to him brought no change to his sense of dressing. Admonishing him, I silently wished that he joins the Army which will teach him the basics of sartorial manners.
It gave me immense pleasure when he joined the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, and I saw him immaculately dressed with his trousers neatly perched at his navel level, with just three buttons of his shirt visible.
I remember a very nice ditty jotted by an Army officer in Punjabi — Ek mainu vardi piyari, duja tera piyar kude. Kihnu lahwan, kihnu pawan aukha eh sawal kude. (I love you beloved and my uniform in equal measure. Rather it is difficult to choose between the two.)
I may be out of my uniform soon, but once a soldier, always a soldier. Being in uniform for so long becomes a way of life. It has got in my bones, my skin, and cannot be removed from my body. It will be reflected in my daily chores being done in a military fashion, be it talking, walking, eating or having a chhota peg in the evening.

STRUGGLE FOR SURVIVAL On Nov 22, ultras shot at him near LoC in Kashmir

CHANDIGARH: On Sunday afternoon (November 22), a Kalashnikov bullet smashed the lower jaw of lieutenant colonel Karanbir Singh Natt at Haji Naka village on the edge of a dense forest, 7 kilometres from the Kupwara Line of Control (LoC). The bullet had slipped into one of the many chinks and exposed flanks of the body armour comprising a bulletproof patka and jacket. Unlike the death five days earlier of colonel Santosh Mahadik, commanding officer (CO) of 41 Rashtriya Rifles, in the same area, lieutenant colonel Natt survived that crippling gunshot wound.

HT PHOTOLt Col Karanbir Singh Natt with his family.

“The lower half of the face gone, the tongue hanging loose, he was unable to lie back, as the tongue would fall back and obstruct his air passage,” is how an Army Medical Corps (AMC) officer described the unique injury. Lieutenant colonel Natt was the second-in-command (2IC) of 160 Territorial Army (JAK Rifles) and formerly of 19th battalion of the Brigade of the Guards.

“Lieutenant colonel Natt has suffered a serious injury to his lower jaw and it is virtually gone. However, he is stable at the moment. We are hoping for the best at Army Hospital Research and Referral (AHRR), Delhi, where he has been taken,” major Anoop, adjutant of 160 TA, told HT from Kupwara.

The Army Medical Corps (AMC) team acted like medical commandoes virtually. Here is a gripping account from an AMC officer of the first two days of battling to save lieutenant colonel Natt: “Emergency tracheotomy was done in sitting position, blood transfused. A surgical team comprising a senior surgeon, anaesthetist and a maxillofacial surgeon was rushed from 92 Base Hospital, Srinagar. It reached at 0030 hours (12.30am); the patient was rolled immediately into the operating theatre, and the surgery will take another couple of hours. An AN-32 will take off at 0730 hours (7.30am), advanced landing helipad launched (from Drugmullah, Kupwara) within three to four hours of night so that at sunrise, the patient can be taken to the old airfield (Srinagar) for evacuation to AHRR. An anaesthetist with ventilator and oxygen cylinders is to move to old airfield at sunrise, to accompany the patient to AHRR. Lt Col Natt is stable presently. This is an example of how the AMC operates in emergency.”

The EEG (electroencephalogram) and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans show no damage to the brain/ spine, and the officer is off lifesupport system at the AHRR. A Facebook comment from Anurag Singh: “Hoping for a brighter tomorrow. Karan’s will and our prayers seem to be working.”

The terrorists who shot at lieutenant colonel Natt and colonel Mahadik were from Lashkar-e-Toiba and included two brothers in their 20s.

Lieutenant colonel Natt belongs to Batala in Punjab, and his second battle on the emergency rack has slipped from mainstream consciousness but a welter of support, cyber prayers and heartfelt wishes have come his way and that of his wife, Navpreet Kaur, and daughter, Guneeta, on social media groups of ex-faujis and their families. Anindita Paul wrote on the Facebook group Fauji Kids: “Get well soon… nothing can deter a spirit that wants to serve mankind… serve the countrymen.”

Course mate Yash Sharma posted a picture of the dashing officer and it has drawn 19,227 shares.