Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 1

For a decorated Army Major who lost a leg and an arm in demining operations along the India-China border over half a century ago, it has been a long and torturous battle spanning decades to get his rightful pensionary benefits.Badly wounded while clearing mines in the Sikkim Sector in July 1966, for which he was awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry and declared a battle casualty, Maj Jasbeer Singh was discharged from the Army in September 1978 after aggravation of his injuries made it impossible for serving further. However, he was granted disability pension instead of the higher war injury pension.After concerted efforts, the government sanctioned him war injury pension in August 2016, but implemented it with effect from July 2013, the date of one of his representations rather than from the date of his invalidation. Aggrieved over denial of arrears, the officer, now in his mid-70s, again represented before the government, but to no avail.Holding that he was entitled to arrears of war injury pension along with interest from the date of his discharge till the time it was finally sanctioned, the Chandigarh Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal last week ruled that not only have the dues been wrongfully withheld, but it was also improper on the government’s part to plead against the claim of the soldier who would have better died than survive with 100 per cent disability.The bench, comprising Justice MS Chauhan and Lt Gen Munish Sibal, termed the government’s attitude as “stone-hearted” and “headstrong”, saying the officer had undoubtedly suffered a lot.Drawing support from a 2016 Supreme Court judgment, the bench observed that restriction of arrears to three years, as sought by the government, has been disapproved by the apex court in somewhat similar circumstances. While also awarding him costs of Rs 30,000 for unnecessary and avoidable litigation forced upon him, the bench said it was a sad commentary on how a valiant soldier had been made to run from pillar to post.AFT rues ‘complete lack of empathy’We note with regret, dismay that the authorities responsible for implementing such policies exhibit complete lack of empathy. AFT’s Chandigarh Bench 

PK Vasudeva

Former Professor, ICFAI University, Hyderabad. The Modi government eyes a new national security strategy called the Defence Planning Committee (DPC) under the chairmanship of National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval. The DPC would define national defence and security policy by undertaking security risk assessment. The institutional set-up will also spell out the national military strategy, defence reviews, and an overall national security plan. The body that will envisage a draft national security strategy and will also formulate an international defence engagement strategy. The new strategic think tank will also oversee foreign acquisitions and sales, making defence preparedness much more than an acquisition-centric exercise.

Members of DPC

The Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC), three Service Chiefs, Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Secretary of Expenditure in the Finance Ministry will be the members of the committee. The Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS) to the Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) will be the member secretary of the committee and the HQ of the CIDS will be the secretariat of the DPC.It will have four sub-committees. One will look at policy and strategy; the second will work on plans and capability development; third on defence diplomacy and the fourth one on defence manufacturing ecosystem and boosting of exports of indigenously produced defence products.  All reports will be submitted to the Defence Minister to ensure that they meet their desired end. The DPC will work across ministries and obtain approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security. 

Goals of DPC

The DPC has been tasked with ambitious goals. It has been established to assess the external security threat, envisage a strong defence strategy and prioritise issues based on their threat level. With the growing security threats, fueled by both direct and asymmetric means, the DPC has a huge responsibility of bridging the gap between the existing bureaucratic bodies. It is imperative for this new institutional set-up to create a mechanism wherein parties from the ministries, defence services as well as intelligence bodies work in coherence to face threats of all kinds.The last time the Government of India tried to establish a defence planning body was in 1977. However, the committee established then had not achieved the desired results. To overcome the seizures created due to the absence of a national security doctrine and lack of funds for the defence expenditure, the Group of Ministers under the NDA in 2001 had recommended that a position of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) be created to bring in greater results in the national security matters, but it had failed to take off till today due to bureaucratic hurdles.There is need to align long-term goals with procurement and doctrines by a mandate to take up “capability development planning” and place it before the Cabinet Committee for Security for approval. Importantly, the panel will “evaluate foreign policy imperatives” and chalk out a strategy for international engagement that includes boosting ‘Make in India’ exports and foreign assistance programmes.While India does have a defence planning architecture in place, this is the first time it is creating a body that will factor in everything: from foreign policy imperatives to operational directives and long-term defence equipment acquisition and infrastructure development plans to technological developments in other parts of the world while coming up with a plan.The DPC will prepare military doctrines and, in turn, define Indian military objectives for the future. The doctrines will reflect India’s no-first-use nuclear policy as well as take into account the possibility of a two-pronged offensive from the adversaries. It will justify the Navy’s demand of two aircraft carriers and the role of Indian Air Force in the era of long-range standoff weapons and missile theatre defence.

