Following specific information about militants’ presence the security forces started a cordon and search operation at Gahand village. Tribune file

Tribune News Service
Srinagar, April 13

Two militants were killed as a gunfight broke out between security forces and militants in Shopian district on Saturday.

Following specific information about militants’ presence the security forces started a cordon and search operation at Gahand village and as they tightened the cordon, the hiding militants fired triggering the encounter.

The two slain militants were affiliated with Jaish-e-Mohammad and were identified as Abid Wagay of Rawalpora Shopian and Shahjahan Mir a resident of Amshepora Shopian.

“They were wanted by law for their complicity in a series of terror crimes including attack on security establishments and civilian atrocities,” a police spokesman in Srinagar said. With IANS 

New Delhi: Rear Admiral Mahesh Singh NM on Saturday assumed charge as Flag Officer Commanding Karnataka Naval Area (FOK) at a ceremonial parade at Karwar. Details and pictures from the ceremony have been shared on the official Twitter account of the Spokesperson of the Indian Navy.

SpokespersonNavy

✔@indiannavy

Rear Admiral Mahesh Singh, NM assumes charge as Flag Officer Commanding Karnataka Naval Area (FOK) at a ceremonial parade at Karwar.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, he was commissioned into the #IndianNavy in Jan 1987 & is a Navigation & Direction specialist 1/n

His notable sea appointments include commissioning crew of INS Akshay and Jyoti, Executive Officer of Frigate Tabar and Command of missile vessel INS Nirghat during Op Vijay, MCGS Vigilante whilst on deputation to Government of Mauritius and the LPD INS Jalashwa 2/n

Rear Admiral Mahesh Singh is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and was commissioned into the Indian Navy in 1987 and is a Navigation and Direction specialist.

He has commissioned the crew of INS Akshay and Jyoti and also served as the Executive Officer of Frigate Tabar and Command of missile vessel INS Nirghat during Operation Vijay, MCGS Vigilante while on deputation to Government of Mauritius and the LPD INS Jalashwa.

Rajouri, June 16

Sector Headquarters Rashtriya Rifles (RR), under the aegis of Counter Insurgency Romeo Force, on Sunday organised a function at Manjakot in Rajouri district to felicitate former servicemen and Veer Naris. A medical camp was also organised on the occasion.

Maj Gen PS Bajwa, GOC, Romeo Force, inaugurated the event. Brig Akhilesh Kumar, Commander, 13 Sector Headquarters, was also present at the function.

A spokesman for the Romeo Force said about 286 ex-servicemen, Veer Naris and dependents of the martyrs attended the function. About 308 persons, including locals, were provided treatment at the medical camp, organised at the venue by 43 Rashtriya Rifles Battalion. — OC

Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, March 27

Residents of Tigra village blocked traffic on the Yamunanagar bypass, part of the Yamunanagar-Panchkula national highway, near Karera village on Wednesday after an Army man was crushed to death by a truck.

The protesters blamed police officials deputed at a police post situated near the Karera chowk for the death of Naseeb Singh (25) of Tigra village, who was a sepoy in 72 Engineer Regiment of the Army.

They alleged the accident occurred due to the negligence of police officials, who tried to stop him to check his motorcycle documents. He had come home on leave.

Shiv Kumar, a family member of the deceased, lodged a police complaint, demanding action against police officials responsible for his death.

The complainant said Naseeb Singh was going to Jathlana village. When he reached near Karera chowk, two traffic cops and Home Guard personnel were checking overloaded trucks.

“When policemen and Home Guard personnel tried to stop Naseeb Singh, he lost control over the motorcycle, fell down and was crushed under a truck,” said the complainant.

The accident took place around 12.30 pm. As soon as the information of the accident reached deceased’s village, his family and other villagers reached the spot.

They allegedly created ruckus and demanded action against the police and the truck driver. Later, they blocked the national highway.

After getting information of the blockade, officials and Radaur MLA Shyam Singh Rana reached the spot and persuaded the protesters to lift the blockade. However, they lifted the blockade in the evening when the body reached the village after the post-mortem.

DSP Kushal Pal said the matter would be investigated and action would be taken against those responsible.

Playing an all-too-familiar tape, Pakistan has claimed that no terror camps exist on 22 ‘pin locations’ shared by India. A month after India handed over a dossier with details of Jaish-e-Mohammed’s (JeM’s) complicity in the Pulwama attack and the presence of JeM terror camps and its leadership in the neighbouring country, Pakistan says it has found no evidence to prosecute 50-odd persons who were detained in connection with the February 14 terror strike. For the record, these suspects had included JeM chief Masood Azhar’s son and brother. After having denied access to the media to the area where the Balakot airstrikes took place on February 26, Pakistan has finally expressed willingness to allow visits — on request — to the locations. These spots have in all probability been duly ‘sanitised’ over the past month. Indian investigators are not likely to find even a shred of credible proof there, as sought by the wily neighbour.

