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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army chief General Raheel Sharif on Monday began his farewell visits to military units ahead of the end of his tenure on November 29 even as the defence minister said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would select the next chief.
The development squelched speculation that General Sharif may be given an extension in the face of tensions with India and differences between the civil and military leadership over issues such as countering terrorism.
The army chief will send a list of the senior-most generals to Prime Minister Sharif for selecting the next army chief, defence minister Khawaja Asif said. “The prime minister will decide on a name after first consulting the chief of army staff, colleagues and cabinet members,” Geo News quoted him as saying.
As far back as January, General Sharif had made it clear he would not seek an extension. He started his farewell visits to army units from Lahore, the military’s media arm said in a statement. He addressed a gathering of soldiers at Lahore Garrison and said the accomplishment of peace and stability was no ordinary task.
Operation Zarb-e-Azb, the army’s campaign against militants, had resulted in a “more secure and stable Pakistan with a sense of greater hope and direction” the army chief said. “It was our sacrifices and joint national resolve that helped us in offsetting all odds against our country. We are fully prepared to respond to any challenge and no one could dare cast an evil eye on Pakistan,” he said.
The tensions between the civil and military leadership could still play a role in the choice of the next army chief. The race having narrowed down to four generals: Lt Gen Javed Iqbal Ramday, commander of Bahawalpur-based XXXI Corps, Lt General Zubair Hayat, Chief of General Staff, Lt Gen Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmad, commander of the Multan-based II Corps, and Lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, who heads the army’s training and evaluation wing.
Chandigarh: Lt Gen Surinder Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, visited field formations deployed along the International Border with China in Himachal Pradesh during a two-day visit to the sector. While reviewing operational readiness of the formations in the forward areas, he held detailed deliberations with field commanders and also interacted with the troops. TN
PANCHKULA: In the ongoing series of outreach initiative and an effort to provide moral and emotional support to widows, war widows and their dependents, Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA) of Western Command organised a ‘Veer Nari Sammelan’ at Jadunath Sainik Institute (JSI), Chandimandir on Saturday. ‘Veer Naris’ of Chandigarh, Rupnagar, SAS Nagar and Panchkula attended the event aimed at mitigating the myriad issues being faced by them.
Regional president, AWWA, Sukhwant Kaur interacted with Veer Naris and felicitated them. Grievance and pension cell, medical camp, ex-servicemen contributory health scheme, aadhar card and jeevan praman registration and unit run canteen (URC) stalls were established at the venue to provide a platform to ‘Veer Naris’ for interacting and redressing their issues.AWWA, an NGO, remains passionately focused towards rendering emotional, moral and financial assistance to the ‘Veer Naris’ of the nation. The sammelan has also reaffirmed their confidence in AWWA and the Armed Forces.
Sanjiv Kumar Bakshi
Hoshiarpur, August 17
Two months on, ex-servicemen of Hoshiarpur have been facing difficulty in getting treatment at the Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) polyclinic due to shortage of doctors.Only one specialist doctor is available at the ECHS, Hoshiarpur, against the sanctioned strength of seven doctors. On an average, 300 to 400 patients visit the clinic daily, but absence of doctors forces them to travel to private hospitals to get medical help.Representatives of the United Front of Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement say they have written to the authorities many times, but to no avail.Sgt. Buta RS Jaswal, president, United Front of Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement, said, “There is also an acute shortage of life-saving medicines at the ECHS. Patients have to purchase medicines from local market.”They have now written to the Defence Minister and chiefs of Army, Air Force and Navy, requesting them to look into the problem.Colonel Taranjit, the officer in charge of ECHS, said, “Three doctors have been appointed and one of them would be joining on Monday. Others will join after August 25.”