Flaws in DCP work

There are a few serious flaws in the functioning of DPC. Most of what it is meant to achieve is a repetition of what numerous previous mechanisms were supposed to achieve and have obviously failed to do so. Will this too also meet the same fate as it is only old wine in new bottle?When there are full-fledged and well-structured professionally run ministries of external affairs, defence and finance with a full Secretary to the Government of India looking after these ministries, it needs to examined why things are not working. Setting them right is needed to be done rather than creating new structures which will override some of their functions.It is not clear whether this is an advisory or executive body. Can it override the existing procedures or direct the ministries to take actions without the concurrence of their respective ministers – can it change the rules of business of the MoD as the MoD bureaucrat will still call the shots, being superior in administration. Shouldn’t the National Security Adviser be overseeing national security – isn’t that his primary function? As the PM’s premier representative on issues of national security, he should be ensuring the collective coordinated functioning of the ministries. A glaring omission in this construct is internal security, which is the greatest security challenge at the moment. Isn’t internal security integral to national security? Can internal security be de-linked from external security – isn’t Kashmir and Northeast a common issue (external and internal)?What happens to existing organisations like the National Security Council (NSC), the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) and the multitude of intelligence agencies — don’t they have a role in national security? The government should make all-out efforts to improve higher defence management rather than creating a new untried committee under a person who is not an expert on defence strategies.The three Service Chiefs as members of this committee do not fit in the committee as they are senior to all secretaries of the government and are equivalent to the Cabinet Secretary. In principle, the Chiefs should not be subordinated to the NSA, being heads of their services. They can be members of a committee under PMO/Raksha Mantri.In 2001, after the Kargil battle, the Subramaniam Task Force recommended the appointment of a CDS — in existence in all large democracies of the world — to do the same job as is being entrusted to the DPC under the NSA. Later, a Group of Ministers in 2002 also recommended the appointment of CDS. In 2011 again a high-powered committee under Naresh Chandra recommended a `Permanent’ Chairman of Chiefs of Staff (similar to CDS) to carry out a similar job as the new DPC. Appointing the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CIDS) as the member secretary further highlights the issue of avoiding appointment of a CDS. The CIDS has been unable to perform its assigned task because of non-appointment of a CDS, thus compelling all services to process their cases directly with the MoD. Placing the Chairman COSC in the DPC enables the NSA to function as a super CDS. Thus, control of the armed forces shifts from the Defence Minister to the PMO, with the NSA officiating as the CDS which is non-functionable.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 30

Reacting to the outburst of the Opposition regarding the alleged deletion of references to the Sikh history in the PSEB syllabus for Classes XI and XII, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday underlined that “not a single piece of information on the Sikh history or the Sikh Gurus has been dropped in the process of realignment of the syllabus”.The CM pointed out that the decision to realign the courses with the NCERT syllabus was taken during the SAD-BJP regime in 2014. The SGPC was party to all discussions on the issue since the government took over in March last year.Capt Amarinder minced no words in lambasting SAD president Sukhbir Badal for his “baseless statements on the issue, which have the potential to disturb the peace and harmony of the state”. He also condemned AAP for joining the vilification campaign against the government without verifying the facts.Capt Amarinder said: “I had personally sought a detailed mapping of the old syllabus of Class XI in the new syllabus for Class XII and also of the old syllabus of Class XII in the new syllabus for Class XI. Both clearly showed that not a single piece of information on the Sikh history or the Sikh Gurus had been dropped in the process.” He said: “Only the chapters and material on Sikh history have been organised in a more cohesive format for ease of learning. The entire period from Guru Nanak Dev to Guru Gobind Singh and martyrdom of the four Sahibzadas, will now be taught in Class XI.”He said soon after taking over the state’s reins, his government had written to the SGPC for a discussion on the issue of the history course realignment, given the sensitive nature of the subject. The SGPC had deputed Prof Paramveer Singh of Punjabi University, who had attended all meetings on the matter.The CM said the Class XI history book, the Opposition was citing in support of its allegations, had not even been printed yet. “To ensure there is no mutilation of the Sikh history and culture, the government has handed over the task of printing of these books to the PSEB.”

