Spreading Bhagat Singh’s ideas

Chaman Lal

It was a bit perplexing for me when I got a call from Sports University, Patiala, Vice Chancellor, Lieutenant General JS Cheema (Retd), inviting me to be part of a discussion panel in a session on Bhagat Singh in Military Literary Festival, as I could not see any connection, since the festival concentrates more on defence related books and matters, national and international. Among other panellists, he named Mahavir Chakra awardee, Maj Gen Sheonan Singh (Retd), who is a nephew of Bhagat Singh, but who never let this relationship be known during his military service, as he thought it will be construed as seeking favour or privilege! Only after retirement, he let it be known in an interview in a national daily. Among all close relations of Bhagat Singh, he is one of most well read about Bhagat Singh and his ideas, as Ranbir Singh, his father and younger brother of Bhagat Singh, had penned a biography of the great martyr in Urdu!

The best experiences in my mission to spread Bhagat Singh’s ideas are with Gopal Roy, minister in the Delhi Government, who inaugurated Bhagat Singh Archives and Resource Centre in Delhi which contains my gifted collection on the freedom struggle of India. While being the miniter in charge of the freedom fighters cell in Delhi, he organised functions on every 23rd March and 28th September -martyrdom and birth anniversaries of the three martyrs, and distributed free books by or on Bhagat Singh. to the audience which included children as well as old people in thousands. Writing, collecting and distributing books is the best way of spreading Bhagat Singh’s ideas of free India to enlighten the youth. I hope the Punjab Government also follows this example of their colleague in Delhi.

The writer is a retired Professor from JNU and honorary advisor to Bhagat Singh Archives and Resource Centre, New Delhi

Need to evolve new civil-military maxim

Ramesh Inder Singh

Punjab’s geo-political advantage as the gateway to Hindustan, turned Punjabis martial. In defending the motherland, they have rightfully earned the accolade of ‘the sword arm’ of the nation.

It is not surprising, therefore that our tricity – Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula – is home to many distinguished soldiers and legendary national heros. Two former chiefs of Army, a former Navy chief and a former Air Force chief, with nearly 255 retired generals, including about 90 lieutenant generals, the second highest rank in the Army, live here. The tricity has approximately 35,000 ex-servicemen, including about 5,500 retired defence service officers, out of which about 150 are gallantry awardees. One single regiment with its recruitment base in this region – the Sikh Light Infantry – has given three chiefs to the Indian Army!

In public perception, valour, heroism and sacrifice is viewed as the only attributes of war-victories, and the memory of the brave is recalled only on war commemoration days. However, soldiering today is not simple valour, but encephalon too – the brain power, that has transformed modern armies into ‘thinking soldiers’, planners, strategists, analysts, and war-gamers. Wars are won as much on the battlefield as in the sand model rooms and on the drawing boards.

This naturally results in production of a lot of military literature, war-books, research papers and the like, but these cerebral military issues were usually considered taboo for public debate, particularly in formal citizen’s forums, till Punjab Government and Western Command joined hands to organise the first Military Literature Festival in 2017 at Chandigarh with cooperation of the UT Administration

This precedent was followed by few other Literary Festivals, such as KSLF at Kasauli and VoW at Dehradun, who devoted a few sessions to military and strategic affairs. Lucknow, however, became the second city in the country to hold an exclusive military literary festival in 2021, followed by INS Valsura at Jamnagar in June 2022.

The lead taken by Chandigarh is commendable and its 6th Military Lit Fest being organised on 3rd and 4th December promises brainstorming on topical military and strategic challenges such as Russia-Ukraine conflict, China’s emergence as a super-power, aircraft carriers’ power, soldiering etc, apart from discussion on a few recently published books.

My book, Turmoil in Punjab, Before and After Bluestar, which will come up for discussion in the festival, is an eyewitness account of what happened in Punjab during the two decades of militancy. It details the role played by the various arms of the state, including the Army, in bringing peace to Punjab.

The Army is, almost always, a fall back of the last resort, when other wings of the state fail or lack capacity to deal with a situation. Armed Forces have performed commendably and enjoy citizen’s confidence. However, no institution is infallible and neo-nationalism should not inhibit reasoned debate, more so because the strategy and tactics that the armed forces adopt in wars, and also in aid to civil authority, has far reaching national outcomes. Illustratively, the consequences of the decision to use tanks in Golden Temple in 1984 are too well known to be recalled.

Our Army, to its credit, has remained professional and apolitical. However, today it is often deployed over long periods in disturbed areas, like it was in Punjab, northeastern states or is in J&K. My experience, as described in my book, is that there is need to evolve a new civil-military maxim, establish institutional structures with well-defined procedures, and civilian oversight, rather than merely rely upon the present joint command concept, which often ends up as ‘meet and greet’ conferences.

