Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 18

Attacking the BJP-led Central Government and the SAD, Congress leader Nimisha Mehta questioned the “will” of the two parties to have the Kartarpur corridor open for Sikh devotees.

Nimisha said Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal had all the time to point fingers at the conversation between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Punjab Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu but it was sad that she had not realised that her dear NDA government ministers were awaiting a proposal from Pakistan for opening the corridor.

“It is strange that it is the need of Sikh devotees of India to open the corridor and the Central Government, of which Harsimrat Badal herself is a part, and the Centre is expecting a proposal from Pakistan itself. How is it possible? If Indians are being affected, of course the Indian Government will have to put in a request and take an initiative keeping in view the faith of people,” said Nimisha.

But the statements of Union MoS VK Singh that they expect a proposal from Pakistan itself clarifies that it was a sheer delay tactic and a deep-rooted conspiracy of the SAD.

“How can we expect Pakistan to initiate things on its own when we need it the most here as devotees of our country want to visit Pakistan and not Pakistanis want to come here,” she said.

Nimisha said if Sidhu had gone to Pakistan, at least he raised the issue pertaining to millions of Sikh devotees whereas when the Badal family visited Pakistan they returned with buffaloes as a gift in 2012.

She added that the SAD was making tall claims of building the corridor now, whereas its leaders never accompanied the party’s then sidelined leader Kuldip Singh Wadala, who passed away months ago, even for a single prayer for opening of the corridor.

A vehicle plies on the Manali-Keylong highway after the restoration of the Rohtang Pass for traffic on Friday.

Snow being removed on the route. Tribune photos

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, November 23

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) restored the Rohtang Pass, the gateway to Lahaul on the Manali-Leh highway, for vehicular movement on Friday afternoon. The pass was closed on November 12 following heavy snowfall.

Residents of tribal district Lahaul-Spiti heaved a sigh of relief with the opening of the pass. They suffered a lot after the closure of Rohtang, which left them with no road connectivity and telecommunication services.

They also demanded to move through the Rohtang tunnel, but the BRO authority refused to let them pass, citing security reasons as the tunnel is under construction.

After a lot of drama, the BRO had to clear snow from the road across the Rohtang Pass after some Lahaul villagers tried to use an under-construction tunnel as an alternative earlier this week. As many as 80 persons entered the tunnel forcibly to reach Manali on Monday. Some of them fell unconscious due to lack of oxygen.

This mounted pressure on the BRO as well as the state government, which raised the issue with the Defence Ministry to ask the BRO to engage its workforce and machinery to restore the pass.

BRO Commander Col AK Awasthi said: “With the tireless efforts of the BRO workforce, the pass has been restored for traffic. Our workers defied odds and worked in freezing temperature to clear the snow on the Manali-Leh highway via the Rohtang Pass to provide road connectivity to the people of Lahaul-Spiti.”

Ramesh Kumar, a resident of Lahaul, said: “We are thankful to the BRO as well as the state government for restoring the pass. In Lahaul, around 1,200 bags of potato produce (50kg each) are trapped in the Miyar valley. The people have been requesting the state government to make arrangements for its transportation at the earliest.”

He said the Rohtang Pass could shut anytime in the coming days due to snowfall and the government should take steps to transport the potato produce out of the Lahaul valley as soon as possible.

The movement of tourist vehicles is allowed up to Gulaba only and no vehicle will be allowed to move towards the Rohtang Pass.

Manali SDM Raman Gharsangi told The Tribune that the movement of tourist vehicles was restricted. “Only residents of Lahaul are allowed to travel between Kullu and Lahaul via the Rohtang Pass depending upon the weather conditions,” he added.

Every year, the Rohtang Pass is closed for traffic on November 15, but this year, tribals forced the BRO to restore it even after the official deadline

New Delhi: India is facing complex and dynamic security challenges along its borders, which are a threat to the country’s territorial integrity and internal stability, Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat has said.

In a new year message to Army personnel, he hailed the collective grit, determination and sacrifices of the troops in standing up to the challenges along the borders as well as in combating threats of terrorism.

He, however, did not mention about the situation along India’s nearly 4,000- km frontier with China or along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.
“Our steadfast resolve to ensure territorial integrity has been evident from the collective grit, determination and sacrifice of our troops who have stood their ground under the most challenging, inhospitable and most hostile circumstances,” General Rawat said.

