Punjab News Express
CHANDIGARH: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh today joined the veterans’ march to Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore and submitted a memorandum supporting the stand taken by the three services chiefs against the bias against the defence services in the Seventh Pay Commission.

The march was led by Lt Gen (retried) SS Brar, the senior most amongst the veterans participating, and included among others senior retired army personnel including several Lieutenant Generals, Major Generals, Brigadiers, Colonels, JCOs and soldiers.

Senior Congress leaders including Ms Ambika Soni, Ms Asha Kumari and Harish Chaudhary also joined the veterans in their protest march.

The memorandum addressed to the President of India, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, said, “the community of veterans across the country fully endorses the stand taken by the Chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force with regard to the recommendations of the seventh Central Pay Commission”.

Briefing reporters, Capt Amarinder and other veterans said that it was the bias of the bureaucrats against the armed forces and the blind eye turned by the political parties running the government which has led to this situation. “We constitute the largest share of employees and pensioners and we have no say in the decisions made by a handful of bureaucrats which are imposed on the Armed Forces”, they said.

“The brazen and blatant discrimination against the defence forces has been continuing ever since Independence”, the veterans argued, adding, “the lowering our status in the Warrant of Precedence, lowering our pay scales vis-à-vis other government cadres, brining it below the police and now the central police organisations is a deliberate attempt to belittle the armed forces”.

Capt Amarinder said, such repeated wrong steps on part of the government can only demoralize the defence forces. He said, India cannot afford a demoralized defence service with a belligerent China and mischievous Pakistan being next door neighbours. “Just because our soldiers belong to a disciplined force does not mean their rights are trampled upon”, he said, while hoping that the better sense prevails on the government and the anomalies are removed at the earliest.

“Nobody among the bureaucrats knows about the hostile conditions in which our soldiers are made to work and that is the reason there is such a bias against the defence forces”, he said, pointing out, according to the recommendations while a soldier posted at Siachen Glacier will get Rs 38,000 extra salary, while an IAS officer posted in Assam will get Rs 58,000 extra.

“I have been suggesting to the Defence Minister that the bureaucrats who have habitually been creating hurdles and hindrances in providing better pay to the defence personnel should be made to serve in Siachen for at least a day so that they realise what a soldier goes through”, he said, while asking the Defence Minister to stand by the soldiers and get the anomalies removed at the earliest.
Capt Amarinder said, this is not only an issue of salary to the defence personnel, but their status vis-à-vis other civilian services including the police and the administrative. He said, the defence services have constitutionally to be put higher to the civil and police services. Once their salaries are less than those in corresponding ranks in the civil and police services, their status will get lowered down which is not in the national interest.

“If the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations are accepted as such, what will happen in a situation like Kashmir where army is assigned the job as a last resort, will it be asked to work under the local police and administration?” he asked.

The veterans who participated in the march included Lt TS Shergill, Lt Gen SS Brar, Lt Gen AS Sekhon, Lt Gen SR Ghosh, Lt Gen JP Singh, Lt Gen RS Sujlana, Lt Gen JS Dhaliwal, Lt Gen Baljeet Singh, Lt Gen Iqbal Singh, Maj Gen Tarlochan Singh, Maj Gen SPS Bains, Maj Gen GS Grewal, Maj Gen JS Sidhu, Maj Gen HS Malhi, Maj Gen SPS Grewal, Col RS Boparai,Col CJS Khera,Col BS Brara,Col Bhag Singh,Brig Inder Mohan Singh

MISSING 22-year-old Chavan had crossed de-facto border hours after India’s surgical strikes

NEW DELHI: The Pakistan Army has informed its Indian counterpart that it is not aware of the whereabouts of Chandu Chavan, the soldier who inadvertently strayed across the Line of Control, according to a media report.

AFP PHOTOSoldiers stand on a tank transporter outside an army camp in the village of Jourian, Akhnoor Sector, Jammu, on Saturday.

Chavan, a 22-year-old soldier from the 37 Rashtriya Rifles, had mistakenly crossed the de facto border in Kashmir hours after India’s surgical strikes on terrorist bases across the LoC on Thursday. The Indian Army, in a communication with the Pakistan Army’s military operations directorate, asked for Chavan’s release as it believes he is in Pakistani custody, the Dawn daily quoted a military source as saying.

The Pakistani military operations directorate, in its reply, expressed ignorance about his whereabouts, the report said. The contact took place at the level of “duty officers” and the Indian side was told the soldier “was being traced”.

The Indian Army reiterated on Saturday that Chavan had inadvertently strayed across the LoC and was being held captive by the Pakistan Army. A senior official said the Indian director general of military operations had taken up the matter with his Pakistani counterpart.