The Military Literary Festivals will provide the opportunity to examine many such complex issues and facilitate a reasoned debate.

Experts warn against ignoring history

Ajay Banerjee

In June last year, the Ministry of Defence announced a new policy on archiving, declassification, compilation and publication of histories of wars and operations carried out by the Indian armed forces.

Almost 18 months later, no decision has been taken to de-classify any of the already published histories of the 1962, 1965 and the 1971 wars, published by the ministry’s History Division in the 1990s.

Official histories not released

• October-November 1962 India-China War
• September 1965 Indo-Pak war
• December 1971 Indo-Pak war Released
• Official War History of the 1947-48 Kashmir war with Pakistan (in 1989)
• The Kargil Review Committee Report on the May-July 1999 Kargil War (in 2000)

The Difficult ones to tackle

• Operation Pawan (IPKF in Sri Lanka, 1987-1990)
• Operation Cactus in Maldives (1988)
• Operation Bluestar (Golden Temple, 1984)
• Operation Meghdoot (Siachen, 1984)

Tragically, these are not owned up as ‘official histories.’ Each of the books on the 1971 and the 1965 wars with Pakistan carry a caveat by the History Division’s Director, Dr SN Prasad: “I don’t consider this as an account of proper history.” In case of the publication of the account of the 1962 war with China, Dr Prasad has a caveat: “I accept responsibility for the facts and stated opinions expressed, which do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of India and do not commit it ( Govt) in any way.”

All three publications are for “restricted circulation” and are available only at select libraries of the armed forces.

New policy does not change much

Only the published account of the India-Pak war in 1948 have been made public so far. Accounts of other full-blown wars and operations. Despite the policy, declassification of records or histories of older wars like the 1962 war with China will not be automatic and will be taken up on a case-to-case basis by a committee with members from the three services, Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Home Affairs.

This means that access to records of Operation Meghdoot (Siachen), Operation Pawan (Sri Lanka), Operation Cactus (Maldives) and Operation Falcon (Arunachal Pradesh) in the mid-1980s will not be made public immediately. The same applies to Operation Bluestar – it could have a political fallout.

How does the policy function

It mandates the History Division to publish an official account of operations within five years after completion after seeking due approval. Operational records are required to be vetted for declassification by organisations concerned.https://feb77eaf21be62df9b5d7b6fbffb7855.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

Each organisation under the MoD such as the Services, Integrated Defence Staff, Assam Rifles and Indian Coast Guard, will transfer records, including war diaries, operational proceedings, etc. to the History Division for compiling and archiving.

The need of having war histories written with clear cut policy on de-classification was recommended by the Kargil Review Committee headed by K Subrahmanyam.

In January 2001 a special committee headed by former Defence Secretary, NN Vohra, and comprising Lt Gen Satish Nambiar (retd), a former Deputy Chief of the Army and Dr SN Prasad, recommended the release of the three war ( 1962, 1965 and 1971) histories in their original form

Post-Kargil, Group of Ministers’ recommendations on national security also mentioned the desirability of authoritative war history to accurate account of the events for academic research and to counter the unfounded rumours.

What the west has done

The UK and US have a strong tradition of commissioning studies and histories. The British, in 2010, got an official history written of the M-I6, their external intelligence agency. In India, former Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, B Raman’s book, The Kaoboys of R&AW’, is the most authoritative account of some events of the 1970’s and 1980’s. The UK ordered a public inquiry into Britain’s role in the Iraq war of 2003. The report was made public for debate and discussion.

The US had a Vietnam Study Task Force which produced a history of the US’ involvement and is now referred to as Pentagon Papers. In 2017, the Central Intelligence Agency of US declassified files of the 1960’s and 1970’s and told how the US was looking for evidence that Indian troops had invaded East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in early December 1971.

Vice Admiral Girish Luthra (Retd)

Historically, the growth, prosperity and security of humankind has depended on the oceans, high seas and coastal waters. The maritime domain has many unique features. Seventyeight percent of the earth is covered by seas, 85 percent of nation states have a coastline, 70 percent of the world’s population lives near the coast and 80 percent of capital cities are located close to the sea. Over 90 percent of the world trade by volume and 70 percent of transportation of goods is in the maritime sector. The maritime environment also has a strong socio-political, civilizational and cultural context.

