Two petitions allege discrimination against women in the Army”s recruitment policy related to its engineering and education corps.

New Delhi, February 10

The Centre has opposed in the Delhi High Court two petitions that allege discrimination against women in the Army’s recruitment policy related to its engineering and education corps.A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal was told that the allegation of discrimination against women in Indian Army with respect to their recruitment in the force is “baseless, unfounded and devoid of merit”.The Army sought dismissal of the two PILs filed by a lawyer that have alleged “institutionalised discrimination” against women by the Army as it does not recruit them into the two corps by giving them a permanent commission.However, the Indian Army maintained that it has in “1992 introduced women special entry scheme (officers) for induction of short service commission (women officers)”, under the appropriate provisions of the law.”Prior to this there was no provisions of entry of women officers to the Indian Army,” the ministry added.Advocate Kush Kalra said that, “This discrimination on grounds of gender is violative of fundamental right of equality before law, the right not to be discriminated on the ground of sex, the equality of opportunity in the matters of public employment, the right to practice any profession and occupation and the human rights of the women.”Women candidates are denied entry into the Engineering Corps under the 10+2 Technical Entry and the University Entry schemes in contrast to their male counterparts, one of the petitions said.The lawyer in his other plea has said the reason given by the Army for not recruiting women is that they are not eligible for permanent commission in the army while the Army Educational Corps is a permanent commission.The petitioner has sought an order declaring the Indian Army’s eligibility conditions which disentitle women from being recruited in the Army Educational Corps as void, since they are inconsistent with the fundamental rights of women.In his other plea relating to entry of women into the Engineering Corps, the petitioner has said the advertisement inviting application for recruitment only mentions male candidates and not female.”As per the eligibility criteria only unmarried male candidates are eligible for recruitment to the 10+2 Technical Entry and University Entry schemes (both for permanent commissions), which in-fact means no female with equivalent qualification are eligible.”This practice is discriminatory. The respondents (MoD and Army) are treating equals unequally. It is arbitrary and discriminatory against women,” the petition on Engineering Corps said.Kalra has also sought an order declaring the eligibility conditions for recruiting unmarried males alone in the Engineering Corps under the two entry schemes for a permanent commission as unconstitutional. — PTI

Photo for representation only. Source: iStock

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, February 4

The body of a former captain in the Indian Army is lying in a Pune morgue after none of his relatives have come forward to claim it, according to police.Ravindra Kumar Bali, 67, an alumnus of the National Defence Academy at Khadakvasla in Pune, was living on the footpath near the officers’ mess in Pune Cantonment after his flat was reportedly repossessed by the
bank for non-payment of loans.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Police said Bali was attacked by two persons who beat him up and smashed his head with a boulder.He was taken to Sassoon Hospital by passers-by where doctors declared him dead early Friday morning.According to officials at the Lashkar police station, Bali may have been killed by criminals who extorted money from pavement dwellers.

Bali’s relatives were traced to Kota in Rajasthan but they were not in touch with him for nearly 30 years, police said.“We were told by some of his relatives that they were not even aware that he was living in Pune,” the duty officer at the Lashkar police station said.The police were also told by Bali’s relatives that he was married with a daughter and a son but was estranged from his family.Sources say Bali was in the Army for 18 years though it is not clear under what circumstances he quit the service.Officials from the Pune Municipal Corporation, which has taken custody of Bali’s remains, say they will wait for the next few days before deciding on their next course of action.As a rule unclaimed bodies are disposed off as per the dead person’s religion after a photograph of the deceased is taken for the records.