Under a bilateral arrangement, soldiers who inadvertently cross the LoC are handed over to their side. “However, the level of tensions between the two countries, particularly after the Indian claims about ‘surgical strikes’, precludes any possibility of cooperation,” the Dawn reported. JHARKHAND JAWAN DIES AT LINE OF CONTROL RANCHI: A jawan from Jharkhand died while performing his duty along the LoC on Friday. Although army officers have contended that Francis Horo died during patrolling, his family is still clueless about the reason behind his death. Horo was a resident of Serengtoli village under Lali panchayat in Ranchi district. He is survived by wife and two daughters. Horo’s wife has appealed to the state government to bear the costs of her daughters’ upbringing.

President Pranab Mukherjee reviews a passing-out parade of cadets at the Officers Training Academy in Chennai on September 10, 2016. — AFP

Chennai, September 10

President Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday said the 21^st century is witnessing strife of a very “virulent nature” and called for capable and responsive armed forces to ensure stability and peace.

Stating that security challenges go much beyond conventional borders and threats in the international arena, including a sizeable diaspora, he said, “India requires young men and women to take up the challenge of navigation through troubled waters and work tirelessly and selflessly even at the peril of their lives in the service of country.”

“Our security challenges in fact go much beyond conventional borders and conventional threats in the international arena including a sizeable diaspora to protect in unstable regions in the world, energy security issues and protection of maritime sea lanes,” he said.

Addressing the officers on the occasion of review of the passing-out parade of the summer term at the Officers Training Academy, Mukherjee said the country has reposed faith in armed forces in internal crisis situations, both man-made and natural.

“All these challenges demand a capable and responsive armed forces to ensure stability and peace, so vital for our country on its path of peace and prosperity for all its citizens,” he said.

The 21^st century has ushered in its own set of challenges, he said.

“Though turbulence and uncertainty have manifested all along in the history of mankind, this century is witnessing chaos and strife of a very virulent nature comprising asymmetric warfare involving both state and non-state actors,” Mukherjee added.

The Indian Army represents the Instrument of Last Resort, he said, adding that “the acme of a great and powerful army does not lie in the power it can unleash but the manner and dexterity with which it does so”.

Earlier, the President reviewed the impressive parade commanded by Academy Under Officer Varun Singh Chauhan.

Notably, this was the third time in the 53-year-old history of Officers Training Academy in Chennai that the Supreme Commander of Indian Armed Forces was reviewing the parade.

A total of 269 Officer Cadets, including 217 Gentleman Cadets and 32 Lady Cadets, 19 Gentleman Cadets and one Lady Cadet from the friendly nations, including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Lesotho and Fiji, were commissioned as officers following completion of a vigorous training course at the OTA.

Mukherjee gave away the coveted “Sword of Honour” for the best all-round gentlemen/Lady Cadet of the passing-out course to AUO Varun Singh Chauhan.

The gold medal for standing first in Order of Merit was awarded to Battalion Under Officer Alla Shridhar. The silver medal was awarded to Academy Cadet Adjutant Divya Tyagi and the bronze medal was awarded to BUO Rakesh TR.

The banner for Champion Company was awarded to Mektila Company.

The Officer Cadets were piped as officers by their parents and the event was followed by an oath taking ceremony and the National Anthem.

The President briefly interacted with the cadets and their parents after the ceremony. — PTI

 

Air Vice Marshal Sarvjit Hothi (retd)