The growth of the Indian Navy and its capabilities will serve the larger national goals and objectives

The Indo-Pacific region, covering the geographic areas of the Indian and the Pacific oceans, has gained salience and prominence in the last five to six years. The region has also become central to geopolitical and geoeconomic cooperation, competition and rivalry. It is the new centre of gravity for economic growth and contributes over 60 percent of global GDP and global growth. The rise and assertiveness of China, the ongoing US-China strategic competition, and the rapid growth of the Chinese PLA Navy and other military capabilities have been part of key drivers for speedy transitions in the region. Several new partnerships and frameworks, like the Quadrilateral comprising Australia, Indian, Japan and the US, the AUKUS comprising Australia, the UK and the US,the China-Russia partnership, have been formed. In addition, trilateral and bilateral arrangements have been forged, in different sub-regions of the Indo-Pacific. There has also been an increase in naval deployments and exercises, as well as setting up of new military bases and access facilities.

The maritime security environment in the Indo-Pacific region is complex and challenging. The traditional security threats include armed conflict over sovereignty and sovereign rights related disputes, ideological and ethnic disputes, trade disruption, attacks on shipping, offshore and coastal infrastructure, maritime terrorism and sabotage. Non-traditional threats include piracy, armed robbery, maritime militia and grey zone operations, organized crime and illicit trafficking, illegal fishing, environment, climate and biodiversity.

India’s maritime interests and challenges have grown significantly, in recent times. It has accorded priority to maritime security and cooperation. In 2015, India outlined the concept of SAGAR – an acronym for Security and Growth for All in the Region. It launched the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative or IPOI in 2019. In addition to focusing on its own defence and security from the threats posed by its adversaries, India has a key role to play to strengthen stability, security and safety in the Indo-Pacific. Through various frameworks, it has sought to promote development-linked cooperative security in the region. It is opposed to any coercive approaches or behaviour, which undermine strategic stability. Its balanced approach for a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, without being part of any military alliance, has been appreciated by many countries.

The Indian economy is expected to sustain its current growth trajectory, with corresponding increase in its trade which is mostly by sea. With new initiatives, investments and financial arrangements, the overall engagement in the region has gone up manifold and is set to rise further. In consonance, the Indian Navy’s areas of operations for a variety of maritime roles have also expanded. These deployments are in addition to its own peacetime preparations and exercises for combat and operational readiness. It is evident that with increasing role of India at the regional and global levels, the new importance and relevanceof the maritime domain, and existing as well as emerging threats and challenges, the growth of the Indian Navy and its capabilities will serve the larger national goals and objectives.

The writer is a former Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command

Air Cmde Nitin Sathe
THE air operations in famous Battle of Laungewala is a pre-eminent landmark in the history of the Indian Air Force and stands out as perhaps its most decisive contribution to the 1971 Indo-Pak War on the western front, particularly the Rajasthan sector. It was a unique operation which led to the rout of Pakistani armour and infantry by air power alone.
On the December 4-5, 1971, Pakistan carried out a daring armoured thrust into Indian territory with two armoured regiments supported by two brigades of infantry, something that the Indians had never envisaged that they would attempt in the Laungewala sector. Laungewala was poorly defended by just one company of 120 odd troops of the 23 Punjab infantry battalion, which was grossly inadequate to counter the enemy attack. While they were surrounded by enemy tanks and fought well to ward them off through a tense night of fighting, the IAF came to their rescue at first light on December 5.

IAF Hunter aircraft flew through the day from the newly commissioned airfield of Jaisalmer and routed the enemy armour forcing them to retreat. And while they did so, the IAF Hunters continued their merciless attack on them leaving a trail of destroyed tanks, vehicles and equipment right into the enemy territory.
Air Chief Marshal PC Lal, in his autobiography, “My years with the Indian Air Force” writes, “It was a clean battle, the only of its kind, between Pakistani armour and the Indian forces. It was clean in the sense that the Air Force alone fought the Pakistani ground forces because apart for an infantry company deployed at Laungewala, there were no troops to oppose the enemy.”

The IAF managed to destroy 40 tanks, several pieces of artillery and scores of vehicles in the battle which was fought during daylight hours of December 5-6.

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 4

The BSF, which is deployed along 6,386 km of the International Border with Pakistan and Bangladesh, today organised a ceremonial parade, comprising the Mahila Prahari contingent at Guru Nanak Dev University in the holy city on the occasion of its 58th Raising Day.

For the second time, the Raising Day parade has been organised outside New Delhi. Last year, the event was held in Jaisalmer.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai was the chief guest and took the salute of the parade, which comprised 12 contingents, including Mahila Prahari contingent, decorated officers and men, Camel contingent and Camel Band, mounted column, dog squad, communication contingent displaying technological advances by the force with special appearance by the BSF Bagpipers (men and women).