The Indian Army has been firmly dealing with infiltration bids and incidents of unprovoked firing by Pakistani Army along the Line of Control (LoC) in J&K.

The Army has also improved its vigilance in several key sectors along the border with China following last year’s Doklam episode.

“All ranks have displayed highest degree of sincerity and commitment while guarding our frontiers, combating terrorism and insurgency,” the Army Chief said.

He also appealed to the 12-lakh strong Army personnel to work with added zeal in dealing with security challenges facing the country.

“We need to continue to work with added zeal while upholding our core values of integrity, loyalty, duty, respect selfless service, courage and honour to fulfil our constitutional obligations and assigned roles,” he said.

General Rawat described his force as one of the most disciplined and professional armies in the world, adding that it must preserve that pride with dignity and honour.

“I am sanguine that the rank and file of the Indian Army will continue to discharge their responsibilities in the best traditions of our organisation,” he said.

General Rawat also mentioned about the “stellar role” the Army played during the devastating floods in Kerala as well as the way it has discharged its duties in the UN missions.

“I salute all those personnel who made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty for the nation in the past year. I wish speedy recovery to all others who are recovering from injuries in the line of duty,” the Army Chief said.

Imran Khan, along with senior Cabinet ministers, was briefed on Wednesday in detail on the various strategic intelligence.

Imran Khan has been accused by his critics of being the security establishment’s man. (File)

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The MoD, ignoring service HQs had unilaterally amended the gazette notification containing recruitment rules for the GMBOA in 2017, opening doors for a Joint Secretary-ranked bureaucrat to be appointed.

The Canteen Stores Department (CSD) had been established in 1948 alongside the Navy canteen services. The reason for its creation was to provide military personnel with their basic needs, despite remoteness of their location. It initially commenced with a few items in its inventory, which has grown to over 4,000 presently. Its profit in the last financial year, earned from mainly military personnel was Rs 1,253 crores. It is under the overall supervision of the defence minister but run by army HQs.

It was created solely for military personnel, which was subsequently extended to civilians paid from defence estimates in 1966, against military advice. Despite serious objections by the military community, this facility was subsequently extended to retired civilian staff too, thus adding 650,000 entitled personnel.

Retired civilians had restrictions on some items of purchase for which they objected to the Defence Ministry (MoD). The MoD has been attempting to force service HQs to remove these restrictions, which they are resisting, as it would impact availability to genuine customers, the serving and veteran community, due to budgetary constraints. Restrictions pertain to costly items including cars etc. There are already limitations on procurement by military personnel, but if opened for all, it may become nigh impossible for military personnel to obtain these items or ensure long waits.

The General Manager and Chairman Board of Administration (GMBOA), responsible for the daily running of the entire CSD network was always a serving military officer of the rank of a Major General, appointed on contractual basis for three to four years. Last week, the MoD issued a notification appointing a Major General, posted in another appointment in Mumbai, on a temporary basis for a duration of six months or selection of a new GMBOA, whichever is earlier, as against a permanent appointment.

The MoD, ignoring service HQs had unilaterally amended the gazette notification containing recruitment rules for the GMBOA in 2017, opening doors for a Joint Secretary-ranked bureaucrat to be appointed. This unilateral action angered the military and Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, the then senior most chief, wrote to the defence minister, Arun Jaitley, on the subject. No action was taken.

In August this year, when the current air force head of the CSD moved on promotion, it became evident that the MoD was contemplating appointing their own. The three service chiefs jointly approached the defence minister in August, who temporarily stalled the action.

Hence, a temporary appointment was announced. Based on the meeting, service HQs subsequently forwarded an official communication to the MoD, objecting to the unilateral amendment. This communique has been languishing in the MoD, without being processed.

The bureaucracy appears to be planning to delay the case for six months, hoping for a change in defence minister or government, enabling them to push forth their agenda. The intention behind appointing a bureaucrat is to dilute CSD facilities by opening it to other central government organizations, making it almost redundant as also to amend rules on sharing profit earned by the CSD. Logically, if desired for others, a similar organization can be created, rather than dilute an existing one.

CSD profits have already been used to fund the Sanskriti school in Delhi, which was created for children of bureaucrats. Most of the profit is kept by the government, the small portion which is returned to the armed forces is utilised for creating facilities and providing financial assistance to veterans.

