Wedged between China and Pakistan, both hostile neighbours, India has been maintaining a high level of military preparedness, especially after the Galwan valley clash in June last year. The importance of state-of-the-art weaponry in fortifying the country’s borders can’t be overestimated. Though the hike in the overall defence budget for 2021-22 is only around 1.4 per cent, the capital outlay for military modernisation has been raised by about

Rs 22,000 crore (nearly 19 per cent). This is a welcome proposal, in tune with the government’s plan to spend $130 billion (more than Rs 9 lakh crore) on defence modernisation in the next seven to eight years.

India continues to figure among the world’s biggest arms importers – this fact sticks out like a sore thumb whenever the government talks about achieving self-reliance in the defence sector. What has come as a much-needed shot in the arm for the ‘Make in India’ initiative is the recent sealing of a Rs 48,000-crore deal to procure 83 Tejas light combat aircraft from state-run aerospace major Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. Large-scale indigenisation, however, can’t happen overnight. It requires an overhaul and reorientation of the defence PSUs along with the active involvement of the private sector, leading technocrats, and top institutes of science and technology, as recommended by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence.

Reducing dependence on foreign vendors is easier said than done. The armed forces can’t keep waiting for domestic equivalents during an exigency. For the record, an unbudgeted amount of Rs 20,776 crore was spent to buy military hardware amid the border standoff with China. In September last year, the government had eased FDI norms in this sector so as to attract more overseas investors. The focus, as of now, should be on facilitating collaboration between international manufacturers and Indian firms, while ensuring a level playing field that precludes favouritism. Transfer of technology by foreign players can not only help in making India self-reliant on the defence front but also boost the nation’s potential to cater to the global market through cutting-edge research and innovation.

Chakka Jam: Internet suspended at Ghazipur, Singhu & Tikri border

Chandigarh, February 6, 2021: On the day when farmers are carrying out the nation-wide Chakka Jam, the government has again suspended internet facility at Ghazipur, Tikri, and Singhu borders which will reportedly remain in place till the end of the day.

Earlier the government has suspended the internet services at the Delhi border on Republic Day when violence broke out in many parts of Delh

Brigadier Hamir Singh (Retd), who was a young captain during the 1971 war against Pakistan, was honoured as part of India’s celebrations to mark 50 years of the victory.

New Delhi: On 14 December 1971, in the final days of the 13-day war for Bangladesh’s liberation, a young Army captain named Hamir Singh was captured by Pakistan during the battle of Daruchhian in Jammu and Kashmir. At the time, he had a severe bullet injury in his arm.

The war ended two days later with Pakistan’s surrender. But it would be nearly a year before the Army officer would make his way back to India.

After his return, Hamir Singh served the Army for two decades before retiring as Brigadier in September 1992.

On Thursday, the Vir Chakra recipient, now 82, found himself travelling back to his exploits in the war as he received the ‘Vijay Mashaal’ — a symbolic torch meant to honour his role — as part of India’s Swarnim Vijay Varsh celebrations to mark 50 years of the victory against Pakistan in 1971.

The year-long commemorations for the war’s golden jubilee began on 16 December last year as Prime Minister Narendra Modi lit the ‘Swarnim Vijay Mashaal’ from the eternal flame of the National War Memorial.

Talking to ThePrint over the phone from Jaipur, the former Army officer said he was highly honoured to receive the Vijay Mashaal.

“Honestly, I didn’t know that I would live to get this honour, 50 years since then,” he said.

Also Read: Indian Army had a ‘Ghost Regiment’. It spooked Pakistanis in 1971 and earned their praise

A third-generation Army officer, Brig. Singh was commissioned into the Grenadiers Regiment in December 1962.

His grandfather, Lt Phool Singh, was an officer in the erstwhile Jodhpur Lancers and served in the First World War. His father Maj. Gen. Kalyan Singh was an artillery officer commissioned in the second field regiment and participated in the 1962 India-China war.

His capture

Brig. Singh was part of the 1971 war as a company commander with 14 Grenadiers.

His sons — now serving Major Generals in the Army — were just five and seven years old at the time, Brig Singh said.

