Milkha Singh. File photo

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, August 19

A glaring error in a West Bengal textbook in depiction of athlete Milkha Singh was highlighted by a user on Twitter.Instead of Milkha Singh’s photo, the publisher has used Farhan’s picture, who played the reel Milkha Singh in the 2013 biographical film ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’.Actor Farhan Akhtar has also urged West Bengal’s minister of school education to replace the textbook.

When West Bengal education board have Shown Shri Milkha Singh Ji as actor Farhan Akhtar they might show Bengal as Australia

Farhan Akhtar✔@FarOutAkhtar

To the Minister of School Education, West Bengal.
There is a glaring error with the image used in one of the school text books to depict Milkha Singh-ji. Could you please request the publisher to recall and replace this book?
Sincerely. @derekobrienmp

Lyfe Ghosh@Lyfeghosh

image of @FarOutAkhtar is portrayed as milkha singh in west bengal text book. not at all shocked. its became regular incident here @ShefVaidya @ShankhNaad

“To the Minister of School Education, West Bengal. There is a glaring error with the image used in one of the school text books to depict Milkha Singh-ji. Could you please request the publisher to recall and replace this book? Sincerely, (sic)” he tweeted.The actor portrayed the legendary athlete in the 2013 film based on his life.Farhan also tagged Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien in the tweet who responded saying that he was “on it”.Meanwhile, twitterati are not amused by this glaring error and slammed the textbook.Take a look at some of the reactions:

West Bengal using the Image of Farhan Akhtar to teach students about Milkha Singh….This is Bengal education

Tushar Sharma@ReticentReveler

Farhan Akhtar’s photo used in place of Milkha Singh in West Bengal textbooks. What next? Arbaaz Khan’s portrayed as Roger Federer in GK textbooks? Anyway, Bengal politicians seem to be taking Twitter a too seriously with their MPs too referring to Twitter handles in Parliament

madan mohit bhardwaj@mohitbhardwaj23

So these kids think that  . That’s what they are studying in their syllabus

When West Bengal education board have Shown Shri Milkha Singh Ji as actor Farhan Akhtar they might show Bengal as Australia.

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The Param Vir Chakra (PVC) is awarded to officers and enlisted personnel of all military branches for the highest degree of valor or self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy. It may be awarded posthumously. The PVC is a post-Independent equivalent of the Victoria Cross (VC). — The Param Vir Chakra Winners : — 1947-48 J&K Operations • Major Somnath Sharma, 4 Kumaon, posthumous • 2nd Lt. Rama Raghoba Rane, Corps of Engineers • CHM Piru Singh, 6 Rajputana Rifles, posthumous • Naik Jadunath Singh, 1 Rajput, posthumous • Lance Naik Karam Singh, 1 Sikh 1962 Indo-China War • Major Shaitan Singh, 13 Kumaon, posthumous • Major Dhan Singh Thapa, 1/8 Gorkha Rifles • Subedar Joginder Singh, 1 Sikh, posthumous 1965 Indo-Pak War • Lt. Col. A.B. Tarapore, 17 Poona Horse, posthumous • CQMH Abdul Hamid, 4 Grenadiers, posthumous 1971 Indo-Pak War • Major Hoshiar Singh, 3 Grenadiers – 1971 War • 2nd Lt. Arun Khetarpal, 17 Poona Horse, posthumous • Fg. Off. N.J.S. Sekhon, No.18 Squadron, posthumous • Lance Naik Albert Ekka, 14 Guards, posthumous 1999 Kargil Operations • Captain Vikram Batra, 13 JAK Rifles, posthumous • Lieutenant Manoj K. Pandey, 1/11 GR, posthumous • Grenadier Yogender Singh Yadav, 18 Grenadiers • Rifleman Sanjay Kumar, 13 JAK Rifles UN Operations • Captain G.S. Salaria, 3/1 GR, posthumous – UN Operations Saichen Operations • Naib Subedar Bana Singh, 8 JAK LI – Siachen Operations IPFK Operations • Major R. Parameswaran, 8 Mahar, posthumous – IPKF Operations

Kar chale hum fida jaan-O-tann sathiyo (Muhammad Rafi)

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Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo l Immortal Patriotic Song Of India l Gautam Deonani

