Current Events :
Was blown off by troops in 1971 to prevent Ferozepur advance by Pakistan
Anirudh Gupta
Ferozepur, August 12
Fourty-seven years after four spans of the bridge over the Sutlej along the Hussainiwala barrage were “blown off” by Indian troops during the 1971 India-Pakistan war to prevent Pakistani armoured forces from advancing towards Ferozepur, Union Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday dedicated a new bridge at the site.Completed by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), this strategically important 280-foot-long bridge will benefit residents of 12 border villages in Hussainiwala enclave, besides supporting offensive operations towards Kasur, located south of Lahore in Pakistan.Sitharaman said it was an honour for her to inaugurate the bridge — blown off on the night of December 3-4, 1971 — at this “historic and sacred place” where martyrs Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were unceremoniously cremated by the British. After the 1971 war, the Army built a Bailey bridge to restore communication from the Hussainiwala barrage to Ferozepur. As the temporary bridge developed cracks, the Army decided to replace it. Subsequently, the BRO was entrusted with ‘Project Chetak. Engineers of 49 Border Road Task Force completed the new bridge on existing piers and abutment.“This bridge will promote business, agriculture and better movement of Army vehicles and ammunition,” Sitharaman said, lauding the BRO for completing the project ahead of schedule.“We will never allow the enemy to occupy an inch of space of this land ever,” she told the jawans who raised slogans of “Western Command Zindabad”. At the National Martyrs Memorial, a teary-eyed Sitharaman paid tributes to the martyrs.Meanwhile, Punjab minister Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi and MP Sher Singh Ghubaya handed over memorandums to her. Sodhi demanded that farmers with land-holdings between the barbed wire fence and Zero Line be paid relief at Rs 20,000 per acre and they be granted proprietary rights.
April 13, 2019, will mark the centenary of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, which lit the fire of idealism across the subcontinent, shaping a new nation. As The Tribune launches the centenary special initiative, it remembers the Editor, who moulded the national narrative
Birth of a revolution: In the aftermath of the tragedy, people point out bullet marks in one of the walls of Jallianwala Bagh. The killing of 1,000 peaceful protesters was a moment of awakening. From Tagore to Gandhi, it roused all Indians and turned them into freedom fighters, revolutionaries and even avenging assassins photo Courtesy: Partition Museum, Amritsar
Rajesh Ramachandran
The British had killed and starved millions of Indians while they ruled us, finally leaving us with a parting gift of a million or two dead and 15 million homeless. Yet, no memory of the Indian national movement is more sacred, noble or revered than that of those 1,000 peaceful protesters who were shot down on the Baisakhi day of 1919. From 1857 to 1947, in the long 90-year-old struggle for Indian independence, the small piece of land that was a dumping ground (historian VN Datta has noted that it was never a Bagh or a garden in contemporary accounts) in the holy city of Amritsar became the focal point of Imperial insolence, colonial cruelty and the invader’s injustice. The sacrifice of those idealistic youngsters turned the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh into the source of the soul force for a defeated people in search of a nation.The Butcher of Amritsar, Reginald Dyer, and his boss, the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, Michael O’Dwyer, both rabid rulers, personified British brutality, which turned loyal subjects of the British Empire into freedom fighters, revolutionaries and even avenging assassins. That was the moment of awakening. The Anglophile poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore returned his knighthood writing to Viceroy Chelmsford in May 1919, “The accounts of the insults and sufferings by our brothers in Punjab have trickled through the gagged silence, reaching every corner of India and the universal agony of indignation roused in the hearts of our people has been ignored by our rulers — possibly congratulating themselves for imparting what they imagine a salutary lesson.”Gandhi was a volunteer, a loyal sergeant major of the Indian Ambulance Corps, helping the British Army in the Boer War and the Zulu War. In 1915 this steadfast servant of the Empire was awarded the Kaiser-i-Hind gold medal for his services to His Majesty. Despite the Champaran and the Kheda Satyagraha, Gandhi was still actively seeking army recruits for the British in the First World War when Rowlatt Bills were introduced. And it is the massacre that made him the Mahatma. It took him longer than Tagore to return the British honours. But when he returned the Kaiser-i-Hind gold medal in