PTI

Pune, December 18

A book on Malegaon blast accused Lt Col Prasad Purohit was launched here on Sunday amid protests from some groups who claimed it was inappropriate to hold such an event when the trial in the case was underway.

The launch of “Lt Colonel Purohit — The Man Betrayed”, written by Smita Mishra, took place in SP College in the presence of retired IPS officer Jayant Umranikar, with the programme being hosted by defence expert and television personality Major Gaurav Arya (retired).

Some local outfits, including the Bhimarmy Bahujan Ekta Mission and the Mulnivasi Muslim Manch, staged protests during the day after their plea to SP College authorities to cancel the book launch event did not elicit a response.

“It is inappropriate to hold such an event to launch a book such as this when the trial in the Malegaon blast case is underway. Our protest is against Purohit,” Mulnivasi Muslim Manch president Anjum Inamdar said. Six persons were killed and over 100 hurt in the 2008 blast.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 18

A Pakistani minister has resorted to nuclear threats in the ongoing spat between India and Pakistan that began with a verbal exchange between their Foreign Ministers in New York and has escalated after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s name was also dragged in.

Pakistan People’s Party leader and Minister Shazia Marri in an interaction with the local media said, “India should not forget that Pakistan has an atom bomb. Our nuclear status is not meant to remain silent. We will not back down if the need arises.”

She was holding a press conference to back Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari who is also the Chairman of PPP and his father is the President.

“If you keep making allegations against Pakistan again and again, Pakistan cannot keep listening silently, this will not happen,” she added. Pakistan Foreign Office has also complained that India is defaming Islamabad at all international forums.

Pakistan’s FM responded to inciting comments by the Indian Minister. Pakistan has sacrificed far more than India in the fight against terrorism,” she tweeted.

She later tried to retrieve ground by blaming the Indian media for creating panic. “Pakistan is a responsible nuclear state. Some elements in Indian media are trying to create panic. Pakistan’s FM responded to inciting comments by the Indian Minister. Pakistan has sacrificed far more than India in the fight against terrorism.Modi Sarkar is promoting extremism and fascism,” she tweeted.

The diplomatic spat began when External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar exercised the right to reply to Bhutto’s statement at a UNSC debate in which he raked the Kashmir issue. To Jaishankar’s retort that those who have hosted Osama shouldn’t sermonise before the UNSC, Bilawal said while Osama is dead, “the butcher of Gujarat is still alive and he’s the PM of India”.

Union Ministers Anurag Thakur and Meenkashi Lekhi as well as the MEA responded to Bilawal’s ‘uncivilised’ remarks, with MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stating that, “these comments are a new low, even for Pakistan. Pakistan’s Foreign Minister’s frustration would be better directed towards the masterminds of terrorist enterprises in his own country, who have made terrorism a part of their state policy. Pakistan needs to change its own mindset or remain a pariah”.

Tribune News Service

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, December 18

The Navy’s project to construct six next-generation conventional submarines has been further delayed.

A source said the Project 75 India (P 75I), under which six submarines had to be constructed, would be unable to meet its December 31 deadline. It has been allowed an extension till the middle of 2023.

• The Project 75 India, under which six submarines had to be constructed, is unable to meet its December 31 deadline
• It has been allowed an extension till the middle of 2023, say sources
• The Indian submarine plan, announced in 1999, set a target of 24 modern submarines by 2030; so far, the Navy has 16

It is learnt that “more time” has been allowed to companies to submit their bids to the request for proposal (RFP). An RFP is part of the tendering process to elicit financial and technical bids.

One of the reasons for allowing the extension is India’s insistence on the fuel cell technology-based air independent propulsion (AIP). India wants an operational AIP before it inks the contract. Barring two foreign manufacturers, other three are still in the process of operationalising their AIP technologies.

The AIP technology allows the submarine to remain submerged for almost 8-10 days otherwise they have to surface to charge their batteries after 4-5 days, making them vulnerable to enemy satellites.

Indian submarine action plan that was announced in 1999 spoke about having 24 modern submarines by 2030. So far, the Navy has around 16.

The next generation submarines will have advanced torpedoes, modern missiles and state-of-the-art countermeasure systems.

The project has seen many ups and downs. It was in 2007 that the Defence Acquisition Council of the Ministry of Defence accorded the acceptance of necessity (AoN), the first of the many procurement steps.

In 2014, a high-level committee was set up to identify which Indian shipyards had the capability to make such a vessel.

