Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 12

The Navy, Coast Guard, Air Force, Army and the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) have been deployed in strength  to undertake relief and rescue operations as cyclone Vardah made a landfall near Chennai in Tamil Nadu this afternoon.Naval ships Shivalik and Kadmatt sailed out from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh early Monday morning to Chennai to augment relief efforts the Navy said.The ships are carrying medical teams, divers, inflatable rubber boats, integral helicopter, and relief material that includes food, tents, clothes, medicines and blankets etc.Additional naval ships have been kept on standby to supplement efforts for undertaking Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, should the situation demand, the Navy said.Besides 10 diving teams stationed on the Shivalik and Kadmatt ships, the Navy has readied six diving teams for immediate deployment in consultation with the state administration.The Indian Coast Guard are also on standby. Its two ships are out at sea. “All necessary rescue materials have been kept on standby at all Coast Guard stations along the coast across these states. Coast Guard Regional Headquarters East at Chennai is closely coordinating with the state administration for rendering assistance if sought,” the Coast Guard said. The NDRF has kept ready eight flood rescue teams comprising more than 250 members. Equipped with 23 inflatable rubber boats and communication equipment, these have been pre-positioned in coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh.The Army personnel on ground will be crucial as the helicopters of the IAF, Army, Navy and the Coast Guard  will not be able to fly till weather is okay.

Arrangements made

• Naval ships Shivalik and Kadmatt sailed out to Chennai to augment relief efforts in Tamil Nadu
• The NDRF has kept ready eight flood rescue teams comprising more than 250 members
• On ground, the Army columns have been sent out with trucks, boats, rations and rescue equipment

COVETED JOB The post fell vacant after Lt Gen TS Gill (retd) demitted office in September after a yearlong stint

LT GEN NPS HIRA, DEPUTY CHIEF OF THE ARMY STAFF, AND LT GEN KJ SINGH, WHO RETIRED IN JULY AND HELD LAST POSTING AS THE GENERAL OFFICER COMMANDING­IN­CHIEF OF THE WESTERN COMMAND, ARE FRONT RUNNERS

:The Parkash Singh Badal government appears set to appoint a Lieutenant Generalrank army officer as the chairman of the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC), it is learnt.

This coveted and constitutional post is lying vacant after Lt Gen TS Gill (retd), who was appointed as the PPSC chairman in 2015, demitted office in September after a yearlong stint.

The PPSC comprises a chairman and 10 members, who serve for a fixed term of six years or until they are 62.

Sources say Lt Gen NPS Hira, deputy chief of the army staff, and Lt Gen KJ Singh, who retired in July and held last posting as the general officer commandingin-chief of the Western Command, are front runners among five decorated three-star generals who are vying for the PPSC chairman post.

Lt Gen Gurdip Singh, Lt Gen Gurmukh Singh, Lt Gen Iqbal Singh Sinha and Air Marshal KS Gill are other top-ranking army and air force officers who have applied for the chairman post.

Two posts of the members — official and non-official — are also vacant and the process is underway to park some influential people.

Three Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, including the 1981 batch Dr Ganesh Dutt Pandey -DGP-cum-commandant general, Punjab Home Guards — who will superannuate in August 2017, are also testing their luck.

Lok Nath Angra, currently holding the post of Amritsar commissioner of police and Paramjit Singh Grewal, IPS, are also angling for the post of PPSC member.

It is learnt that Punjab Civil Service (PCS) and Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officers, such as Gurdip Singh, PCS (retd); Gopal Krishan Singh, IAS; and Sukhjit Singh Bains, IAS, are also in the race.

The final decision about the next PPSC chairman is likely to be taken on December 5 by the high-powered committee comprising chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, Vidhan Sabha speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal and the leader of opposition.

As the leader of opposition and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Charanjit Singh Channi along with other Congress MLAs had resigned from the Vidhan Sabha following the Supreme Court verdict on the emotive Sutlej-Yamuna Canal (SYL) issue, there is uncertainty if Channi will be attending the December 5 meeting even as the speaker is yet to accept resignations of the Congress legislators.

Sources say in the past two weeks, the high-powered committee meeting was postponed twice after CLP leader Channi in writing informed the government that he was unable to attend the scheduled meetings due to his busy schedule and wanted the government to postpone the meeting.