The decision to realign the courses with the NCERT syllabus was taken during the SAD-BJP regime in 2014. The SGPC is party to all discussions on the issue since the Congress government took over in March last year— Capt Amarinder Singh, CM

Srinagar, March 10

Fifteen teams representing different states and organisations participated at the National Winter Nordic X-Country and National Biathlon Championship which was held at Gulmarg in Baramulla district from March 3-7.The championship was inaugurated by Tangmarg MLA Mohammad Abbas Wani and Maj Gen Atul Kaushik, Commandant, High Altitude Warfare School.Srinagar-based defence spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said the championship was divided into many events.“A total of 95 athletes (75 men and 20 women) from 15 teams representing different states like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana participated in the championship. The results were declared on the final day and medals and certificates were awarded to various position-holders by the chief guest,” the spokesman said. Army athletes dominated most of the events, he added.During the closing ceremony, the chief guest appreciated the spirit and zest among the participants and complimented all the athletes for giving their best and participating in the highest spirit of sportsmanship. — TNS

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 30

The meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at Wuhan on April 27-28 could result in “coordinated patrolling” and “sticking to mandated protocol” along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by troops of either side.Aimed at reducing tension along the LAC, these two steps along with the setting up of a telephonic hotline at the level of Director-General Military Operations (DGMO) could form the new set of rules for troops on either side of the LAC, the de facto boundary along the Himalayan ridgeline.An Indian statement from Wuhan said the two leaders asked the militaries to build “trust” and have a mechanism to “prevent” incidents in the border regions. It further spoke of enhancing predictability and effectiveness in the management of border affairs.A coordinated patrol would mean giving advance information to one another when patrol parties enter disputed areas along the LAC.The LAC is not marked on the ground and troops of either country patrol up to a point which they perceive as the alignment of the LAC. Perceptions vary by a few kilometres in eastern Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh.The other step could be “sticking to protocol” along the LAC. As of now, whenever either side perceives that a transgression  (entry of troops into a disputed area) has been made, soldiers show a banner to one another citing the 2005 agreement and says there is a need to back off from the present positions of patrolling.The “banner drill” is framed under the “protocol on modalities for implementation of CBMs in the military field along the LAC in the India-China border areas”. It is part of a protocol agreed upon to de-escalate momentary transgressions.The matter of setting up a DGMO-level hotline was revived at a meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs in Beijing in November last year. The two sides have coordinated on how to have a Mandarin-to-English translator in India and the reverse of it in China.

Lt Preeti Chowdhary receives the sword from Lt Gen DR Soni, GOC-in-C, Southern Command. Tribune photo & PTI

Chandigarh cadet first from the city to get Sword of Honour, Haryana’s gets silver medal

Cadets celebrate after a passing-out parade at Officers Training Academy in Chennai on Saturday. Tribune photo & PTI

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 10

Lt Preeti Choudhary, an NCC cadet from Chandigarh has created a record of sorts by becoming the first woman officer from the city and third in the Officers Training Academy (OTA) since women were inducted in 1992 to be awarded the coveted Sword of Honour for being the best all-round cadet of her course at the academy in Chennai. Another cadet from Haryana, Senior Under Officer Vreeti, was awarded the silver medal. A B.Tech in mechanical engineering, Vreeti quit a highly paid job in Japan as a design engineer before joining OTA as Lady Cadet. Both the cadets scored over more than 200 Gentlemen Cadets to bag the top two honours.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Lt Preeti Choudhary received the sword from Lt Gen DR Soni, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, who was the reviewing officer of the passing-out parade today. She was among 37 Lady Cadets and 196 Gentlemen Cadets who were commissioned as Lieutenants.She is from the 19th Short Service Commission (Women) Course and she has opted for the Army Air Defence (AAD) corps. As of January 2018, the total strength of women officers in the Army (excluding the medical stream) was 1,561 out of which 63 were in the AAD.Preeti is from the second generation in her family to join the armed forces. Her father, Honorary Captain Inder Singh, served in the Army Medical Corps. Though a native of Haryana, she studied in Chandigarh and graduated from the Government College for Girls, Sector 11. She was also an active NCC air wing cadet.Wg Cdr MR Pandeya, Commanding Officer No. 1 Chandigarh NCC Air Squadron, said Preeti had represented the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh NCC Directorate at the national level and was adjudged as the Second Best Air Wing Girl Cadet across the country in 2016. She trained with the NCC for three years, after which she applied for NCC special entry and cleared the Service Selection Board interview in the first attempt, he added.