A formal request for information was issued in 2017 under the strategic partnership model. This allows an Indian shipyard to have a tie-up with a foreign manufacturer to make a submarine in India

In June 2021, an RFP was sent out to two Indian submarine makers: Mazagaon Dockyard Limited, Mumbai, and Larsen & Toubro.

Dies at AIIMS Jodhpur

PTI

Jodhpur/New Delhi, December 19

Bhairon Singh Rathore, a BSF veteran of the 1971 India-Pakistan war whose bravery at Rajasthan’s Longewala post was portrayed by actor Suniel Shetty in the Bollywood movie ‘Border’, died in Jodhpur on Monday.

He was 81.

“The braveheart took his last breath at AIIMS, Jodhpur, today,” the Border Security Force said in a tweet.

Rathore’s son Sawai Singh told PTI on Saturday that his father was admitted to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at Jodhpur on December 14, two days before the 51st anniversary of the war, after his health deteriorated and his limbs got affected in what seemed like a paralysis.

“Doctors told us that my father had possibly suffered a brain stroke. He has been in and out of ICU over the past few days,” Singh said. The Singh family lived at Solankiatala village, about 120 km from Jodhpur.

Rathore was deployed at the Longewala post in the Thar desert, commanding a small BSF unit that was accompanied by a company of the Army’s 23 Punjab regiment. It was the bravery of these men that decimated an assaulting Pakistani brigade and tank regiment at this location on December 5, 1971.

He received the Sena Medal in 1972 for his gallant action. Posted with the 14th BSF battalion during the war, Bhairon Singh Rathore retired from service in 1987.

According to BSF records about the 1971 war at Longewala post, “When one of the 23 Punjab boys was killed, Lance Naik Bhairon Singh took his light machine gun and inflicted heavy casualties on the advancing enemy.

“It was only their courage and determination to do or die that won the day and Lance Naik Bhairon Singh became a great inspiration to his other comrades on the post,” the official records state. 

New Delhi, December 19

Indian Army will not let China change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) “unilaterally” and its current deployment along the frontier was not seen before, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Monday, rejecting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of the government’s handling of the border row.

Jaishankar said the deployment of the Army was made on the orders of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Army did not go to the frontier region because Gandhi asked them for it.

“Today we have a deployment of the Indian Army on the China border that we have never had. It is done in order to counter Chinese deployment which was scaled up massively since 2020,” Jaishankar said.

He was replying to a question during India Today’s India-Japan conclave.

“If we were in denial then how is the Army out there? The Army did not go there because Rahul Gandhi asked them to go. Army went there because the prime minister of India ordered them to go,” Jaishankar said, replying to Gandhi’s allegations that the government was hiding the fact that China took Indian territory along the LAC.

The Indian and Chinese troops were engaged in a fresh clash in Yangtse area of Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang sector on December 9.

The incident came amid the over 30-month border standoff in eastern Ladakh.

“People will say things; they may not be credible, they may sometimes contradict their own positions, their own behaviour. All that could happen. But the fact is what is finally the proof of the pudding. The proof of the pudding is that the Indian Army is deployed today to counter any attempt to unilaterally change the LAC,” Jaishankar said.

The external affairs minister said it is the commitment of the Indian Army to not let China change the LAC unilaterally.

“I am saying that it is the obligation of the Indian state and that is the duty and commitment of the Indian military that we will not let any country, and in this case China, change the LAC unilaterally,” Jaishankar said.

“I think it is fairly obvious and most people in the country see that. You can make your polemical points. I think people will treat it as politics,” he added.

Asked about Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s criticism of the government for increasing trade volume with China notwithstanding the border row, he said that India continues to import from that country because there was no adequate focus on the manufacturing sector.

Jaishankar said not much attention was given to the MSME sector and building supply chains as well after India opened up its economy in 1991.

“When somebody says why imports are coming out of China, there are imports coming out of China because for 30 years, you did not give your industry the kind of support and protection you should have,” Jaishankar said.

“It is only now in recent years that you have started to do it. Now you cannot reverse in five or 10 years what you have done in 30 years,” he said.

Speaking at the conclave, Jaishankar made 12 points about India-Japan ties and said the two countries have a “positive history” that will be an asset in the coming times.

He said Japan is perceived in India as a model of harmonising modernity and tradition, adding there is a strong national consensus in India on developing ties with that country.

“Traditionally, this was an economic relationship. In the past, global strategy had little impact on India-Japan ties,” he said.

