Our Correspondent

Sangrur, November 19

The ex-servicemen wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) yesterday demanded two tickets for the ex-servicemen from SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal for the current Assembly elections.State president of the wing Gurjinder Singh Sidhu said the ex-servicemen and serving Army personnel were in great strength in the state and they had about 25 lakh votes. Besides, there were also 55,000 widows of ex-servicemen in the state. Therefore, the party president should give them representation in the Assembly elections by allotting the party ticket, he added.Sidhu regretted that during the previous Assembly elections not even a single ticket was allotted to the ex-servicemen by the party due to which they had been feeling ignored.

NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force is examining a proposal to gather data on the performance of its first female fighter pilots, potential difficulties due to physiological attributes and cultural issues in the male-dominated military, HT has learnt.

IAF(L-R) Mohana, Bhawana and Avani are in line to be the country’s first woman combat pilots.

The proposal, made by a leading woman aviation psychologist and accident investigator in the IAF, is under consideration of the force’s crucial inspection and safety wing, sources said.

Three women are currently taking a shot at becoming fighter pilots after the government approved a plan in October last year. “We propose to carry out a longitudinal study capturing every aspect of fighter flying,” said Kuhu Ganguly, a senior scientist in the inspection and safety directorate.

“The idea is to track how well they are progressing as they break into a male bastion,” she said. Such studies can stretch for years as subjects are repeatedly observed on specific parameters.

The three women are in the final stage of their training on British Hawk advanced jet trainers at an IAF facility in Bidar, Karnataka. The trailblazers — Bhawana Kanth, Mohana Singh and Avani Chaturvedi — will begin flying supersonic fighter planes from June 2017, considered a watershed in the IAF’s 84-year history.

Several IAF officers said the performance of the women during their training was on a par with their male colleagues.

Such gender-specific studies are not uncommon. Aviation medicine wings of international air forces, including the US and Australia, have researched women pilot programmes. Research has been done in areas such tolerance to gravitational forces, disorientation and motion sickness, pregnancy, use of “piddle packs” and ejection safety. Ganguly, whose rank is equivalent to an air commodore’s, said, “The fighter jet doesn’t know gender and it will behave as it will. The study could also help the IAF resolve problems, if any, for future women fighter pilots.” The IAF has advised the women trainees to put off motherhood for at least four years after they are commissioned as fighter pilots so that their flying schedule is not disrupted. No woman trainee from the next batch has opted for the fighter stream.

“Fitness norms for flying duties are clearly laid down and both men and women will have to maintain those standards,” said Air Marshal Pawan Kapoor, who heads the IAF’s medical wing.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar during the Shaheed Samman rally in Rewari on Wednesday. Tribune Photo

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rewari, November 16

Union Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh today announced to open an Army recruitment sub-centre in Rewari besides setting up a Rapid Action Force (RAF) Battalion in Mewat on permanent basis to maintain communal harmony.The announcement was made at the Shaheed Samman Rally organised at the HUDA ground here to pay tribute to 5,000 martyrs who laid down their lives on November 16, 1857, at Nasibpur in Mahendragarh.“There is no army recruitment centre in Rewari which has the highest number of serving and ex-servicemen in Haryana. There is an urgent need to set up such a centre here and it should be fulfilled on priority basis. The RAF should also be deputed in Mewat to ensure communal harmony.”Singh said Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had given his consent for setting up an Army Recruitment sub-centre in Rewari, adding, adequate land was available in Mewat to station RAF Battalion.Earlier, Rao Inderjit accused the Congress of deliberately putting the issue on the back burner. He urged the CM to ensure setting up AIIMS-like institute at Manethi village of the district and construction of Rewari bypass.Referring to Rao’s demands, Khattar said the state government the work to construct the Rewari bypass could be expedited if the NCR Planning Board was ready to give a loan. The bypass would be built at an estimated cost of Rs 800 crore.Meanwhile, the Home Minister also defended the move to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes, adding, it would minimise economic disparity.

