The Indian Army retaliated. PTI file

Amir Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 4

The Pakistan Army on Tuesday used small arms and mortars to target Indian Army positions on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district, the army said.“The Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate firing at 11 am on Indian posts along the LoC in Bhimber Ghali sector,” Defence Ministry spokesman Lt Col Manish Mehta said.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The Indian Army retaliated “strongly and effectively”, the officer said. Intermittent firing was still on. With IANS

Court grants bail to jawan held with grenades at airport, hands him to army

Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, April 4

An Army jawan who had been arrested on Monday day after two hand grenades were recovered from his baggage at the International Airport here was on Tuesday granted interim bail by a local court which handed him to the army authorities.Bhopal Mukhiya was arrested at the Srinagar International Airport while he was on his way to catch a flight to Delhi.Granting interim bail to the accused, the court in Budgam handed over Mukhiya to army authorities, who had moved an application to this effect, officials said.The army authorities have informed the court that Mukhiya’s custody was required by them for investigating the case, they added.The court has listed the case for next hearing on April 6.The soldier, who is posted with 17 JAK Rifles at Boniyar in Uri sector of Baramulla district, was arrested after security officials found two hand grenades in his baggage during screening at the main gate of the airport.Mukhiya reportedly told the security officials that a superior officer had handed over the grenades to him with the instructions to hand it over to a person at Delhi airport.The security officials are likely to question the officer named by the accused soldier in connection with the recovery of grenades, the officials said.Army officials refused to comment on the developments in the case saying the investigation was underway.On Monday, a defence spokesman said action as per the due process of law would be taken. With PTI

Hoshiarpur, April 3

Labhpreet Singh (21) of the 20 Sikh Regiment, who died in a terror attack in the Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir two days ago, was cremated with full military honours at his native Muradpur Abana village.A section of soldiers from his unit and Uchi Bassi Cantonment reached his native village with his body. The martyr’s fellow soldiers gave him the Last Salute by reversing the arms and firing in the air. His father, Lakhvir Singh, lit the pyre.Labhpreet was recruited in the Army a year and a half ago and was posted in the Uri sector after completion of his training a few months ago. Besides Army officials, Mukerian SDM Amit Mahajan, MLA Rajneesh Kumar Babby, former minister Arunesh Shakar and the Ex-servicemen Welfare Officer, Hoshiarpur, paid tributes to the martyr. — OC

Army men are not allowed to have media contact unless authorised

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 3

In January, the Indian Army was alerted about a message on smart phone application ‘WhatsApp’ that had phone numbers of leading TV channels and it exhorted jawans to share videos and audio recording of any act of corruption or exploitation with media houses. Army men are not allowed to have media contact unless authorised in writing.The message was not an aberration, rumours and falsehoods have been peddled on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. In the past two weeks, two fake letters have been circulated listing emoluments of the much-awaited 7th Central Pay Commission. One of these had the complete format of a government gazette. In one case, the Ministry of Defence had to intervene and deny having issued any such letter.The Army, alarmed at the manner in which the social media was being “wrongly” used by its own, has now issued an advisory to all seven Commands spelling out “do’s and don’ts” for the Army men as also their spouses, families and dependents.The Army believes “too much” of wrong information has been flowing on to the Facebook and Twitter accounts of personnel and also through WhatsApp messages.In its letter to the Commands, it has also named a particular ex-servicemen’s group for spreading rumours and falsehood through the social media. These messages are then spread using the family members of jawans. Most are rumours aimed at “dividing” the officers and jawans. The Army has asked its Commands to ensure that its forces are made aware of the restrictions on sharing information relating to Army operations, its style of functioning, false opinions on pay and pensions.These include passing on messages that are detrimental to the functioning of the Army, giving out place of posting of specific battalion (regimental shoulder epaulets are discarded in operations).The Army headquarters says these messages exaggerate issues and tell half-truth. “There have been incidents of individuals and groups with vested interests propagating blatant falsehoods,” says the letter while citing examples of how attempts were made to spread falsehood that “one rank, one pension” was only for officers; how the 7th CPC delayed all benefits to jawans, but not officers; ‘ill-treatment’ of jawans as buddies; and alleged poor quality of food.