“Businesses have long had a footprint in each other’s economy. But, this did not become a deep one. Japan started approaching India with a strategic outlook under former PM Shinzo Abe,” he said.

Jaishankar said Japan has been a catalyst of “change” and referred to Maruti bringing a lifestyle shift and Metro networks, an urbanization experience. “Bullet Train will have major consequences,” he said.

Japan has been significantly supporting the Delhi Metro network.

“Our strategic compulsions are much stronger today as we are united to secure a multipolar Asia. And to ensure that Asian diversity is reflected in its power structure,” the minister said.

He noted that the maritime convergence between India and Japan is particularly strong and will grow in the years ahead.

“The energy of the Quad will charge up our bilateral ties and reinforce them for mutual benefit,” he said, adding the big question is whether Japan will see India’s growth as a strategic goal.  

PTI

Chandigarh, December 17

Two alumnae of the Punjab government’s Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute for Girls in Mohali were commissioned as Flying Officers on Saturday, according to an official statement.

Sehajpreet Kaur and Komalpreet Kaur were commissioned as Flying Officers at a ceremony at the Air Force Academy in Dundigal in Hyderabad.

According to the Punjab government statement, Sehajpreet Kaur, who will be joining the Flying Transport Branch, is the daughter of a serving Subedar Major of the Indian Army and hails from Amritsar district.

Komalpreet Kaur’s father is serving in Punjab Police and belongs to Gurdaspur district. She will be joining the Navigation Branch of the Air Force.

The Mai Bhago Armed Forces Preparatory Institute for Girls, established by the Punjab government, is a fully residential campus with state-of-the-art infrastructure.

Its director, Maj Gen (retired) Jasbir Singh Sandhu, said that so far its 23 alumnae have joined various armed forces training academies, of whom 13 have been commissioned as officers.

The One Man Judicial Committee (OMJC) had submitted its report on October 26, 2016

Tribune News Service

Vijay Mohan

Chandigarh, December 18

The much-awaited recommendations of the One Man Judicial Committee (OMJC) constituted to redress anomalies in the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme, pending with the government since 2016, could see the light of the day with the Supreme Court directing action on the same within a period of four months.

While issuing orders for implementation of OROP for the armed forces in 2015, the government had announced an OMJC, comprising Justice Narasimha Reddy, to look into the anomalies arising in the fixation of pension under the scheme, if any. 

Though the OMJC was not expected to amend or tinker with the basic tenets of OROP scheme, which was also recently upheld by the Supreme Court, it was supposed to go into anomalies arising while implementing the scheme, such as aberrations in tables, procedural matters, inter-service issues or any other matter referred to it.

The OMJC had submitted its report on October 26, 2016 and the Ministry of Defence had consequently constituted another internal anomalies committee on July 19, 2017 to examine its recommendations. The final orders were not issued thereafter and the matter remained pending with the ministry.

In the meantime, several retired officers of the rank of Lieutenant Commander of the Navy (equivalent to Major), led by Lt Cdr Mathew Joseph, had approached the Kochi Bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT). They averred that pensions under OROP were to be fixed on the average of the live data of current retirees, but their pensions could not be fixed correctly because of non-availability of such data in the absence of officers retiring as Majors on completion of full service under the current promotional system. The issue affected officers of the rank of Captain also.

While the defence ministry admitted before the AFT that there was an anomaly in fixation of pension of Majors, it stated that the matter had been considered by the OMJC on which the decision of the government was still awaited and the correct pension would be released when the report of the OMJC is implemented. The AFT had then directed the government to act upon the removal of the anomalies within six months.

Rather than acting upon the directions, the Union of India went into direct appeal to the Supreme Court against the order of the AFT. However, earlier this week the Supreme Court’s bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice MM Sundresh dismissed the appeal and ordered that the matter be decided expeditiously by the anomalies committee, within a period of four months.Sources point out that the removal of anomalies in the existing OROP tables would not cause any substantial financial burden on the government. Rather, it would result in amelioration of certain basic incongruities and procedural shortcomings which have affected the ranks of Captain and Majors the most, the resolution of which was being eagerly awaited for last six years.

A fierce three-day battle took place between the Indian and Pakistani security forces in a forested finger-shaped village in a swampy area prior to the final victory in the 1971 war that resulted in the formation of Bangladesh, according to the military records.

Dhaka emerged as the free capital of independent Bangladesh on December 16, 1971 after the war between India and Pakistan broke out on December 3 when the Indian troops directly stood beside the Mukti Bahini soldiers.

