A workable beginning is to hold DGMO-level talks to consolidate the ceasefire and take it to agreed rules of engagement.

Lt-Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd)

India and Pakistan have decided to go back to the 2003 unwritten announcement of the ceasefire at the Line of Control (LoC) and abide by it. The LoC between India and Pakistan and the International Border (IB) in Jammu & Kashmir are witnessing peace after a long time, although a major part was not afflicted by the ceasefire violations. The Siachen and Kargil sectors have been quiet for as long as one can remember in the last 15 years. The LoC in the Kashmir segment too, although continuing to witness efforts at infiltration, has seen only limited violations. It is primarily in the areas of the LoC and the IB south of the Pir Panjal range that exchanges of fire had become a norm and many reasons can be ascribed to that. With the guns now silent, there are still misgivings among many in India as there were in the case of the decision to bring about a Ramzan-based cessation of operations in the hinterland, now in place for a little over two weeks. Their perception has to be respected too because of historical backstabbing by Pakistan. Yet, a case for peace needs to be made and supported to ameliorate the privations of the border people in the Jammu region. It will also allow stabilisation of the hinterland to calm the environment and reduce the vitriol which is always associated with ongoing violence.  There is need to examine the ceasefire and the cessation of operations in tandem with each other. The latter because of the latest very authoritative report by an intelligence agency which reveals that in the last three years, for every local terrorist neutralised in Kashmir, two have been produced through local recruitment from the vicinity of the area to which that terrorist belonged. The question most Indians are asking – how far and for how long can Pakistan be trusted, especially since the announcement by the two DGMOs of India and Pakistan makes no mention of Pakistan’s intent or otherwise of not allowing its territory to be used for targeting India?In as complex an issue as J&K and there is no gain trying to seek perfect solutions. There will be many imperfect proposals which will need to be progressively converted to workable and acceptable ones. The trust deficit with Pakistan is so huge that, perhaps, a couple of generations with prevailing normalcy will probably lead to any restoration. In this imperfect environment can India and Pakistan hope to restore some peace with steps such as implementation of ceasefire at the LoC and IB? If the 2003 ceasefire could partially succeed without any written agreement, can the latest be expected to last some time to allow peace initiatives to take shape?India needs to be clear that Pakistan’s initiative (as it is being reported) is not out of a newfound neighbourly love but borne out of compulsions. The compulsions are many; they include the upcoming Financial Action Task Force (FATF) review, grey-listing of Pakistan to see whether it has fulfilled obligations to prevent terror financing, the precarious condition of its economy which has forced devaluation of the Pakistan currency and borrowing of $1 billion from China to bolster its forex reserve which has fallen from $18 billion to $10.5 billion. Given its financial stress, Pakistan could not have sustained an escalated battle of attrition with India in LoC and IB exchanges. Yet, it had to display bravado at the IB as it did at the end. That could have backfired badly had India decided not to accept the ceasefire and in fact escalate the exchanges. Those monitoring Pakistan’s internal situation in the run-up to the elections in July 2018 would have sensed that ground was slowly being yielded. The Bajwa Doctrine was couched in vagueness to give the brokering for peace a semblance of dignity. Back channel talks were in place and the suspended Neemrana Dialogue was brought to life. The National Security Advisers (NSAs) of both countries appear to have been in touch more than the reported number of times, and for good measure. The Indian decision on cessation of operations in the hinterland did not receive a battering in Pakistani strategic circles as is the practice for most internal initiatives. A ceasefire at the LoC was on the cards. Pakistan will want this to be converted into a serious political dialogue and its diplomacy will aim at projecting itself as the promoter and initiator of peace. However, with the bitter record of Pakistan’s past deceit, the Indian government would be at odds to reinitiate anything at the political level unless certain conditions are met; it will take a fair amount of time to create those conditions. First, Pakistan’s internal polity has to be outside the ambit of uncertainty; not before late July 2018 will that happen, if at all. Second, Pakistan has to come clean on its support to terrorism by demonstrating a will to curb India-focused terror related activities on its soil or in PoK.  An indicator of any seriousness in this will be in the domain of infiltration. Third, it should display a will to bring to book those involved with the Mumbai terror attack of 26/11. This has become a sticking point, but with recent admissions of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, it is a futile course which Pakistan has followed, defending the indefensible.  India, as always, will be prepared to meet Pakistan more than half way provided there is sincerity displayed. Thus, any vision of an immediate commencement of dialogue can only be premature, but the build-up towards that direction can be ensured, provided J&K remains relatively free of violence. A workable start point is to hold DGMO talks with a proper agenda either in New Delhi or Islamabad. These should be used to flesh out the ceasefire and take it to mutually agreed rules of engagement and installation of such measures which will build confidence and trust. Lower-level communication links across the LoC in identified areas can help in putting a lid on potentially explosive situations through local contacts. However, given the history of mistrust, India should remain circumspect and continue all work at the LoC and IB to ameliorate the problems of the locally afflicted people. A constitutional body tasked with the welfare of border communities in conflict-ridden zones could be a way towards giving continuity to efforts. Construction of family bunkers was also undertaken in 2003, but the then ceasefire effectively led to the shelving of the project. National security cannot be mired in personal and political interests. Everything there has a long-term perspective, with little catering to a moment in time.