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30

The Capt Amarinder Singh government, which has been quite vocal about the legacy of debt, is set to inherit from the previous Akali-BJP government a fleet of new cars, including a luxury SUV — something it won’t mind.These vehicles were ordered by the SAD-BJP government for the then Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, but by the time the Finance Department sanctioned the money, the model code of conduct for the Punjab Assembly elections had come into force.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The new vehicles — a bulletproof Range Rover, and 11 Innovas and Gypsys, estimated at Rs 2.5 crore in total — will be delivered for the Chief Minister’s cavalcade shortly. Sources in the Finance Department said the amount had been released.“The budget was sanctioned by the Finance Department to the Transport Department. A sum of Rs 87 lakh has been released for 11 Innovas and Gypsys, besides Rs 1.3 crore for the Range Rover and another Rs 35 lakh for bullet-proofing it,” said a source, adding tenders had been floated in December.Last year, the former Chief Minister and his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal had bought new Toyota Land Cruisers after the vehicles used by them were declared as “condemned”. Since parallel cavalcades had to be maintained for the Chief Minister, the new vehicles were cleared by the Akali-BJP government. Fifteen new Gypsys are also being bought to escort ministers and MLAs.

New game, new rules

Vivek Katju
Political propriety is a thing of the past

SHOWTIME: The Captain’s fine with his minister providing comic relief to TV audiences.

NAVJOT SINGH SIDHU in his present avatar as a Congress minister in Punjab is insisting on continuing with his participation in a television comedy show. A Shiv Sena member of the Lok Sabha, Ravindra Gaikwad, who has emphasised that he is a teacher, is loudly acknowledging and justifying his beating up of an elderly Air India executive. Sidhu’s approach and Gaikwad’s conduct profile the transformation of the normative landscape of India’s public life. This great change is further underlined by the responses of the leadership of the two parties of these politicians.Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has treated  Sidhu’s desire as a legal matter not as a question of norm and convention. The Advocate-General of Punjab has opined that Sidhu’s wish does not violate the office of profit statute. There is little doubt though that old Congress icons such as Nehru and Indira Gandhi would have had little patience with Sidhu’s demand even if they may have been, as a remote possibility, amused by his hazir jawabi. But times have changed and Amarinder Singh obviously finds nothing wrong with one of his ministers providing comic relief to television audiences. Perhaps he recalls how rajas were kept in good humour. It is unclear, as yet, of what the Congress’ first family feels of the propriety of Sidhu’s insistence.Unlike the civil service which has conduct rules that prescribe dos and don’ts, persons in public life were expected to set standards of propriety. As guardians of public welfare they were expected to have an innate sense of what was ‘the done thing’. Naturally, the ‘done thing’ may change with the passage of time but the need for self-restraint in public life is the bedrock of a democratic system and distinguishes it from an authoritarian order. It is only self-restraint that keeps a check on the limitless temptations that every minister can find to pursue sama-daam-dand-bhed to achieve political ends.Over the years when the hard choice between power and expediency and the upholding of norms and conventions which flowed from the spirit of the Constitution was to be made political leaders and parties often opted for acquiring or maintaining power. Technical and legal reasons were invariably invoked to justify actions, as the Congress did in 1999. Its then Orissa CM Giridhar Gamang’s crucial vote against the Vajpayee government in April 1999 is now a distant memory. He was still a member of the Lok Sabha and chose to cast his vote despite being a CM. Vajpayee was voted out by one vote. Prima facie it is absurd for a CM to cast a vote in the Lok Sabha but now a precedent was set. This is relevant today when Yogi Adityanath even while being CM of UP can take part in a Lok Sabha vote to elect the President. Convention more than any rule demands that professionals, who hold political office, suspend their professional careers so long as they hold such office. Certainly, this was the case in the initial years after Independence. The only exception was for some distinguished doctors to see patients for a few hours every week or month on a purely honorary basis in order to keep up with their skills. Thus Dr BC Roy, the legendary CM of West Bengal who was a distinguished physician, devoted a couple of hours periodically to see patients on an honorary basis. The desire to continue with activity to maintain professional licences such as those of commercial pilots may fall within such exceptions. But can the same exception be invoked to take part in television comedy shows?  If simplicity and frugal life styles derived from Gandhiji’s example were the norm followed by those who held ministerial office immediately after Independence, over the decades, it has become its reverse. It may come as a surprise to many that ministers in the 1950s used their private cars, although with official drivers, for their private journeys. This writer may be forgiven for recalling childhood memories of his grandfather, a member of the Union Cabinet in the early 1950s, of occasionally taking him and his other siblings for drives in his personal car, a small Hillman Minx. Obviously, now security considerations may not permit the use of private cars but the idea of self-restraint in these matters has gone. To turn to Gaikwad, the Shiv Sena’s initial response to his reprehensible and potentially criminal conduct was to virtually ask for an enquiry and emphasise his good conduct in his constituency. A few hours later the party made it known that its president Uddhav Thackeray was ‘angry’ with Gaikwad and had summoned him presumably for a tongue-lashing. Perhaps he will ask him to apologise for his behaviour and  the party will take recourse to the favourite words in all such situations — the law will take its course. This is especially as an FIR has been registered against him. Legally this may pass muster but does it uphold the norm that is expected of an MP? In all likelihood, the political class will let this pass with only critical comments even though Gaikwad has aggressively asserted and justified that he beat up the Air India executive. Political leaders of the past would have found such brazen conduct unacceptable and taken action. But now we are in a different normative territory.Normative structures in the civil services have also undergone a sea change. Wide discrepancies between the provisions of the conduct rules which concretise them and what the senior bureaucracy and the political leadership not only permit but also perhaps expect have arisen. One such area is that of lobbying for jobs and posts. The rules prescribe that officials will not lobby for posts and transfers and postings. Some years ago,  when this writer asked a PMO official the reasons for a suitable officer being overlooked for a job in the foreign office for which he was eminently qualified, he was told that no one had pushed his case by speaking on his behalf. Only the naive now let their work speak for them.Another area is the public airing of views on government policies in areas outside their assignments even though this was not the earlier norm. The conduct rules permit officials to undertake cultural, scientific and literary activities but the expression of personal views on government policies do not fall within this ambit. Perhaps Sidhu will claim that television comedy shows are part of the present-day culture and hence he should be allowed to carry on after office hours!The writer is a former Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs

Road map for Punjab

Leave the rear-view mirror and look ahead

PUNJAB’S fiscal condition has turned out to be worse than what was portrayed in the last budget. While announcing Rs 3,000 crore sops, the pre-poll budget had projected a Rs 1.38 lakh crore debt by year-end. The new Congress government has scaled it up to a mammoth Rs 1.82 lakh crore. This means the SAD-BJP government had disrespected the sanctity associated with budget figures. It did not disclose, or account for, the Rs 25,000 crore expenditure carried out subsequently, according to Finance Minister Manpreet Badal. Doubts about Akalis doctoring figures may be partly cleared after a third-party audit of the state finances, publication of a White Paper and a Vigilance probe into the Rs 31,000-crore “food scam”. Vigilance, as Capt Amarinder Singh ought to know from experience, is unreliable. It is useful more for high-profile bailouts than convictions. More skeletons are expected to tumble out of the Badal closet. The CAG has put up a damning report saying PSPCL under-used its own plants and charged Rs 1,428 crore extra from consumers. The new leadership, however, need not dwell too much on Akali misrule as voters have already punished them. While witch-hunting is certainly undesirable, punishment for violations of the law, if any, can be ensured by letting the law take its course, regardless of the law-breakers’ position or cosy relationship with some in the ruling party.Other than abundant talk and oodles of confidence, the new rulers have displayed little else. The sense of purpose and urgency seen at the first Cabinet meeting was missing in the first assembly session. It needs to go beyond red beacons and focus on the road ahead — how to effect financial transformation of Punjab and arrange funds for keeping the party’s populist promises, including a farm loan waiver. How the GST rollout will affect the state finances needs to be urgently studied, as also the fallout of the likely pay hike. Restoration of the state’s financial health will require hard decisions. Going by the new dispensation’s please-all approach and adjustment of every available Captain loyalist in key posts, populism may triumph over fiscal rectitude.