August 1920, he had a definitive mission and plan that finally defeated the greatest Empire in modern history.In the Centenary year of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, as The Tribune remembers that great moment in Indian renaissance, we also remember our Editor, Kalinath Ray, whose writings helped shape the national narrative of the events of 1919. According to a contemporary’s account reproduced in Prakash Ananda’s A History of The Tribune, “Ray was a short man wearing a woollen cap. His coat of Kashmir tweed had shed the greater part of its wool many years ago. It carried many a tell-tale mark of indiscretions resulting from absent-minded handling of fish curry, milk tumbler, rasogullas and dal bhat. His eyes were completely hidden behind thick lenses encased in an iron frame which was being held in position by a cotton thread in at least three places. He was a man of few words.” This shy editor was partially responsible for whipping up the storm that culminated in the mass movement across Punjab and particularly in Amritsar.Ray wrote on March 11, 1919, on the Rowlatt Bills which still had not become law, “There are now two ways open to us. One is that we should, like the dead, put the noose of this law around our necks, bury in oblivion our fair name, as also our great men, and sound the death knell of the so-called liberty of India. The other is that we should afford proof of our life by refusing to accept the law in question.” The Chief Secretary to the Punjab Government was absolutely accurate in identifying The Tribune as “more responsible than any other single agency for the anti-British feeling, and it was on this account that we stopped our advertisements for the paper.” But soon after the massacre, the British government on April 17, arrested Ray for the editorials he wrote, particularly the one titled “Blazing indiscretion”, which exposed ODwyer. Gandhi, the lawyer, was primarily upset over the British abandoning their so-called sense of justice because O’Dwyer had refused to let Ray’s lawyer from Calcutta enter Punjab. Soon Gandhi was writing to all Congress units across the subcontinent to launch a “wide and prompt agitation throughout the country for the release of Babu Kalinath on the grounds of simple justice. I venture to suggest a memorial by local lawyers, a memorial by local editors and resolutions at public meetings for the release of Babu Kalinath Ray to His Excellency, the Viceroy.” He also wrote an article on Ray, The Tribune and the Rowlatt Act in his Young India about the same time. Sure enough, there were protests from Lahore to Erode. Along with Ray, The Tribune trustee Manohar Lal was also arrestedWhile Gandhi was all praise for Ray’s restraint when sowing the wind in Punjab, the greatest youth icon of the Indian national movement, Bhagat Singh, was impatient. He wanted Ray to “put fire into his editorials.” Thus, the story of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, the national movement and The Tribune are the strands that made this nation’s DNA and The Tribune hopes to celebrate the memories of the martyrs, the massacre’s impact and the building of the nation in this centennial year. This is not a good time to talk about nationalism. On one end of the spectrum are the murderous Hindutva mobs, thirsting for the blood of the neighbour, ignorantly and needlessly crying hoarse, Bharat Mata Ki Jai, the slogan that sought the greatest self-sacrifice. And at the other end are the sophisticated, neo-colonial, forces of religious secessionism funded and promoted by alien agents. To be a Gandhian nationalist was always difficult, more so now.
Prateek Chauhan
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 26The police on Tuesday took Major Nikhil Rai Handa, arrested for the murder of Shelja Dwivedi — the wife of another Army officer, Major Amit Dwivedi — to the scene of the crime besides other places, including shop from where he bought the Swiss knife, linked to the case.It is learnt that Dwivedi was not the only woman approached by Handa. He had allegedly created a fake profile on the social media to lure women into his trap.On analysing the two mobile phones recovered from Handa, it was found that Handa was close to three other women. The police were planning to call them to record their statements. Major Handa was first taken to the Army Base Hospital and then to the route taken by him after the alleged murder.According to police sources, Handa had posted two profiles on the social media — one as an Army officer and another posing as a businessmen. It was the second profile that he used to befriend women.In 2015, when Major Handa was posted in Jammu and Kashmir, he befriended Shelja using his fake profile. Six months later, he disclosed his identity and Shelja agreed to meet him.He was later posted to Meerut in UP and subsequently to Deemapur in Nagaland. In Deemapur, he started meeting Shelja regularly, during the course of which she introduced him to husband.
