NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Centre’s decision to sack two senior naval officers — Commander Vijendra Rana and Commander V K Jha — for alleged involvement in the Navy war room leak case.

The officers were removed from service after a board of inquiry (BoI) held that they were involved in providing sensitive information regarding defence forces to outside agencies. The 2005 case involved leak of over 7,000 pages of sensitive defence information from the Navy War Room and the Air Headquarters, with a direct bearing on national security.

The leak of sensitive information came to light in May 2005 when an officer was found in possession of an unauthorised pen drive containing secrets of defence forces. An informal inquiry was held and Rana and Jha were found to be likely conduits. An BoI was convened and it was held that the officers had become undesirable and their sacking was recommended. The Centre accepted the recommendation and dismissed them on October 26, 2005.

A bench of Justices Dipak Misra, A M Khanwilkar and M M Shantanagoudar, however, found no merit in their petition and upheld the Centre’s decision.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 23

State Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh today warned of a serious law and order problem in the “old Naxalite and hardliners’ belt of southern Punjab” if the SYL canal was completed without taking into account the ground realities. Pointing to the huge infrastructural cost involved in the construction, which would all come to naught if there was no water found subsequently to share with the neighbouring states, Amarinder urged the Supreme Court to take cognisance of the situation in terms of water availability and quantum in Punjab. Reacting to Abhay Chautala’s threat not to allow any Punjab leader to enter Haryana, Amarinder termed it a desperate bid to revive the INLD following today’s “flop show”.He welcomed the apex court’s directive on maintaining law and order.

SYL march ends in symbolic dig

20 INLD lawmakers held after border halt by Punjab cops, sent to Patiala jai

INLD workers taking up symbolic digging of a road near the Shambhu barrier on Thursday. Manoj Mahajan

Naveen S Garewal & Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 23

The Indian National Lok Dal’s (INLD) attempt to dig the defunct Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal ended in the arrest of two party MPs, 18 MLAs and 73 workers as they tried to cross over into Punjab via the Shambhu barrier today.The “Jal Yudh Sammelan”, planned for over a month, ended without any violence with half-a-dozen INLD workers performing symbolic digging at the Punjab-Haryana border (instead of the canal), after the Punjab Police effectively sealed all routes to the canal.Following a Supreme Court directive to both states to maintain law and order, the security agencies in Haryana repeatedly announced on loudspeakers asking INLD workers not to breach the law and return.Unwilling to relent, the INLD workers broke three cordons, manned by a handful of personnel, of the Haryana Police. They were, however, stopped in their tracks by the Punjab Police before they could cross the barricading.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)To prevent any untoward incident, the Punjab Police told Haryana Leader of the Opposition Abhay Chautala, INLD chief Ashok Arora and other leaders to cooperate.The police told the INLD rank and file that unless they vacated the area within 10 minutes, they would be arrested as failure to leave the area would amount to violation of Section 144 (prohibiting assembly of five or more at one place) of the Criminal Procedure Code.All through it was apparent the Shiromani Akali Dal-led coalition government in Punjab had instructed the state police not to use force.The Punjab Police personnel offered bottled drinking water to the protesters even as they minded them not to get close to the sharp iron barricading.The INLD first held a rally at the Sabzi Mandi in Ambala and then marched towards the Shambhu barrier, 2 km east of the rally site. On the way, the Haryana Police had set up three lines of defence. Each was easily breached by the protesters, though warnings were issued by the civil administration of Ambala. The protesters stopped only when they reached Punjab’s first line of defence. Punjab Police asked the protesters to leave the area within 10 minutes or face arrest.Chautala, while addressing supporters in front of the barricading, asked them to turn away after symbolic digging with spades. He soon made a U-turn and requested the Punjab Police to let them march into the neighbouring territory peacefully. He asked his party workers to climb down from the barricading. While some workers turned around, Chautala persisted with his request for allowing senior party leaders to enter Punjab peacefully.The police then arrested 93 protesters — two party MPs, 18 MLAs and 73 workers — and made arrangements for early resumption of traffic on the Ludhiana-Ambala highway. Traffic remained suspended on the highway for around 12 hours. While traffic was diverted, many stranded commuters were seen walking across the Ghaggar bridge carrying their luggage.Those arrested were taken away in two private buses and produced in the court of Rajpura Sub-Divisional Magistrate, who remanded them in judicial custody till February 27. All those arrested have been sent to the Patiala Central Jail.The Punjab Police monitored the situation using modern equipment, including drones fitted with cameras. Aerial surveillance was conducted every few minutes. Besides, 10 companies of paramilitary forces and nearly 5,000 policemen were deployed.The dispute between Punjab and Haryana is currently pending adjudication in the Supreme Court, which has directed both states and the Government of India to ensure peace. Punjab has been maintaining it has no water to spare.Traffic hit for 12 hrsTraffic remained suspended on the Ludhiana-Ambala stretch of the national highway for around 12 hours. The movement of traffic was restored around 9 pm after remaining suspended since 9 am. While traffic was diverted to alternative routes, many commuters were seen walking across the Ghaggar bridge, carrying their luggage over to the other side 