Pending bills: Water shocker for residents

Sanjeev Singh Bariana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30

The Water Supply and Sanitation Department has issued pending bills in the range of Rs 30,000 to Rs 60,000 to a majority of consumers in 139 towns of the state, leaving them in shock.In several cases, the bills are pending for three to five years. This is so because the department did not issue bills all this while.Legislators have apprised Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu of the situation. He has convened a meeting of officers and MLAs next week.Sidhu told The Tribune, “In certain towns, bills had not been collected for nine to ten months. There are cases where bills accumulated for a long period. I have asked the officer concerned to prepare a detailed note and give us a correct perspective on the situation. I have also called MLAs to join us in a discussion to thrash out the matter next week. The SAD-BJP government slept over the matter.”The department is still to work out the exact figure of dues. But going by the population of more than 1.05 crore in 139 towns, the amount will be “definitely very high”.Sidhu said, “Officers will have to do a lot of explanation over why the bills were not issued for months and, in some cases, years.”Jalandhar North MLA Bawa Henry said, “Slum dwellers and those living in poor localities are the most affected. I have sought the minister’s intervention to find a way out. One solution can be to allow people pay up in easy instalments. Any other solution can be found. The idea is to give people immediate reprieve. But what’s important is that a permanent solution needs to be found to avoid such a situation in the future.”

Japanese envoy meets CM

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh with Japanese Ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu in Delhi on Thursday. PTI

New Delhi: A Japanese delegation, including the country’s envoy, met Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh here on Thursday and explored the possible areas for investment in the state. The areas discussed were power, Smart Cities, automated guideway transit, industrial parks, agriculture, horticulture and roads. tns

Japanese delegation meets Capt, shows interest in investing in state

HANDIGARH: Japan has evinced interest in investing in Punjab and partnering the state across key segments of growth and development.

HT PHOTOPunjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh meeting Japanese ambassador Kenji Hiramatsu in New Delhi on Thursday.

A high-level Japanese delegation, including its the envoy to India Kenji Hiramatsu and Mitsubishi managing director Kazunori Konishi, met chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh in Delhi on Thursday and discussed possible areas of investment and collaboration.

The discussions were preliminary but it will pave the way for more intensive discussions in future, said a state government spokesman. The discussion covered a wide range of subjects which the two sides agreed to deliberate further to work out a collaborative mechanism.

The spokesperson said after the meeting, Mitsubishi officials made a presentation to the CM listing several important areas for possible investment. These included power, smart cities, (automated guideway transit), industrial parks and captive power plants, besides strengthening of some existing projects.

Amarinder also discussed development of roads and highways as a key step towards improvement of Punjab’s infrastructure.

The two sides decided to explore possible cooperation in agriculture and the CM invited Japanese experts to visit the state, particularly Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, to examine the feasibility of agricultural cooperation. An exchange programme for agricultural scientists could be worked out, the spokesman added. Amarinder said he was committed to Punjab’s modernisation in which Japan could join in as an important partner.

MP Singh to head technical board

Chandigarh: The Amarinder Singh-led Congress government has decided to give the charge of Chairman of the Punjab State Board of Technical Education and Industrial Training to MP Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, Technical Education and Industrial Training. A senior government functionary said till a new Chairman was appointed, MP Singh would remain the officiating Chairman of the board. In other cases, where the politically appointed chairmen of various boards and corporations were resigning from their posts, the principal secretaries of the respective body were being told to take the charge as an interim arrangement. TNS

Guv seeks revamp of sainik programmes

Chandigarh: Governor VP Singh Badnore while presiding over the 32nd meeting of the Rajya Sainik Board Punjab asked the officers to restructure their programmes and involve maximum ex-servicemen and students in their development projects. TNS

Hope floats for ‘neglected’ rest house near Badal resort

The dilapidated rest house of the Forest Department at Palanpur village near Chandigarh. Tribune photo

Rajmeet Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30

A “neglected” forest rest house in the vicinity of the Badals’ luxury resort, Sukhvilas, at Palanpur village near here has caught the attention of the Congress government.Forests and Wildlife Minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot has sought a report from the top functionaries of the Forest Department on the rest house, which also has provision for a forest sensitisation centre (Van Chetna Kendra).Dharamsot confirmed that he had asked the officials to explain why the facility had remained non-functional during the past five years.The rest house fell on bad days when the construction of the resort started in 2012, the year the Akali-BJP government was re-elected. As the road to the rest house passed adjacent to the main premises of the resort, temporary barricading was done to keep passersby away.Due to the apathy, the place has been overrun by wild growth. The two-storeyed building is in a dilapidated condition. The whitewash on the façade has peeled off. “Officially, no order was passed to shut down the centre, but forest officials were told to stay away,” a senior functionary said.Back in 2007, during the tenure of the SAD-BJP government, the rest house had hit the headlines when the then Chief Parliamentary Secretary Harish Rai Dhanda was not allowed by the department to use the premises as his residence. The department had stated that Dhanda could visit the rest house with a permit, but not reside there as it was in violation of the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