For the next six months, the Army officer was to stay in a Rawalpindi hospital undergoing multiple surgeries. The subsequent months were spent in a small space he shared with multiple other Indian prisoners of war (PoWs).

“Honestly, I lost dates after that, but for nearly six months, I stayed at a hospital undergoing surgeries,” he said.

In June 1972, he heard that some PoWs were being sent back to India. While two of his colleagues were sent back, he was left at the hospital, all alone.

He then conveyed to the Red Cross staff that he wanted to be shifted to the camp where the remaining PoWs were lodged, citing the fact that his treatment was over.

He stayed at the camp until 1 December 1972 when he and the other PoWs were repatriated.

His role in the war earned him a Vir Chakra, which is awarded for acts of gallantry in the presence of enemy.

As part of the 1971 war Golden Jubilee celebrations, the government is honouring the role of Indian soldiers. Among other things, four ‘Victory Mashaals (flaming torches)’ will be lit from the eternal flame at the National War Memorial and carried to various parts of the country, including villages of Param Vir Chakra and Maha Vir Chakra awardees of the war.

Additionally, soil from these villages and areas where major battles were fought is being brought to the memorial. Various commemorative events are scheduled to be held around India at which war veterans will be felicitated.

Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, February 6

A video of a Canadian dancer doing Bhangra during heavy snowfall has gone viral.

The dancer, Gurdeep Pandher, shared a short clip of his Bhangra session with a few people on the microblogging website.

This session was at Yukon, a territory in northwest Canada.

Gurdeep Pandher conducts outdoor bhangra classes. In the two-minute clip, Gurdeep taught Bhangra steps to four people of the French community in a snow-covered area.

The people looked equally excited to learn, and seemed absolutely unfazed by the snowfall.

“Outdoor winter Bhangra class in the Yukon. When it was -20 degree C (feeling like -30 degree C with windchill) and the pandemic on top of that, these friends from the Yukon’s French community joined me for a “physically-distanced and pandemic-safe” bhangra class for joy, exercise and positivity,” read Gurdeep Pandher’s caption.

Gurdeep Pandher’s video has gone viral with over one lakh views and collected 4,000 likes.

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Ghaziabad, February 5 

For all the global uproar the farmers’ movement against the new agri laws has caused, the man at its centre seems oblivious of the celebrity support he has been getting.

Rakesh Tikait, the 51-year-old Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader from the hinterlands of Muzaffarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh, welcomed the support from international artistes and activists, including Rihanna and Greta Thunberg, but acknowledged that he did not know them.

Talking to the media at Ghazipur on the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border on Thursday, Tikait, who is credited with reviving the agitation that appeared to be flagging after the January 26 violence in Delhi, sought to know who these people were.

Also read: Upset with Tendulkar, scores of Malayalee netizens regret 2015 criticism of Sharapova for not knowing him

“Who are these foreign artistes?” Tikait said showing unawareness when asked about the foreigners supporting the farmers’ movement.

When informed about American pop-singer Rihanna, adult star Mia Khalifa and Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, the Sisauli-born Tikait responded: “They may have supported us, but I don’t know them.”

“If some foreigner is supporting the movement, then what is the problem. They are not giving us or taking anything away from us,” he said.

Also read: Opposition MPs demand repeal of farm laws in Rajya Sabha

Commenting on the futile attempt by 15 members of Parliament to reach Ghazipur and meet protesters on Thursday, the BKU national spokesperson said the MPs should have sat on the ground on the other side of the barricades where they were stopped by Delhi Police.

“A barricading has been set up here. They had to come, but they should have sat down there itself. They would have been on the other side and we on this side (of the barricade),” he said.

Tikait said he did not have any talk with the 15 MPs who had tried to come to Ghazipur to meet the protesters. They were also not allowed to speak to the protesters, he added.

The 15 MPs from 10 Opposition parties, including the SAD, the DMK, the NCP and the Trinamool Congress, wanted to meet the protesters at Ghazipur. Members of the National Conference, the RSP and the IUML were also part of the delegation.