The bureaucracy is seeking to grab every institution of the military that it can, despite having no role in the running nor even being entitled to it. It is now an open conflict between the bureaucracy and the military on controlling military assets.

Evidently, the military is spending more time battling its own MoD and bureaucracy, which suddenly seems to have grown wings, rather than handling cross-border threats. At every stage, the bureaucracy seeks to delay, deny and prevent the armed forces from moving ahead. Surprisingly, this action appears to have the support of the defence minister, who permits it to act, either knowingly or unknowingly.

In addition, in a recent communique to Cantonment Executive Officers (CEOs) and Local Military Authorities (LMAs) responsible for the security and well being of cantonments, Minister Nirmala Sitharaman issued a clear warning. Open all roads ignoring security aspects or face the consequences. She ignored military security concerns. After her last directions, the army had already opened most roads keeping a few closed for security purposes.

She is evidently following the philosophy that the armed forces interest ‘come last, always and every time’, the exact opposite of what her role as the defence minister should have been. With such a head at the MoD, there is no wonder that the ministry is working in a coordinated manner to denude the armed forces of every institution they have, including those on which a majority of the forces depend. Military hospitals are being opened to ‘Modicare’ and the CSD being taken over by the bureaucracy. Cantonments are already open. What could be next??

Never in the history of the country have the armed forces been pushed to such depths that they are forced to fight for their rights and dues. The defence minister can threaten the armed forces, as she did in the cantonment case, only because they are disciplined and respectful. But she cannot direct her own ministry not to cross limits in denuding the status and institutions of the armed forces.

Is this the status and standing of the armed forces that PM Modi promised in his Rewari rally of 2013? Are his directions to her to break every military institution, degrade its status and lower its prestige? If these are not his directions, then she needs to be firmer with her MoD than the military. She must ensure that her bureaucracy does not cross limits. She should remember that as military institutions fall, anger against the government would only rise.

The writer is a retired Major-General of the Indian Army.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 11

Former Union Minister Arun Shourie today alleged that the deal to buy 36 Rafale jets from Dassualt Aviation of France was the direct culpability of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in “compromising national security”.

When he announced the decision about getting 36 jets in April 2015 in Paris, Modi overturned the work of 7-8 years done by previous governments. There is no scope for discretion of the PM in such matters, said Shourie, addressing a media conference here.

He was accompanied by another former minister Yashwant Sinha and lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan.

Shourie termed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as “minister for blogging” in an obvious reference to his recent blogs on the subject. “His statement is contradictory to what he has said in Parliament,” said Shourie.

Jaitley says approval of the Defence acquisition council (DAC) was taken in May 2015, then how did the PM arrive at the number (36 planes) and the decision before the DAC had met. Dismissing claims of India-specific upgrades, Shourie referred to the April 2015 joint statement of Modi and French President François Hollande. It said the aircraft and associated systems and weapons would be delivered on the “same configuration” as had been tested and approved by the Indian Air Force.

Both Sinha and Shourie said the government has “spun a web of lies to protect Modi’s culpability in the largest defence scam” the country has ever seen.

“Every explanation they put out ensnares the government in the web of lies they have spun. This means they have a lot to hide,” said Shourie.

The following points need to explained: How price increased from 670 crore to 1,680 crore; how HAL was not included; why there is no transfer of technology; and how the deal is actually causing a delay.

He made the statement in Pune while addressing a gathering of soldiers and officers who were disabled in the line of duty. The function also included a dance and song performance by disabled soldiers, men and women.

Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat Thursday warned that officers and jawans of the Armed forces “who cannot withstand stress” and “feign disability citing high blood pressure, diabetes and hypertension to avoid operational duties and earn extra money” will soon face action from the Army headquarters.

He made the statement in Pune while addressing a gathering of soldiers and officers who have been disabled in the line of duty.

He said, ”The Army will continue to provide all possible assistance, even of financial nature, to the truly disabled soldiers. But I am warning those who feign disability to earn extra money, will soon face action from the Army headquarters that they will not like. (This type of) disability cannot become a reason to avoid operational duty at the cost of lives of officers who continue to perform the duty till the last breath.”

The function also included a dance and song performance by disabled soldiers.