Dinesh Manhotra
Tribune News Service
Jammu, November 14
Pakistan today resorted to firing and shelling at different places on the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri and Jammu districts. One soldier and a civilian were injured in the shelling that came after Pakistan officially confirmed that seven of its soldiers were killed in cross-border firing yesterday.The fresh shelling made authorities cancel all cultural programmes of the Jhiri Mela which started at the Kanachak area this morning.“As a precautionary measure, we have cancelled the cultural programme and Natrang play at Jhiri. Though there is no shelling in the Jhiri sector, we cannot take chances in view of the ceasefire violation in the Khour sector,” Jammu Deputy Commissioner Simranjit Singh said. A large number of devotees from all parts of north India, especially from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, are attending the mela.Defence sources said the Pakistani troops started firing in the Pallanwalla area in the Akhnoor sub-division of Jammu district and the Sunderbani and Nowshera sectors of Rajouri district. The firing started at 2.40 pm and continued for two hours.Reports said Pakistan used 82 mm mortars and automatic guns at different locations along the LoC. The Indian troops gave a befitting response to the ceasefire violation.The Deputy Commissioner said a civilian, Mangat Ram, who is resident of Sainth village of the Khour area, was injured in the shelling.Reports said one para commando was injured in Pakistani firing at Khadi Khadmal on the LoC in Poonch district. He had reportedly been shifted to Army Hospital, Udhampur.The rise in shelling came after Inter-Services Public Relations of Pakistan today admitted that seven soldiers were killed on Sunday night in cross-border firing from across the LoC in the Bhimber sector. For the past over one month, violations of ceasefire have been going on unabated in the Nowshera area.The fresh shelling made authorities cancel all cultural programmes of the Jhiri Mela which started at the Kanachak area this morning.“As a precautionary measure, we have cancelled the cultural programme and Natrang play at Jhiri. Though there is no shelling in the Jhiri sector, we cannot take chances in view of the ceasefire violation in the Khour sector,” Jammu Deputy Commissioner Simranjit Singh said. A large number of devotees from all parts of north India, especially from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, are attending the mela.On November 8, Pakistani troops had targeted Indian posts along the LoC in the area by opening fire and lobbing mortar shells. Indian troops had retaliated to it. There have been over 115 ceasefire violations along the LoC in Jammu and Kashmir after the surgical strikes on September 29.The worst-ever Pakistani shelling targeting civil population took place on November 1 when eight persons, including two children and four women, were killed and 22 others injured along the International Border and the LoC in five sectors of J&K.
Militant shot as Army fights off infiltrators in Nowgam
Srinagar, November 14
An unidentified militant was killed in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district as the Army foiled an infiltration attempt on Monday. The militant was killed in a gunfight that erupted this afternoon close to the Line of Control at Nowgam.“The gunfight erupted around 1 pm when a group of militants was intercepted by the Army when they were trying to sneak into the Valley. In the ongoing operation, one militant has been killed so far and one weapon has been recovered,” an Army officer said. The Army has deployed additional forces for combing the area, the officer added.Since the surgical strikes on September 29, this is the third infiltration bid foiled in the Nowgam sector. On October 6, four militants were killed in the sector.This is the second infiltration bid in the past five days. On November 10, the Army had foiled an infiltration bid at Rampur in Uri, killing an militant. This year there has been a spurt in infiltration. Official figures reveal that 87 militants infiltrated into Kashmir till September-end. Last year, 33 militants had infiltrated. — TNS
Brakes in funds flow make dent in Kashmir terror trail
Mukesh Ranjan
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 14
There is an assessment by the security agencies that demonetisation has started impacting terror activities, especially in the Valley, where nearly Rs 3,000 crore of ‘hawala’ money in circulation is of “no use” now.Sources in the security establishment believe that the move would lead to a major shift in the terror infrastructure management and change the character and nature of terror funding in the country. They also claim that the four-month-long unrest in the Valley, sparked by the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani by security forces in July, is receding and expected to end as the cash inflow has halted.Intelligence inputs have always been there that politicians and separatist leaders are being funded through hawala transactions to fuel protests in the Valley, sources said.According to several estimates by agencies, Pakistan has been pumping in Rs 800-1,000 crore annually for the separatist groups alone.“30 per cent of this fund is paid to the beneficiaries in US dollars in bank accounts abroad. Half of the 70 per cent funds used to be paid in original currency and the remaining in fake Indian currency,” an intelligence official said.Between 2013 and 2016, 17 cases were registered and 37 persons were arrested in terror-funding cases in J&K, mostly in hawala and FICN cases, sources added.Intelligence officials said that lack of hawala money inflow would also hit the activities of the Maoists and other insurgent groups in the northeastern states.