A new roster system will come into effect from Monday in the Supreme Court. It is tempting to see it as an attempt to introduce transparency and to institutionalise allocation of cases to various Benches — one of the main demands of the four seniormost judges who staged a “judicial mutiny” on January 12. Still, the rebel judges wouldn’t get to hear PILs which the CJI has assigned to his own Bench. Subject-wise roster system for judges — a first for the Supreme Court — is, in fact, not a novel idea. It has been working well in the Delhi High Court for years. So far so good. The question is: has the apex court returned to a state of judicial tranquillity? The CJI had unilaterally announced the new roster system without consulting the rebel judges. Admitted, that the CJI is “master of the roster”; but enforcing it without consulting senior judges can be problematic. The new arrangement partly denudes the CJI of his moral authority.It’s understandable that CJI Misra is hurt by the washing of dirty linen in public by Justices J Chelameswar, Ranjan Gogoi, Madan B Lokur and Kurian Joseph as it gave a bad name to the institution. But ignoring the issues raised by them cannot be the solution. The judiciary faces, perhaps, its most serious crisis since the supersession of judges and the Emergency during the 1970s. This time around, the damage done to the institution is self-inflicted.The very credibility of the judiciary as an institution is at stake. It is time for the CJI and others to rise above personal differences and display judicial statesmanship in the larger interest of an institution which still enjoys immense public faith. But there are silver linings too. For a change, the Bar has played a positive role. The judges reposed faith in the media which is often blamed by the judiciary for sensationalising events and conducting media trial; and, thirdly, the judiciary has been one of the most opaque institutions. It has now been forced to flirt, paerhaps, with openness and transparency. Hopefully, Monday will be a new day and, perhaps, a new beginning.

A good beginning may be made by agreeing to establish a line of communication between important sectors and formations on the LoC to allow interaction between field commanders.