Away from prying eyes

• The rest house fell on bad days when the construction of the resort started in 2012, the year the Akali-BJP government was re-elected. As the road to the rest house passed adjacent to the main premises of the Badals’ resort, temporary barricading was done to keep passersby away

Dept in doldrums, govt must intervene: Roadways staff

Members of the Punjab Roadways Employees’ joint action committee address the media in Jalandhar on Thursday. Tribune Photo: Malkiat Singh

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, March 30

A joint action committee of the Punjab Roadways Employees’ Union today blamed the Akali-BJP government for the alleged losses worth crores of rupees which were being incurred by the Transport Department in the state. They demanded that the new government should take remedial action to fix the department which was stuck in the doldrums.They said the Congress government should investigate into the losses caused by the previous regime in the department. Action committee convener Surinder Singh said in the past ten years, the transport mafia in the state had looted the state. They said as the new government had come to power in the state, it should make efforts to save the public transport from the clutches of the mafia.Activists of the committee Jagdish Singh Chahal and Mangat Khan demanded the implementation of the Punjab and Haryana High Court order as per which the HC had on December 20, 2016 rejected all previous transport policies made after 1990, and had cancelled all extension of routes of over 24 kilometres. They also sought a dedicated budget for the inclusion of more buses in the Punjab roadways.The committee also demanded the dismissal of time tables made during the previous government, alleging that these were made to accommodate the Akali-BJP buses in the city.Activists also alleged that general managers had been deputed in the Punjab Roadways without considering the seniority level, despite the fact that the current duty charts were asked to be issued on seniority basis by the government. They also alleged that after three or four months after the passage of the orders, the charge of general managers had not been withdrawn.

Now, police say won’t cut VIP security in haste

CHANDIGARH: After the flip-flop over review of security cover to VIPs, the Punjab Police on Thursday clarified that any cut in the security will not be done in haste.

Senior police officials in the police headquarters here said the March 21 order of pruning the security of many VIPs, including senior SAD-BJP leaders, with immediate effect was issued in “haste” and out of “overenthusiasm”.

“Police department received a letter regarding the security review from the government and the pruning was ordered by the said officer without studying the perception of threat to each individual concerned. Even the field officers were sent the list of VIPs whose security was to be pruned,” sources said.

As the “unrealistic” orders created a confusion and the matter reached the high-ups, it was decided on March 24 to keep these orders in abeyance and a committee headed by DGP (law and order) Hardeep Dhillon was formed to review the threat perception to the VIPs concerned before ordering the cut.

“Dhillon-led committee will make recommendations after going through the reports of various intelligence wings of the police and other factors. There was no question of stopping the review,” Punjab DGP Suresh Arora told Hindustan Times.

On Wednesday, after getting reports from the Dhillon-led committee, security of many low-profile VIPs and those officials who enjoyed the trust of the previous SAD-BJP government, was pruned. More than 175 cops were ordered to join their original battalions with immediate effect.

Interestingly, it’s the Congress leaders who are feeling the pinch of this review exercise. Many party leaders can be seen speaking openly against the move. “In the March 21 list, an MP was left with four cops. Keeping in view the 8-hour duty, only one cop will be with the MP most of the time. Can a single constable guard an MP and his family?” said a Rajya Sabha member from the state. Sources said the SSPs and the police commissioners have even received requests from districtlevel Congress leaders for security.

SIMILAR MOVES FAILED IN PAST

It’s not for the first time that the security of VIPs was pruned in Punjab. In 2012 and 2014 as well, such exercises were carried out and many VIPs lost the security cover. However, both the times, they managed to get back the cover on some pretext. As per officials, in last six months of the previous government, security of the SAD-BJP leaders was heightened just to give them the “feel of power”.

*Bhog and Antim Ardas*

 for the departed Soul to rest in peace in respect of Major SS Dhillon  (Santokh Singh) will be held on 02 Apr at 1200 hrs at Dhillon Farm. 