Bangladesh’s wartime history records that even before the Liberation War of Bangladesh started, a little-discussed but fierce three-day battle known as the ‘Battle of Garibpur’ was fought on the western borders of what at that time called East Pakistan.

The battle took place between the two forces and both sides used their tanks and airpower from November 20 to November 23.

India used Russian-made PT-76 tanks against Pakistan’s US-made M-24 Chaffee tanks, and Indian Air Force’s (IAF) Jinaat fighter jets countered attacks by Pakistani Saber F-86 fighter jets. The Pakistani side suffered disastrous losses in terms of both men and machines.

According to military strategists, the tactics of the Indian armoured troops backed by crucial artillery and Mukti Bahini support were key to the success of this crucial strategic battle, which the victors preferred to keep in a low key since the two countries were yet to enter a declared war.

“If we were allowed on that day, we could have directly driven to Joshore (deep inside Bangladesh) expediting the victory, bringing the war itself to an end,” retired armoured core brigadier Balram Singh Mehta, who took part in the battle, told PTI.

Mehta, who is in Dhaka as part of an Indian veterans’ delegation coinciding with the Victory Day celebrations, led the tank troops during the battle as the commander of his ‘C’ Squadron of Indian 45 Cavalry Major DS Narang’ was killed at the very beginning of the encounter.

Several military experts have described the ‘Battle of Garibpur’ as the biggest tank battle of the 1971 war that took place in foggy weather in a forested finger-shaped village in a swampy area on the Chuadanga border.

“After this war, the defense system of the Pakistani invaders became unbalanced…both sides fought to the best of their ability and left a large number of war lessons,” said retired Bangladeshi major general Imamuz Zaman, who is also a 1971 veteran

Liberation War veteran retired major Nasir Uddin, who was an armoured core officer of the Bangladesh Army, said despite being light in weight with thin armour, the allied troops won the battle with an element of surprise and backup support, particularly the air power and artillery shells.

Garibpur is located 6 kilometres inside Bangladesh along India’s Boyra, on both sides of the highway from India to Jessore via Chougacha. For this reason, Garibpur is considered an important road connection between the two countries.

According to Pakistani military experts, their high command was of the opinion that this swampy area was “inaccessible to tanks” and was shocked by the presence of Indian tanks.

On the other hand, the soldiers of Mukti Bahini continuously harassed the Pakistanis there from the beginning with their hit-and-run tactics.

Various writings suggest that an accidental skirmish resulted in a Mukti Bahini patrol being spotted by a Pakistani reconnaissance group in the area, and the allies lost an opportunity for a complete surprise attack.

Then Pakistani military spokesman Major Siddique Salik later wrote in his book “Witness to Surrender” that their troops always believed the area was “inaccessible for tanks” while the battle proved that their troops had lost their staying power and, simultaneously, the fact that the “allied forces were fully determined”.

“Enemy forces (allied forces) crossed the border near Boyra (Jesore sector) on November 13. They hid there for seven days. At this time, the Indians formed two full battalions. We came to know about their presence around November 19,” he wrote.

“The attack was launched at 6 am on November 21. It progressed well initially (for Pakistanis) when the (Pakistani) attacking force advanced towards the enemy position in a grove of trees, and enemy tanks opened up from hidden positions. This was a major surprise for us because we had always regarded it as an ‘untankable’ area,” he wrote.

The military records suggested that Indian artillery forces crossed the border quickly and joined the battle. There, Pakistani troops sought the assistance of PAF fighter jets and soon after, three Pakistani Saber fighter jets were seen circling in the sky to counter the India’s Gnats fighter jets.

“The attack was then withdrawn,” Salik said.

Mehta said against the backdrop of a well-assumed imminent full-scale military warfare, the Indian forces needed some assault launching pads against Pakistani troops and “Garibpur was among the key launch pads because of its proximity to Jessore”.

Imamuz Zaman supplemented Mehta, saying the allied forces in a preliminary operation plan in mid-November decided to use as a launching pad the area around Chaugacha in Jashore for subsequent operations in enemy-occupied western region.

Bangladesh’s wartime army records suggest the Mukti Bahini guerillas found the Garibpur area to be largely uncared by Pakistanis for a major battle, a piece of intelligence, that helped the plan formulation.

Residents in the neighbourhood recalled Mukti Bahini soldier Abdus Sattar escorted the Indian tanks to the site escaping enemy eyes while fellow guerillas with villagers’ support paved the way for the tanks by putting trees on muddy paths.