Lt-Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd)THE nearest to an official and written ceasefire agreement at the LoC is only enshrined in the subtext of the Simla Agreement of July 2, 1972. However, since then, LoC soldiering has assumed a different colour. It’s not just about preserving the ‘sanctity of the LoC’ with Pakistan, an adage well known to Indian Army officers; it’s much to do with proving a couple of points.  First, which is the more macho Army and, by extension, the more macho nation? Second, which is the more professional army? Yet, more importantly, it’s all about ‘moral ascendancy’. I can’t remember a definition of the term in any Indian Army publication; perhaps the Pakistanis may be having something of their own. Nevertheless, since it is a task spelt out to every LoC commander, it does deserve an analysis of its interpretation and what affect that has on the attitude towards and manifestation of ceasefire.On the face of it, moral ascendancy is all about being professionally more competent than your adversary. However, the most important aspect is motivation and morale. There are increasing instances in which units of the two armies, which faced each other in Siachen or later days of Kargil 1999, are coming back face to face once again at the LoC. The antipathy then was much higher. All this is fine. It’s when the lead begins to fly around that problems arise. Even worse, when rogue actions from across the LoC  involve bestial acts such as beheading, they have to be responded to. Otherwise, the moral ascendancy slips and that’s not acceptable by a mile or more.It’s not as if ceasefire infringements commenced only in 1989, the year when Pakistan decided to launch its proxy war to exploit the fast-track changes the world was then undergoing. The moral ascendancy game was in play through the late seventies and eighties, but with one difference: there was no infiltration of terrorists. Immediately after 1989, the LoC got associated primarily with infiltration; terror sponsors in Pakistan found that the simplest way of forcing gaps in deployment to effect infiltration was to push Indian ambushes, deployed in the open, into their posts which had overhead protection (OHP) from fire. Even with the construction of the LoC fence, although partial OHP exists at ambush sites, it is the resultant chaos from shelling and small arms fire that assists in infiltration.On November 26, 2003, Pakistan took a decision to vigorously implement the ceasefire and abide by it. Although it appeared unilateral and India has never made it look any different, the truth is that some behind-the-scene parleys did assist in reaching that stage where Pakistan could announce its ‘offer’. There was no official document signed by the two sides, although recorded announcements to abide by it made it appear as a de facto agreement. Infiltration attempts continued as before, but at reduced levels. Why President Musharraf accepted, or as claimed, even initiated the ‘proper implementation’ of the 1972 ceasefire remains a mystery to the day. Analysis of initiatives which characterised the Vajpayee premiership is a subject by itself, but there was a Vajpayee-Musharraf moment which captured the essence of what could have been the grounding for an improved Indo-Pak relationship. The ceasefire was probably the result of that. Many a Pakistani strategic analyst I have spoken with has failed to identify the Musharraf thought process. And Pervez Musharraf today is in search of another identity; he would preferably disassociate himself with the ceasefire.The LoC remained quiet almost till 2009 when one segment in the Krishna Ghati sector erupted and has never quieted thereafter. Siachen has remained a model of the ceasefire as much as has been Kargil. This gives weight to the argument that breaches of ceasefire take place in infiltration-prone areas because there is no infiltration in the Ladakh zone. Paradoxically, larger attempts at infiltration have been made in the Machil, Keran, Tangdhar and Lipa sectors of the Valley, but very few breaches of ceasefire have occurred there. In recent years, the major LoC exchanges have all been south of the Pir Panjal and along the International Border (IB), the latter being held by the BSF. The area has little terrorist presence, but some sleeper agents continue to exist. However, the area is more vulnerable to transient terror through infiltration of suicide squads (fidayeen) due to the shorter distances and potential of single-night operations. Currently, the prime reasons for the breach of ceasefire by the Pakistani side revolve around a few factors. 1 Firstly, infiltration continues to play a role, irrespective of the explanations above. 2 Secondly, the LoC offers the easiest location for the demonstration of violence for the international community to take note that the J&K conflict continues to fester; it is Pakistan’s abiding interest to prove this despite being a signatory to the bilateral clause of the Simla Agreement. Earlier, major terror attacks sponsored by Pakistan preceded big ticket events such as high-profile international visits to South Asia or even the annual UN General Assembly session. With better Indian control over J&K, it isn’t easy to do that; the LoC becomes the next best symbol for demonstration. 3 Thirdly, the Hindu populated areas of the Jammu IB or LoC belt get targeted to cause more angst within J&K and, indeed, within India and enhance the communal temperature to Pakistani advantage. 4 Fourthly, Pakistani friendly jihadi elements such as the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiyaba (LeT) maintain their relevance through shallow infiltration and attempted terrorist actions against objectives closer to the LoC, as shown by the Uri and Mohra attacks in the Jhelum Valley. 5 Lastly, with increasing political ambitions of the jihadi groups of Hafiz Sayeed and Masood Azhar, spectacular acts at the LoC or deeper in the hinterland will continue so as to draw attention and attraction.In the light of the history of the ceasefire, the fact that it hardly exists today and the harder response by India without remorse, the feasibility of returning to 2003 remains remote. It could have happened with PM Modi’s initiative of December 25, 2015, or may still find life in a sudden unprovoked peace-related trigger. The advantage of keeping the LoC hot finds favour with Pakistan, but once a threshold is crossed, India will not disfavour a more robust response. Pakistan’s intent is to somehow bring the UN military observers into the scene so as to internationalise the issue and rescind the provisions of the Simla Agreement. The initiative for the ceasefire cannot come from India because the triggers come from Pakistan. It is up to Gen Qamar Bajwa to find his own moment if peace is to return to the LoC; the chances of that in 2018 appear more remote than ever. A good beginning may be made by agreeing to establish a line of communication between important sectors and formations on the LoC to allow interaction between field commanders.

In one frame: India should facilitate ASEAN ties and not be seen as a cog in the wheel.