Avoid confrontation

SYL requires a cooling down and rethink

The immediate challenge before the governments in Punjab and Haryana is to maintain law and order in view of the INLD’s call for a march to the Punjab border to dig the controversial SYL link canal. The Supreme Court has asserted that the canal cannot be delayed further. The INLD posturing is political, aimed at preserving its shrinking political base with the Chautala father-son duo in jail. The Punjab Police has wisely averted a possible showdown by not letting All-India Sikh Student Federation activists reach the site of the INLD protest. Though the Haryana government has allowed Chautala men to gather and stage their political drama, it cannot afford to let them cross the line for a peaceful democratic protest.The more difficult challenge is for Punjab to implement the stern Supreme Court directive: build the canal whether or not there is water to carry. There is almost a political consensus in the state as was reflected in the Assembly resolution and the Congress resignations that Punjab has not a drop of additional river water to spare for Haryana. Over the years all the ruling political parties have failed to put up a convincing case for the state either in court or outside. A politically acceptable and saleable solution was possible with the BJP in power at the Centre, in Haryana and in a coalition with the Akali Dal but electorally milking the water issue seemed more important than finding a lasting solution.  The past aggressive political posturing on the SYL would make the new government in Punjab less flexible and possibly pit it against the apex court. Already the Centre has taken a pro-Haryana stance in the Supreme Court and it is expected to be less cooperative if Punjab gets a non-Akali Dal government. Punjab will have to rebuild and reposition its case, based on sound legal facts rather than adopt the path of confrontation or cry victimhood. Courts or tribunals rule on the issue at hand on the basis of legal arguments backed by evidence. In the long run the larger issue for both states is how to cut waste and manage efficiently the existing water resources.

NEWDELHI: For India, the RussiaChina-Pakistan trilateral on Afghanistan was an uncomfortable proposition for some time.

But after joining the format along with Afghanistan, Iran, New Delhi has found a forum to highlight its concerns.

“We had certain concerns and wanted Afghanistan on the talking table and it did happen. What was agreed upon was also to our satisfaction,” said a source. Officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, China and India attended the discussion on Afghanistan on February 15. Sources said regional powers need to focus on “terrorism getting sustenance” from Pakistan.“The proper regional representation is good to have a frank discussion on the issue. There can be no two voices on fighting terrorism and no one accepts that violence will have to continue even as efforts are being made ,” sources said.

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New Delhi, February 13

The National Security Guard (NSG) has ordered scrapping of the practice of holding separate induction courses for trainee commandos from the Army and the paramilitary to raise a more lethal and “composite” squad of elite soldiers.The NSG, acronymed the “black cats” and raised in 1984, will also now see trainees from the two forces sweating and dining together during the gruelling training sessions to forge a better camaraderie while on task. Till now, the officers and men from the two forces used to have separate three-month induction courses upon joining, even lodging and meals done separately.“If they (commandos) can work together, they can be trained together as well. Indeed that would be a step in the right direction,” NSG DG SP Singh reasoned in a communication sent to all his strike formations (hubs) and force commanders.  “I do not see any cogent and convincing reason for holding the Commando Conversion Course for Army and CAPFs personnel separately.”— PTI