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 30

As there are reports of India set to deploy the recently bought Rafale combat jets for warfare in the next year or so, a retired Air Vice Marshal from Jalandhar today shared his 1971 wartime experiences as part of the 10-member pilot crew selected in the then considered elite light fighter aircraft Gnat.Air Vice Marshal Sarvjit Hothi (retd) was inducted in the Indian Air Force (IAF) in December 1969. He recounts, “We were still training at Jamnagar and increasing our flying hours to be fully operational when the war came. I was among the select pilots who got picked up for flying Gnats. We were inducted in the 2 Squadron that was then based at Ambala. Amritsar was our forward base, just 25 km from the border.”Discussing Gnats, he said these had a very special feature. “Like the way there have been orders of being operation-ready now wherein two pilots have to be seated in aircraft in their overhauls and properly strapped, we too were then expected of being airborne in five minutes. In Gnats, we could take off in two minutes as there were no ladders required and we could jump in straight. A bigger advantage was that their engine got started in less than 40 seconds compared to 2-minute time taken in an MiG 21. This gave us a big advantage because aircraft from the Pakistan side came flying low and could not even be detected by radars. They used to be quite close when we got orders to start off from here,” he said about the thrilling experience as a new flying officer.“Since there was no night vision in the Gnat compared to much sophisticated jets now, only blind bombing could be possible.” He drew another comparison, “IAF had MiG 21s and Sukhoi 7s then too,” he recalled.Having taken 14 missions during the war, Hothi has enough points to spice up the conversation. “Believe me, one day when I had just taken off, I saw a Mirage just pass by on the gunside. My commander gave orders to me to shoot him off. But since my speed was just 180 mph, which was far too less and there was another Gnat following me, I could neither turn back nor was capable of overtaking it. By the time I was in attack mode, I was already over Lahore. Some split-second decisions with much precision were then required. Had I been able to attack the Mirage, I would have come as a hero, as so far no Mirage had ever been bombed,” he claimed.He also recounted his conversations with PVC awardee Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Sekhon. “A simple man, we used to call him ‘brother’. There were some nerve-chilling times too, but we overcame these, saying it to ourselves that even if we die, it will be others and not ourselves who would be crying,” said the IAF officer as he adds up another story, “Since we did not go on mission everyday, I once sat on a bike in an overhaul and came down to my home in Jalandhar. With war raging, there were roadside chhabeels. As people saw me in the IAF uniform, they saluted me and even took out cameras to take a photograph with me.”Hothi, who has VM and VSM to his credit, has had various postings in striking airforce bases at Halwara and Adampur. “I was commanding three squadrons at Halwara when the Kargil war came. As many as 30 per cent bombings were done by MiG 23 and 27 pilots there.”He adds on, “I have also been flying to Siachen for a year and have a Siachen medal too that I proudly hang in my room.”The first batch alumnus from Sainik School Kapurthala also remembers his number 052. “I was in the first batch of 200 students and have very fond memories of the school. I go there for functions often,” he said.Hothi said unlike other officers, he flew sorties even around the time of his retirement. “I never wanted the feeling of old age creep in me. Besides, this helped in enthusing motivation in the Squadron pilots.”After getting relieved in October 2007, he joined the Air India as a pilot as their retirement age was increased to 65. “At 58, I undertook training in Mumbai and sat in the class of pilots aged between 20 and 22. I competed with them in Monday tests for 10 months. Having no knowledge of computers, I was made to sit before simulators which had the most sophisticated computers. But it all was a new challenge wherein I had to defy age bar,” he laughed.“Another experience came when Air India bought new Boeing 737 aircraft which we were to fly to Singapore, Dubai or Japan. It was during a flight to Dubai that I saw a memorable view of a lit-up LoC, which was not the scene during the days we flew fighter jets during our IAF tenure,” he summed up.

A file photo of security forces chasing away protesters during a clash in Srinagar. —PTI

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, Sept 9

The restive south Kashmir will see an additional deployment of the Army. This comes in view of the government’s worry as street protests in south Kashmir–Kulgam, Pulwama, Anantnag and  Shopian–have been vociferous.A decision to this affect has been taken and the Army has been told to tie-up its last minute deployment patterns. The Army will not be tasked with mob control, but with tracking down armed terrorists who have been fanning trouble.

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

The government is seeing this as a major challenge to restore law and order that has broken down completely in the absence of any presence of the Jammu and Kashmir Police or the paramilitary forces, in the rural hinterland.Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag is in Kashmir today to review the security situation, especially in the backdrop of rather long-winded street protests in the Valley. The protests had gone out of hand since terror-outfit Hizbul Mujahideen’s self-styled commander Burhan Wani was killed by security forces. More than 70 people lost their lives in various protests.General Suhag was briefed this morning at Srinagar and he was told about the new military methods planned to curb Pak-sponsored infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir.Gen Suhag will also visit the Line of Control (LoC) with Pakistan during his visit to the Kashmir Valley. General Suhag will visit the Army establishment at Kupwara located along the 749-km long LoC.General Suhag shall also visit Awantipora during his day-long visit to review the security situation in the Valley.

Army jawans patrol near the Line of Control. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Dinesh Manhotra & Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Jammu/Srinagar, Sept 30

The Army is on high alert along the Line of Control (LoC) amid apprehension that Pakistan may retaliate in the wake of surgical strikes or choose to push more infiltrators into Kashmir.Similarly, the Border Security Force (BSF) is on high alert on the international border. Additional forces had been deployed on the border after the Uri terror attack on September 18.The Army has already strengthened its positions along the LoC to deal with any eventuality. “Soldiers on the LoC are vigilant and prepared to handle any eventuality,” said an Army officer.“After the surgical strikes on terror launch pads, preparations are in place and every unit and sub-unit along the LoC is maintaining high vigil,” he said.“Pakistan is hit and wounded and it will retaliate. It may send more terrorists to Kashmir to carry out another Uri-like attack as it is a low-cost option,” he added.With such apprehensions in mind, the Army had deployed men along the LoC to pluck possible infiltration routes through surveillance, patrolling and ambushes.Another Army officer said personnel were on high alert across Kashmir. The artillery had been put in ready condition at strategic locations to effectively respond to Pakistan if it fired artillery shells.“Pakistan can play any mischief and we are ready to handle it,” the officer said. Every measure was in place along the LoC, he added.The Army was in touch with the local population in border areas to ensure good liaison at a time when tension between India and Pakistan was high.Residents of border areas had been asked to take precautions, especially during night hours. The Army was keeping a vigil on all activities across the LoC.