Dhillon Farm is located opposite to Shahe Tibbi Gurdwara located on Road from Ropar to Anandpur Sahib. 

Cross the Manned Railway crossing opp Gurdwara to hit the Dhillon Farm. 

The exact location is opposite Shahe  Tibbi Gurdwara located on Ropar– Anandpur Sahib Road six(6) Km short of Kiratpur Sahib and 24th  Mile stone from Ropar.

Maj SS  Dhillon was the founder Chairman of Sanjha Morcha since 2009 .

Contact Number of Col APS Dhillon younger Brother of Maj SS Dhillon is

Mobile +919815361238

Major SS Dhillon was a very active Veterans always ready to jump for welfare of ESM Community at any place and at any time. Some old pictures and News paper News are self explanatory 

L to R –Col CJS Khera(Gen Secy),Major SS Dhillon(Chairman)

A search operation has been launched to look for other possible suspects in the area. PTI file photo

Amritsar, March 27

A suspected Pakistani intruder was shot dead by the BSF along the International Border in Punjab on Monday.

Officials said the incident was reported at 6.20 am when Border Security Force personnel spotted some movement ahead of the fence at the IB near the Paharipur border post in Gurdaspur sector.

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They said the suspected intruder was challenged repeatedly but he did not pay heed to it and hence was shot.

The area has been cordoned off and a search operation has been launched to retrieve the body and look for other possible suspects in the area, they said. —PTI

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PUNJAB MAJOR NEWS

# Siropa to Capt: Badungar’s statement stirs up debate

# Four killed as Orbit bus, car collide in Barnala

# CM to review prison security next week

# GIVE UP BEACON, SET EXAMPLE: CM 

# Midnight jailbreak bid thwarted by 3,000 cops

#New MP takes up issues with officials

Put a finger on any part of Northern Iraq or Syria and one will be struck by the complexities of the situation. The politics of the plethora of groups and their alliances with external players; the status of the various ongoing battles, famous among which remain Mosul, Raqqa and Aleppo; and the possibilities of future scenarios if Daesh (as Islamic State, or ISIS, is mostly referred to in these parts) does finally get tactically vanquished. Clarity is an issue which will never find place in the West Asian drama, so it is best to depend on intelligent strategic assessments.

Daesh became a household name in 2014 because of its organising abilities and the pre-eminence it acquired among notorious international terrorist organisations, making Al Qaeda look almost childlike. As per the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR), Daesh took its “revenue” to as high as $1.9 billion in its very first year. It imposed taxes and had supply lines running for weapons and ammunition. It didn’t face any manpower problems as almost 30,000 fighters joined it from overseas. Its slick propaganda machine used the social media for messaging, motivation and information buildup. These networks, many run from across the world, were obviously well-established over time and didn’t emerge overnight. Four major ingredients that are needed by any terror outfit with a transnational footprint were well under Daesh control. These were finances, human resources, military wherewithal and information. Its reach, in terms of operations, extended to Europe, and marginally to the United States, Turkey and Africa. Through 2016, however, Daesh’s hold started to dilute as foreign fighters dried up and international players got their act together to throttle its finances. In 2016, the financial outlay with Daesh was reduced to approximately $876 million, a cut of almost a billion dollars. Desertions by fighters began as fighters’ pay was reduced. The battles for Mosul and Raqqa, its physical centres of gravity, also got underway in 2016 even as Daesh lost 15 per cent of its territory in 2015,  which increased to 23 per cent in 2016. What should be surprising is the inability of the world’s major nations to firm up an alliance to put an end to a scourge of the times which has held the world to ransom. The US, perceived largely as the unwitting creator of Daesh, is content today to be in an advisory/training role in the battle to defeat it, although there are claims of much greater contributions. Russia is physically more involved for the sake of its strategic hold over the East Mediterranean and Levant. That’s the very reason why Daesh is likely to survive beyond the major battles it is currently involved in.