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 10

Almost 17 years after the Kargil Review Committee (KRC) spoke about integration of the armed forces personnel with the Ministry of Defence (MoD), the ministry now wants subject experts from the three services on crucial posts presently manned by the bureaucracy.This is part of the ongoing integration-cum-restructuring exercise in the MoD. The exercise has four clear dimensions—right-sizing of manpower to cut down growing costs of salaries and pensions; integrating the services with the MoD; speeding up procurement of new weapons and balancing the budget to provide more for firepower.Sources said an internal committee of the MoD today submitted its observations on what all could be implemented towards right-sizing suggested by the high-powered Lt Gen DB Committee. A report of the Shekatkar committee was submitted to Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on December 21 last year. It talks about enhancing the combat potential of the armed forces and re-balancing the defence expenditure. It has recommended a series of measures to trim, redeploy and integrate manpower under the MoD to have an effective military. The committee has laid down a path to reduce expenses by Rs 25,000 crore over the next five-years.For integration of the services, the MoD has identified several posts at the middle level in the ministry that can be manned by officers from the three armed forces—the Army, the IAF and the Navy. “These people will be subject and domain experts on equipment,” said a senior functionary.On speeding up procurement, yesterday a committee headed by Dr Pritam Singh (former Director IIM-Lucknow) submitted its report on setting up of a defence procurement organisation. This will shorten the lengthy procurement process that takes years to identify what all is needed. 

Capt Tushar Mahajan

Deepanker Gupta

Udhampur, February 9

Thousands of residents today paid tributes to Captain Tushar Mahajan on his first death anniversary. His family members, however, said all promises made by the authorities after their son’s death remained unfulfilled till date.A year ago, Captain Tushar Mahajan of the Army’s 10 Para (Special Forces) had laid down his life fighting three to five holed up terrorists at Pampore where he attained martyrdom.Several promises, including renaming of Udhampur railway station by his name, installation of statue of the Shaurya Chakra awardee in Udhampur city and constructing a mountain park in his name were announced by political leaders at the time of his death but none has turned into reality till date.Tushar’s father Dev Raj Gupta said, “It is a matter of pride for my family that our son gave up his life for the nation. Before my son’s martyrdom, I was known as a retired lecturer but after his sacrifice, I am proud to be called Tushar’s father. Today, after a year, as thousands have come to pay their tributes, all of them are proud of my son.”He said, “We know that renaming of the railway station and installation of my son’s statue will not bring him back but it will help in keeping his story alive. We still hope that political leaders will soon fulfil their promises. It is sad that the state government was reluctant to write a letter to the Ministry of Railways recommending that the Udhampur railway station be renamed as Capt Tushar Mahajan Railway Station.”

Tej Bahadur Yadav

New Delhi, February 9

The wife of a BSF jawan, who had gone public alleging poor quality food being served, today filed a habeas corpus plea in the Delhi High Court claiming that her husband was untraceable for the past three days.BSF jawan Tej Bahadur Yadav had on January 9 posted a video on Facebook showing a meal box comprising a watery soup-like dal, which he said had only turmeric and salt and a burnt chapatti.He had said this was what jawans were served at mealtime on duty at places, including the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan, and that jawans often went to bed on an empty stomach.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Pursuant to the video going viral on the social media, the Prime Minister’s Office had sought a detailed report.A PIL was also filed in the Delhi High Court seeking a direction to the government to depute higher officers to supervise cooking and its distribution.It sought a status report on the quality of food served to soldiers along the LoC. It had also directed BSF to produce the investigation report and the steps taken with regard to the allegations levelled.Now less than a month after the PIL was filed, Yadav’s wife has sought a probe into his disappearance as well as the recent rejection of his plea for voluntary retirement. — PTI 

VVPATs had developed a snag at some places

KV Prasad

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, February 7

The Election Commission on Tuesday announced repolling in 48 polling stations falling in Majitha, Muktsar and Sangrur assembly segments in Punjab. It will be held on February 9, Thursday.At many polling stations, the VVPATs and EVMs had reportedly developed a snag.The repolling will be held at 16 polling stations for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat.

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Also read: Why repolling when we don’t want it: Bikram Singh MajithiaAs far as Assembly seats are concerned, it will be held at 12 polling stations in Majitha, one in Moga, nine in Muktsar, four in Sardulgarh and six polling stations in Sangrur.The repolling will be held from 8 am to 5 pm.The EC order said the repolling would uphold the integrity of the electoral process.