Arun Joshi
A legal challenge to Article 35A, which grants special rights and privileges to the hereditary permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir, is seen as a political and demographic invasion of the Muslim-majority Kashmir. A variety of scenarios have been woven in which Muslims in this only Muslim-majority state in the country are seen as getting reduced to a minority. This scaremongering is designed to stir an agitation to rattle New Delhi.The Kashmiri Muslim leadership is convinced that New Delhi blesses those who have challenged the Article. This political science is a curious combination of presumed identity crisis and the threat of street agitation to keep India off Kashmir.The challengers, “We, the Citizens”, have pointed out that the discriminatory nature of this constitutional provision bars citizens of India living in the other parts of the country from owning immovable property and competing for jobs and scholarships in this state.The issue quickly gets linked to the “Kashmir dispute”. Ironically, the threat to set afire the streets in a “do or die” battle cry is to safeguard the special status of the state in the Indian union granted by the country’s Constitution.What happens in the Supreme Court is being prejudged and that is being used as a tool to set the streets on fire. Today the situation is that even if New Delhi signs a blank political cheque, it will bounce. The only way out for the Centre is to open talks and starts connecting the dots with Pakistan. It is a must to convert its challenges into opportunities.Pakistan’s Prime Minister-in-waiting Imran Khan has travelled widely in India as a cricketer. His bond with cricketers in India should help in renewing cricketing ties to begin with. Thereafter, there should be a sincere attempt to rediscover the commonalities that can benefit both India and Pakistan.India and Pakistan can have a clear-eyed and closer look at their shared heritage and travel together on the path to search for peace and prosperity in the region. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Imran Khan have promised that. Now is the time to board the psychological bullet train to improve the ties.Many provinces on both sides of the border share linguistic, ethnic and cultural affinities that are much more pronounced than the hostilities that get highlighted by the self-serving western media.For example, Punjabis can make tough negotiations easy by conversing in their native language than top diplomats mindful of their knowledge of Queen’s English can ever do. It did happen in the 1990s when Punjabis from both sides were close to a remarkable breakthrough in removing the irritants. The two countries can surpass the trade benefits that America and Canada enjoy as trade partners. Strengthening the existing trade routes and exploring new ones offer a recipe to solve many crises between the two nations.Some of the prominent institutions, related to art, culture, language and journalism, were born in Lahore and are currently flourishing on the Indian side of Punjab. The celebration of their achievements could be a common affair. It will work wonders for the entire region, including J&K. Is anyone listening?
The state is hurting. Some degree of sensitivity and a ‘highly disciplined’ approach will possibly yield better results. The security forces must remain calm in the event of any provocation.
Arun Joshi
KASHMIR is happy, somewhat. The PDP-BJP split was much awaited; by people who were unable to reconcile to the rule of the saffron party by proxy. Fear was deeply entrenched in the minds of the locals that right-wing Hindutva forces, with the high pitch for the abrogation of Article 370, may succeed in undermining Kashmir’s special status. Naturally, Kashmiri Muslims were insecure after the alliance came about. And so, it became easier to support the forces of violence, as for them, the PDP had committed an unpardonable sin by shaking hands with the BJP; and getting nothing in return. The first shocker came when the Centre delayed the flood relief package by more than a year after the devastating floods in the autumn of 2014, a couple of months before the Assembly elections that year.The PDP-BJP government has disappeared from the corridors of power, but the apprehensions of Kashmiris have not. Aware of political expediencies and vulnerabilities of the parties, they suspect more political compromises may be in the offing. They are waiting and watching the developments very closely. The street mood will be determined by the governance they get, and the way they are treated at their homes, and out on the streets. Kashmiris have become hyper-sensitive about their identity and dignity — siding with secessionist forces is a manifestation of that emotion.Some voices in the BJP are linking a ‘hard approach’ toward militants as a way of pulling out Kashmir from the vicious cycle of violence it finds itself in. They believe the militants would/should be hunted and neutralised but forget that this approach prevailed earlier too and nothing came of it.What is really needed is to take into account the attendant pressing matters that have come into play over the past two years — the civilian population, mostly youth with rocks thronging encounter sites and disrupting anti-militancy operations; and the clashes that follow as a result of accidental civilian killings, or what is seen as ‘collateral damage’. Over these two years, the civilian population has identified itself with militants, primarily for two reasons. First, many militants are locals. They are boys they saw in the neighbhourhood, hence the affinity which exists in the well-knit Muslim society.Second, they do not perceive the violent acts as being out of sync with their newly-acquired ethos of resistance. It is a big shift — this ‘new-found’ relationship between the civilians and the militants. In the 1990s, the militants were seen as mujahideen (warriors). There were no doubts. They had picked up the gun and should be ready for the consequences — to die fighting the security forces. Sympathy and sentiment was surely with them, but it was not manifested in the desperate and visible attempts to save them while risking their own lives; as we see now. This is the fundamental truth of the changed situation in Kashmir. The psyche of the common Kashmiri has undergone a sea change.Today, the way of looking at the militants has changed, almost hero-like: their arms training may be limited to few weeks, even less, but they are hardened. They have shown their will and grit to fight unto the last. What is more, there