In October, the two armies conducted a joint exercise along the Line of Actual Control in the Ladakh region of J&K. ani file

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 11

India and China are readying for a joint military exercise and have decided on a trajectory to increase military interactions and ensure stability along the disputed boundary between the two nations.A two-week joint military exercise begins on November 16 to “understand and practice” methods to tackle the transnational terror. The exercise is being conducted under the Pune-based Southern Army Command.This will be the sixth edition of the “hand-in-hand” exercise, first since December when Beijing passed a law authorising its military to venture overseas on counter-terror operations and even sent off 5,000 troops to tackle the Islamic State in Syria.Both countries separately face transnational terror in their respective regions — India in Kashmir and China in Xinjiang (lying north of J&K in India). Both nations also have collective threat of their own youth joining the IS. The scope of the exercise will include evolution of joint drills for conduct of counter-terror operations and include a live drill to neutralise a terrorist.Besides, a high-level India-China Defence and Security Consultation has been conducted in New Delhi earlier this week. Indian Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar led the India delegations in talks with Sun Jianguo, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of China’s Central Military Commission and the Indian.The Chinese side expressed its commitment to join hands with the Indian Army to maintain the exchanges on border defence, improve the mechanism of communication and strengthen border management and control so as to safeguard peace and stability in their border areas, he added. The two are working to introduce better measures to boost communication and coordination between border guarding forces.

INS Vikramaditya ready to go back to sea

Kochi: INS Vikramaditya, the largest warship operated by India and the third aircraft carrier inducted into the Navy, is getting ready to go back to sea as she completed her “refit works” at Cochin Shipyard Limited here. The ship, 285 metres long and 60 metres wide with 23 decks, was drydocked on September 23. PTI

16 Corps GOC Lt Gen AK Sharma with Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan in Jammu on Monday. Tribune Photo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 7

Lt Gen AK Sharma, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 16 Corps, called on Governor NN Vohra at Raj Bhawan here today and briefed him about the current security situation in his area of responsibility.The Governor discussed with the General Officer Commandin of the 16 Corpsissues relating to effective internal security management in the hinterland and further strengthening the counter-infiltration grid.

Shushila Davi

Sumedha Sharma

Tribune News Service

Gurugram, November 5

It takes a visit to quaint village of Mohammad Ahir in Tawdu in Mewat district to blow apart claims of parties about their commitment towards martyred soldiers and their families.In a modest home, lives Sushila Devi, widow Shaurya Chakra awardee Dev Kumar who had died serving in Afghanistan in suicide bombing in 2008. For a few years, she lived with pride — the honour of being the widow of a soldier who died serving the country. But pride gave way to disillusionment; she has been struggling to get Shaurya Chakra pension.“My husband was in the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and sent to Afghanistan in 2008. Before leaving, he had told me he may never return and asked me to be proud if he died,” Sushila Devi says. Kumar died in 2008 and was awarded Shaurya Chakra 2009. “That was the proudest moment of my life,” Devi says. “He was the sole bread earner. I got his pension, but that was not enough. I was then told about Shaurya Chakra pension given by the state. I applied for it and thus started my struggle,” said Sushila.She made regular trips to Chandigarh to check the progress of her application for pension. “Initially, men from my family would do visit Chandigarh. Soon, they realised it was a futile task. So, I took it upon myself. I went to Chandigarh almost every week and, every time, officials ignored me. Somebody suggested I meet local leaders, but that was no help either,” Devi says.In December 2014 and July this year, Gurugram MP Rao Inderjit Singh had written to officials on her behalf, but to avail. “He was kind enough to take up my case. But probably all that a soldier gets in this country is an award. Indifference and insult follows. I hope that the hue and cry over the OROP scheme may force leaders to spare a thought about me,” Sushila adds.Nuh MLA Zakir Hussain said, “This is ironic. Both the Congress and the BJP have let many like her down. She is not asking for any help, but her right which her husband earned laying his life in the line of duty. The INLD will take her case with Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.”

Soldiers along the Line of control are in the thick of a nerve­wracking battle after the surgical strikes in september altered the rules of the game. Hindustan Times spent time with army troops on the border to understand the challenges the men are up aga

THE SOLDIER WILL HAVE TO STAND AT HIS POST AS THE SNOWS PILE UP TO 20 AND 30 FEET AND TEMPERATURES FALL TO MINUS 20. EACH POST IS CUT OFF FROM THE OTHER FROM OCTOBER TO FEBRUARY…

Imagine standing at attention for a full 120 minutes. Imagine scanning the ridges and valleys, looking for trees that may have been cut overnight. Imagine straining your ears each time the leaves rustle. Imagine being glued to an automatic weapon, finger constantly on the trigger. Imagine an icy wind sweeping your face and the snow collecting at your feet. Imagine a life constantly on the edge.