Though these are ‘preliminary’ findings, India can’t expect the outcome to change once the investigation is complete. If Pakistan is sincere about taking its purported counter-terror operations to their logical conclusion, it should throw open the doors of its seminaries, some of which are notorious as breeding grounds for terrorists. This should have been done right after the Pulwama outrage. The reluctance has undone Pakistan’s efforts, already half-hearted, to convince the international community about its intentions to tackle terror.

Amid the jingoistic din raised by a section of the media, credible journalists with an unbiased approach could have shown the true picture to the world, but they were denied the opportunity. Creating a smokescreen has laid bare Pakistan’s agenda to shield the perpetrators of the Pulwama attack, for which the JeM had promptly claimed responsibility. India can go on providing evidence to Pakistan, but it will all be like water off a duck’s back. The fact that Pakistan has laughably identified ‘social media content’ as the basis for India’s documents makes it obvious that this probe is being stage-managed by the deep state.

Participants at the national convention-cum-reunion of the War Decorated India in Chandimandir on Friday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR

Maha Vir Chakra recipient the late Brig KS Chandpuri’s widow Surinder Kaur Chandpuri and son Hardip Chandpuri (right) being felicitated by Lt Gen GS Sihota (retd) during the national convention-cum-reunion of the War Decorated India in Chandimandir on Friday.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 15

The two-day national convention-cum-reunion of the War Decorated India (WDI) began at Chandimandir Military Station today. Gallantry award recipients from various parts of the country and next of kin of deceased war heroes attended the event.

Tributes were paid to the recently departed members of the association and war widows were honoured on the occasion. The election of the association president, nomination of executive committee members and issues relating to gallantry awardees and their welfare were part of the agenda. As tales of heroism flowed, old camaraderie was reignited.

The WDI was set up in 1991 to serve as a platform for strengthening camaraderie among the war heroes, further their cause and to provide them any assistance in times of need. Its members consist of recipients of gallantry awards won in the face of the enemy that include the Victoria Cross and Military Cross of the pre-Independence era and the Param Vir Chakra (PVC), Maha Vir Chakra and Vir Chakra, which were instituted post-Independence.

Chief of Staff, Western Command, Lt Gen PN Bali, addressed the gathering. He said the serving military men drew inspiration from the bravehearts who fought valiantly for the motherland and in the process many had laid down their lives.

The convention is held once in four years. The event this time was relatively a low-key affair with lesser number of participants as compared with past occasions as the number of war heroes has been dwindling over the years.

Among the Victoria Cross awardees, relatives of the Late Nb Sub Nand Singh of the Sikh Regiment, Late Sub Ram Sarup Singh of the Punjab Regiment and Late Badlu Singh of the Jat Lancers were felicitated. Dhano Devi, wife of Late Col Hoshiar Singh of the Grenadiers and daughter of Late Sub Joginder Singh of the Sikh Regiment, both of whom were decorated with the Param Vir Chakra, the nation’s highest gallantry award, was also honoured.

Col Hoshiar Singh was awarded the PVC for his actions while establishing a bridgehead across the Basantar river and repulsing enemy attacks in the Shakargarh Sector during the 1971 Indo-Pak War, while Sub Joginder Singh had led his troops in the face of the enemy despite being heavily outnumbered and defended his post near Bum La in the north-east until he was wounded and captured during the 1962 Sino-Indian War.

Sub Nand Singh’s son, Ripu Daman, who was attending the convention for the first time, pointed out that the names of Indian Victoria Cross recipients did not find a place in the newly constructed National War Memorial in the Capital.

Among those present was Lt Col (Dr) Virendra Sahi, a Vir Chakra recipient form the Battle of Laleali in the Chhamb Sector in December 1971. He had killed a Pakistani officer, who was physically much larger, in hand-to-hand combat after his weapon had jammed. Pakistani troops under the command of a major were able to gain a foothold on the forward tip of the Laleali post that resulted in a hand-to-hand combat between Indian and Pakistani soldiers. Sahi, who was also then a Major commanding an infantry company, had sent a handwritten citation to Pakistan, detailing his opponent’s actions.

Claims have been made that the Balakot airstrikes were intended to be a strategic step to deliver a strong message and isolate Pakistan. However, any such step has to be followed by other measures by other countries to debar Pakistan from every possible venue. Nothing concrete has been achieved so far.

Vappala Balachandran 
Former Special Secy, Cabinet Secretariat

THE discordant national security discourse after the Pulwama and Balakot incidents is denigrating our armed forces. Widespread exultation over the achievements of our Air Force in Balakot, its heroic resistance to Pakistan’s air aggression and the shooting down of their F-16 have been drowned out by a cacophony of opposing dialectics, including controversies triggered by the ruling party.