Nowshera, October 11
For Army snipers donning camouflaged battle gear, “Dushman Shikaar, Hum Shikaari” is the duty mantra as they guard the highly sensitive Line of Control (LoC).Ply boards with “Dushman Shikaar, Hum Shikaari” written on them dot pine tree tops on the foot tracks of patrolling parties and border woods along the LoC.LoC snipers and soldiers, whose morale has gone up further post the surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), are out to give a befitting reply to any ceasefire violation by Pakistan and foil terrorist infiltration and border action team (BAT) attack.Pointing to a ply card motto nailed to a pine tree on a foot patrolling track along the three-tier fence, Sniper Ram Singh (name changed) said, “The enemy sitting across the Lakshman Rekha (LoC) is my prey and I am his hunter. We work as per this motto for those daring to cross this Lakshman Rekha.”He and other snipers are highly trained and target-hitting soldiers meant to hit specific enemies daring to breach the LoC.Like snipers, the motto is no different for jawans and officers monitoring the forward post. They undertake foot patrolling along the LoC amid electronic surveillance put to guard the Indo-Pak border in the Nowshera sector of Rajouri district.The sector falls opposite the Bhimbher district of PoK, where heavily armed special forces hit terror launch pads in pre-dawn surgical strikes last month.The Nowshera sector with thick coniferous woods, deep valleys and rock-cut mountains is now a target of Pakistani soldiers post surgical strikes. It was once the biggest infiltration area as there were huge launch pads and terrorist training camps in the Bhimbher-Samahni-Nikyal belt across the LoC.“We are most vigilant along the LoC. We cannot keep the LoC out of manual and electronic sight even for a moment. We cannot trust Pakistani soldiers. They feel insulted following the surgical strikes,” said another soldier at the forward post.Showcasing electronic surveillance of the LoC, the company commander said, “We are keep a hawk eye on the LoC and forward posts and sensitive gaps on the border.”“Even the movement of a cat is watched now through electronic gadgets. We cannot afford to give a chance to them,” the officer said.Rocky mountain clips, dense forest lines and deep rock-cut valleys along the border are manned round-the-clock manually and electronically.“Apart from continuous observation from forward posts and electronic observation rooms, there is manual patrolling and three-tier lit-up fencing to guard against infiltration and cross LoC raids,” he said.Amid hostile weather conditions, the soldiers guard border posts and vow to safeguard the territorial boundaries at the cost of their lives.Undeterred by continuous mortar shell blasts and rattle of heavy machine guns at their posts last week, jawans brave bad weather and inhospitable terrain to keep a strict vigil on the LoC in Poonch.“Even during the recent heavily shelling and firing, we kept hawk eye vigilance on the LoC to foil any design of infiltration or any attack,” the officer said. The situation in the Poonch-Rajouri sector had deteriorated in the past week following the surgical strikes. — PTI
As a Goa chief minister Manohar Parrikar can say almost anything he wants in public. There is minimal collateral damage for the rest of the nation if everyone in Panaji takes leave of their senses. Unfortunately, this is not the case with a defence minister Manohar Parrikar. In this position he is one of the four senior-most Cabinet members and the one charged with the external security and defence of India. His words are carefully listened to and strongly influence the actions of a swathe of players, including the armed services, foreign governments and terrorist groups. Unfortunately, the person who seems to understand this the least is Mr Parrikar. His questioning of India’s long-standing nuclear doctrine on a public platform was avoidable. He effectively put a question mark over India’s nuclear deterrent, the sanctum sanctorum of the country’s national security posture. More worryingly, his “personal” comments seem to stem from an inadequate understanding of the strategic logic underpinning nuclear deterrence and a no-first-use policy.
In the dawn of the nuclear age, military strategists recognised that nuclear weapons changed the purpose of an army. A conventional arsenal is designed to defeat an enemy. A nuclear war would inflict such enormous damage on both sides that no one could win such a conflict. Therefore, the purpose of a nuclear arsenal was to prevent war. Thus was borne the concept of nuclear deterrent. To put it another way, one wins a nuclear conflict by never having it in the first place. Once this logic was understood, the next logical step was to signal this in a number of ways including no-first-use, developing the ability to carry out nuclear retaliation even after being attacked and, most important, maintaining the credibility of national intent through testing, technology and a iron-cast doctrine. A country can build all the warheads and delivery mechanisms it wants. But if there is evidence that it lacks the political will to actually use them, it encourages an enemy to carry out a first strike. The messaging of the political determination to retaliate, irrespective of the damage done in the first strike, is absolutely essential in ensuring the enemy attack never takes place at all.Whether in a personal or official capacity, for a defence minister to question India’s nuclear doctrine undermines the credibility of the country’s deterrent. Mr Parrikar, in other words, is inviting other countries to presume India is not certain how to use its final line of defence.
Our Correspondent
Tarn Taran, November 7 Sepoy Gursewak Singh (24) of 22 Sikh, who was killed in Pakistani shelling in Jammu and Kashmir yesterday, was cremated today with state and military honours at his native village, Warana, in the district.Food and Civil Supply Minister Adaish Partap Singh Kairon, along with Army officers and officials of the district administration, was present. The Punjab Government announced ex gratia relief of Rs5 lakh for the family and a government job for Gursewak’s brother.He was to get married in February next year.The martyr’s body was brought to the village in an Army van. The pyre was lit by his father, Balwinder Singh. Nagoke village resident Gurmeet Kaur, who was engaged to Gursewak, attended the cremation.Col Subodh Gurung of the Mechanised Infantry, Deputy Commissioner BS Dhaliwal and SSP Manmohan Kumar Sharma were among those who laid wreaths on the body.Leaders of various political parties, including the SAD, the Congress, AAP and Aapna Punjab Party, also paid tributes to the martyr.
