Rashtriya Janata Dal national president Lalu Prasad on Monday hailed the Army for its ‘successful’ surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) but mocked the NDA-led Central government for “trying to take credit” for it.

“BJP is falsely trying to take credit of brave acts of the Indian Army (for the successful surgical strikes on the launch pads of terrorists in PoK),” he told the press outside his wife Rabri Devi’s residence at 10 Circular Road before leaving for the last rites of socialist leader Ram Iqbal Worsi in Bhojpur district.

“The Army is known for its valour and it has given befitting reply to Pakistan’s attempts to push terrorists into the country and would do so in future as well. I am sure if the need arises, our brave Army would do a major surgery like this in future also,” the RJD supremo said.

Prasad dismissed opposition’s allegations of “rift” between him and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar saying, “There is a strong bond between me and Nitish Kumar.” Prasad and Kumar are known as ‘Bade bhai’ and ‘Chote bhai’ respectively in the political circles in the state.

“I extended Durga puja greetings to Nitish Kumar yesterday. BJP is trying to create a rift between us but it is not possible … The coalition government in Bihar will continue to run successfully like it is doing now,” the RJD supremo added. — PTI

Ajay Banerjee

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 7

In the wake of surgical strikes by the Army across the Line of Control, several Army posts along the fence have been alerted fearing a possible counter-strike by the Pakistan army.Edit: Back to bickeringThe Indian Army maintains several fortified posts beyond the barbed wire fencing. These are manned by highly trained troops. Some of these are designated as highly sensitive posts because of their proximity to Pakistan army pickets. Other than the firepower of the Army, posts beyond the fencing do not have any additional protection.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)Border Action Teams on both sides are active and an assessment is that the Pakistan army may target these posts. Action by these teams had led to flare-ups in the past. It is learnt that the Pakistan army has carried out some changes in its patrolling pattern since the surgical strikes.

Paramjit Kaur, daughter of Sepoy Jagraj Singh, carries a picture of her father in Bathinda. A Tribune photograph

Bharat Khanna

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 4

Even as the war hysteria had gripped the minds of residents of the state and other border states but families of “martyrs” of the Indo-Pak Wars, who are allegedly lodged in jails of Pakistan, are still perplexed about their existence.The Indian Army had declared these sepoys as dead many years ago. But some of the “spys”, including Surjit Singh and Satish Kumar, released in 2012 from Pakistan, has defied claims of the Army. Since then families of these sepoys are running from pillar to post to get their near and dear ones released from Pakistan jails.Paramjit Kaur, daughter of Sepoy Jagraj Singh of Jeeda village in Bathinda, has been fighting to get her father back from Pakistan jails. Sepoy Jagraj (No. 1524871) of 102 Engr Regiment (Bombay) fought during the 1971 India-Pakistan War and was declared dead by the Indian Army in December 1971.“In September 2004, we got a letter from the Central Government that my father Jagraj Singh is lodged in a Pakistan jail and then in 2012, a spy, Surjit Singh, confirmed of having spent his jail term with my father in Shahi Qila Jail of Pakistan. Though a number of peace and trade initiatives between India-Pakistan took place, the Union Government did nothing to bring back its soldiers who went missing during the war. I was 14- month-old when I lost my father, who is now lodged in a Pakistan jail,” she said.The family of Bagher Singh (No. 4441319) who was declared dead on September 1, 1965, by the Indian Army is still fighting to get it confirmed and get him released from Pakistan jail as in the previous year, a spy, Satish Kumar, claimed that he was alive and lodged in a Pakistan Jail.Bagher, a 24-year-old youngster then, was enrolled by the Indian Army on May 18, 1963, and was part of the ‘6 Sikh Light Infantry’ when he was reportedly ‘killed in action’ in September 1965.Satish claimed that during his own jail term he had spent time with Sepoy Bagher in the Shahi Qila Jail in Lahore, Pakistan.“There are around 176 Indian soldiers of the 1965 Indo-Pak War and about 182 Indian soldiers of the 1971 India-Pakistan War who are lodged in different jails of Pakistan. I had spent about 12.5 years in various jails of Pakistan, including a jail in Rawalpindi; Qila Attak Army Jail, Peshawar; Shahi Qila, Lahore; Kot Lakhpat Jail; Central Jail, Meeyanwali; Bahabalpur; and other jails. In 1974, I had met Bagher Singh of Mansa, Jugraj Singh of Bathinda, and a person from Gurdaspur and many others. Many of these are declared dead by the Indian Government.” he said.Living her life as widow, Bagher Singh’s wife Gurdev Kaur passed away around a year ago taking her husband as dead. She gave birth to four sons, Jagroop Singh (54), Balvir Singh (52), Major Singh (51) and Makkhan Singh (51).I was 5 when I lost my father, says soldier’s sonBagher’s eldest son Jagroop said: “For the past many months we had not slept in peace after a spy revealed that he had seen my father alive, years after the Indian Army declared him dead. I was around 5-year-old when I lost my father, even he was alive or dead, as I never saw him after the 1965 Indo-Pak war. Earlier, the Army declared my father as ‘missing’ but after some months they declared him dead. The Army or we never got any clue that he was dead. Many times my unconvinced mother used to say that our father will return someday but then she used to convince herself that he was no more and might have been killed.”

