Jammu, March 6

At the moment, J&K is caught in a vortex of an unprecedented spell of political instability, with no blueprint in sight to revive the democratic institutions. It has been reduced to a theatre of absurd, the choreography of which is making the revival of political process more complex.

Political inertia

The Congress has lost its moorings. It is suffering from political inertia plaguing the party at the national level. The BJP, the most vibrant national party, that until June 2018, was an active partner in the coalition government with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), is unable to drive the narrative of stability for it is lost in its own contradictions in J&K. It is uncertain whether J&K should stay as UT or return to statehood.

The Congress has lost its moorings. It is suffering from political inertia plaguing the party at the national level.

The BJP, the most vibrant national party, that until June 2018, was an active partner in the coalition government with the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), is unable to drive the narrative of stability for it is lost in its own contradictions in J&K. It is uncertain whether J&K should stay as UT or return to statehood. The local unit of the BJP is split into countless groups, where each leader is waiting to become Chief Minister, without any plans for the Assembly polls.

It is a situation with an unbridgeable vacuum. No amount of stop-gap arrangements or experiments without any defined roadmap can chart the course for the revival of the political landscape.

The truer statement, as many agree, is that J&K is politically most unstable. The problem lies with the policy failure. A visibly and palpably animated democracy is a must in this part of India. It is a national necessity.

Post scrapping of the special status granting Article 370 and doing away with the statehood on August 5 last year, it also is a prerequisite to blunt the mounting international criticism on Kashmir.

The chronology of the events is self-speaking.

The BJP withdrew support to the Mehbooba Mufti-led coalition government without having a plan B. It was nebulous and based on speculative politics of attracting lawmakers from here and there to cobble a set-up without testing its stability for future.

Even that was a half-baked approach, the events that followed proved the naivety of the whole plan.

On receiving fax from the BJP leaders about the withdrawal of the support to the Mehbooba Mufti government, the then Governor NN Vohra invoked the Constitution. He called leaders of different political parties, followed it up by convening an all-party meeting wanting to know whether they could set up a group to form the government. Since all of them declined, he recommended Governor’s rule and announced the Assembly to be kept under suspended animation.

His act of consulting political groups and imposing the Governor’s rule was appreciated by Union Home Minister Amit Shah on June 29, 2019, on the floor of Parliament, where he had stated: “The Governor (Vohra) had consulted all parties before imposing the Governor’s rule.”

Vohra had also refused to install any government made of defectors, for he knew how the Kashmir situation had taken a turn for the worse when a government of defectors was installed in July 1984 within hours after the dismissal of the duly elected government of Farooq Abdullah.

He had the record of holding elections in 2008 in the immediate aftermath of the massive Amarnath land row agitation that year. He had proved the doomsayers wrong. That was done within six months of the Governor’s rule to avoid the state sliding into the President’s rule.

Again, in 2014, when the century’s worst floods hit Kashmir, the elections were held. He did not yield to pressures urging him to impose the Governor’s rule and defer the polls.

Things started sliding after the new Governor Satya Pal Malik dissolved the Assembly on November 21, 2018 – the day when a combination of groups like the NC, Congress and PDP staked their claim to form the government.

The competing claim was made by Sajjad Gani Lone, People’s Conference leader. Instead of judging merit of the two rival claims, Malik dissolved the House. That ended the prospects of early elections. And, on December 19, 2018, the state came under the President’s rule.

The parliamentary elections were held in 2019. But the Assembly elections were not held at all. Security concerns were voiced, overlooking the contradiction that similar concerns were valid for the parliamentary, panchayat – now hanging in balance after massive boycott in the Valley – and municipal polls. The security concerns were a concoction as Malik had himself declared that not even a bird was hit during the (civic body polls), but there were no answers as to why similar narrative could not apply for the Assembly polls.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 4

Army Chief Gen MM Naravane on Wednesday said the Army was looking at lasers and directed energy weapons for possible military use.