MP and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal, who coordinated the visit, said the leaders were not allowed to cross the barricades and reach the protest site, where thousands of farmers are camping since November with a demand that the government repeal the new agri-marketing laws enacted last September.

The farmers’ protest at Ghazipur, Tikri and Singhu at Delhi borders has now attained global spotlight with prominent international celebrities and rights activists talking about the stir.

In its pushback, the government said the facts on the issue must be ascertained before rushing to comment on it, and asserted that the “temptation” of sensationalist social media hashtags and views is “neither accurate nor responsible”. PTI

Chakka Jaam: Farmer organizations in Jammu stage protest on Jammu-Pathankot highway

Chandigarh, February 6, 2021: Following the nation-wide call for ‘Chakka Jaam’ by the farmers union, farmer organization in Jammu stage protest on Jammu-Pathankot highway on Saturday.

“We appeal to the govt to repeal these laws. We support the farmers protesting on the borders of Delhi,” says a protester

Narendra Modi’s comments on the tricolour and “insults to it” should be seen in the background of the nature of the current protests and the RSS’s ritual opposition to the same tricolour until recently.

“India was saddened by the insult to the tricolour on Republic Day” stated Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a few days ago.

He was referring, obviously, to the mayhem that broke out when farmers, their friends and enemies, streamed into Delhi on January 26.

‘India’, on behalf of whom Modi now speaks with unusual authority, is surely entitled to feel more than hurt if the flag was desecrated. This charge, however, camouflages more than it reveals. During the protest, the national flag atop Red Fort was not only untouched, but the Nishan Sahib that was hoisted on the fort’s ramparts was certainly not the flag of ‘Khalistan’ – as was let loose into the breeze, quite mischievously.

It was at a considerable distance from the tricolour and its pole was nowhere near in height. What intrigues me the most is why the person who led the move to plant the flag is moving around so sure of himself and posting video messages on social media.

Since the entire world knows that he was (and may still be) associated with the ruling party, it is surely time for the nurser of hurts to come out and declare his ‘official’ position on him. After all, the man purported to have been behind the flag hoisting has flaunted his photograph next to the prime minister, and since this cannot be dismissed as ‘crowd scene’ snap, “the nation needs to know” who or what prompted him to cause the hurt.

The narrative that is being sought to be peddled is, however, fraught with danger.

By highlighting that someone from the Sikh community defiled the national flag, an entire people is sought to be dragged in. The community has always produced excellent farmers and has historically provided the finest of soldiers – many more than people whose belligerent talk is certainly not matched by their numbers joining the army.

A patriotic community cannot be vilified just because it took the lead in opposing suspiciously rushed-through pieces of legislation.

What the dispensation’s cheerleaders have not understood, among countless other things, is that the long and peaceful agitation of farmers at Delhi’s borders is fast becoming a metaphor for righteous resistance – and may soon join the ranks of Chipko, Champaran or Bardoli.

Public imagination is in the process of inscribing the name of the tormentor who launched unprovoked depredations on agitating agriculturalists quite permanently into popular lore. Once that happens, woe betide the villain of such balladic tales, for his name shall be spat upon for ever.

Also read: In 2014, the Sikh Flag Flew at the Red Fort – And the Hindu Rightwing Had No Complaints

Even dropping innuendos about Sikhs fomenting trouble and proclaiming them or a section as ‘anti-national separatists’ without first providing solid evidence is outrageous. Some Khalistani supporters may have penetrated the huge ocean of protesting farmers, but can anyone swear that there is no foreign agent ensconced within the upper echelons of this regime – or any other?

Punjab has suffered more than its share of political outrage, stoked often by religious fanatics and their opponents. It is only prudent not to stomp with jackboots on sensitive issues that may ignite other problems. To fling conspiracy theories around would also whip up outrage. It is imperative for the regime to desist from short-term outwitting games and, instead, attend to the disaffection caused by these Acts.

Two simple public statements may defuse the situation immediately – one, that the time-tested MSP (minimum support price) system would remain, and the other that all the talk of Ambani-Adani grabbing farm produce is not true.