The government’s another move to appoint the chairman and member of the human rights commission has also hit a road block with the CLP leader not attending the meeting.

The government is exploring administrative and legal options to decide the next PPSC chairman in case Channi doesn’t attend the meeting for third consecutive time.

The Badal government began the practice of inviting applications for the post of PPSC chairman and members from “eminent persons of impeccable integrity and administrative experience from all walks of life” after the Punjab and Haryana high court in 2011 had set the guidelines, while setting aside Akali leader Harish Rai Dhanda’s appointment as the PPSC chairman.

These bills are for 28 official trips between May and August this year — 11 trips were made by V K Singh and 17 by Gowda.

V K Singh made 11 trips while D V Sadananda Gowda made 17.

Air Travel bills of two Union Ministers who between them made 28 official trips over four months this year are not being cleared because they flew airlines other than Air India.

Under government rules, air travel for official trips have to be only on Air India. An exception is made only if the bill is accompanied by a certificate of non-availability of seat or the person is able to provide documentary proof of the urgency of attending an official meeting.

The Financial Advisor and Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has withheld clearance of bills raised for official trips of Union Minister D V Sadananda Gowda and his predecessor, former Minister of State (Independent Charge), Gen (retd) V K Singh since they flew airlines other than Air India.

These bills are for 28 official trips between May and August this year — 11 trips were made by V K Singh and 17 by Gowda. The total amount involved, sources said, is around Rs 44 lakh. V K Singh is now Minister of State for External Affairs.

On behalf of the MoSPI, Balmer Lawrie Tours & Travels books the tickets for official trips of Ministers and is later reimbursed by the Ministry.

These were the 11 trips Singh made: Delhi to Kolkata (May 7); Kolkata to Delhi (May 7); Delhi to Indore (May 14) and Indore to Delhi (May 15) (wife Bharti Singh accompanied him); Delhi to Mumbai (June 3); Mumbai to Delhi (June 3); Delhi to Varanasi (June 4); Tirupati to Hyderabad (June 6) (with wife Bharti Singh); Chennai to Delhi (June 21); Delhi to Varanasi (July 1); and, Varanasi to Delhi (July 1).

The 17 trips made by Gowda were: Bangalore to Mangalore (July 8); Mangalore to Bangalore (July 9); Delhi to Bangalore (July 13); Bangalore to Delhi (July 15); Delhi to Bangalore (July 22); Delhi to Bangalore (July 26); Delhi to Bangalore (July 29); Bangalore to Mangalore (July 30); Mangalore to Bangalore (July 31), Delhi to Bangalore (August 5); Delhi to Bangalore (August 12); Delhi to Madurai (August 17); Madurai to Chennai (August 18); Chennai to Bangalore (August 18); Bangalore to Mangalore (August 20); Mangalore to Delhi (August 22); Delhi to Bangalore (August 24).

The Sunday Express has learnt that the MoSPI sent Expenditure Secretary Ashok Lavasa a letter which stated that proposals of the Minister to travel by airlines other than Air India had not been approved by the Financial Advisor of the Ministry. The letter sought advice to deal with such cases.

But when he was asked about it, Lavasa said, “I am not aware of it.”

MoSPI Secretary T C Anant declined to comment. “I have no role in clearing the bills of Ministers, so I don’t want to comment on it,” he said.

MoSPI Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor S K Singh, the officer who has not cleared these bills, also declined to comment.

Both Gowda and Singh did not respond to calls or text messages sent by The Sunday Express.

Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 29

Terror returned to Jammu and Kashmir today when a group of heavily armed terrorists stormed into an Army unit at Nagrota and killed two Army officers and five soldiers.In another gunfight at the International Border (IB) in Ramgarh sub-sector of Samba, three infiltrators were killed and five BSF men, including a Deputy Inspector General, and a police Inspector were injured in a gunfight which lasted several hours. During the day-long gunfight at Nagrota, three terrorists were eliminated. Combing operations were suspended in the evening and will resume tomorrow.A defence spokesperson said these terrorists, disguised in police uniform, targeted the Army installation located at Kour Jagir near the Baloni nullah in Nagrota area of Jammu, 3 km  from the 16 Corps headquarters. “These terrorists forced their entry into the officers’ mess complex by throwing grenades and firing at the sentries. In the initial counter action, one officer and three soldiers were killed,” the defence spokesperson said.“The terrorists entered two buildings occupied by officers, families and men. This led to a hostage-like situation, which was quickly contained. In the entailing rescue efforts, one more officer and two soldiers lost their lives,” he added. The bodies of three terrorists were recovered. “The combing operations will resume tomorrow morning,” and the area will be sanitised,” the spokesperson added.  Till afternoon, there was heavy exchange of fire between terrorists and the Army. Later, the intensity became low. However, intermittent firing continued till late evening.  This is the first major terror strike after the September 18 Uri attack in which 20 soldiers were killed. The fidayeen attack has been carried out near 16 Corps (White Knight Corps) headquarters at a time when there has been change of guard in the Pakistan army. Reports of ceasefire violation were also received from Uri sector of north Kashmir. 

It was Hostage-like situation at camp

• The terrorists entered two buildings which were occupied by officers, families and men. This led to a hostage-like situation. The situation was quickly contained and thereafter, in a deliberate operation all were successfully rescued, which included 12 soldiers, two women and two children. — Defence spokesperson

Killed in line of duty

• Major Gosavi Kunal Mannadir (33) from Solapur, Maharashtra.Survived by his wife

• Major Akshay Girish Kumar (31) from Bengaluru, Karnataka.Survived by his wife

• Havildar Sukhraj Singh (32)from Batala, Punjab.Survived by his wife Harmeet Kaur

• Lance Naik KS Yeshwantro (32) from Nanded, Maharashtra.Survived by his wife

• Grenadier Raghvendra Singh (28) from Dholpur, Rajasthan.Survived by his wife

• Rifleman Asim Rai (32)from Khotang, Nepal.Survived by his wife

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 8

Expressing “serious concern” over 90 per cent of service personnel being denied the right to cast their votes owing to inadequacies in the postal ballot and proxy voting systems, a parliamentary panel has recommended that that the Election Commission should appoint service officers as honorary election commission officers and entrust them with the duty of conducting elections in forward and difficult areas as it would ensure maximum participation of service voters.In its report tabled today, the Standing Committee on Defence has also stressed upon the need for urgently introducing e-voting for members of the armed forces and their family members to overcome the present challenges and limitations.The committee said several issues needed to be sorted out by the Defence Ministry in consultation with the EC. These included reduction in the size of e-postal ballot files to permit easy downloading, finalising standing operating procedure for on-line registration and one-way e-movement of ballots for effective implementation of the system, and devising and promulgating of unique service numbers for service voters.A Cabinet note on e-voting has been prepared and an advance copy sent to the PMO, which suggested migrant labourers also needed to be extended this facility.

Army facilitates surgery of boy with blue baby syndrome

Wasim Akram at a hospital in New Delhi. Tribune photo

Shyam Sood

Rajouri, December 8

Wasim Akram (6) of remote Bachianwali village in Poonch district, who was detected with blue baby syndrome, the serious congenital heart defect known as tetralogy of Fallot, has been provided assistance by the Army for the treatment of the disease.Under this disease a hole between the right and the left sides of the heart causes mixing of pure and impure blood, leading to ineffective oxygen supply to important parts of the body and resulting in fatigue and breathlessness.In July this year, the Romeo Force organised a mega specialised medical camp at Surankot in Rajouri district. Super-specialist doctors from various government hospitals from Jammu along with Army doctors treated more than 3,000 patients and identified 100 persons who were detected with cataract. They also identified 10 children, including Wasim, who were detected with congenital heart disease.“The Army coordinated the preliminary medical tests like echocardiography and pathology for the identified patients in Jammu. Once the diagnosis was confirmed, the Army facilitated liaison with ‘Gift of Life’ project initiated by Rotary Club, which took the responsibility to bear the expenses for the heart surgery,” said a senior Army officer.He said Wasim’s visit to Delhi for treatment along with his father was facilitated by the Army through liaison and coordination with the NGO (Rotary Club) representatives.On October 17, Wasim was admitted to Max Super-Specialty Hospital, New Delhi, and was operated upon by Dr Dinesh Kumar Mani, a renowned paediatric heart surgeon.A review by the doctor confirmed that the surgery had been successful and on October 28, Wasim again joined his family members.Wasim’s family has expressed gratitude to the Army for helping Wasim lead a normal life.