The Election Commission said that at some places polling was interrupted as VVPAT machines and EVMs had malfunctioned. Of 24,697 Ballot Units and 24,256 Control Units used in Punjab 180 BUs and 184 CUs failed during the poll, the EC added.

The Election Commission had even sought a report from the state election authorities about the malfunctioning of VVPATs which caused delayed in voting.After VVPATs developed snag, AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister had attacked the Election Commission and tweeted, “Never has any election seen malfunctioning EVMs on such a large scale. Was it mischief done deliberately by or in collusion with EC?”AAP leader Sanjay Singh had even raised the matter with Punjab CEO, demanding extension in time where polling was affected because of VVPAT problem.Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) generates a receipt and allow people to verify if the vote went in favour of the candidate against whose name the button was pressed on the EVM. — With agency inputs

Why repolling when we don’t want it: Bikram Singh Majithia

Bikram Singh Majithia.

Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 7

The Election Commission on Tuesday drew flak from leaders over the issue of repolling in 48 polling stations falling in Majitha, Muktsar and Sangrur Assembly segments following malfunctioning in the Voter-Verified Audit Paper Trail (VVPAT) and EVMs on February 4.The repolling will take place on February 9.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Akali candidate Bikram Singh Majithia from Majitha constituency said he was surprised that the EC had ordered repolling as most of the booths listed had recorded upto 90 per cent votes.”I don’t understand the logic behind the repolling. On poll day, we sought extension of time for voting due to a snag in the VVPAT machines. It was denied. Now after three days, the repolling has been ordered. It is a one-way communication. The EC needs to explain. None of the candidates in Majitha had sought repolling,” he  said.                 Majithia said they had said no for repolling after the EC had sought a report from the state election authorities on the malfunctioning of VVPATs, which caused delay in voting.SAD rebel Sukhdarshan Singh Mrar, who contested as an Independent from Muktsar, said: “There is no need for repolling. When no candidate has raised any objection then why the EC has ordered repolling.”

On repoll in Majitha, AAP candiadate Himmat Singh Shergill said he would start doing door to door campaign in the areas that will go to polls again.

He said: I don’t want to comment on EC orders. It is done now. I don’t want to waste even one minute of my door to door campaigning. I was winning the seat. The repoll will increase the victory margin.”Meanwhile, the Sangrur DC has called a meeting of officers to prepare for repolling.AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Saturday attacked the Election Commission and tweeted, “Never has any election seen malfunctioning EVMs on such a largescale. Was it mischief done deliberately by or in collusion with EC.”AAP leader Sanjay Singh had raised the matter with the Punjab CEO, demanding extension in time where polling was affected because of the VVPAT problem.

Challenge of a third player in Punjab politics

Pritam Singh
In Punjab, the AAP has risen as a third alternative on the ruins of Punjab’s parliamentary Left, the brutal suppression of the Naxalite movement in the early 1970s and the Sikh militant movement in the 1990s. The AAP has given a political platform to those who were alienated from both the Congress and the SAD.

POLL FURY: AAP supporters during a roadshow while campaigning in Amritsar. Tribune Photo: Vishal Kumar