NEW DELHI: The Congress asked the BJP-led NDA government on Tuesday to refrain from politicising the issue of surgical strikes across the LoC, even as it released dates of cross-border raids carried out during the UPA government.

The main Opposition party said the armed forces had successfully conducted such surgical strikes, particularly on September 1, 2011, July 28, 2013, and January 14, 2014.

“In its maturity, wisdom and in the interest of national security, the UPA government avoided making a loud claim for the effective response and action of Indian army, which had the full support of political leadership,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said.

The tussle over taking the political ownership of surgical strikes across the LoC has gained momentum in view of the upcoming assembly elections in UP, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.

Former J&K CM and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah tweeted a picture of a purported BJP hoarding in UP.

“And some people will lecture others about politicising the army action all the while turning a blind eye to hoardings like these that sprout,” he said

“No reward for guessing that this one is in UP. For the BJP & sections of the shouting brigade it’s always do as we say don’t do as we do!!!” Abdullah said in another tweet.

For its part, the Congress urged the government to“stop po li ti ci sing the sacrifices and bravery of Indian soldiers for myopic” political gains.

“I don’t think the cross-border action is a novelty or is unprecedented. Just ask the generals, they will tell you that there have been numerous incidences of cross-border action across the Line of Control (LoC). What has changed is that the government took political ownership. That is a conscious decision of this government,” senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said.

He said the UPA government’s policy was “strategic restraint” and it took a call that the cross-border action should be at the military level and leave it to the generals to say what they want to say.

Armymen patrol near the LoC in Pallanwal sector, Jammu. PTI

Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 4

Even as the Indian forces conducted surgical strikes on the other side of the LoC and destroyed several terror launch pads there, intelligence agencies have cautioned the government that around 200 trained terrorists are waiting in the wings to cross the border, while some are already hiding on the Indian side.The Centre has reportedly alerted all border states and asked the security forces to be on a high alert. According to the Intelligence Bureau (IB), these terrorist intend to target Indian security installations, including camps and posts of the armed forces, police stations and pickets.Terror masterminds sitting safe in Pakistan are reportedly planning to take revenge for the September 29 surgical strikes.According to the IB, terrorists who have already entered the Indian Territory are hiding in Jammu and Kashmir. They are awaiting a “signal from their masters in Pakistan” to launch terror attacks in India.Terror masterminds are also reportedly planning to use the notorious drug cartel to infiltrate more terrorists into India, sources say.

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, September 19

It was a sombre occasion today with grief and sorrow palpable in the air  as coffins of the soldiers killed in Sunday’s Uri attack lay in a row in an open ground at Badami Bagh, the 15 Corps Headquarters.The ceremony  was led by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. While paying her homage, she expressed grief over the tragic loss. Due to the large number of coffins, not seen by the Army in many many years, the wreath-laying ceremony was held in the open ground.“It was a heart-wrenching scene to see 17 coffins at the same time,” said an official who attended the ceremony. “Thoughts go out to the families of martyrs who were in their early 20s or mid 30s,” he said.The Army and the state government gave a befitting farewell to the bravehearts. Laying a wreath on behalf of the Army, Lt Gen Satish Dua, Chinar Corps GOC, paid rich tributes to the gallant soldiers.Officials from the state government, administration and other security agencies joined in paying their last respects to the martyrs.Chief Secretary BR Sharma, Home Secretary RK Goyal, DGP Rajendra Kumar, senior police officers Gopal Reddy, SP Vaid, Dilbag Singh and  L Mohanti, Divisional Commissioner Baseer Ahmad Khan and IB Joint Director Harmeet Singh were present.

WHAT now after border villages have been evacuated and the Army put on alert? The assumption is that the Pakistan army has lost face and the Modi government has taken these preemptive measures in case it tries to avenge the surgical strikes. Now that it should be done with basking in the warmth of favourable public opinion, New Delhi will realise that an anxious standoff cannot continue for too long. Winter is setting in and the evacuated villagers from the borders of Punjab and J&K will be unwilling to endure hardship for an undefined goal. The state of general alert for the armed forces means its equipment is taking a beating just like it did during Operation Parakram.After getting stunned into issuing denials of a surgical strike, Pakistan appears to be moving on a game plan designed to get both sides to the negotiating table. Its top diplomat at the UN has petitioned its lame duck Secretary General for intervention. Pakistan’s Defence Minister has twice spoken of nuclear retaliation. This ploy too is meant to cool down India and draw world powers into convincing New Delhi to talk about talks. The Modi government would not be averse to this option. The strikes have fulfilled the Indian public’s sense of revenge. But the terrorist camps were temporary structures and if the Kashmir lockdown continues, Pakistani recruiters will have enough motivated recruits to staff them again.While hinting at its desire for negotiations Pakistan remains insouciant.  Earlier, Indian cross-border operations were conducted under the cloak of deniability. After India had levelled the score with a cross-border strike, Pakistan would be ready for talks. With India publicly owning up to the strikes for the first time, Islamabad is being forced to make belligerent noises to placate its domestic audience. Despite lashing out at each other, neither couple is willing to put the wedding band on the kitchen table because they know that war is not in their larger interest. Though both sides will act unwilling, opening up channels of communication may be the next best thing to a damaging stalemate.

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