He was speaking at an international seminar on “Changing characteristics of land warfare and its impact on the military” organised by Army-backed think-tank Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS).

The Army Chief said the force was embracing technologies and inducting them with speed into units. “The leveraging of emerging, disruptive domains is also receiving our concerted attention. Capacities in space, cyber and electronic warfare, similarly, are being given a boost,” Gen Naravane said.

Apart from strengthening conventional prowess, the Army was focusing on dynamic response — that would mean actions below the threshold of an all-out war — and plans and capacities are being refined along the Line of Control with Pakistan and Line of Actual Control (LAC).

“We are developing kinetic and non-kinetic responses to address the threat. Technology is also tipping doctrinal cycles. Doctrines are now chasing technologies. We are also looking at tapping ‘block chain technologies’ (these allow digital information to be distributed, but not copied),” the Army Chief added.

Rapidly evolving, dual-use technologies present new opportunities and are changing the character of warfare. Armies, have to be extremely agile to the scale and pace of change.

No change in nuclear policy

New Delhi: Months after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he didn’t know what would happen in future with regard to nuclear “no first use” policy, the government on Wednesday said in Parliament, “There has been no change in India’s N-doctrine.” TNS

New Delhi, March 6

In view of the scare caused by the coronavirus, the Indian armed forces have issued advisories. The Army on Friday issued instructions to all military stations asking to avoid and postpone all non-essential mass gatherings like festivals, welfare activities and public gatherings till the situation improves.

“Local military authorities will exercise suitable control to avoid and postpone such gatherings”, says the advisory. This is in consonance with various advisories issued by the government for preparations and emergency response in tackling COVID-19.

Military hospitals have been asked to establish isolation wards and separate OPDs for screening. Hospitals will work in synergy with local civil medical authorities and designated Indian Council of Medical Research labs.

The Army Service personnel have been advised to use shopping complex facilities within the cantonment or military stations and avoid visits to crowded areas. All non-essential foreign travel is to be avoided, says the advisory. The 1.3-million strong Army has troops living in common or close proximity in forward areas.

In the Navy more than 15 ships are out on patrol or sailing duties. None of the ships have been called back. The IAF has issued its own dos and dont’s especially in bases where repairs are done and have large presence in enclosed areas. — TNS

jay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, March 5

In a decision to curtail expenses, the Department of Military Affairs, headed by General Bipin Rawat, has cut down foreign travel of officers of the armed forces. General Rawat, who is also the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), has asked for rationalising ‘foreign travel’ of officers.

Visits are now being cleared on selective case-to-case basis. Sources within the ministry confirmed the directions had originated from the office of the Department of Military Affairs.

Before the Chief of Defence Staff was appointed on January 1, each service moved its case of foreign visit by its officers through the ‘Establishment Section’ of the Department of Defence. In the previous arrangement too, all cases of foreign visit were not okayed.

General Rawat has asked the three forces to rationalise all visits to foreign countries and try and avoid diplomatic visits by separate services to same country.

In a way, the Department of Military Affairs will rationalise as to which country is the priority. Within the Ministry of Defence, there is a foreign services officer at the Joint Secretary-level attached to give advice on a daily basis.

Foreign trips of military officers are for training, joint exercises, trying out equipment, to liaise with other countries for visits of top military brass.

The permission is given by the Ministry of Defence and sometimes, the Ministry of External Affairs wants an outreach and it coordinates. In case of the Navy, there is outreach on Africa and Asia Pacific, while in case of the Air Force and the Army, the outreach is at multiple levels in neighbouring countries.

Islamabad, March 6

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said Pakistan does not want any security role for India in Afghanistan as he accused New Delhi of playing the role of a “spoiler” in the war-torn country, according to a media report.

After months of negotiations, the US and Taliban signed a landmark peace deal in Qatari capital Doha on Saturday, effectively drawing curtains on the United States’ 18-year war in Afghanistan since 2001.

