Pavneet Singh Chadha

Tribune News Service

Mohali, September 23

General (retd) VP Malik, who was the Army chief during Kargil war, said by conducting surgical strikes along the LoC, India had sent a ‘message’ to Pakistan in terms of capability and range of retaliatory options to deter cross-border terrorism.General Malik was speaking to students on the second day of the IBS leadership summit here on Saturday.  He added that now there was a political will and ascent to conduct such strikes in retaliation to continued terrorist attacks by Pakistan backed terror outfits. Speaking on the Kashmir issue, General Malik said he remained optimistic that ‘soft power’ and development could contribute towards peace in future. “We need to win the hearts and minds of people and involve local community,” he said, adding that the military was contributing through sadbhavana initiatives. “But first, we have to control the violence. It is important to create conditions where development could thrive and create jobs for the youth. The investment will not take place in a place of turmoil and violence.” he said. He said politicians had to play a more pro-active role. “The politicians have not succeeded in what they should be doing,” he said, adding that people must isolate some ideologues who had assumed prominence in Kashmir. Responding to a question on whether the Army had lost some credibility post the ‘human shield’ incident, the General said: “The credibility and goodwill will return with confidence building measures.” General Malik said, “India must be wary of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a series of infrastructure projects that China is constructing in Pakistan. Our territorial sovereignty must not be compromised.” While addressing the students at the summit, General Malik underlined challenges for an uncertain future and said that to tackle the challenges, the fundamentals of leadership needed to be strong. He said, “With issues like climate change, water shortage, Trumpism, Brexit, uncertain geopolitical situation, North Korea’s sabre rattling, we need a leadership that imbibes values like honesty, integrity, self-discipline and team spirit.” He regaled the young crowd in attendance with success stories of Operation Cactus in Maldives, and Operation Vijay in Kargil, and reading out excerpts from heart wrenching letters written by soldiers to their families during the war.

Moscow announced on Wednesday that it had deployed an unknown number of its MiG-29SMTs to Syria for the first time.

Russian defense firm Mikoyan started developing the MiG-29, codenamed “Fulcrum” by NATO, in 1974, and the jet made its maiden flight in 1977.

It was meant to be stationed near front-line areas to cover Soviet army units and also to protect other aircraft from F-15s and F-16s.

The MiG-29SMT is one of Russia’s most recent upgrades of the Fulcrum, and you can see more of it below.

The Saragarhi Memorial Gurdwara in Ferozepur

Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepur, September 10

The Saragarhi Memorial has so far neither been included in the list of protected monuments by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) nor has it been given the status of monument of national importance.The memorial was built in 1904 in memory of the 21 Sikh soldiers who died fighting against 10,000 Pathans while defending their post in Fort Lockhart in the North West Frontier Province on September 12, 1897.In April 2006, this monument — along with other Anglo-Sikh War sites — was identified for central protection. Following this, the matter was taken up by the then Commissioner (Ferozepur Division) Kulbir Singh Sidhu with a team of officials from the National Museum and ASI.However, the state government afterwards failed to prevail upon the Centre for its protection and development.The visiting team led by KK Chakravarty from the National Museum had submitted its report to the Ministry of Tourism and Cultural Affairs on April 20, 2006.“Even the state government gave its consent to then Director General, ASI, C Babu Rajiv on June 8, 2006, to declare these monuments as being of national importance. But no subsequent efforts were made to give those the pride of place,” said Sidhu.He said that he had also written many letters to RM Aggarwal, the then Deputy Director General, ICCR. He also took up the matter with SP Singh, the then Director (Conservation), National Museum, New Delhi, during his tenure here in 2006 to bring these memorials on the national heritage map. But after his retirement, no one followed up his efforts.Even the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) — in its report on ‘Preservation and conservation of monuments and antiquities’ which was tabled in Parliament in 2013 — had cited the dilapidated condition of protected monuments in Ferozepur.The audit paragraph on ‘Unauthorised conservation works by external organisations’ in the CAG report read: “Repeated notification and de-notification of sites in some cases had been done without any recorded reasons. These monuments were earlier in the list of protected monuments of national importance as declared in November 1918. Subsequently, these were de-protected by the ASI on April 13, 1927, and May 22, 1962, for reasons not available on record”.The Battle of Saragarhi is one of the eight stories of collective bravery published by Unesco and it has also been mentioned as one of the five most significant events of its kind in the world.The Saragarhi Memorial and Ethos Promotion Forum through its Secretary Capt Amarjit Singh Jaijee had also taken up the matter with the Director General of Archives in January 2010 to include it in the list of protected monuments. But the matter continues to be stuck up in bureaucratic wrangles.