New Delhi, April 23

The 13-day long mega military exercise by the Indian Air Force achieved more than its stated “objectives”, Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa said on Monday, indicating its readiness to deal with a hostile Pakistan and China almost simultaneously.

Two days after curtains came down on Gagan Shakti—the biggest exercise by the IAF in three decades—Air Chief Marshal Dhanoa said over 11,000 sorties were carried out by combat, transport and rotary wing aircraft of the force to test its combat readiness.

“All men and women of the IAF rose to the occasion and achieved things beyond our stated objectives,” the IAF Chief told PTI in an interview.

As part of the massive drill from April 8 to 20, the IAF deployed its entire war waging machinery for the pan-India exercise with fighter jets, equipped with strategic weapons like Brahmos and Harpoon anti-ship missiles, carrying out deep penetration strikes to revalidate its strategic reach.

“We achieved relocation and rebalancing of assets from one sector to another in 48 hours,” Dhanoa said. “The overall objective of Gagan Shakti was fully achieved,” he said without elaborating.

Explaining the significance, a senior IAF official said the objective of the rebalancing and relocation was to quickly flatten the enemy in one front and redeploy the assets in another sector within 48 hours—in a possible two-front war scenario.

Dhanoa said the IAF achieved all parameters of serviceability, surge operations, relocation of resources and joint operations with the Army and Navy during the exercise which were crucial aspects of the war fighting machinery.

The combat drill was carried out at a time when China was increasing its assertiveness along the borders with India and while Pakistan has been continuing its skirmishes along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

The exercise covered all terrains including desert, high altitude areas like Ladakh, maritime sphere and almost all possible war scenarios were rehearsed on a real time basis.

“We carried out the exercise thinking as if we are going to fight a war,” said a senior IAF official.

When asked about reports of the IAF having carried out “strikes” in the Malacca Strait, Dhanoa categorically denied it. Officials said the IAF demonstrated its ability to reach maritime targets as far away as 4,000 kilometers in the Malacca Straits but the force stuck to the targets provided by the Indian Navy, none of which were in the waterway around Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

The exercise also focused on flexible use of airspace, joint maritime air operations with the Indian Navy, joint operations with the Indian Army, simulated combat search and rescue for effective extraction of downed aircrew behind enemy lines among others.

Officials said the aim of this exercise was to ensure real time coordination and deployment of air power in a short and intense battle scenario and the objective was fully achieved.

They said the concept of network centric operations and long range missions were tested effectively.

They said Pakistan and China were informed about the mega exercise.

The officials said state-run defence organisations such as Defence Research and Development Organisation, Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd, Ordnance Factory Board etc also provided adequate support. They said Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was impressed by the ordnance efficiency. PTI

The Tribune visits homes of soldiers and civilians killed in Pakistani shelling in the Jammu region. In most cases, the state government hasn’t provided succour, monetary or otherwise, to the affected families

Kamlesh Kumari, Rifleman Satish Bhagat’s mother, with the photograph of her son at her home in Gurasinghu village of Jammu district. Rifleman Bhagat was killed in Pakistani firing in July 2017. Tribune photos: Inderjeet Singh

The Tribune visits homes of soldiers and civilians who became victims of Pakistani shelling in the Jammu region. In most cases, the state government has not provided succour, monetary or otherwise, to the affected familiesLife on the border in Jammu and Kashmir is like a conflict zone with death staring people in the face 24×7. Dependent on peace between the Indian and Pakistani forces, the residents look towards an uncertain future as there seems no end to the hostility between the two neighbours.Besides the threat to their lives, their livelihood has also been hit as farming and cattle rearing, the two major sources of income for 90 per cent of the border people, have become difficult amid shelling. Their houses have become unsafe for living as mortar shells land any time. When Pakistan rains mortar shells, residents have limited options — to migrate to relief camps established by the government, move in with their relatives in the hinterland or look for bunkers, if any.The state and the Central governments have not constructed many bunkers in border areas. The demand for five-marla plots in safer places, as committed by both governments, has also not been met.Children living in border areas are the worst sufferers as schools in the zero to 5-km radius from the border, are shut at the time of shelling.The situation for the soldiers is no less difficult as they are always in the line of fire. They have to be continuously on guard and ensure that no infiltration takes place.Since January 1, 2018, 21 persons, including nine Army personnel, three BSF men and nine civilians, have lost their lives in shelling and firing on the Line of Control and the International Border.The intensity of border shelling and firing increased following the September 18, 2016, terror attack when Pakistani-sponsored fidayeen attacked a Brigade headquarters in Uri and killed 20 soldiers.