Soldiers along the 740-km Line of Control (LoC), that demarcates India and Pakistan, are in the thick of a nerve-wracking battle. The surgical strikes following the suicide attack on an army camp in Uri on September 18 that killed 20 soldiers have drastically altered the rules of the game. The ceasefire agreement of 2003 is in tatters and the daily dose of mortar and artillery fire, have the jawans on their toes.

Lives are now on the line, by day and by night. The LoC is not an easy place to get to but HT got permission to go to the forward posts. The first briefing by Colonel MB Singh, commanding officer, 20 Rashtriya Rifles, left little room for doubt. “The place where you’re standing is within enemy range and can be pounded. In case that happens, you need to take shelter,’’ he said, pointing to his right, where sandbags cover an underground bunker. His men know the drill. Bunkers have come up next to every post and that’s the only safe place, provided you have the time to respond and run. Six to eight soldiers can crouch for safety in freshly-made bunkers that have been constructed after the surgical strikes on September 29.

Safety, however, is one thing that is not guaranteed. The soldiers, who are on full alert for 120 minutes, after which they rest their taut nerves for the next two hours, are now not just looking for infiltrating terrorists. They are also guarding against sniper attacks from Pakistani rangers and the battle action teams (BATs) comprising jihadis from the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Jaish-e-Mohammad. In the unequal proxy war that has become sharp and intense, leaves have been curtailed and commanding officers are up all night and in constant touch with their company commanders. Leading from the front in the time of escadetect, lation and ‘near-war’ – as one officer put it – is of utmost importance.

A NEW NORMAL

India cannot afford a breach along the LoC or along the 221-km stretch of the international border between Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan. The bloody attack in Uri in September and the audacious three-day stand-off at the air force base in Pathankot in January are painful reminders of what a breach can result in. “We now constantly practise anti-fidayeen and counter BAT drills,’’ says Bhaskar Kataria, commanding officer, 19 Maratha. His unit is responsible for roughly 38 km of the LoC but even though his posts are ‘’dominating Pakistan’’ because they are at a higher height, that’s not solace enough. His troops get a daily reminder of what DIE stands for: identify, eliminate. The identification is of utmost importance. In the dead of night – when the troops have to be on maximum alert – the danger of shooting one of your own has to be factored in and the orders are strict: do not fire till you have established the identity of a militant with a weapon.

In the precipitous heights that range from 9,000 to 14,000 feet, danger is manifold. Up until the attack in Uri, the army could monitor infiltration routes selectively and focus on areas identified through surveillance radars and intelligence inputs but the surgical strikes on ‘launch pads’ (areas where the Pakistani army keeps trained terrorists just before they’re pushed across the LoC into India) have also changed the vocabulary of the officers tasked with guarding the line once referred to as ‘the most dangerous place on earth’ by former US President Bill Clinton.

“We are dealing with a ‘new normal’,’’ one officer tells us. What’s the ‘new normal?’ we ask. The answer is as simple as it is stark. It is visible on a daily basis: killing of civilians (eight in a single day on November 1), heavy mortar shells whistling through the treacherous mountains, scaring civilians into migrating, artillery pounding of each other’s positions, stealth attacks that leave soldiers’ bodies mutilated.

After the ceasefire in 2003, the Indian army was able to fence large parts of the Line of Control. Attempts at putting up the anti-infiltration obstacle system (AIOS) were made earlier too but were met with constant firing from Pakistan. The rolls of concertina wire that make up this fence had helped bring infiltration levels down but the figures are spiking once again. Determined and highly-motivated terrorists are attempting to cross the line again and 2016 has already seen 70 attempts (up to September) as compared to 30 in 2015. “The fence is constantly under the gaze. It cannot be protected at every step but the troops return to the same spot, under their guard, every 30 minutes, to see if anyone has attempted to cut it,” an officer explains.

But scores of Indian posts lie ahead of the fence and these are extremely vulnerable. Sepoy Mandeep Singh, the young 28-year-old jawan whose body was mutilated, was at one such location when he came under attack from the battle action teams on October 28. Officials privy to the attack say – but only off the record – that he was beheaded just like Hemraj was three years ago, in the Poonch sector. The BATs retreated as quickly and stealthily as they had entered, secure that their masters in the Pakistani army would help them by providing cover fire. In a similar action, five days earlier, Surat Singh, from 22 Grenadiers, was amongst those who noticed some movement in the bushes. Was it a Pakistani infiltrator or a panther? That’s a question they have to contend with often. Soon, Singh saw infiltrators coming towards them with grenade launchers. He was hit by shrapnel and fell to the ground.