The MoS said, “Daredevil performance by women contingent proves that they are equally scripting stories of their indomitable courage.”

Rai added that various challenges, including infiltration, smuggling of arms, narcotics and drone penetrations from across the border were being effectively thwarted by the BSF.

“The Centre will leave no stone unturned to provide best equipment and infrastructure to ensure that operational challenges are fully met,” the MoS said, adding that the BSF’s presence along the IB has instilled a sense of security, in the mind of citizens.

Paying rich tribute to bravehearts, who laid down their lives in the line of duty, he recalled the role of the BSF in the 1971 war.

Pankaj Kumar Singh, Director-General, BSF, informed about new initiatives and preparations to deal with future challenges.

“Drones are posing a challenge to the forces. However, effective anti-drone mechanism and strict vigil has helped in foiling substantial number of such attempts,” he said, adding that the BSF has shot down 17 drones, 16 along the IB in Punjab and one in Jammu, this year.

He said over 500 kg of narcotics between November 2021 and October 2022, 64 weapons, 845 rounds of ammunition and fake currency had been seized by the paramilitary force.

Vice Admiral Girish Luthra (retd), Admiral Sunil Lanba (retd), Vice Admiral Anup Singh (retd) and Vice Admiral Anil Chawla (retd) during panel discussion at the 6th Military Literature Festival in Chandigarh on Saturday. Tribune Photo: Nitin Mittal

PTI

Chandigarh, December 3

India’s approach in the Indo-Pacific region cannot remain only diplomatic and has to be matched with maritime and naval capabilities, more importantly aircraft carriers, Vice Admiral Girish Luthra (retd) said here on Saturday.

He also said that China, which has an ambition of being a regional and global power, has acquired a new strategic identity and has made a decisive shift in its maritime approach.

Luthra was speaking at the 6th edition of the Military Literature Festival here.

He was taking part in a discussion on ‘Relevance of aircraft carriers in power projection.’    Admiral Sunil Lanba (retd), who was the moderator, Vice Admiral Anil Chawla (retd), and Vice Admiral Anup Singh (retd) also attended the event.

“Today Indo-pacific is a very coherent and accepted strategic space. The interconnectedness of this region is what is giving a new dynamism to this region. Within this new development of this region, the maritime areas are the growth underbelly of it,” Luthra said.

“This is the period of uncertainty in which we are going through phases like globalisation versus nationalism.

“We are going through traditional security concepts not applicable anymore and almost all countries are following the strategy of hedging,” he said

It is the Indo-Pacific region which is now the area of geopolitical, geoeconomic, and technological competition, he said.

The former vice admiral attributed the primary reason for a newfound attention to this region to its overwhelming stake in the global trade.

“Sixty per cent of world GDP, two-thirds of global growth, and 70 per cent of world trade takes place in the Indo-Pacific region,” Luthra said.https://920a6711e7b0bf7f2a5c365ae3aeefcc.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

He further said that several countries have hammered their strategies to the Indo-Pacific region in light of this changed scenario.

US, Japan, Australia, France, Germany, The Netherlands, European Union etc are some such countries, he said.

Speaking about China, Luthra said, “We have seen in the last 20-25 years the rise of China with a new strategic identity.” “China recognises that its ambition of being a regional and global power cannot be fulfilled without suitable positioning and actions in the maritime domain. 

“When I say the decisive shift to the maritime orientation, I am not for one moment suggesting that it has given up its continental orientation,” he said. 

“Certainly, continental orientation continues but it is the mix of the continental and maritime orientations. There is an increased emphasis on maritime orientation,” he added.

He said China wants to sustain its leadership in trade, wants to have a world-class military by 2035 and win war against its strong adversary by 2049.

He said that in 2008, India came up with the concept of a net security provider in the Indian ocean region. In 2018, the Prime Minister outlined the vision for Indo-Pacific at Shangri La dialogue. And in 2019, the Indo-Pacific Ocean initiatives were announced.

Stressing on the aircraft carriers’ strategic, operational, and tactical roles, Luthra said the role of carriers has evolved and adapted in line with the emergence of new technologies. 

There are seven countries with aircraft carriers and five other countries which are using helicopter carriers, he added. 

“India’s outlook and approach in the Indo-pacific cannot only be diplomatic. It has to be matched by suitable maritime and naval capabilities and aircraft carriers play a major role in that.

“We need to prevent domination by another power, particularly in the Indian ocean region, and once again the aircraft carriers have a key role,” he said. 