CHANDIGARH: The Punjab and Haryana high court has issued a contempt notice to the secretary, revenue and rehabilitation, Punjab, on a petition filed by a 1971 war widow alleging allotment of “useless land” to her across the fence on the international border with Pakistan instead of a cultivable land.

The high court bench of justice Rakesh Kumar Jain has sought a reply by October 21 on the petition moved by Jasbir Kaur, wife of Major Kanwaljit Singh, a Delhi resident.

The petition says Kanwaljit was taken into custody by the Pakistan army during 1971 war but was later declared martyred and was awarded Shaurya Chakra.

he high court had in 2015 directed Punjab to allot 10 acres of cultivable land to the petitioner, as per policy of the Punjab government, or in the alternative, to make her payment for the price of the land. The court was told that the revenue department allotted her 10 acres of “useless land”, which could not be cultivated, as it situated across the fence, beyond the BSF check-post, at zero point on the International border between India and Pakistan in Amritsar.

“There is no source of irrigation. Moreover, the authorities don’t permit installation of tubewell. There are many restrictions in approaching the land even during the day. Even a temporary hut for labourers cannot be permitted,” the petitioner had submitted adding that state’s act was in violation of court orders.

Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 28

With Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s keenness to turn India’s land boundary with Pakistan watertight to block any future infiltration bid, NITI Aayog is working on a blueprint to give border policing a “technological edge” consisting of laser precision weapons and fencing.The Aayog, which has been asked to prepare a long-term Vision document for 15 years replacing the five-year plan, has assigned the task of working out a complete chapter on “internal and external” security to its member VK Sarswat, who, in turn, sources said, has been working on “future options” in the light of heightened hostilities between India and Pakistan post the Uri terror attack.Sources also confirmed that NITI Aayog is looking at weapons, which have abilities to launch “no-contact counter offensives”. Such weapons will be based on latest technologies like laser, which is high among the options. Saraswat, who was earlier secretary in Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), is working on identifying laser-based disruptive technologies.Listing out advantages of laser technology for military applications, sources in the NITI Aayog, who are in the know of the development, said such weapons have high precision and rapid on-target. These weapons also have scalable effect, which make sure avoidance of collateral damage caused by fragmenting ammunition, low logistics overhead and minimum costs per firing, they added.Laser weapon systems operate on the basic principle that laser beams are impossible to avoid or detect. They can target both enemy personnel and enemy communications and installations. The US army and navy are most advanced in laser weapons or directed energy weapons research.Experts in NITI Aayog, however, admit that currently a few challenges confront the scientific community in developing such systems, which could be mobile, rugged, cost-effective and functional under a variety of weather conditions. But still they feel, “once developed and put to use” particularly along the Line of Control in Jammu & Kashmir, will prove to be a game changer.

Security personnel stand guard next to a barricade outside the Indian Air Force base at Pathankot in Punjab on January 2, 2016. — Reuters

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 29

India will “confront” Pakistan with new evidence it has received from the US pointing to its “involvement” in the Pathankot terrorist strike, sources in the National Investigation Agency said on Monday.

Sources claimed the NIA was compiling a detailed report based on information it received from the US on a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty request that it sent.

The information received three months ago has provided new evidence of Pakistan’s “involvement” in the attack, the sources said.

NIA will send a report to the Ministry of Home Affairs. The report will then be sent to Pakistan, sources said.

The development comes within months of NIA Chief Sharad Kumar’s reported statement that the agency had no evidence to point to Pakistan establishment’s involvement in the attack.

The statement, reportedly made in an interview in June, quickly escalated into a controversy between the two rival neighbours, even as the agency claimed Kumar had been “misquoted”.

Some gunmen attacked the airbase in a pre-dawn strike on January 2.  Four gunmen of the Jaish-e-Mohammed — a militant organisation based in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir — and seven security personnel were killed in the standoff that followed.

A five-member Pakistani Joint Investigation Team (JIT), comprising Additional Inspector General of Police (IGP), a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), two Lt Colonels and one inspector, from Pakistan had visited India in March to collect, review and document physical evidences and to interview key witnesses and victims through the NIA in connection with the Pathankot attack.

India has been demanding that Pakistan should allow a team to visit the country for investigations.

Pakistan has denied its involvement in the attack.

The relationship between the two nations has cooled in the past few months over an ongoing unrest in Kashmir. — (With inputs from agencies)