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THE end result of the new strategy of Kashmiri militants — travelling to Pakistan on valid visas and infiltrating via the LoC — was the same. The four Kashmiri militants who crossed Wagah with valid documents and infiltrated back into the Valley ended in coffins. Indoctrinated Pakistani youngsters pushed into the Valley too have an equally short shelf life. As Imran Khan promises a Naya Pakistan, the premier-in-waiting and his allies in GHQ need to ponder whether there is also a need to overhaul and, perhaps, dump the old tactics of stoking militancy as means to pressurise neighbours into accepting their worldview. Pakistan’s security managers also flag their concerns about militancy in Balochistan as if to justify their quarterbacking of the insensate violence in Kashmir.Today, when Pakistan stands at an economic crossroads — parlous foreign exchange reserves, sharply curtailed US assistance and put on notice by FATF — it may not be a terribly good idea to continue on the same path while depending on just Beijing for financial and political bailouts. An Imran-army axis has to move towards an era of internal reform which means jettisoning its tactics of unrelenting promotion of a militant mindset. The recent antics of the once-celebrated Afghan and Kashmiri ‘freedom fighters’ have brought only a bad name to Pakistan. In Gen Musharraf’s words, ‘religious militancy turned into terrorism. Now they are killing their own people and this should be controlled and stopped’.In other words, at least a section of the Pakistan army realises its active stoking of violence has backfired. Uncertainty has led to exacerbation of poverty, ascendancy of militarism and internal acrimony. The reductionist view of political occurrences to justify militancy across the borders has also stopped providing any external strategic advantage, if there ever was one. With Imran Khan at the helm and the army guarding his back, Pakistan needs to summon its creative capacity to change the nation’s ethos that now stands defined by its military muscle. It is in its own interest to become a welfare state rather than a national security state.

The government said such details would be covered under the Official Secrets Act. Tribune photo

Tribune News Service
New Delhi, October 31

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to file an affidavit within 10 days saying that the pricing in the Rafale fighter jet deal between India and France is exclusive and could not be shared with the court.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices UU Lalit and KM Joseph also asked the Centre to share information which could be brought in the public domain with the petitioners.

The top court, which has now fixed the matter for hearing on November 14, said documents considered confidential might not be shared.

Earlier, the SC sought pricing and other details from the Centre, asking it to submit them in a sealed cover in 10 days.

The government said such details would be covered under the Official Secrets Act. Attorney Genenral KK Venugopal told the Bench that it was not possible to share the said details. With PTI

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre, which was meant to quash Indians’ quest for liberty, resulted in reverse. It inspired people to demand freedom with more vigour. That’s what makes the abhorrable event a worthy subject to study