OTHER LINKS WHO DONOT SUPPORT FARMERS :::PRAISES BILLLS

A ruler would then not have to dig deep trenches, build concrete walls and drive killer spikes to barricade himself from his own people. Besides, if we are to give some credence to organisations of agitating farmers, that have held together millions in absolute peace for over two months, there is certainly much more that what met the eye and the television cameras on India’s most boisterous Republic Day.

The identity of those agent provocateurs and others who broke into Delhi with so relative ease, much before the appointed hour of the peaceful ‘tractor rally’, and then fought pitched battles with the police needs just time and sincerity to be established. There is abundant camera footage available. It was the unruly exertions of these groups that incensed captive television audiences. The latter was larger than usual, as it was a holiday, and everything appeared to be working on cues. Anchors competed with each other to scream and condemn the violence – as is only expected when dramatic displays of indignation at dissent have become so institutionalised.

Also read: Why Was the Red Fort Left Unguarded When Delhi Was on ‘High Alert’?

Contemporary history tells us that India has seen many such and several more virulent protests in recent decades, but hardly ever has public vexation been titrated and channelised so effectively. Those who opposed well-fortified governments earlier were certainly not doing so by showering rose petals on the sentinels. But, they were not automatically condemned as seditionists and user-friendly media did not bay for their blood.

Let us recall, for instance, the Navnirman Andolan of Gujarat in which, in which Narendra Modi claims to have played an active role. Destruction of public property was rampant, as was arson, and credible reports indicate that nearly a hundred persons died in violent clashes with government forces. About 3,000 were injured and police records attest that over 8,000 were arrested.

Also read: The Emergency, and the BJP’s Hidden History of Student Protest

Literally, hundreds of other similar destructive public protests and eruptions have wracked the country since then, but regime-apologists were not to tear their vocal chords in frenzied bouts of feigned horror. The point is that protests do often boil over – in every age and in every country.

The perceived ‘violence’ in the USA during the recent ‘Black Lives Matter’ agitation is just one painful example. No one in their right mind can either encourage or condone violence. Rulers also need to make more sincere and less juvenile, media-targeted attempts to get to the roots of such effervescent angst.

When Modi mentions of India’s sadness at the insult to the tricolour, it is only befitting to recall the stand that his own parent organisation, the RSS, took just before Independence. Its mouthpiece, Organiser, mentioned in its issues of July 17 and 22, 1947, that the Indian tricolour will “never be respected and owned by the Hindus.”

According to it, “The word three is in itself an evil, and a flag having three colours will certainly produce a very bad psychological effect and is injurious to a country.”

This is obviously incorrect, as ‘three’ is so prominent in Hinduism – from the trishul to trimurti, the three-pronged sacred weapon of Hindus to the holy triumvirate of Brahma, Vishnu and Maheshwar.

Also read: A Farmer Can’t Be Draped in the Tricolour at His Funeral, But a Lynching Accused Can

Modi’s guru M.S. Golwalkar, the second chief of the RSS, also bemoaned that independent India’s “leaders have set up a new flag for the country – why did they do so?”

In his Bunch of Thoughts, he declared,, “Ours is an ancient and great nation with a glorious past. Then, had we no flag of our own? Had we no national emblem at all these thousands of years? Undoubtedly we had. Then why this utter void, this utter vacuum in our minds?” Golwalkar did not, however, elaborate which ancient national emblem or flag he was alluding to. We know, of course, that he wanted to replace the all-embracing tricolour flag with the Bhagwa Dhwaj, the saffron ‘split flag’ of the RSS, that represented only Hindus.

It is, therefore, appropriate to view Narendra Modi’s present comments on the tricolour and “insults to it” in this background. Far from disowning this heritage, he actually cherishes it. It was Sardar Patel, who he worships so publicly and at public expense, who actually compelled Golwalkar and the Hindu Right to retract their opposition to the Indian national flag. He set it as a pre-condition for lifting the 18-month ban on the RSS and for releasing its leaders from jail.

It may, therefore, be wiser to let India and Indians decide for themselves which insult to the national flag really hurts them more.

Jawhar Sircar is a former culture secretary, Government of India. He tweets at @jawharsircar.