In recent years, several highly qualified youth joined militancy in Kashmir; few survived

Azhar Qadri

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, May 27

When a young man from north Kashmir disappeared into the militant underground in the first week of the year, a signature announcement followed. His photograph was released on a social media site showing him armed with an assault rifle and with a detailed description of his identity.Organisation: Hizbul Mujahideen, name: Manaan Wani, qualification: MPhil, PhD in applied geology (AMU, Aligarh). It also had Wani’s militant name, Hamzah Bhai.In the subsequent weeks of the year, the recruitment of many new militants was announced in a similar fashion and some of them stood out for their educational backgrounds.Wani was the third doctorate student to join militant ranks in recent years and also the most prominent of its educated faces as a completely new generation of ultras — nearly all of them born after the eruption of militancy in the region — took over the rank and file of insurgency.Three months after Wani’s militant picture appeared on the social media, another young man disappeared. Within days, his picture in the signature style made the bold announcement. Junaid Ashraf Sehrai, son of separatist leader Mohammad Ashraf Sehrai, was assigned the code name Ammar Bhai. The details on his militant photograph had his qualification noted, ‘MBA from University of Kashmir’.The addition of education qualifications has been acknowledged by the militant groups in most of the photographic announcements adding to their information blitz and also providing a new perspective to insurgency.The insurgency in Kashmir will complete three decades next year and its various phases include periods of shock introduction, decline, indifference and current stage of immense popularity. A senior police official said the education qualifications of new militants were in consonance with the overall increase in the literacy of society and with the increase in the number of Kashmiri youth opting for graduate and postgraduate courses. “It is alarming that educated youth are becoming militants but it is not entirely unexplainable. There is an increase in the educational standards of society and what is happening on the militancy scene is a reflection of that,” the police official said.The inclusion of highly educated youth into militant ranks first surfaced immediately after the 2010 unrest in the region, when thousands of youth participated in months of protests. The first significant case emerged of Masiullah Khan of south Kashmir’s Tral sub-district who had completed Bachelors in Technology in mechanical engineering before becoming a militant sometime in 2010 and was killed in a gunfight a year later. Khan’s joining and death had passed off unnoticed at that time. However, soon, a trickle of youth with distinctive qualifications began to disappear and appeared in militant ranks. In recent years, at least eight engineering students have joined militant ranks and six of them have been killed. The six slain militants who had studied engineering include Tral’s Masiullah Khan and Saifullah Ahangar, Srinagar’s Eisa Fazili and Kokernag’s Syed Owais who were killed in March this year, Bijbehara’s Basit Dar who was killed in December 2016 and Pulwama’s Musavir Wani who was killed last month. The recruitment of Mohammad Rafi Bhat, an assistant professor at the University of Kashmir, to the militant ranks, however, was the defining addition to the new-age insurgency. Bhat, who survived less than two days as a militant, had a doctorate in sociology and was teaching at the university on the day he disappeared. He was killed in a gunfight later.

Army wants higher intake of Short Service Commission officers to reduce salary burden

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 20

Faced with a growing salary budget, the Indian Army has moved a proposal to the Ministry of Defence to increase the intake of officers under Short Service Commission (SSC) and correspondingly reduce the number of permanent commission or regular commissioned officers.The MoD is okay with implementing the plan in phases to increase the SSC officer intake by “sweetening” the terms of employment for those who serve for either 10 years or 14 years in the Army. Sources have confirmed to The Tribune that a phased plan is in the works.At present, the ratio between permanent commission and SSC is 4:1. The Ajai Vikram Singh Committee (AVSC) envisaged a ratio of 1:1.1 between full-time regular officers and the support cadre, largely from the SSC. The move comes almost 10 years after the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) in October 2008 approved a reduction in regular cadre.The MoD is likely to agree to pay a lumpsum grant to SSC officers. The proposal is to allow two-month salary for each year of service for those completing 10 years and four-month salary for each year of service for completing 14 years.Then there is professional training to equip these youth for jobs once they leave service. The Army has suggested a year’s study course for those completing 10 years and two-year study course for those working for 14 years. This will include professional courses.The second phase of the plan includes giving ex-servicemen status and medical treatment facility as admissible to regular officers.An SSC officer ideally retires between 30 and 34 years of age, while a regular commissioned officer, even if he does not go beyond the Colonel rank, serves till 54 years of age.With these officers going out of the Army in the prime of their youth, the Army has asked the MoD to work out a plan with other ministries to allow them to take competitive civil services examinations in respective states or at the Centre. In the budget this fiscal ending March 31, 2019, salaries of the three services and civilians work out to Rs 1,18,966 crore — almost 40 per cent of the budget — and another 1.08 lakh crore is the pension bill. In other words, salaries and pensions take up more money than what is allocated for modernisation. Having SSC officers will reduce this burden.The Ministry of Defence had set up the AVSC in 2001. The report was implemented in two phases — in 2004 and 2008. Another set of recommendations on faster promotions and increase in posts at Colonel rank and above has been implemented. Ajai Vikram Singh was a former Defence Secretary.