Then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi herself highlighted the success and importance of the war in Parliament while Salik wrote that their top commander Niazi, felt that this frontal battle had “started his all-out war”.

“The attack on Garibpur was the strongest that Pakistan launched in the war…(but) eventually as a result of this battle, Pakistan had been completely unbalanced,” Brigadier Hayat Khan, who led the Pakistan side in the battle, later said.

A total of 28 allied troops including affiliated Mukti Bahini soldiers lost their lives while 42 were wounded in the battle the Pakistani casualty was estimated to be around 300 soldiers, including three officers. Six enemy Prisoners of War were apprehended.

The international boundary along the region remained in allied hands until the final victory.

PTI

New Delhi, December 17

The Indian Army remains prepared for all military contingencies emanating out of the “collusive threat” from the military modernisation and aggressive actions by India’s adversaries, the Defence Ministry said on Saturday, in an apparent reference to China and its all-weather ally Pakistan.

It also said the Army is primarily focused on maintaining its operational preparedness in sync with India’s desire to ensure stability and dominance along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and Line of Control (LoC) while constantly monitoring and reviewing emerging threats to national security.

The Defence Ministry mentioned this in a year-end review.

Referring to the situation along the LoC (with Pakistan), it said the situation has been relatively peaceful with both Indian and Pakistani armies observing ceasefire understanding since February last year.

“As compared to 4,645 ceasefire violations during its peak in 2020, only three minor incidents have been recorded since the understanding in February 2021 with only one incident during 2022,” the ministry said.

It said Pakistan continued to retain “proxy war infrastructure” and that the “functionality” of terrorist training camps, presence of terrorists in “launch pads” and continuing infiltration attempts vindicate that country’s “persistent intent”.

It said Pakistan continues to exploit the “narco-terror nexus” to radicalise and motivate innocent youth undertake targeting of vulnerable civilians using pistols and grenades.

On its brief on the Army, the ministry said it primarily focused on maintaining its operational preparedness in line with India’s desire to ensure “stability and dominance along the Line of Actual Control, Line of Control”.

It said the Army carried out relentless counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations and maintained high training standards while constantly monitoring and reviewing emerging and future threats to national security.

“The Indian Army remains prepared for all military contingencies emanating out of the collusive threat from the military modernisation and aggressive actions by the country’s adversaries while, creating capacities to deal with emerging threats in cyber, space and info domains due to blurring of physical borders,” it said.

There have been concerns in the military establishment over possible challenges emanating from the “collusive threat” from China and Pakistan.

On reforms in the military, the ministry said all formations of the Indian Army will be structured on an Integrated Battle Group (IBG) model in a phased manner to transform the force into a leaner and agile Army. “IBG-isation is progressing well and Phase 1 is near completion.” Under the IBG initiative, the Army aims to integrate different components of the force into the new formation that will feature artillery guns, tanks, air defence and logistical elements.

On the situation along the border with China, the ministry said Chinese PLA troops on December 9 tried to transgress the LAC in Yangtse area of Tawang sector and unilaterally change the status quo.

Referring to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement in Parliament on the incident, it said he informed that the Chinese attempt was contested by Indian troops in a “firm and resolute manner”.

Mentioning the eastern Ladakh row, the ministry said talks are being scheduled to discuss disengagement in the “balance friction” areas in the region.

“With diplomatic and military efforts, effective disengagement with PLA forces was achieved from the area of PP 15 (Eastern Ladakh) in September,” it said.

Giving statements in both House, the Defence Minister also assured that “our forces are committed to protecting our territorial integrity and will continue to thwart any attempt made on it”.

A face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in the Tawang sector in Arunachal Pradesh on December 9 led to minor injuries “to a few personnel” from both sides, sources said and noted that both sides immediately disengaged from the area.

The sources said on December 9, 2022, PLA troops came on the LAC in the Tawang Sector of Arunachal Pradesh which was contested by Indian troops in a firm and resolute manner.

“This face-off led to minor injuries to a few personnel from both sides. Both sides immediately disengaged from the area,” a source said.

They said as a follow-up of the incident, India’s commander in the area held a Flag Meeting with his counterpart to discuss the issue in accordance with structured mechanisms to restore peace and tranquillity.

The sources said that in certain areas along the LAC in the Tawang Sector in Arunachal Pradesh there are areas of differing perception, wherein both sides patrol the area up to their claim lines. This has been the trend since 2006.