Sir Michael O’Dwyer, Lt-Governor of Punjab

Miles Irving, DC of Amritsar

Brig-Gen Reginald Dyer

Kishwar Desai

When General Dyer ordered the troops to fire on an unarmed peaceful crowd in Jallianwala Bagh, in Amritsar, thinking he was ‘saving’ the British Empire, he actually changed the course of history in a way he could not ever imagine.  But the atrocities did not start or end on that day. The massacre was one part of much larger systemic colonial oppression in Punjab that lasted months, even years. The role of Punjab was crucial to the freedom struggle, which is why the British were compelled to use the most terrible means to suppress it, not realising that this was a flame that would burn brighter every time they tried to extinguish it.  Amritsar was already a hub of revolutionary activity at the time — for instance Rashbihari Bose relocated here, and Punjab had been infiltrated by the Ghadrites. Leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh had been externed in the early 1900s, but the rebellion refused to die down.  Gandhi’s call for Satyagraha against the Rowlatt Acts in 1919 saw enormous mass meetings which baffled the British. It forced the Lt Governor of Punjab Sir Michael O’Dwyer to advocate more and more repressive measures. But each turn of the screw only made the people of Punjab more determined to fight back. Partly responsible was the fact that Punjab had always been open to the world and was part of the important trade routes. Known for valuing their own independence, Punjabis in the 1800s had been at the centre of a very large and powerful empire under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. In the early 1900s, they were specially recruited to fight in the World War I — which instilled them with ideas of freedom. But ironically, when they returned to India, after the war, they found that they were deprived of their rights in their own country. By 1919, the recently demobilised soldiers in the villages were restless, so were the educated classes in the cities. A whole generation of professionals, particularly lawyers and doctors, who had gone abroad and studied in Western countries, where they were treated as equals, also returned home to find that the oppression in Punjab was growing.When I began working on my book Jallianwala Bagh, 1919—Before and After (to be published shortly), I came across such a wealth of material, both in India and the UK, that one feels there is still a huge need to write and discuss more about the contextual story of Jallianwala Bagh from the Indian perspective, not just in India but abroad as well. Partly, the problem has been that the huge amount of documentation that was done by the British, during colonial rule, is from their point of view. And much of the material continues to lie in archives abroad.However, the eponymous books centred around Brigadier General Dyer, or any other individual, do not bring to fore the real calamity that had struck Punjab in the early 20th century.  Many historians have spent a whole lifetime trying to psychoanalyse him in a myriad ways. Yet, it was actually O’Dwyer who pressed him to pull the trigger, through the atmosphere of animosity that he had built up. Dyer said he had been given a ‘horrible duty’ as he put it, and he would have failed his task if he did not execute it. He even feared that the crowds would have laughed at him had he not shot them. Similarly, the ‘crawling order’ he imposed on Indians who wanted to go through the street in Amritsar where Marcella Sherwood — a missionary — had been brutally beaten, was bizarre. But by making the narrative about Dyer, in fact, the British escaped a lot of ignominy. In the debate in the House of Commons, Winston Churchill condemned the massacre as an act of ‘frightfulness’ by an individual, and managed to deflect  attention towards Dyer, rather than towards the system, which was already beginning to rot. The British were desperate to hang on to their richest colony. The truth was that the powers given to the Lt-Governor Sir Michael O’Dwyer were so unlimited that he turned Punjab into a laboratory, in which he experimented in various ways to quash the quest for liberty. He was, unfortunately,  not the only one, as under him were many others who had unleashed a barbaric reign of terror in Punjab, and very little of this was known in the UK till the Hunter Committee report came out one year later in 1920. Alongside was the shocking evidence recorded by the Indian National Congress under Gandhi. And even then, as we go through the material today, we are horrified at what a huge number of atrocities had actually been committed under Martial Law in Punjab, starting from April 1919 onwards — where Indians were stripped, flogged, starved, jailed and humiliated in every way. There has been much to discover while working on the Jallianwala Bagh story and the curators, researchers and designers of the Partition Museum are putting up a new exhibition, Punjab under Siege — the Jallianwala Bagh Centenary (1919-2019), at the museum..The Partition Museum is a people’s museum, which narrates history through the voices of the people, and this is how we are launching first commemorative exhibition on the Jallianwala Bagh centenary in Amritsar. The story is largely told through the recollections of the witnesses and victims at the Bagh, and later, those who suffered under the ironclad rule of the Martial Law.But the exhibition is also the story of undivided India — examining protests by Indians from Amritsar to Lahore to Gujranwala and beyond — as well as the brutal repression, which was equally spread across. The symbiosis between the cities of that time is most visible in the relationship between the twin cities of Lahore and Amritsar, where events such as the arrests of Dr Satyapal and Dr Kitchlew in Amritsar on April 10 led to a hartal in Lahore that evening, and many of the local leaders of Amritsar, in fact, belonged to Lahore. We also hope to bring to the fore many of the lesser-known aspects of the protests against the Rowlatt Bills, such as the strong Hindu-Muslim unity of Gandhi’s Satyagraha, which greatly discomfited the British. There are newspaper reports stating the opening of many temples and mosques across India attended by people of different communities. In Amritsar, Ram Navmi celebrations on April 9, 1919, famously brought together Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims, who shared food and water, and shouted political slogans such as “Gandhi Maharaj ki jai!” and even “Hindu-Musalman ki jai”. These aspects are of particular importance to the Partition Museum, which traces how close-knit the communities were till they were separated by policies of ‘divide and rule.’ The exhibition, at the Partition Museum, will befittingly be just a few minutes walk from the Bagh itself. The part of the Town Hall, where the Museum is based, used to be the Kotwali — and it was here that many respectable citizens of Amritsar were incarcerated for their role in the freedom struggle, and later for so-called transgressions under the Martial Law. In fact, along with the innocents, Hans Raj, who was accused of betraying the Satyagrahis by turning approver, was also locked in here on April 22 and 23, 1919. There will be some special displays in the actual jails, which will be thrown open to visitors. The Partition Museum is honoured to be the first home for this exhibition, which travel across India and has also been invited to the UK to mark the centenary commemoration of the tragic events of 1919. A  commemoration committee of the Jallianwala Bagh centenary comprising Indians and NRIs has been formed for this, and the exhibition will be displayed in other parts of India, London, Manchester and Birmingham.(Note: Punjab Under siege: The Jallianwala Bagh Centenary (1919-1920)  is a special exhibition at the Partition Museum at Town Hall Amritsar, beginning on August 11, 2018 (10 am to 6 pm),  but the normal Partition Museum exhibition will be maintained throughout)