The border is at its most volatile. India has shrugged off its self-imposed restriction of opening up its artillery weapons and the verbal messaging from the political masters is unambiguous: fire ten mortars in return for one; don’t ask for flag meetings to lower tensions.

MULTIPLE ENEMIES

The surgical strikes, owned politically by the Narendra Modi government, have buoyed the troops on the ground but unlike the past, the officers know that this winter is going to be a turbulent one. Heavy snowfall makes for a formidable trek across the LoC but admits Lt Gen Satish Dua, Corps Commander, 15 Corps, “We expect a more difficult winter because of the heightened state of alert after the surgical strikes and are prepared for any misadventure from Pakistan.”

A heightened state of alert through the winter is a mind-boggling exercise, unimaginable till you visit the forward posts. The ridges were covered with snow in the last week of October and the temperatures had dipped to minus six degrees Celsius. And that’s just the beginning. The soldier will have to stand at his post as the snows slowly pile up to 20 and 30 feet and temperatures fall to minus 20. Each post is cut off from the other from October to February and each has to be stocked with enough ration and fuel so that the jawans can sustain themselves. For those who need to move, ropes are tied to winter route markers to help them slither to and fro. “We are fighting more than one enemy,’’ says Kataria. Twenty RR’s Singh adds, “Each soldier needs 2.3 kg of ration and while earlier we could stock by day, this time we are doing it after light fades so we are not visible to the enemy.’’

Soon, the platoon hawaldar will also be checking the feet of each solider to ensure he’s not showing early signs of chilblains. But as the days shrink, the nights become longer and the infiltrators prepare to infiltrate in snow suits, the most challenging of all is casualty evacuation. It is difficult for helicopters to land in thick fog and snow blizzards but the injured must be rushed. Surat Singh, injured by splinters, was carried on the shoulders of his colleagues because the ‘hepter’ couldn’t make it despite the pilot’s best attempts.

Lives are on the line and there is little room for leisure. Brigadier Zubin A Minwalla in Kupwara’s Pharkian Gali area had organised a cake-cutting for one of his officers, Vaibhav Fauzdar’s wedding anniversary. Before they could gather at 5pm, came news of Surat’s injury and the news that the infiltrators had managed to flee.

On the Line of Control, birthdays and anniversaries can provide a few minutes of relief and motivation, if at all. Too much is at stake. The beauty of the white mountains is treacherous. The snowcapped heights belie the daily battle of life and death

Ambala, November 4

The 501 Signal Unit and 30 Squadron will receive the President’s Standard from President Pranab Mukherjee for their exceptional and dedicated services at the Air Force Station here on November 10.Western Air Command AOC-in-C Air Marshal SB Deo informed this at the Air Forces Station here today.The 30 Squadron, based in Pune, was raised on November 1, 1969, while 501 Signal Unit, based in Barnala, was raised in 1964. The Air Marshal expressed pride over the selection of the units and said: “The President’s Standards are given to units of the armed forces which render exceptional and dedicated service over a period of time. The President himself selects the unit after a lot of deliberation and it is the most valuable achievement for a unit.” —TNS

The PMO is believed to have agreed to revise not only parliamentarians’ salary but also their allowances. File photo

New Delhi, November 2The central government has decided to give a 100 percent raise to members of parliament from their current Rs 50,000 a month.The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is learnt to have agreed to consider a proposal by the Joint Committee on Salaries and Allowances of Members of Parliament, which is headed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Yogi Adityanath.

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The PMO is believed to have agreed to revise not only parliamentarians’ salary but also their allowances.The government is also considering an increase in President’s salary from current Rs. 1.5 lakh a month to Rs. 5 lakh and the governor’s salary from current Rs. 1.10 lakh to Rs. 2.5 lakh. — ANI

I attended the Kasauli Literary Festival on 15-16 Oct and was involved in two great sessions. The first with Lt Gen Mohinder Puri, former GOC 8 Mtn Div during Kargil operations in 1999. We reviewed the operations keeping his great book Kargil : Turning the Tide, recently published by Lancer. Along with us was Lt Gen KJ Singh, former GOC in C Western Command.

A day earlier I appeared on a panel on Nationalism, with Kanhaiya Kumar, Madhu Kishwar and  Gul Panag to discuss Nationalism. It proved to be the high point of the Fest leading one of the high profile journalists Achana Masih  from Rediff, who was there too, to write this piece for rediff.

I dressed very casually for the fest keeping in mind the prevailing environment of informality.