India”s Ambassador to UN, Ajit Kumar addressing the 34th Session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. — ANI

Geneva/New Delhi, March 1Pakistan created terror outfits against India and the “monster” is now devouring its own creator, India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva said on Wednesday.Addressing the 34th Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), Ambassador Ajit Kumar hit out at Pakistan for destabilising the situation in Jammu and Kashmir by promoting infiltration and cross-border terrorism, inciting, promoting and glorifying violence.Asserting that terrorism is the “grossest violation of human rights”, he said members will recognise the irony of a nation that has established a well-earned reputation of being a “global epicentre of terrorism holding forth on human rights”.”Pakistan has created terrorist outfits against India.This monster is now devouring its own creator,” Kumar said, adding that in the last two decades, the most wanted terrorists of the world have found “succour and sustenance” in Pakistan.The fundamental reason for disturbances in parts of Jammu and Kashmir is cross-border terrorism aided and abetted by Pakistan, he said, noting that for many years now, Islamabad has been carrying out an intense campaign to destabilise the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.He further emphasised that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and the situation there is an internal matter of the country.The Central government and democratically elected state government have led a system-wide effort last year to restore normalcy in the state in the wake of Pakistan-supported violent unrest, he said in the session’s ‘General Segment’.India would also like to point out that Pakistan’s unwarranted references to UNSC resolutions are “grossly misleading as Pakistan was required to vacate the parts of the State of J&K under its illegal and forced occupation,” Kumar said. — PTI

Birth, domicile certificates of 25 of 40 applicants under scanner | All issued this month by Ludhiana admn

Students during a drill at Sainik School, Kapurthala. Tribune file photo

Rachna Khaira

Tribune News Service

Kapurthala, February 27

In a development suggesting a possible admission scam, the local Sainik School authorities have put on hold the admission of around 25 of 40 applicants seeking admission to Class VI.Highly placed sources said the admission process was halted after the officials got suspicious over the birth certificates and domicile of these students.“Though all of them hailed from states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, they were all found carrying domicile and birth certificates issued in February this year by the Ludhiana district administration. Most of them had taken training from two academies based in Hanumangarh and Agra,” a source said.He said many were even found overage by up to five years. The medical board set up by the school has also raised questions over their age and sought a probe.During an interview, an applicant admitted that he had been trying to get admission in the school for the last three years. “Another boy submitted an Aadhaar card and a birth certificate that showed different dates of birth. While his Aadhaar card showed his year of birth as 2003, the birth certificate issued by the Ludhiana MC mentioned it as 2007,” said a board member. Many applicants failed to answer satisfactorily when asked about the directions of their address mentioned in their domicile. Some could not even tell the name of the area situated next to their “residence”.As per rules of any Sainik School, around 67 per cent of the seats should be reserved for candidates hailing from the state where the school is located. The quota goes over 70 per cent with students coming from the SC/ST category as well.Investigation by The Tribune revealed that even this rule had been violated for the past three years that has created an imbalance in the state quota.Some officials, on the condition of anonymity, claimed that when they tried to stop the practice last year, they received threats from some UP-based applicants’ kin.School Principal Group Captain Shakti Sharma said they had decided to take up the matter with the Kapurthala district administration to seek a check on the authenticity of the birth and domicile certificates.

Anomalies that give rise to suspicion

• The domicile and birth certificates of all 25 applicants under scanner were issued in February this year by the Ludhiana administration
• Most have taken training from two academies
• Many were even found overage by up to five years
• The applicants failed to answer when asked about the directions to their address mentioned in their domicile
• Some couldn’t even tell the name of the area situated next to their “residence”

Financial crisis

• In the absence of regular grant from the state or the Union Government, the Sainik School has no money to pay salaries and pension to its staff. School principal Group Captain Shakti Sharma said the institution was reeling under debt of around Rs 2 crore as it had not received any grant since 2011. “After much persuasion, I managed to get a grant of Rs 1 crore from the state last year. But around Rs 50 lakh was paid to clear debt and the remaining was spent on maintenance,” Shakti said, adding that the school had been managing its affairs with the fee from students, but this time, they won’t be able to pay salaries and pension amounting to Rs 40 lakh to its 200 present and former employees.

Pakistan’s media, judiciary and people power have many blind spots and do not compare favourably with their more evolved US counterparts. Pakistanis cannot really protest Trump’s ways without suitably reforming its institutions. And that is a tall order.

Most major rallies in Pakistan are for Muslim causes. Rarely have they protested for similar rights for all citizens.