The Exhibition

• A special exhibition titled:Punjab Under Siege: A Commemorative Exhibition on the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Centenary (1919-2019)
• Opens at the Partition Museum, Amritsar, On August 11, 2018.
• Location: Town Hall, Heritage Plaza near Darbar Sahib)
• Timings: 10 am-6 pm daily (closed Mondays)
• Entry ticket: Rs 10
• Contact: 0-81300-01947

His name figures next only to that of Lance Naik Lala Ram, the first recipient of Victoria Cross

Col Dilbag Dabas (Retd)

The state of Himachal has two very unique distinctions to its credit —  the first Param Vir Chakra awardee of independent India Major Somnath Sharma was from the state; and the first pair from the same battalion, earning for themselves the highest gallantry award in the same war, was composed of Capt Vikram Batra (referred to as Sher Shah by the enemy in the intercepted messages of Pakistan army) and Rifleman Sanjay Kumar, both Himachalis.

And, if the state-wise list of gallantry awards is any indicator, Himachal Pradesh with a population of just about 1.5 per cent of the Indian total is way ahead than other states in demonstrating valour by its soldiers.

In the roll of honour of the Himachali bravehearts, the name of Bhandari Ram figures next only to that of Lance Naik Lala Ram, the first recipient of the Victoria Cross, nurtured by the Himachali soil.

Bhandari Ram was born on July 24, 1919, in Serva Geharwin village in the then Bilaspur state, now Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh. For Himachali Dogras, soldiering is not just another profession, but a calling. At 22, Bhandari enlisted in 16th Battalion of 10th Baluch Regiment with a class composition of two third of Baluchi Musalmans from North West Frontier and one third Dogra Brahmins from the present day Himachal.

During the third Arakan offensive by the allied troops in Burma campaign in World War-II, 16th Baluch under command 51 Indian Brigade was tasked to clear the route into north-western Arakan through the Mayu hills. As a prelude to the accomplishment of the task, a number of small operations and raids were carried out to soften up the Japanese defenses before launching attack by a larger force. In one such operation, for his cool courage, strong determination and utmost devotion to duty, Sepoy Bhandari Ram was awarded the Victoria Cross.

After independence, the 10th Baluch Regiment was allotted to Pakistan and Sepoy Bhandari Ram and his colleagues were absorbed in the newly raised 8th Battalion of Dogra Regiment of the Indian Army.

Sepoy Bhandari Ram, the battle hardened Dogra of World War-II fame displayed his tenacity three years later during the first India-Pakistan war in 1947-48, wherein he fought against his former Baluch colleagues in Jammu and Kashmir and did not let them succeed in their evil designs of annexing the Indian territory.

Bhandari Ram retired from service as Honorary Captain in 1969 after a distinguished military career spanning almost three decades, having participated in Burma Campaign (1944) and in three wars i.e. 1947-48 India-Pak, 1962 Sino-India, and 1965 Indo-Pak war. Hony Capt Bhandari Ram, VC, an ardent admirer of Lal Bahadur Shastri, passionately believed in the creed of the two noblest professions, namely the Jawan and the Kisan, almost in equal measure and did farming until ill-health prevented him from working in fields.

On May 19, 2002, this gallant Dogra breathed his last in his native village. His mortal remains were cremated with full military honours in the presence of many high-ranking serving and retired defence officers and a representative of the British High Commission.

(The writer is a veteran Gunner, 6 Field Regiment)

Battle account of his valour

The battle account of his valour recorded in the War Diary of his battalion and corroborated by the book ‘For Valour’ written by British historian Bryan Perrett reads: “On November 22, 1944, during an attack on a strongly held Japanese position in Mayu hills in Burma, Sepoy Bhandari Ram was with the leading section of his platoon. When the leading elements were within 50 yards of the objective, they were pinned down by accurate fire from a light machine gun, in which Bhandari got a burst of fire on his left shoulder and was also wounded in his leg. Bhandari did not give up and in full view of the enemy and under menacing fire kept crawling up to the machine gun bunker. Even the enemy’s grenade splinters and bullets did not deter him from his resolve to silence the machine gun. In spite of the grave danger he faced, he crawled up to within five yards of the bunker and lobbed a grenade killing the crew of two gunners. He then crawled back to his section and joined the successful dash on to the objective. As a true soldier, and a Dogra at that, he got his wounds dressed only after the objective was finally captured. The gallant action of Sepoy Bhandari Ram was a desperate individual effort to overcome enemy opposition at a crucial moment in the battle – a moment which nearly cost him his life”.