Geopolitically, it is important for Daesh to maintain its core presence in the Arab world. The notion of a caliphate is emotionally linked to the desert lands where the shrines exist; it’s the physical control of territory which gave Daesh a march over Al Qaeda, and it’s not something it will abdicate easily.  This could enhance the importance of some Arab lands which are considered Daesh’s potential camping grounds. The characteristics of such lands could be proximity, poor state of governance and ongoing potential turbulence. Yemen and the Sinai offer themselves as the best potential, independent of the endgame in Syria and Iraq. For Daesh, the best “post-defeat” situation would be continuation of the Shia-Sunni discord in Iraq, convulsions within the Shia-dominated Iraqi Army and within the political environment of Iraq. In chaos, Daesh hopes to ensure its survival. It’s learnt that Al Baghdadi has relocated from Mosul. Baghdadi’s elimination should be a key element of the US plan for the future, independent of any other strategy; somewhat akin to the focused campaign against Osama bin Laden. Al Qaeda, without Bin Laden and under Zawahiri’s charge, hasn’t been a shadow of itself. Baghdadi is fully aware of it and would have selected as innocuous a location as Abbottabad, but in the Arabian heartland. The argument that proximity is a major consideration in its future appeal, in a shrinking space where Al Qaeda is also known to be reviving strongly, will continue to drive the agenda.

With its technological capability and networking skills, the possibility remains  that Daesh will morph into smaller groups in Arab lands and survive as a virtual caliphate. That will help in ensuring exploitation of local tiffs and keeping West Asia in turmoil.

The speculation that Daesh may shift base to Africa to ride on the back of yet-undefeated surrogates Al Shabab and Boko Haram is naïve. Al Qaeda’s experience shows a guest artiste remains just that and Daesh has a greater strategic assessment capability than to tie itself down to Africa.

Is the sudden spurt of terror-related events in Afghanistan, Pakistan and the low-profile action on the Bhopal-Ujjain passenger train in India a trailer of things to come in South Asia? The concept of Ghazwa-e-Hind and the inclusion of parts of Western India in Khorasan territory has always linked Daesh’s ambitions to South Asia. Its attempts to strike root in Bangladesh have not gone beyond riding atop local radical outfits and already out of steam.

India’s very large minority Muslim community may appear to be cannon fodder for Daesh’s ambitions, but some deft intelligence work by our agencies has largely prevented this. The storm, however, has not yet passed and there is every feasibility of more attempts. The events at the Kabul hospital and Lal Shahbaz Qalandar shrine claimed by Daesh were in all probability diversions, an yet an indication of its global reach. In the run-up to elections in France (April 2017) and Germany (September 2017), one can expect some large-scale terrorist strikes to influence voting and promote anti-Islamic sentiment, which is always considered by Daesh as  favourable to its aims.

The apparent unconfirmed buildup in north-west Afghanistan of Daesh elements signals what it wishes to do in this region. It’s interest in India and Bangladesh may still be peripheral but in AfPak and Central Asia it probably wishes to exploit the existing turmoil and hold states to ransom. The temptation to turn towards Turkmenistan and it rich gas reserves may be too much for Daesh to resist. Even the clandestine drug conduits of the Golden Triangle may be mouth-watering for an organisation used to having deep pockets.

What seems on the cards is a regional spread of Daesh satraps in West Asia, all networked into a virtual caliphate. To give that more muscle this may spread to AfPak, with Central Asia as the next frontier and Africa as the fallback. The importance of creeping influence in India, Bangladesh and Southeast Asia can’t be discounted.

Defeating Daesh’s intent on these circumstances won’t be easy. No nation with a Muslim presence will be safe as somewhere in the perverted concept of Daesh will remain an event or a trend linked specifically to it. Keeping the adversary guessing is the oldest ploy of warfare — and Daesh is going to adopt just that.