Sandeep Dikshit

PRIME  Minister Narendra Modi had us decidedly in thrall with the India-ASEAN commemorative summit. Disbelievers will dismiss it as yet another extremely well-crafted event; that the PM got 10 times as much camera time greeting his chief guests than he would have had with one, unless a Trump or an Obama was on the Republic Day podium.Like the 2015 Africa Union summit, this wasn’t a turnout of leaders from countries only the inveterate foreign policy wallah could relate to. Situated across the Indo-China cultural fault line, each of the ASEAN countries hosts Indian diasporas and the subcontinent’s cultural footprint. These are the places an average Indian, outside his shores, feels most comfortable in.The enormous energy of the Indian state devoted to persuading 10 heads of state to simultaneously attend the Republic Day parade served well the government’s own description about its management of foreign policy. The New India definitely seems to be on the march: there were Netanyahu’s gushing words for India and Modi; Indian diplomats and military officials huddle with peers from the US, Australia and Japan as part of a Great Game in the South China Sea; the PM’s serenading of world leaders touches unexplored dimensions with equally hearty reciprocity.The chink in this grand alliance-in-the making is the extraordinary focus on maritime cooperation with near-neighbours and the strained political relationship with two neighbours with disputed land borders. This brings with it factors that seek to limit Indian influence. Pakistan is a stumbling block only in Afghanistan. Its posture of inveterate hostility to India compels only a few Arab countries to recalibrate their ties: Saudi Arabia’s security ties with Pakistan, for instance, are too intimate to entertain a military dalliance with India. The China factor does not complicate India’s calculations in dealing with West Asia as yet, though that could change. India has a default advantage in Europe because of the EU’s proscription on military trade with China on human rights considerations.But China does matter in the ASEAN. In fact, Trump’s presence at the previous ASEAN summit overshadowed its political turnaround since the US set it up as a grouping of nations under its military umbrella to check communist influence. The countries which ASEAN was supposed to counter — Laos, Vietnam, Myanmar and Cambodia — have joined the club.The foreign travel itinerary of top leaders from Vietnam, the ASEAN member reckoned to be most at odds with China, reveals its careful balancing: every high-level Vietnamese visit to Washington, New Delhi or Tokyo is carefully set-off against a stopover in Beijing. In deference to China, Vietnam narrowed the terms of MoU with India promising it oil wells in the South China Sea. Vietnam had promised to allot the wells during the tenure of Manmohan Singh when Indian political management of ties with China was a key South Block priority. The narrowing of Vietnam’s offer took place when Sino-Indian ties were in a prolonged trough.Despite a background of occasional military clashes with China on the South China Sea dispute, not one of the 10 ASEAN countries has shown inclination to be drawn in an adversarial alliance of extra maritime powers. The ASEAN’s feeble desire for a military option towards China grates uncomfortably against India’s enthusiastic endorsement of the Quad concept: four democracies with large navies ensuring a free Indo-Pacific. It began with the ASEAN summit that Trump attended. There was a veneer of a political alliance with no military overtones at the first Quad meeting because the conferrers were all career diplomats. But the symbolism about its military fist was not lost when naval chiefs from all the four Quad nations — Australia, India, the US and Japan — appeared together at an event generously underwritten by the Indian Foreign Office.India’s troubled security and political ties with China have a spillover effect on the economic front in ASEAN. The Chinese projects on the north-south axis are at an advanced stage of implementation. India has proposed projects mostly on an east-west axis and needs to activate consultation channels with China to ensure they are not dead in water.The Chinese advantage of being a much early entrant in ASEAN is visible in the form of the world’s biggest industrial supply chain that begins from East and South East Asia and terminates in China. India needs to integrate more of its industrial sectors into this supply chain just like its automotive industry that now provides quality employment to millions of skilled Indians.Sometime in future, India will have to pay back ASEAN for its leaders taking the trouble of travelling to India in unison to boost PM Modi’s domestic rankings. A consultative approach with China to integrate Indian business into the global supply chain may not work out after New Delhi’s security managers badly misread the Chinese signals in Doklam.The only other way India can accommodate ASEAN is by opening its traditional sectors. The Vajpayee government under NDA-I had explored a similar option with the framework Free Trade Agreement with ASEAN. Liberal imports of cash crops like rubber, black pepper, palmolein devastated rural households across South India. At a time of heightened farm distress and amidst BJP’s attempts to enlarge its presence in South India, a similar repayment for the favour by ASEAN leaders will be political suicide.India has taken a position of violation of sovereignty with regards to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), thus shutting itself out from the project. This may not turn out to be a costly error because Pakistan’s capacity to sustain the required ecosystem for CPEC is uncertain.  However, ASEAN countries are old hands in the world of free economy and the route to India’s partial redemption from unemployment and want lies through these nations.China, however, is the elephant in the room. It cannot be ignored because of its dominant position in ASEAN’s trading calculus. South Block has a lot of political ground to recover and demonstrate flexibility to get into the game in ASEAN.India’s school headmaster approach with smaller neighbours like the Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan has already encountered a blow back. The joint photo event with heads of all SAARC countries during Modi’s swearing-in ceremony is now an embarrassing memory. It later emerged that some SAARC leaders were miffed because they felt used. ASEAN, like SAARC, is too critical to be permitted to suffer a similar fate. The security wallahs need to loosen their grip on India’s foreign policy apparatus if the Indo-ASEAN summit is not to end up as another lost opportunity.