Martyred soldiers

Havildar Roshan Lal, 43, Nichlah village, Samba districtDied in a missile attack on a forward post in the Bhimber Gali sector on February 4, 2018.Incident: Havildar Roshan Lal along with Captain Kapil Kundu and three other soldiers were manning their forward post in the Bhimber Gali sector of Rajouri district when the Pakistan army resorted to small-range anti-tank guided missile attack on their post and killed all four of them. Survived by his ailing father, wife and two children, Havildar Roshan Lal was the sole breadwinner of his family.Compensation: When Havildar Roshan Lal’s mortal remains were brought to his native village on February 5, hundreds of people, including Army officers and soldiers, reached there to pay their last respects to him and cremate the body with full military honours. The very next day, a couple of soldiers from Roshan Lal’s unit visited his house to complete the formalities so that the family would get the compensation from the Army on time. There has, however, been no communication from the government and no minister has visited them to offer support.Rifleman Satish Bhagat, 21, Gurasinghu village, Shamachak, JammuKilled in the Keran sector of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district on July 12, 2017.Incident: Rifleman Satish Bhagat, the only son of Jeet Lal and Kamlesh Kumari who had joined the Army by following in the footsteps of his soldier father, was killed in the Keran sector when the Pakistani army resorted to sniper fire on July 12, 2017. His death shattered the entire family, parents and three sisters, two of whom are married. The younger sister studies in Class II.Compensation: After Rifleman Satish Bhagat’s death, his father Jeet Lal again started to work to support his family. At present, he is in Gujarat to earn a livelihood while his wife and younger daughter are alone in the village. Nobody visits them anymore. A few soldiers from Satish’s unit occasionally come to meet the family. Even after seven months of Rifleman Bhagat’s death, the state government is yet to pay compensation to the family.Subham Singh, 23, Mukandpur Choudharian village, Kathua districtKilled in a Pakistani missile attack in the Bhimber Gali sector of Rajouri on February 4, 2018.Incident: Rifleman Subham Singh became the victim of a Pakistani missile attack on a forward post in the Bhimber Gali sector of Rajouri district on February 4 while he was defending the borders by keeping the enemy at bay. Rifleman Subham Singh along with four other soldiers were given the task not to allow anyone close to the fence. For seven months, they were able to keep the infiltrators at bay. A missile attack by the Pakistani army on February 4 killed Subham Singh. He is survived by his father, a marginal farmer, mother, three sisters, two of whom are unmarried, and a younger brother.Compensation: Two ministers in the state Cabinet are from Kathua district, including Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, but none of them has visited the family to provide relief or even express condolences. The family lived in a mud house before Rifleman Subham Singh joined the Army. Life had improved but the family has been shattered by Subham’s death. The Army is still completing the documental formalities for the compensation but the government has made no efforts to provide them any relief.Havildar Ravi Paul, 42, Sarwa village, Samba districtKilled on September 18, 2016 during the Uri terror attack.Incident: In one of the deadliest terror attacks on an Army installation in Jammu and Kashmir, fidayeen from Pakistan carried out an attack on the Brigade headquarters at Uri on September 18. Eighteen soldiers were killed in the attack while two soldiers succumbed to their injuries later, taking the toll to 20. Havildar Ravi Paul, who was also killed in the attack, is survived by his wife and two sons.Compensation: When the mortal remains of Havildar Ravi Paul had reached his home in Sarwa village, ministers, local leaders, Army and police officers and officials of the district administration had joined his funeral procession. After Havildar Paul’s death, his wife Geeta Rani got a job at the Deputy Commissioner’s office. The family has received the first instalment of the compensation by the Army.