Court refuses to order probe against IAF, state officials

New Delhi, December 8A court here has refused to order an investigation in a complaint against Indian Air Force (IAF) officers and Haryana Government employees for allegedly allowing illegal mining on defence land in the state, saying there was no proper sanction to prosecute them.Special CBI Judge Bhupesh Kumar also dismissed the application seeking a court-monitored probe into the allegation that these public servants allowed illegal land mining in Tilpat Ranges 1 and 2 in Faridabad and caused a loss of over Rs 29 crore to the exchequer.“In the absence of valid sanction, no directions can be made under Section 156(3) (power of magistrate to order probe) of the CrPC. The application reflects that no sanction has been obtained by the complainant to prosecute the public servants.“Hence, the application for monitoring the investigation or to call status report is not maintainable. Consequently, the present application stands dismissed. File be consigned to record room,” the Judge said.A representation was sent on May 26 this year to the Prime Minister’s Office and the CBI Director for issuing appropriate order for instituting independent inquiry against the IAF officers and Haryana employees.The application stated that the complainant has tried to know the status of investigation regarding the complaint from the Prime Minister’s Office and the CBI Headquarters but he has not been informed. — PTI

File photo of Khawaja Asif, Defence Minister

Islamabad, November 26

Assuring severe retribution, Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has said that they will kill three Indian soldiers for every Pakistani soldier they neutralise.

Speaking in the National Assembly on Friday, Asif said, “Dire consequences would be faced by India, if it went to war against Pakistan.”

Asserting that the situation at the LoC was intentionally being intensified by the Indian government to win people’s support in the upcoming General Election, the Defense Minister alleged that “India was behind terrorism in Pakistan, and they have credible evidence against it”.

“We have sent dossiers and video films to the UN and other countries showing India’s involvement in terrorism in Pakistan,” Asif said.

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He also accused India of creating hurdles in the way of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) as India was scared that the project would prove a game changer for Pakistan.

Acknowledging that Pakistan might be economically weaker than India, Asif said India knows that once the CPEC is complete, Islamabad will rise stronger.

However, he said that Pakistan would try to maintain a balance of power in the region and would not respond to India in any kind. —ANI

A senior police officer pays tributes to two policemen during a wreath-laying ceremony in Srinagar on Friday. PTI

Ehsan Fazili & Suhail Shah

Tribune Reporters

Srinagar/Anantnag, Nov 25

Two militants of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and an Army jawan were killed in an encounter in Bandipora district of North Kashmir, while two policemen were killed in an attack by militants in Kulgam district of south Kashmir today.The police said search operations were launched at Manpora village of the Naidkhai area in Bandipora district of north Kashmir this morning on the receipt of information about the presence of militants. When the Army and elite SOG (Special Operations Group) of the police zeroed in, they were fired upon by the hiding militants, resulting in the death of an Army jawan.He has been identified as Naik Chandra Singh of 13 RR and a resident of Uttarakhand. The wreath-laying would be held here tomorrow, an Army spokesman said. The two militants were killed in the retaliatory fire. Their identity is yet to be ascertained.After the encounter was over, protest demonstrations were reported from the adjacent area where people demanded handing over of the bodies of militants to them.In another incident, suspected militants fired at a police station in the Handwara area of Kupwara district last night. Policemen opened retaliatory fire and the militants fled.A suspected militant of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, identified as Abdul Majeed Mir, was apprehended during a search operation in Sopore town of Baramulla district today.In another major incident today, two policemen were killed and another was critically wounded after militants opened fire on a party of the Jammu and Kashmir Police in south Kashmir’s Kulgam district, some 69 km south of the summer capital, Srinagar.The slain policemen have been identified as Head Constable Tanveer Ahmad and Constable Jalauddin Ahmad. The injured policeman, being treated in Srinagar, has been identified as Shamsuddin Ahmad.All three policemen belonged to 18 Batallion of the Indian Reserve Police (IRP).According to police reports, the attack was carried out by militants in main town Kulgam about 1:30 pm today.“The militants appeared in a car and opened indiscriminate fire at the policemen on duty near the local bus stand,” a senior police official said.The place of attack is less than a 100 ft from the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Kulgam.He said the firing left three policemen wounded, who were immediately admitted to the nearby District Hospital.“Two of them succumbed on the way to the hospital while the third has been shifted to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar for specialised treatment,” the official said. “His condition remained critical till the last reports were received from the hospital,” he said. The militants, however, escaped unhurt after the firing.Following the attack, the police and Army cordoned off the area and were on a hunt to trace and nab the attackers.Police sources said a vehicle suspected to be used by the militants for the attack had been recovered in the area.A wreath-laying ceremony was held for the slain policemen at the District Police lines in Kulgam. Deputy Inspector General (DIG), south Kashmir range, Niteish Kumar also attended the ceremony.