The 36th Sikhs in the Tirah Campaign 1897-98: Saragarhi and the Defence of Samana Forts

General Bipin Rawat

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 10

General Bipin Rawat has reiterated his statement on potential two front war with China and Pakistan. General Rawat, who was in Dehradun to attend the Foundation Day celebrations of his alma mater Cambrian Hall, said this while interacting with mediapersons yesterday. He reiterated his recent statement in which he had said that the country should be prepared for a potential two front war with China and Pakistan.General Rawat’s recent statement on potential two front war with China and Pakistan was recently criticized by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson. But General Rawat has stood by his statement.He also termed withdrawal of Chinese forces from Doklam as a big victory for India. “Withdrawal of Chinese forces from Doklam is both political and military victory for India”, he pointed out.Referring to insurgency in Kashmir valley, General Rawat asserted that while defence forces were for peace in the valley, but any misadventure from across would be dealt with effectively. He said anti-terror operations are being successfully conducted in the valley.He also welcomed appointment of full time defence minister in the country asserting that this would led to better coordination between army and the defence ministry, thus adding to strengthening of country’s security.Nirmala Sitharaman was recently appointed as full time defence minister of the country.

Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat. — File photo

New Delhi, September 6

Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said the country should be prepared for a two-front war, insisting China has started “flexing its muscles”, while there seems to be no scope for reconciliation with Pakistan whose military and polity saw an adversary in India.Referring to the 73-day Dokalam standoff, the Army chief warned that the situation could gradually snowball into a larger conflict on the northern border.He said there is a possibility that these conflicts could be limited in space and time or can expand into an all-out war along the entire frontier, with Pakistan taking advantage of the situation.”We have to be prepared. In our context, therefore, warfare lies within the realm of reality,” he said, adding the Army’s supremacy among the three services must be maintained to successfully combat external security threats.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The comments by Gen Rawat came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed on a “forward-looking” approach to Sino-India ties, putting behind the Dokalam standoff.The Army Chief said India cannot afford to let its guard down against China.“As far as northern adversary is concerned, the flexing of muscle has started. The salami slicing, taking over territory in a very gradual manner, testing our limits of threshold is something we have to be wary about and remain prepared for situations emerging which could gradually emerge into conflict,” he said.In military parlance salami slicing denotes divide and conquer process of threats and alliances used to overcome opposition.He was speaking at a seminar organised by the Centre for Land Warfare Studies.The Army chief also talked about China engaging in a psychological warfare by using the media and information technology against India during the Dokalam face-off.The Army chief rejected the notion that credible deterrence could prevent war and pitched for adequate budgetary allocation for the armed forces.Talking about Pakistan, Gen Rawat said there was no scope for any reconciliation with that country.”As far as our western adversary is considered, we don’t see any scope of reconciliation, because their military, the polity, and the people in that nation have been made to believe that there is an adversary, India, which is all out to break their nation into pieces,” he said.Gen Rawat also wondered how long the country will continue to tolerate the proxy war by Pakistan and when it would conclude that Pakistan has crossed the threshold limit, adding the scope of a possible conflict is difficult to predict. He said it was for the political masters to take a call on the issue.Rawat also explained that credible deterrence does not take away the threat of war.“Nuclear weapons are weapons of deterrence. Yes, they are. But to say that they can deter war or they will not allow nations to go to war, in our context that may also not be true,” he said. — PTI

Jammu, August 23

Sainik School, Nagrota, celebrated its 48th Raising Day by holding various events on the school premises.The celebrations began with a colourful ceremonial parade, led by the school Captain Cadet Kamal Choudhary, at the Major Somnath Sharma Stadium. Around 450 cadets of the school participated in it.School principal Capt A Muthuraman reviewed the parade. In his address, he paid rich tributes to the founder-principal of the school, Cdr NN Seth, and recounted the challenges faced by the school over 47 years of its history.The second session began with an exhibition cricket match between staff and the cadets’ team which was followed by an inter-house tug-of-war competition. — TNS

• HOMAGE PAID TO MARTYR COL KJ SINGH SALARIA *SC,SM

DA CASE: 27 YEARS AFTER BEING BOOKED, RETD COL HELD GUILTY

CHINA SAYS JAPAN’S SUPPORT FOR INDIA ON DOKLAM OVERLOOKS FACTS 

NATIONAL ANTHEM IN ARBIC ABOVE