It has been almost a year since the pay commission was implemented for all central government employees. The initial report of the commission had itself hurt military pride. Apart from lowering its status, it had also reduced its allowances, ensuring those occupying plush offices in secure zones in Guwahati from the IAS and allied services would draw better allowances than soldiers deployed in the highest battlefield of the world, the Siachen Glacier. The pay commission had created a rift between various central services, especially the military and the bureaucracy. The military’s demand has always remained one, status quo with other services. The military feels  it was the bureaucracy that was responsible for lowering its status to that of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), well below the IAS, IPS and other allied services. Such was the anguish across the military that service chiefs were compelled to jointly reject orders for issuing directions for the pay commission’s implementation. Such an action has been unprecedented in the history of Independent India.
The hue and cry rose to such levels in media and social media circles that the Prime Minister had to intervene and refer the pay commission of the military to a separate anomalies panel under the Department of Personnel and Training (DOPT). The DOPT functions under the PMO. The PM’s directions were issued despite orders by the Defence Minister to service chiefs to accept the report as released, while the anomalies could be handled subsequently.
Had the service chiefs accepted the directions of the defence minister, not a single anomaly would have been rectified. Anomalies of the fifth and sixth pay commission continue to remain unresolved; expecting the anomalies of the seventh to be cleared would be farfetched. Had the pay commission not been released till a viable and satisfactory solution was arrived at, involving all affected parties, the present scenario of one service still awaiting its release would never have arisen.
It has been over six months since it was referred to the anomalies commission and there are still no inputs of when it is likely to be announced. If it takes a department under the PMO over six months to implement his directions, then there are serious doubts on what can be expected. While every other central service has enjoyed the benefits, the military quietly remains hopeful. The announcement of elections in five states and the kicking in of the code of conduct made any release of the final report unlikely till the announcement of results. However, everything should have been concluded, the findings discussed with service chiefs and the report ready for release. No inputs on the same seem to flow till date. Similar is the case with another anomalies commission, concerning allowances, under the secretary of finance. Why should there be a delay now? The elections concluded almost a fortnight ago, results were announced, new governments have assumed power, hence the code of conduct no longer exists.
The Justice Reddy commission report on the OROP was submitted to the finance ministry in October last year. It was for the government to study and announce its final recommendations. To continue to keep the issue alive, the agitation by the veterans continues at Jantar Mantar. Again, there is absolute silence on the part of the government. This raises the question of whether it is serious on implementing it, or was it just a ploy to garner votes in elections.
Both anomalies commissions have no representative of the military, the main affected party. It has members of other central services who are tasked to provide justice to the military which in reality may never happen. Is the government hoping that by delaying its release, it could push the military leadership to accept a midway mark, by which it could continue to maintain the protocol gap created by the original release? If that is the intention, then it may be a wrong action, as it would lower the standing of the chiefs in the eyes of the rank and file of the military and enhance the divide between the military and the bureaucracy as also within the military. The government is aware that there is unlikely to be any official bickering as military rules and regulations prohibit it.
Casualties in J and K continue to rise, while the summer has yet to commence. Army deployment would increase as anti-militant operations take centre stage. Morale in the army needs to be at an all-time high, especially as local support to anti-national elements is on the rise and encounters are only going to increase. One of the most important ingredients of high morale is pay and allowances and appropriate status and respect.
The military suffers a shortage of over nine thousand officers. Degraded status and an ignoring attitude would never help in making the service attractive for the masses. A change at the top, with the defence minister having moved to Goa, would stall the process of Non-Functional Upgradation (NFU), as also pushing for an early release of the pay commission. A temporary defence minister or a new appointee would require requisite time to understand the problems and grievances of the service, before attempting to address them.
The Prime Minister’s words of praise in his speeches or spending time with troops on Diwali, are insufficient. It is time for him to act and openly prove the genuineness of his words, release the pay commission, clearing major anomalies. It is equally surprising that the opposition can question the Prime Minister’s silence on hate crimes in the US, but refuse to question the government on delay in releasing the military’s pay commission.

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

COMMENTS OF READERS

Manas Chakravarty

Soldiers are to be used for political purposes and then left to suffer insults; babus and netas are busy consolidating their positions, post-election.

Like · Reply · 6 · 21 hrs

Ashok Leekha ·

Works at Indian Army

It is high time that PM and his Team wakes up to the need of finalising the 7 CPC and NFU pending for Armed Forces(AF).The attitude of carelessness is only lowering the morale of AF.The status, pay and allc are important to the morale and fighting spirit of Def forces.Only praise with words and no action on ground has an adverse effect on the fighting capability of men in AF.They losse the confidence in leadership of both both political and Miltary higher echelons. Now No reasons for any further delay as all elections are over, unless they want an excuse and wait for next elections.The govt sh…See More

Like · Reply · 7 · 20 hrs

Humayun Mirza ·

Works at Govt of India

A neat summarization of a festering malignancy the ‘powers’ may ignore further only to increasing national perils. Shameful status…..