Srinagar, August 4

At least 10 people were injured on Saturday as clashes broke out between security forces and stone-pelters near an encounter site in Shopian district where five militants were killed during an overnight operation, police said.Hundreds of protestors assembled near the encounter site at Kiloora village after the five militants were killed in a gunbattle and started pelting security forces with stones, a police official said.He said the security forces fired pellets and live rounds in air to disperse the mob in the face of relentless stone-pelting.Several people were injured in the security forces’ action, he said, adding that four of them had been referred to a hospital here for specialised treatment. PTI

Rajendra Singh. File photo

Srinagar, October 26

An Army jawan, who was injured in a stone-pelting incident in Anantnag district on Thursday, succumbed to his injuries on Friday.

The jawan has been identified as Rajendra Singh from Uttarakhand.

“Sepoy Rajendra Singh was part of a quick reaction team which was providing security to a Border Roads Organisation (BRO) convoy on Thursday. At around 1800 hrs, when the convoy was passing through the Anantnag bypass tri-junction near NH-44, few youths hurled stones at the vehicle and Singh was injured after being hit by a stone directly on the head,” the Army official said.

He said Singh was provided immediate first aid and evacuated to 92 Base Hospital where the soldier succumbed to injuries.

A resident of Uttarakhand’s Badena village, Singh had joined the Army in 2016 and is survived by his parents.

The Army on Friday paid tributes to him and two other jawans—Lance Naik Brajesh Kumar, Sepoy Ngamsiamliana—who were killed in separate anti-militancy operations in Kashmir Valley.

“In a solemn ceremony at Badamibagh cantonment here, General Officer Commanding of Chinar Corps of the Army Lt Gen A K Bhatt and all ranks paid homage to the martyrs on behalf of a proud nation,” the official said.

Director-General of Jammu and Kashmir Police Dilbag Singh and representatives from various security agencies also joined in paying the last respects to the soldiers, he said.

Kumar (32) sustained splinter injuries during a fierce operation against militants in Baramulla district’s Sopore area on Friday. Two militants were also killed in the operation, the official said.

A native of Himachal Pradesh’s Nanawin village, Kumar had joined the Army in 2004. He is survived by his wife and a daughter, he added.

Ngamsiamliana was killed on Thursday during an attack on an Army camp in Luragam village of Tral in Pulwama district.

He hailed from village Rengtekawn in Mizoram and had joined the Army in 2013. He is survived by his parents, the official said.

“The mortal remains of the martyrs were flown for last rites to their native places, where they would be laid to rest with full military honours. In this hour of grief, the Army stands in solidarity with the families of the bravehearts and remains committed to their dignity and well being,” the official said. TNS/PTI

2 militants, jawan killed in encounter in Baramulla district of J&K

Tribune News Service
Srinagar, October 26

Two militants and an Army jawan were killed during an encounter between ultras and security forces in Sopore area of Baramulla district on Friday, officials said.

“Two terrorists have been killed in the Sopore operation,” Srinagar-based Defence Spokesman Col Rajesh Kalia said.

He said the identity and group affiliation of the slain ultras is being ascertained.

The defence spokesman said a soldier also lost his life in the gun battle.

Security forces launched a cordon and search operation at Pazalpora village of Dangiwacha Sopore in the north Kashmir district in the morning after receiving specific information about the presence of militants in the area.

The search operation turned into an encounter after the militants fired upon the search party of the forces, who retaliated.

The operation is in progress, Col Kalia said, adding that further details were awaited. With PTI

Soldier killed in Tral attack

2 LeT militants shot dead in Baramulla, 4 of HM in Anantnag

Srinagar/Anantnag, October 25

A soldier was killed and another injured in a militant attack in south Kashmir’s Tral area of Pulwama district on Thursday evening, even as six militants were gunned down in two separate operations in the Valley.

The militants opened fire at an Army camp at Nadar Tral, resulting in injuries to two soldiers, one of whom succumbed. His identity could not be established.

Meanwhile, two Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in a gunfight in Baramulla district, while four Hizbul Mujahideen operatives were gunned down in the Arwini area of Anantnag district.

In Baramulla, the gunfight took place at Athoora Kreeri village, 45 km from Srinagar. An assault and an Insas rifle were recovered from the site. Clashes erupted when youngsters tried to march towards the village. — TNS