Donald Trump’s presidency is the tip of the spear that xenophobic white supremacists are using to reconquer America. A Republican-dominated Senate and the House of Representatives may differ with Trump on smaller matters but will support him on core issues. The alt-right’s goal is to barrel over traditional American values of freedom and generosity, terrorise Muslim and immigrant families into leaving, and remove the checks and balances that have preserved the country’s openness to new peoples and ideas.Trump says that the media — specifically naming CNN, ABC, CBS, and the New York Times — is acting as an opposition party. Last Friday he tweeted that they are not just his enemies but also “the enemy of the American people. SICK”.This outburst comes because the press has exposed Trump’s shady business dealings, exaggerations on the size of the inauguration crowd, promotion of his daughter’s fashion business, lewd remarks on women, help received from Russia for getting elected, and the dubious character of his political henchmen. All this must hurt, but what gets Trump apoplectic are mocking parodies on TV channels and YouTube videos that feature impersonations of Trump and his spokespersons. Such lampooning weakens his authority by depriving him of the gravitas that other US presidents have enjoyed.This is music to the ears of most Pakistanis — and a relief to much of the world. But now we need to compare this with our own score card on the above three counts. Media: Yes, Pakistan’s media is free — free to slam politicians and elected governments on evening talk shows. This is, of course, as it should be. But none can touch generals and mullahs. If you want to hide in cyber space and still try then be prepared for abduction, declared as missing, and perhaps returned — as four of the five bloggers are known to have been — but terrified into silence.America has Fox but also other channels; Pakistan has only numerous versions of Fox. America has Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, and Glenn Beck among others who spew stupidity and ignorance, lie, and pander to the lowest level of society. But, for fear of lawsuits, they still cannot match the infinitely more degraded, life-threatening, fact-less nonsense spewed by some highly popular Pakistani anchors.Judiciary: In theory, Pakistan’s too is independent of the executive branch. But nobody believes this, and nobody should. If it was true, Asif Ali Zardari would have long been in jail, Panamagate would have been settled, and the grant of land to generals legally challenged. Of course, we have our heroes. Justice of the Supreme Court Qazi Faez Isa single-handedly put together the detailed Quetta terrorism inquiry commission report that convincingly indicts the interior minister for improper behavior. But nothing has happened yet and nothing will. In contrast, a mere US sessions judge could stump Trump and overturn his executive Muslim-ban order.People: I cannot remember the last time when Pakistanis rallied together for a cause that was not specifically Muslim. Of course, Kashmir, Palestine, Bosnia and Myanmar are all worthy causes, but they are Muslim causes. In contrast, the thousands of Americans who stormed airports last month to protest Trump’s Muslim ban were there to protect a principle — that all peoples of all religions and ethnicities should have exactly the same rights.Perhaps someday we too will learn to respect people for what they are — humans — and fight for their rights also, not just our own. Perhaps an Ahmadi, Hindu, Christian or Parsi will be allowed to run for president of Pakistan or become the army chief. Until that time, in moral terms, we cannot really protest where Trump wants to take America. 

Courtesy The Dawn

General Cheema has vast operational experience in both conventional and sub conventional operations along western and northern fronts

General Jagbir Singh Cheema recently took over as the Deputy Chief of Army Staff (Information Systems and Training). In this capacity he coordinates capability building of the army in terms of training, communications and information systems. Earlier he had commanded XI Corps the pivot formation in Punjab where he had a long string of achievements including recasting operational plans and providing enhanced facilities to veterans. The general belongs to Jangpur, Ludhiana district.

XI CORPSGeneral Jagbir Singh Cheema, then commanding XI Corps pictured last summer while attending a formation­level exercise in Punjab

This is one of the Quinsap villages around Jagraon from where the Bengal Sappers recruited in large numbers. His father retired from the group as an honorary captain. Cheema first came to notice as a captain leading the Sikh Regiment contingent in the 1985 Republic Day parade. The regiment, bruised by the traumatic events of the previous year was determined to showcase its professional excellence. Young Cheema did not let it down. In NDA and IMA he had excelled in sports. He earned blues in cross country in both the institutions and was declared best athlete in the latter institution.

Jagbir has commanded his battalion, 10 Sikh on the Line of Control (LoC), an infantry brigade again on the control line in a high altitude environment and a mountain division forming part of the army headquarters (AHQ) reserve with wideranging operational roles. Professional courses done by him include staff college, long defence management and National Defence College (NDC).

He has served on the general staff dealing with operations, planning, intelligence and training at all levels from brigade to AHQ. As chief of staff of an operationally committed corps, he set down ‘Turbulence to Stabilisation’ the history of proxy war in Kashmir. Operational experience includes command of a company on the Siachen Glacier and an Assam Rifles company in Kashmir. Cheema is a soldier whom the greatest Indian commanders like Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw and Harbaksh would’ve paid the supreme accolade, ‘I would like to have him with me in war’.

NEW STRATEGY TO TACKLE J&K TROUBLEMAKERS

Napoleon once said, “In war morale is everything”. What he meant was that one seeks to motivate one’s own troops by uplifting their spirits at the same time using psychological operations to undermine the enemy.

Army chief General Bipin Rawat’s recent caution to stone-pelters and others who seek to obstruct counterinsurgency operations must be seen in this context. Though politicians have taken umbrage at his statement, in my view he has correctly warned overground workers of insurgents.

A new, proactive strategy to tackle troublemakers which draws on the experience of British troops in Northern Ireland takes this beyond the ambit of a mere morale-lifting exercise however.

To ensure the best coordination between the security forces, joint mobile control rooms will be set up at the scene of active operations. While the army, paramilitary forces and the police’s special operation group will tackle terrorists, the police will make sure crowds don’t gather.