Helpless civilians

Gopal Dass, 43, Kanachak village, Jammu districtKilled in Pakistani shelling on January 21, 2018, at the Kanachak area along the International Border in Jammu.Incident: Gopal Dass, the binding force of the family, was killed when a mortar shell fired by Pakistan exploded in a lane near his home in Kanachak on January 21 evening when he and his elder brother Ram Dass (46) were returning home. Gopal succumbed to his injuries while being taken to a hospital in Jammu, while Ram Dass is recovering. Gopal is survived by his wife Manju Devi, son Abhimanyu and daughter Akshara.Compensation: After Gopal Dass’s death, local BJP MLA Sukhnandan Choudhary and Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha MP Jugal Kishore assured full support to the family, which included a job to Manju Devi, admission to Abhimanyu in Sainik School and quality education for Akshara. But even after 17 days of Gopal’s death, they have not received any help. The Red Cross Society donated Rs 1 lakh to the family. Apart from that, the family has not received a single penny from the government. Being a civilian, Gopal Dass’s family will not receive any compensation from the armed forces.Gahar Singh, 50, Bera village, Suchetgarh, Jammu districtKilled in Pakistani shelling on the International Border in the RS Pura sector on January 20, 2018.Incident: Gahar Singh along with his family was at his home when a shell landed inside and he was hit by splinters. He was rushed to a nearby hospital and then to Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu, where he was declared brought dead. He was the main earning hand in the family and is survived by his wife Sukhanaya Devi and three sons, who have no source of income.Compensation: With the help of villagers, Sukhanaya Devi performed the last rites of her husband at a cremation ground in RS Pura town while she continued to live in a relief camp. Suchetgarh MLA Sham Choudhary, who is a minister in the state government, provided some money to the family for performing the last rites and managing their stay in the relief camp. Apart from that, the family has received no compensation from the state government. Though the district administration has noted down the details, the family has received no relief.Ravinder Kour, 19, Jerda village, SambaKilled in Pakistani shelling on November 1, 2016.Incident: Ravinder Kour from Jerda village of Samba district was cooking at her home when a mortar shell fired by the Pakistan army landed in the kitchen and killed her on the spot. A total of eight persons were killed on that day at various locations on the International Border when the Pakistan Rangers targeted civilian areas. Her house was severely damaged in the incident.Compensation: Ravinder Kour’s father Zorawar Singh has been moving from pillar to post to get compensation to repair his damaged house and Rs 5-lakh ex gratia promised by the state government.Marha Ram, 60, Anju Devi, 29, Rishab, 6, and Abhi, 4, residents of Rangoor Camp and Kairali villageKilled in Pakistani shelling on November 1, 2016, at Rangoor camp village of Samba district’s Ramgarh sector.Incident: On November 1, 2016, Anju Devi, a resident of Kairali village in RS Pura, along with her son Rishab had gone to her maternal home in Rangoor Camp village of Samba to celebrate Bhai Dooj when a shell landed inside the house killing four persons and injuring three others. Anju Devi, her father Marha Ram, son Rishab and nephew Abhi were killed in the incident while her brother, sister-in-law and niece were injured. Villagers were angry with the government and demanded justice.Compensation: The family suffered a huge loss in terms of lives and property. The government has paid them only Rs 5 lakh as ex gratia. Though two members of the family were killed in Pakistani shelling, the administration is yet to give compensation for the other member. Anju Devi’s family has got some ex gratia in RS Pura.Inputs from Amir Karim Tantray in Jammu, Vishal Jasrotia in Samba and Sanjay Pathak in Kathua. Compiled by Amir Karim Tantray)

GRAB THE MOMENT: China may have extended an olive branch all but in name when it spoke against making Maldives a flashpoint with India.