Start over: A dose of realistic diplomacy is overdue.

HEART of Asia conference at Amritsar, attended by 14 participating and over two dozen supporting countries was jointly inaugurated on December 4 by Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani and India’s PM Narendra Modi. It brought diplomatic theatre to Punjab and transitory focus on the holiest shrine of the Sikhs. It also stirred, to borrow from Marcel Proust, remembrance of things past. Firstly, the visit of Afghan President and PM Modi to the Golden Temple, the foundation of which was laid by Hazrat Mian Mir, a Sufi saint, on December 28, 1588, was a great opportunity missed to bury past hurts. While Sikh religion rose from the reformist Bhakti movement, it was chiselled by resisting religious persecution by some Mughal rulers and Afghan marauders in the 17th and 18th centuries.  The Golden Temple, often targeted, was eventually defiled and destroyed by Afghans under ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali. His raid of 1764 to target Sikhs, their holy places, particularly Amritsar, is etched in Sikh memory. Thus reducing President Ghani’s Golden Temple visit to a photo-op in the parikarma with PM Modi, without his expressing regret then or next morning, when he addressed the conference, was a great historical opportunity lost for contextualising Afghanistan’s current battle against the Taliban or the entire Islamic world’s struggle with radical Islam. After all, the Taliban destroying the Bamiyan Buddhas or ISIS now levelling churches or old monuments in Syria were displaying the same bigotry that Muslim despoilers of Indian places of worship showed in centuries past or even the Catholic Inquisition did in Portuguese occupied Goa of that period. It took a courageous German Chancellor Willy Brandt to kneel at the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising monument on December 7, 1970, to kick-start the debate in Germany to take ownership for the sins of their Nazi past. Secondly, the rubric ‘Amritsar Declaration’ ignored that the 1994 declaration issued from Akal Takht demanding autonomy for Sikhs is also so titled. Ironically, while that resolution sought a looser federation in India, the present declaration seeks closer integration in the entire region from Central to Southern Asia. It ignores two critical elements. One, globally the trend is towards de-globalisation and protectionism, particularly in the West and the US, where benefits of regional integration are being questioned. Two, the heart of the matter is distrust amongst nations of the region, particularly between India and Pakistan, without which connectivity and trade cannot develop. The Heart of Asia conference was envisioned in 2011 to create a framework for discussion amongst neighbours of Afghanistan, as the declaration states, to increase ‘trust and confidence in the entire region’. This was to ensure that Afghanistan did not relapse into the post-1990 civil war between surrogates of neighbouring powers. It is common sense to conclude that to make Afghanistan economically self-reliant and wean it away from the narco-terror cycle of financing it needs to connect to regional trade and investment pathways. The Amritsar Declaration recognises this and addresses it in two parts. One deals with existing challenges; and the other on how to achieve prosperity. The former highlights the intermingling of terrorism, narcotics and radicalised Islam and exhorts participants to use national means and international commitments to counter that threat. The latter envisions connectivity and free trade across the entire region, based on the linking of existing and planned road, rail and port developments. For instance, the Indian trilateral agreement with Afghanistan and Iran for the development of Chabahar Port and the Chinese One Belt, One Road initiative are but two of a maze of currently separate ventures connecting China and Russia to Central Asia and further to South Asia. At the heart of this vision for a new Asia lie India-Pakistan relations, bedevilled by distrust and rivalry. At Amritsar, India caught Pakistan in a pincer move between President Ghani alleging that without Pakistani help the Taliban could not survive and India’s own lament that Pakistan must stop exporting terror and using it as an adjunct to their foreign policy. Although South block denied any meeting with Pakistan’s de facto foreign minister Sartaj Aziz, it is unbelievable that messages would not have been exchanged. If that did not happen, it was another opportunity lost as no muscular policy towards Pakistan can work without keeping the door open for ascertaining what effect, if any, the policy is having on Pakistan’s thinking. The Amritsar Declaration signals emerging consensus amongst Afghanistan’s neighbours that a stable Afghanistan is a condition precedent for a stable region. This cannot be achieved unless rivalries and zero-sum gaming are abandoned. Pakistan, in particular, has to reconcile that an independent government in Kabul will deal with other neighbours, including India. Furthermore, the region will not allow a regression to the Taliban era with Pakistani veto over who ran Kabul.  Para 14 of the Amritsar Declaration lists terrorist groups endangering the region, including the Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad which are ISI-sponsored groups for targeting India. This gave India bragging rights on cornering Pakistan as China has been stalling the listing of their leaders by the UN Security Council.The question however remains about Indian strategy in dealing with the troublesome neighbour. The so- called ‘surgical strike’ has failed to deter Pakistan otherwise there would not have been beheadings of Indian soldiers at the LoC or the Nagrota attack. India can either escalate retaliatory strikes, by weapons fire or actual intrusion, hoping the Pakistan army will eventually sue for peace. Alternatively, India could give some time and space to the new chief of Pakistan army staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to see if he modulates his army’s tactics by putting the terror modules on leash, albeit temporarily. Assuming President-elect Donald Trump’s benediction or Chinese President Xi’s restraint, despite provoking him in Arunachal Pradesh, is poor strategising. As a rising power, beset currently with demonetisation disruption, it is not in India’s interest to escalate tension. All talks are not kowtowing, nor is chest-thumping a strategy. A dose of realistic diplomacy all around is overdue. The writer is a former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, November 24