The navy man said the opposition to aircraft carriers stems primarily from their prohibitive cost and vulnerability. “I think both these objections are overstated.” “Aircraft carriers along with other instruments provide strong deterrence. The deterrence is never to be seen with one single instrument like a carrier; it works in tandem with diplomatic, economic and other instruments of national power,” he added.

Vice Admiral Anil Chawla (retd) said China’s Shandong aircraft carrier can carry 40 aircrafts, and another aircraft carrier to be commissioned in 2024 will have an airwing of 85 aircraft.

He said China has also an ambitious plan to have an aircraft carrier which will be the bigger than US’ Ford Class, which can carry 100 aircrafts.

China is slowly matching up to the US aircraft carrier, he said.

Admiral Lanba (retd) said India has a rich maritime heritage which dates back 4,000-5,000 years, going right back to the time of Indus Valley civilization.

“India’s destiny and future is linked to the ocean, especially the Indian ocean. We sit astride very important sea lines of communication which criss-cross east and west,” said Lanba.  

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, December 4

A first-of-its-kind project in India, aimed at enabling the defence community to tell their stories to citizens, was launched by a Chandigarh-based publisher at the Military Literature Festival here today.

Christened “Fauji Days,” it is an oral history-chronicling and military publishing initiative that will feature veterans, where they would record their reminiscences, tell their anecdotes and bring to light stories that otherwise largely go untold or remain confined to close families and friends.

Many of these stories would be told by teenagers and young adults who would interview veterans.

The first episode, which was premiered today, featured a candid, unscripted interview of the legendary war disabled officer and India’s first blade runner, Major DP Singh, by Sohraab Singh, a class IX student and NCC cadet at a local school.

Pankaj Punit Singh, who launched the project, said the interviews and archived material would be accessible by the public through a website, which would also have reference material on culture and traditions of the military as well as blogs by eminent veterans and civilians.

Poonch, November 23

Northern Army Commander Lt General Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday said the Indian Army is ready to execute orders like taking back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

“As far as the Indian Army is concerned, it will carry out any order given by the Government of India. Whenever such orders are given, we will always be ready for it,” said Lt Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Northern Army Commander, on the Defence Minister’s statement of taking back PoK.

“The military is always ready to make sure that ceasefire understanding is never broken as it is in the interest of both nations, but if broken at any time, we will give them a befitting reply,” said Dwivedi, Northern Army Commander on the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan.

“The country has over 50 per cent of people below the age of 25. If we take them in as Agniveers, teach them and send them back, we will absorb some, others by paramilitary, and police forces and the remaining can be self-employed,” he stated.

“We have almost 160 terrorists sitting at the launchpad of which there are 130 north of Pir Panjal and 30 south of Pir Panjal. As for the complete hinterland, a total of 82 Pakistani terrorists and 53 local terrorists are there,” he further stated.

Earlier on October 28, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reiterated New Delhi’s resolve to take back PoK, saying all refugees would get their land and homes back.

Beijing is considering military bases in several nations

Tribune News Service

Ajay Banerjee

New Delhi, December 4

After setting up its first overseas military base at Djibouti (Africa) in 2017, China is looking at a base in Cambodia in the Indo-Pacific and close to the maritime dispute in the South China Sea.

Deep port facility in Cambodia

• In early 2021, dredgers spotted off Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, where China is funding construction of a deep port facility
• In June 2021, Cambodian Defence Minister accepted China would help expand and modernise the base

In early 2021, dredgers were spotted off Cambodia’s Ream Naval Base, where the Chinese are funding construction work to have a deep port facility — necessary for the docking of larger military warships. In June 2021, Cambodian Defence Minister accepted that China would help modernise and expand the Ream Naval Base.

The US assessment says China is seeking to expand its overseas logistics and basing infrastructure to allow the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) of China to project and sustain military power at greater distances.

The PLA base in Djibouti now has an operational 450-metre ship berthing pier which will be able to accommodate the Chinese Navy’s aircraft carriers, other large combatants and even submarines.

After kicking off work in Cambodia, the likely other places being considered for military bases are in Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the UAE, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Seychelles, Tanzania, Angola, and Tajikistan among other places as locations for PLA military logistics facilities.

China has probably already made overtures to Namibia, Vanuatu, and the Solomon Islands which are well known. Not all attempts of China are expected to fructify. Such bases not just help in military conflict but enable diplomatic signalling, political change, bilateral and multilateral cooperation and training. Crucially, all this will enable intelligence gathering.

Beijing may use a mixture of military logistics models. These could include a preferred access to commercial infrastructure abroad, exclusive logistics facilities with prepositioned military supplies and bases with forces stationed. Some of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects could create a potential military advantage, with PLA getting access to foreign ports to pre-position the logistics support to sustain naval deployments in the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.