PUNJAB’S election scene was both annoying and fascinating. It was annoying because confronted with the enormity of the task Punjab faces due to its stunted development, we saw cheap tricks, theatrics and personal insults in the course of electioneering. One must appreciate at least two political leaders, Parkash Singh Badal and Dharamvir Gandhi, who  thankfully stuck to civilised language and decorum during campaigning for the polls. Despite this annoyance, the election scene was still fascinating because for the first time, the duopoly of political rule in Punjab has been challenged by a third player, that is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).  This will, hopefully, strengthen democracy by enabling Punjabis to widen their political choices and not be forced to choose only between two rivals — the Shiromani Akali Dal and the Congress party.Historically, once there did emerge the possibility of a Left alternative, in the 1950s and in a modified form until 1980. In the 1957 assembly elections in the erstwhile Punjab, 13.6 per cent voters had voted for the Communist Party and 1.3 per cent for the Praja Socialist Party, thus taking the combined Left vote to 15 per cent. If we confine ourselves only to the constituencies which fall in the present-day Punjab, this vote was around 25 per cent. Every fourth voter had then voted for the Left.  Outside parliamentary politics, the Naxalite movement in Punjab in the late 1960s and the early 1970s attracted the brightest and idealistic Punjabi youth to its fold. The parliamentary Left too maintained a good position so much so that for the Assembly elections in 1980, the Akali Dal-CPI-CPM combine narrowly missed capturing power in Punjab. It is tempting to imagine that had that coalition won, the politics of Punjab might have followed a different historical course with  consequences for Indian politics. Until then, the Punjabi Leftists were reasonably successful in combining their roots in Punjab’s egalitarian Sikh traditions with modern socialism.  The parliamentary Left damaged itself after 1984 when instead of following its reputable political philosophy of standing with the oppressed; it became an ally of the establishment while there were massive human rights violations taking place in the rural areas of Punjab. Every movement has its soul and when that soul is lost, the death of the movement is inevitable. The degeneration of the parliamentary Left leadership led to its two elected CPI MLAs in 2002 being lured into the Congress by the then Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. The final demise of this Left alternative was symbolised by its complete absence in the Punjab legislature since 2007.The AAP has risen as a third alternative in Punjab on the ruins of Punjab’s parliamentary Left and the brutal suppression of the Naxalite movement in the early 1970s and of the Sikh militant movement in the 1990s. It is this specific Punjab link that is central to resolving the puzzle that a party with no Punjabi in its central leadership managed to win 4 out of 13 Lok Sabha seats from Punjab in 2014. It not only lost every seat it contested elsewhere in the country but 414 out of the 434 candidates fielded forfeited their security deposits. This stunning performance in Punjab also contributed significantly to its spectacular success in the Delhi Assembly elections in February, 2015. Then Left sympathisers and Sikh activists had actively campaigned for the AAP in Delhi.The suppression of the Naxalite movement in Punjab involved physical liquidation of nearly 100 activists in “encounters” and imprisonment, torture, abuse, harassment and monetary exploitation of thousands of sympathisers. The suppression of this movement left thousands of families broken, discontented, helpless and angry. This network of families and activists had virtually no political home in the existing political parties. The rise of the AAP since 2013/2014 has provided them a platform of hope. Unleashing of the dormant energies of these activists had played a crucial part in the AAP’s electoral victories in 2014, particularly in the Faridkot and Sangrur constituencies and to a lesser extent in the Patiala constituency where Dr Gandhi defeated the Congress candidate Perneet Kaur. These constituencies formed areas where the Naxalite movement had had a substantial following, especially among the youth.The suppression of the Sikh militant movement in the 1980s and 1990s was even wider and deeper than the Naxalite movement. It affected hundreds of thousands of families whose members were liquidated by the security forces or tortured, humiliated or subjected to extortion. A substantial section of the Sikh population was disgruntled and rebellious but without an obvious political home. At one stage, these angry masses supported the Simranjeet Singh Mann-led Akali Dal candidates, leading to massive victories of those candidates to the Lok Sabha in 1989. However, Mann’s inability to organise this support in a sustainable manner led to this discontented mass migrating almost  en bloc in its support to the AAP. The election in 2014 of Harinder Singh Khalsa from Fatehgarh Sahib showed the strength of this stream of the AAP’s support base.The other components in the AAP’s support base include idealistic youth opposed to corruption from the urban Hindu middle class, a section of the Dalits and the diaspora. The AAP’s potential as a third alternative has been weakened by its organisational blunders such as expelling its founding Punjab convener Chhottepur and political blunders such as superimposing the image of the jharoo over that of Golden Temple in its publicity material.  Despite these blunders, the AAP remains a substantial player in Punjab’s electoral politics. It does not have the organisational network that the Akali Dal has but it has fully exploited the Akali Dal’s vulnerability on the government’s mishandling of the desecrations of Shri Guru Granth Sahib. As far as the Congress is concerned, it has nothing to show except Amarinder Singh as a popular leader.One significant political outcome from the AAP’s foray into Punjab is that the issue of Punjab politics being governed by Punjab politicians and not Delhi-based centralised leaders has acquired a level of importance never seen before. All political parties are being forced to underplay the role of their central leaders and to project greater decision-making powers to their state-based leadership. Irrespective of the outcome of this Assembly election, the lasting and valuable contribution of the highly centralised AAP to Punjab would be, paradoxically, to strengthen the regionalisation of Punjab politics.The writer is a Professor of Economics at Oxford Brookes University, UK