Lieutenant General Sarath Chand, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Sapta Shakti Command, arrived at the Bathinda Military Station today on an official visit.He interacted with Army officers and emphasised the need for a continuous vigil.The Army Commander was briefed by Lieutenant General Ashwani Kumar, General Officer Commanding, Chetak Corps and other senior officers about the operational and administrative readiness of the formation. The Army Commander also visited the military station and reviewed various infrastructural projects and amenities being developed for the soldiers.The General Officer emphasised on maintaining a high threshold of operational readiness in order to meet any challenge. He reiterated that the success of any military operation is depend on the quality of situational awareness, excellence in training, high degree of security consciousness, purposeful work culture and focused human resource management.He complimented the resolute leadership of the corps and exhorted them to remain focused on professional excellence and remain committed to the nation building.

The LoC provides scope to send different messages to stakeholders. Whenever Pakistan finds it difficult to sufficiently activate the Valley hinterland, either due to low strength of terrorists or insufficient energy among the separatist cadres, it resorts to activating the LoC.

CROSSING THE LINE? While for India a quiet LoC is advantageous, the same is not true for Pakistan. The body of head constable Rai Singh of the BSF, who lost his life in a ceasefire violation along the LoC by Pakistan, being brought to Rajouri. Tribune photo

EVEN at the best of times the Indian public remains blissfully ignorant of what happens at the Line of Control (LoC) on a daily basis. Now when the worry is about changing old currency notes for new or catering for the next meal because of lack of new currency, the LoC is far from the mind. It’s at times like these that reminders need to be given in the public space on the situation at the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir, where a virtual state of war exists. Public knowledge of this is essential if the correct perception about the state of national security has to be held and not simply taken for granted. The situation at the LoC can dangerously spiral out of control.Firstly, it is important to know just what  the LoC is. It is the imaginary line demarcated on maps and ground where the two armies of India and Pakistan were located when the ceasefire of 1948 came into being after the first India-Pakistan Conflict, in 1947-48. Then called the Ceasefire Line (CFL), it got demarcated under the Suchetgarh Agreement of 1972, which followed the Shimla Agreement. It differs from the international border (IB), which is the legal uncontentious boundary between two states. The IB is manned by police forces on a non-tactical basis to prevent unauthorised trans-border movement, smuggling and other such illegal activity. The LoC is, however, different. For one, it is manned by the armies on both sides in eye-ball contact. Although demarcated and signed on maps, there are contentious disputes about the alignment and many an attempt is made to wrest tactically important ground in own favour by eviction of the adversary, by intimidation  or simply occupation if not strongly held. The well-known notion which exists  is, “Grabbers Keepers”. It manifests in identification of vulnerabilities, a much higher state of alert at these and constant monitoring. In between the LoC and the IB is an awkward phenomenon called the Jammu IB; an alignment which India considers final and uncontentious but Pakistan perceives it as not finalised. It terms it the “Working Boundary”, a term we do not share in vocabulary. It remains manned by the Central Armed Police Forces, the BSF in this case and the Rangers a paramilitary force of Pakistan.The LoC may still have been a relatively safe place