Sandeep Dikshit

THE state of affairs inside the Maldives does give a bad odour: A President locks up all his political opponents; then goes ahead and arrests the Supreme Court Chief Justice when he tries to set them free. And while the `democracy loving corner’ has itself in a twist, President Yameen caps his indiscretions by shuttering TV stations and imposing a state of emergency.Yameen has a different version where he casts himself as a victim of a willful and spiteful Supreme Court Chief Justice: The order releasing the nine individuals was given in the Chamber and not at a hearing; some of the convicted have exhausted the three tiers of court and a few cases were in appeal; the Chief Justice also tried to remove the President and the Attorney General but was overruled by a majority on both occasions. Despite being a honeymooner’s paradise, Maldives has had a very brief, four-year dalliance, with universal franchise. The fairness of all elections before and after the 2008 polls is a question mark. India saw no competition for Maldives’ affections till five years ago. But the fading years of the first democratically elected headed by Mohamed Nasheed saw him and the opposition bringing other countries into the equation.And today, India is no longer an option for all the parties involved in the scrimmage for power in Maldives. Nasheed, a EU favourite, is India’s designated man after Donald Trump phoned Narendra Modi and made common cause on the Maldives President’s disobedience of the Supreme Court’s orders. Then when South Block refused to host the Special Envoy of the Maldives President, it was clear that India had jettisoned its past tactic of maintaining ambiguity and preserving its options.Maldives, in the eyes of New Delhi-centred military-security experts, has recently turned unruly. But dissonance with almost all of India’s neighbours surfaced within a few months to a few years of emergence of post-colonial nation-states as they sought to resist India’s assumption of being the inheritor of the British colonial mandate for the region.In the early years, India could pull its weight in the region but not because of its military muscle. Barring Pakistan, other neighbours felt a sense of shared destiny with India in overcoming the handicaps of colonialism. Once the concept of nonalignment began losing its lustre, India began finding it difficult to manage its big brother pretensions.But the recent bad blood with so many neighbours has just one precedent. It recalls a similar security-heavy response in the neighbourhood by the Rajiv Gandhi government, another dispensation like the current one that was heady with its parliamentary majority. There was an armed confrontation with China, a simmering defence scandal, hair trigger alert with Pakistan, on the losing side in Afghanistan and more than a finger in a raging militancy in Sri Lanka. All these attempts at donning the hard hat with not much in the cupboard by way of trading muscle or long-range military capabilities to back the pretensions had a catastrophic impact on the country’s social fabric. The economic discontent provided the mobs for the disruptions caused by the Mandal and Ram Janmabhoomi agitations and finally we had the 1991 economic crises. It must be galling for the Indian security-military establishment to adjust itself to a new power discourse because of rise of Chinese influence in a region where mainland Indian civilisation’s historic cultural advantages were overlaid by two centuries of British India’s dominance. But China is increasingly coming into conversations on India’s security-related apprehensions in the neighourhood because the overlap of their strategic space has increased to now cover Afghanistan, and, of late, Maldives and Sri Lanka as well.But instead of focusing on creating dialogue and interaction architectures that support regionalism and economics, the Modi government has opted for the excitement of playing the Great Game against China in concert with mostly extra regional powers. The potential threat from India has not been lost on China. The consequence is that both are attempting a military encirclement of the other. The Indian proclivity to play a new Great Game may be influenced by notions of its influence and size. But it also reflects the Modi Government’s disinterest in reworking the grammar of dealing with neighbours.  Modi hasn’t had a decent conversation with most of the neighbours. While it is imperative to strengthen the bonds of technology, energy and security with distant countries, the Maldives setback should make the PMO think-tank realise that soon the Modi Government will no longer be able to politically gift-wrap tactically bold actions as strategic masterstrokes. The space for presenting tactical symbolism as strategic coherence may be narrowing. One example is the Lok Sabha Speaker calling off a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence which was to examine the claims made by a retired army officer about irreversible fortification of Chinese army positions on the Doklam plateau. That claim, if proven, will run counter to the Modi Government’s spin that India had emerged with honours intact after last year’s eye- ball to eye- ball security confrontation with China at the same site. China has now declared that Gwadar port in Pakistan will also function as a forward base for its navy. In due course, Hambantota port in Sri Lanka could follow suit. The Modi Government appears more immersed in aligning itself with the military-security objectives of outside powers. On Maldives, South Block was buoyed by the conversation between Trump and Modi. But the Trump administration does not play a zero sum game. On the same day, China’s main pointsman for foreign policy (and the gentleman who holds border talks with NSA Ajit Doval) was in Washington for in-depth discussions with his American counterpart. The Modi Government has been found wanting in making a calculated walk back from foreign policy positions that no longer yield any dividend. An opportunity may have just risen after Beijing offered a thinly disguised olive branch on Maldives. An  inability to change the grammar of dealing with neighbours is preventing us from accumulating the required power to make India tranquil, content, peaceful and happy. 

sandeep4731@gmail.com