Tribune News Service

Mandi, May 17

A veterans’ rally followed by a defence pension adalat was inaugurated by Lt Gen YVK Mohan, General Officer Commanding of the Rising Star Corps. He was accompanied by Upendra Sah, Additional Controller General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) from New Delhi, and Parveen Kumar, PCDA (P) Allahabad, at the venue.The adalat is being organised under the aegis of the Rising Star Corps, is aimed at ‘On the Spot’ redressal of grievances of defence pensioners, including defence civilians. Speaking on the occasion, Lt Gen YVK Mohan said welfare of Gaurav Senanis had been on the priority of the Indian Army, which was working to ensure that veterans were looked after well and the Rising Star Corps would remain committed towards this. He also felicitated various Veer Naris, gallantry awardees and veterans of the Mandi district.Upender Sah elaborated on various initiatives taken by the defence pension adalat in the sanction and disbursement of defence pensions. He also highlighted various steps being taken to improve the pension disbursement system. He appealed the pensioners to make full use of toll free helpline 1800-180-5321 at the Pension Cell, Allahabad, and also link their PPO (pension payment order) with Aadhar.On this occasion, various stalls were also set up to assist the veterans and facilitate general awareness on existing Central and State Government welfare schemes.

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, May 13

With the new disaster threats developed since the World War II besides the traditional disasters need to be considered and dealt with as a challenge more effectively, the army medical corps held a Continuing Medical Education-cum-workshop on the disaster and trauma management recently at the military hospital here.Lieutinent General Dushyant Singh, Corps Commander, 11 Corps, inaugurated the two-day conference. Addressing the gathering, Gen Dushyant laid emphasis on the training of delegates for disaster preparedness.Also, Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Varinder Sharma spoke on the management of the district administration to deal with any natural disaster.While informing more, Col H C Sharma, Senior registrar of the Military Hospital said the contribution by armed forces is usually made under the official arrangement for aid to civil power, as laid down in the standing operating procedures. Moreover, the military forces have a history of effective disaster response.The armed forces can offer assistance to the victims with invaluable support in engineering, communications, transport, rescue, emergency medical services, field sanitation water supply and so on.“The flexible organisational structure, capability of sustained operation in all weathers and well-trained management system of the armed forces make them particularly well-suited for effective disaster relief operations,” said Col Sharma.He added that as army is the first to provide a cohesive response during a disaster, the conference will be of immense benefit to the delegates specially those directly involved in disaster related administration and trauma care.Event on medical negligence and assault on doctors at PIMSJalandhar: The department of Medicine and Forensic Medicine jointly organised a Continuous Medical Education (CME) event at the Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Jalandhar under the aegis of Punjab Academy of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology.The CME was conducted under the Chairmanship of Dr HL Kazal (HOD) department of medicine and Dr Anju Gupta (HOD) department of forensic medicine and toxicology. The guest of honour for the event was commissioner of Police Parveen Kumar Sinha. The CME was inaugurated by the PIMS resident director, Amit Singh, Director Principal Dr Kulbir Kaur, principal secretary labour medical education and research Sanjay Kumar, along with PIMS society director Dr. Bimal Sekri, Dr Kapil Gupta (PMC), medical superintendent Dr. Kulbir Sharma, Dr HL Kazal and Dr Anju Gupta.Guest of honour CP Parveen Kumar Sinha highlighted that there should be a transparency between patient and doctor relationship. There should be a professional counselling for doctors in each hospital. He added that such cases should be immediately reported to the nearest police station and a special helpline can initiated for hospitals.Amit Singh (resident director PIMS) said the incidents like medical negligence and assault on doctors were key issues faced by medical professionals. He said in some of the cases, the kin of patients are so violent that they not only harm doctors but also destroy hospital properties. He added that the purpose of the CME is to throw some light on such issues and to stop violence against doctors.More than 300 delegates from various medical colleges and institutes attended the CME.

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