to operate in the 1980s of the 20th Century. The 1990s brought with them the havoc of infiltration which had to be countered all the time, night and day. The task of the Army then became twofold; first maintaining the sanctity of the LoC (no negative change) in alignment and state and second, preventing infiltration. When translated, the first meant holding posts strongly and dominating the gaps by fire and observation; the second meant physical prevention of any unauthorised movement across the nooks and crannies of the broken and extremely dangerous terrain. As Pakistan ratcheted up the infiltration of terrorists and warlike material, the strength of terrorists on the Indian side increased manifold as did the number of tiers of such manned alignments, ably supported by technology and physical obstacles. However, the public needs to know a couple of things about this deployment and the inherent threats that are prevalent at almost all times.The LoC/Jammu IB provide the scope for sending messages to different stakeholders. When activated, they keep the international community concerned about potentially destabilising exchanges between nuclear armed  neighbours. Whenever Pakistan finds it difficult to sufficiently activate the Valley hinterland either due to low strength of terrorists or insufficient energy among the separatist cadres, it resorts to activating the LoC due to all the above reasons.The actions on the LoC and Jammu IB currently underway involve major breaches of ceasefire, which means regular fire assaults, using lethal weapons. These also affect the local population, thus drawing more attention. The LoC in the Kupwara sector, which is densely backed with troops in depth, has lesser density along the LoC itself. This is because it is most prone to infiltration through Keran, Machil and the Northern Gallis. The terrain forces larger gaps and isolation of posts. In the desire to cover maximum ground to prevent infiltration and ensure sanctity of the LoC, units here maintain smaller strength in a larger number of posts. This is what the Pakistan army and the terror groups are targeting. Patrolling by the Indian Army is essential. Thus patrols and smaller posts along the LoC become vulnerable when Pakistan’s Border Action Teams (BAT) concentrate  to create a local superiority. Intelligence on the broad presence of BATs is usually available, it is the pegging to a narrow location which remains the challenge. The recent casualties inflicted on our troops by BATs is a result of this. The Pakistan army does not have to deploy with a large number of posts as it does not have to execute counter-infiltration nor cater for raids by the Indian Army since India is not infiltrating terrorists to Pakistani territory. However, the Indian Army has struck back quite often in the past and after the recent surgical strikes that fear exists in the Pakistan Army. The devious game has been boldly played by the Indian Army too, giving away some and gaining more. For us, the LoC being quiet is advantageous, quite the opposite of what Pakistan desires.The machismo on the part of the Pakistan Army is a slow and inevitable way of admitting that the surgical strikes in end September 2016 did take place and they hurt. The Pakistani actions at the LoC now underway are obviously with a view to regain face. This will continue for some time, until the new Pakistan Army Chief settles down. The Indian Army’s surgical strikes have given hopes to the Indian public that each time it will be the same; that is impossible and imprudent. Yet, a LoC-experienced commander will tell you that the options are limitless; from planned fire assaults to trans-LoC strikes dispersed over time and space. That is what the Indian Army will do as an appropriate farewell for Raheel Sharif. 

 

 

The writer, a former General Officer Commanding of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps, is now a Fellow with the Delhi Policy Group.