is societal approval of their ‘sacrifices’. Some of them have spurned appeals of their parents to return home.Some extraordinary real-life visuals have paled the reel-life images — the mother of Saddam Padder, a top militant of Shopian in South Kashmir recently killed in an encounter, giving a gun salute to her slain son. Her gesture left a deep impact on the minds of youngsters who watched the video that went viral on social media; and is seen as a universal endorsement of militancy by their mothers.In such circumstances, reckless actions, with the rhetoric of hard approach, (BJP general secretary Ram Madhav has distanced his party from it) — without taking into account the fallout — have the potential to blow up in the face. The way forward should be specific operations without making much noise. It will help keep civilians out of harm’s way. This is important, because there is widespread impression that the security forces will be striking hard, not necessarily a militant-specific action. It will be deemed as an action against the people who would come to defend them. Stone-throwers will not only seek to disrupt the cordon and search operations — a prelude to the actual gunfight with militants — but also attack patrol parties.This phenomenon is interlinked. Militants attack convoys of security forces even as stone-throwers use tactics to distract, thereby creating situations where the Army and police either suffer casualties or inflict casualties. At times, both sides suffer casualties, speeding up the cycle of killings.Kashmir-centric parties, the PDP and the National Conference are convinced that the hard approach is not the answer to the problem. Other ways can be found to ease the situation without making the hard approach visible: the security forces must change their attitude towards the public at large. Treating the common Kashmiri with contempt and suspicion will only breed a psyche of resistance and rebellion. A highly disciplined approach would yield better results. Effort should be made to stay calm in the event of any provocation.The past cannot be reversed, but the future can be built on, with a new and sophisticated approach.ajoshi57@gmail.com
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, July 31
The Attari-Wagah border joint check post (JCP) between India and Pakistan will soon see a welcome change. Installed in 1947, the two countries have decided to replace their oversized gates and broad pillars for better viewing of the Retreat ceremony that draws crowds every day.The gates will be identical in design. Of course, the national flags and emblems will be different. Approved by Director Generals of both sides in New Delhi in October-November last year, the process to replace these gates has already begun on either side of the border. JS Oberoi, BSF DIG, said the new gate was expected to be installed by August 31. “Also, parallel pillars, their width reduced, will be raised for the benefit of the Retreat spectators, both in India and Pakistan,” he explained.Meanwhile, the new U-shaped gallery with an enhanced capacity (25,000 persons) coming up at a cost of Rs 33 crore is expected to be inaugurated in August. It will have a control room with CCTVs, an advanced sound system, a conference hall, medical room, lounges and adequate parking space. An added attraction will be a BSF museum.
The killing of
by elements that obviously disliked his middle path approach and, in particular, his take on the suspension of operations as an opportunity beyond the ordinary, is in my perception one of those junctures of history where the tipping point could be crossed through a positive nudge. Yet, binaries cannot work in such a situation. When disgust and condemnation against violence become the common sentiments, people are more open to gestures considered as magnanimous.
In 2011, after three years of unabated street violence, loss of children’s academic years, poor tourist seasons and low business sentiment even for Kashmir’s iconic fruit industry, the populace was yearning for a period of peace. Its pride failed to let it admit it but it yearned for gestures that could bring even a semblance of peace and normalcy. Social media had not yet made its entry in any transformational way but sincerity of purpose and a public outreach system which went beyond the ordinary exemplified India’s commitment towards peace. The Kashmiri media too was excited by the change in approach. It was nothing but an appeal to the people to join hearts with the nation, feel the pulse of change and participate in it through mutual trust and confidence.
Bukhari’s death brings forth the notion of irrationality that is prevalent among those who wish to employ violence to take Kashmir away from India. It may need spontaneity, sincerity and only a bit of rationality to explain why that may never be a reality but within the idea of India much more can be achieved with dignity and accommodation. The situation probably seeks the application of brilliant minds to meander through the maze of complexity of emotions. It’s a moment for leadership to emerge and show the way. India has never been short of the power of the mind and any application at the current juncture will reveal that
people can change if they sense sincerity. It is not the time that single minds will produce ideas that can be the engines of change but it is a time for collective thinking and soul searching. Promoters of violence are few and they have had the public mind in their grip with the thought of achievability of their aims. If the public can be swayed by sentiments of the killing of young terrorist leaders, it can equally be moved to express disgust for actions which trigger more hatred and even more violence in an unending spiral.
No one is suggesting that immediate action be initiated. All that is being ideated about is the thought that sentiments for peace can be stronger than the emotions of violence. With the world in reset mode and the most intractable conflicts under possible resolution, the thought of handing over conflict situations from generation to generation without consideration towards the regression in human progress is a phenomenon we need to be acutely aware of. Triggered by the emotions of the moment, can we make a difference? Why not?
(The writer is a retired lieutenant general who commanded the Army’s 15 Corps in Jammu & Kashmir)
On Thursday, the Northern Army Commander Lt Gen Ranbir Singh explained a substantial improvement in infrastructure, including surveillance, night vision, fighting capabilities and modernisation since the Kargil war.