MANDEEP SINGH BAJWA

If mobs do concentrate the police will disperse them with warnings, persuasion, guile and failing that with weapons best suited against unarmed people – teargas, batons. Civil administrators will become hands-on to prevent the assembly of terrorists’ collaborators by imposing prohibitory orders and other administrative measures. Such collaborators will be identified by the police who will take legal action against them.

MY SON ASKED, “DEMOCRACY, WE HAVE READ, IS THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE PEOPLE. WHY ARE GOVERNMENTS OF THE TWO COUNTRIES NOT FRIENDS JUST LIKE THE FRIENDS WE MADE IN LAHORE?”

Visiting one’s neighbour usually means catching up with the latest mohalla gossip, sharing the good and the bad that has happened in each other’s family life and musing about the times gone by. But when it comes to India and Pakistan, a visit to each other assumes an altogether different meaning. I was overcome with feelings of trepidation and worry when I received an invitation to visit Lahore to attend a conference in 2009.

It is supposed to be a dangerous place if newspaper reports are anything to go by. I must confess that I was in for a pleasant surprise the moment I, along with my family, crossed the Radcliffe Line at Attari. We were welcomed with open arms and unbelievable warmth and affection across the border. We stayed in the beautiful city of Lahore for a couple of days, went to Nankana Sahib to pay our obeisance, and visited the health facility at Emanabad.

We have so much in common, be it the jokes or problems of day-to-day life. The man on the street is as distressed by the scourge of terrorism there as all of us are here. To my surprise, I did not meet even a single person during my stay who voiced feelings inimical to India. We came back home with wonderful memories of the neighboring country.

Of late, we have been hearing about Pakistan being the hotbed of terrorism and the plans of some nations to ban the entry of its citizens. The other day, my 12-year-old son asked me: “Papa, how can Pakistan be our enemy when the uncles and aunties whom we met there were so good?” Some questions, indeed, are extremely difficult to answer. I tried explaining that what we hear in the media is more to do with politics, and the situation on the street could be different. My son shot off another query: “Democracy, we have read, is the government of the people, by the people and for the people. Why are governments of the two countries not friends just like the friends we made in Lahore?”

I gave up. The world is not so simple. There are good and bad people on either side of the border. I was reminded of the lyrics of a popular song penned by Javed Akhtar:

“Panchhi nadiya pawan ke jhonke Koi sarhad na inhein roke Panchhi nadiya pawan ke jhonke Koi sarhad na inhein roke Sarhadein insaanon ke liye hain Socho tumne aur maine Kya paya insaan hoke” The world is one family. The sooner we realise, the better it will be for mankind as a whole.

Cmdre Dalbir Singh Sodhi presents a copy of his book to Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan in Jammu. Tribune photo

Jammu, February 17

Cmdre Dalbir Singh Sodhi presented a copy of his book titled “Ladakh & Nanak Rinpoche” to Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan here today.This book gives an insight into the historical connections of Sikhs with Ladakh, life of Guru Padmasambhava, travels of Nanak Lama to Sikkim and Tibet and travels of Guru Nanak Rinpoche to Ladakh. This volume of the book has beautiful pictures of flora, fauna, architecture, monasteries and other aspects of Ladakh.The Governor complimented Commodore Sodhi for the impressive research work done by him to write the book. He observed that the work would be useful for promoting brotherhood and amity among the people of all communities.He wished Commodore Sodhi success in his career and all his future literary endeavours. He presented to the Governor a copy of “Kashmir and the Sikhs”, translated in English by him from its original Punjabi version, which was written by his late father Anoop Singh Sodhi. — TNS

Indian Army General Bipin Rawat speaks to the press on Wednesday. ANI photo

New Delhi, February 15

The Indian Army Chief warned against impeding anti-insurgency operation in Jammu and Kashmir saying that those willfully obstructing them could be termed “anti-national” and could face “harsh” actions.

At a ceremony the Army held to honour those who died in Tuesday’s gun battles, Army General Bipin Rawat said security forces faced higher number of casualties because of how locals hindered operations to stall security forces, at times even “helping them escape”.

“We would now request the local population that people who have picked up arms — and they are the local boys — if they want to continue with the acts of terrorism displaying flags of ISIS and Pakistan, then we will treat them as anti-national elements and go after them,” Rawat said. “They may survive today but we will get them tomorrow. Our relentless operations will continue. We are giving them an opportunity: should they continue, we will also continue with our relentless operations that may be with harsher measures and that is the way to continue (sic).”

The development comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet on Wednesday: “Paid tributes to the brave men who lost their lives fighting terrorists in J&K. India will always remember their valour & sacrifice”.

An Army major was among the four armymen killed in two encounters — one in Bandipora, and later in Handiwara. Four militants were killed in the two encounters.

Protests followed the gunfight, with police using teargas to stall angry marchers heading to the site of the encounter.

Protests also followed a gunfight on Frisal in Kulgam district in which four militants, two army generals and civilian were killed on Sunday. A man was killed and more than 24 injured in the protests that followed the gunfight.

While the Army claimed the civilian was taken hostage by the militants, the locals claimed he was used by the soldiers as a shield. PTI/ Agencies