The first instance was on March 1 when BJP MP Subramanian Swamy tweeted that ‘just seven persons’ had ‘conceptualised’ the Balakot bombing. His list did not include Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. This made people wonder how our armed forces could operate without their minister’s knowledge. Then came BJP president Amit Shah’s claim during an election rally that over 250 terrorists were killed in the Balakot airstrikes. He criticised the opposition parties for demanding proof of the deaths. This provoked the Congress to say that the BJP was politicising the armed forces. This and other interventions forced the Air Force Chief to draw the red line: “Government counts casualties, not us.” By implication, he conveyed that the Air Force was given targets, which they hit successfully. “We hit the target… otherwise why would they (Pakistan) have responded?”

Since then, all efforts of BJP spokespersons have been to justify the remarks of their president by quoting different sources, named or unnamed. No official figures have been released by the government so far. Simultaneously, the foreign media has been relentless in reporting the Pakistani version that no damage was caused. The opposition parties also complained that the Prime Minister was revealing details during public meetings, not officially. 

That did not prevent leaks from secret operational intelligence, collected by our National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO), from appearing in the media. It was claimed that the NTRO had detected 300 active mobile phones in Balakot area before the airstrikes. No explanation for why the media was given this secret information unofficially was forthcoming. Simultaneously, an investigation by a leading Indian weekly found that residents of Balakot and police officials in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) were admitting that the IAF strikes had resulted in military casualties too, “not just destruction of terror infrastructure and militants.”  If this is so, why is the government reluctant to reveal these details, which would only strengthen the official version?

It is true that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh had indirectly confirmed the NTRO story when confronted by the media during a BSF function on March 5: “Were these mobile phones used by the trees? Will you not believe the NTRO also?” He added that the number of dead at the Jaish training camp would be known “today or tomorrow”. Still, no official account was published. 

At times, the BJP’s dialogue resembled egregious politics descending to the street level when ministers spoke about the dissenters. On March 6, Minister of State for External Affairs and former Army Chief VK Singh called critics and journalists as jonk (leeches).

Such remarks made the Opposition hit back. On March 11, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah made a frontal charge that the airstrikes were aimed at “winning the Lok Sabha elections”. The next day, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee alleged that the Centre was “stretching the elections till May-end for another strike in April”. Simultaneously, a Central investigating agency appears to be pitting the entire Muslim population in the Valley against New Delhi. The National Investigation Agency’s (NIA’s) recent summons to Hurriyat Chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq to come to New Delhi have united all 20 disparate Muslim religious groups behind him as he represents Srinagar’s Grand Mosque, a 300-year-old institution.

Claims have been made that the Balakot airstrikes were intended to be a strategic step of escalation to deliver a strong message and isolate Pakistan. However, any such strategic step has to be followed by other measures by other countries to debar Pakistan from every possible venue. Unfortunately, nothing concrete has been achieved so far. As regards compelling Pakistan to give up its support to terrorists, all we could earn so far is a message from US National Security Adviser (NSA) John Bolton about his talk with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who had assured to “deal firmly with terrorist groups operating from the country”.

To me, the Balakot strikes were as spectacular as the US bombing of Libya on April 15, 1986. Both conveyed the message, but did not have any strategic impact on the target country. Former CIA Director Robert Gates, who was then President Ronald Reagan’s Deputy National Security Adviser, writes in his memoirs From the Shadows that there was no consensus in the National Security Council (NSC) on the bombing, although the Reagan administration was ‘obsessed’ with Gaddafi from 1981. Secretary of State George P Shultz was clearly against it. Gaddafi was a bigger threat to world peace than even Pakistan, having supplied munitions to the Provisional Irish Republican Army. The immediate provocation was Gaddafi’s bomb attack on a Berlin discotheque patronised by American troops on April 5, 1986, killing 2 Americans, besides a missile attack on a US Air Force plane in the Gulf of Sidra on March 24, 1986.

Seymour Hersh, in his New York Times piece ‘Target Qaddafi’ (February 22, 1987), claims that the entire planning was done by a clandestine group in the NSC led by Col Oliver North, keeping senior NSC members, including Shultz, in the dark. (Do we see a parallel here if we were to believe Subramanian Swamy?) North came to grief only in 1988 for a similar illegal intervention in the 1987 Iran-Contra Affair.

Did the bombing stop Gaddafi in his tracks? No, he executed a much bigger attack by planting a bomb on Pan Am Frankfurt-Detroit Flight 103, killing 270 persons, on December 21, 1988. Gaddafi was killed over two decades later on October 20, 2011, during the Libyan Civil War