sandeep4731@gmail.com

A US think-tank, Stratfor, has released satellite images of air bases of both countries and said the images were of this month. Photo courtesy: Stratfor

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 27

Despite having announced disengagement at the Doklam Plateau,  India and China have continued with a build-up of military resources on either side.The armies of the two nations were locked in a 73-day (June 16 to August 28, 2017) stand-off at Doklam — the tri-junction of Bhutan, India and China.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)A US-based think tank, Stratfor, has released satellite images of airbases of both countries and said “the imagery confirms that both China and India are pursuing a wide-ranging strategic build-up that has only accelerated in the wake of the August agreement (to dis-engage)”.The report ‘Preparing for a rematch at the top of the world’ was released just hours ahead of the Republic Day parade in New Delhi.The think tank said it had analysed four critical airbases, two Chinese and two Indian, that are within range of the Doklam Plateau. It says “…greater level of activity is visible from the imagery of the Chinese airbases near Lhasa (330 km north of Doklam) and Shigatse”. Beijing has added air defence missiles and made a new runaway in December at Shigatse, 225 km north of Doklam, says the report. It also holds deployments of KJ-500 airborne early warning and command aircraft, components of the HQ-9 long-range surface-to-air missile system and Soar Dragon unmanned aerial vehicles. The Chinese made a number of major airfield upgrades at Shigatse after the end of the crisis. Besides the runaway, aircraft aprons measuring 41m by 70m were built along the main taxiway and eight helipads were set up in the northeast corner of the airfield. This construction, along with the deployment of new equipment in  greater numbers, highlights how China has undertaken a serious effort to improve its capabilities close to the LAC. China’s lack of airbases close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC)  forces it to concentrate more of its air power at these bases. The imagery of the two airbases shows a significant presence of fighter aircraft (which peaked in October) and a notable increase in helicopters.On the Indian side of the border, imagery of the Bagdogra airbase and the Hasimara Air Force Station has been released. “It depicts how India has moved to reinforce its air power close to the Doklam Plateau,” says Stratfor.The Indian Air Force has greatly increased the deployment of Su-30MKI warplanes to these airbases as can be seen from the imagery, says the report.The Su-30MKI is India’s premier fighter jet, and it will soon be capable of striking land targets with the advanced BrahMos cruise missile. The dispatch of these top-of-the-line Indian jets and airfield improvements at both stations highlight India’s determination to improve its force structure near the Doklam Plateau, the report said.

Seminar on issues pertaining to medicine procurement under the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme #ECHS was held at Command Hospital #WesternCommand. The seminar was attended by Lt Gen Surinder Singh #ArmyCommander #WesternComd, Veterans & other military dignitaries.