Addressing the Senate on Wednesday, Qureshi said Pakistan neither desires “any security role of India in Afghanistan” nor wants presence of militant organisations — Al-Qaeda and the ISIS — in the landlocked country, The Nation reported.

The foreign minister told the Upper House that India had always played role of a spoiler, the report said. “There were spoilers in the past and they are even today, within and outside Afghanistan, who want to get their own objectives,” Qureshi said.

India has been a key stakeholder in Afghanistan as it had already spent around $2 billion in reconstruction of the war-ravaged country.

India has been maintaining that care should be taken to ensure that any peace process does not lead to any “ungoverned spaces” where terrorists can relocate.

Ahead of the peace deal, India conveyed to the US that pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terror networks operating from its soil must be kept up though Islamabad’s cooperation for peace in Afghanistan is crucial. Qureshi on Sunday also warned that “spoilers” could try to sabotage the peace process in Afghanistan. He also said Pakistan wanted to resolve all issues with Afghanistan bilaterally.

Reiterating that Pakistan was never part of the peace talks and their role “has always been and will always be” that of a facilitator, he said Pakistan cannot give guarantee or take responsibility to peace in Afghanistan. “This is a shared responsibility, and all (stakeholders) will have to play their role. There are many powers, interests (involved),” he said. — PTI

Singh’s rise to power came after a period of economic and political uncertainty

London, March 6

Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the 19th century ruler of the Sikh Empire in India, has beaten competition from around the world to be named the “Greatest Leader of All Time” in a poll conducted by ‘BBC World Histories Magazine’.

Over 5,000 readers voted in the poll. Polling more than 38 per cent of the vote, Singh was praised for creating a new tolerant empire.

In second place, with 25 per cent of the vote, is African Independence Fighter Amílcar Cabral, who united more than 1 million Guineans to free themselves from Portuguese occupation and in turn propelled many other colonised African countries to rise and fight for independence.

Also read:

The Glorious Reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh

Sikh ruler’s 9-ft sculpture installed at Lahore Fort

Britain’s war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill is at number three with 7 per cent of the vote for his quick decision and sharp political manoeuvring that kept Britain in the war.

Further down the list, American President Abraham Lincoln is at four and British monarch Elizabeth I is the highest ranked female leader at five.

The nominations were sought from global historians, including Matthew Lockwood, Rana Mitter, Margaret MacMillan and Gus Casely-Hayford, who selected their “Greatest Leader” – someone who exercised power and had a positive impact on humanity.

The resulting top 20 included some of the most celebrated leaders in history across the globe from the UK, the US, to Asia and Africa, including the likes of Mighal Emperor Akbar, French military leader Joan of Arc and Russian Empress Catherine the Great, with the list topped by Ranjit Singh.

“Though perhaps not as familiar as some of the other names on the list, Ranjit Singh’s overwhelming success in our poll suggests that the qualities of his leadership continue to inspire people around the world in the 21st century,” said Matt Elton, Editor of ‘BBC World History Magazine’ of leading historians.

“And, at a time of global political tensions, it’s telling that Singh’s rule is interpreted as representing ideals of tolerance, freedom and cooperation,” he said.

Described as the “Lion of Punjab”, Singh’s rise to power came after a period of economic and political uncertainty.

The magazine notes that by the early decades of the 19th century, he had modernised the Sikh Khalsa army, embraced western innovations without abandoning local forms and institutions, unified the fractious misls or states, stabilised the frontier with Afghanistan, and reached a mutually beneficial detente with the British East India Company.

“Singh, however, was more than a mere conqueror. While the Indian subcontinent was riven with imperial competition, religious strife and wars of conquest, Singh was, almost uniquely, a unifier – a force for stability, prosperity and tolerance,” it notes.

Also read: 

‘Black Prince’ rekindles debate on Duleep Singh’s last rites

UK town to be Amritsar’s twin city in memory of Maharaja Duleep Singh

How Duleep Singh ‘handed’ Kohinoor to the Queen

When Duleep Singh said ‘no’ to the Queen

Singh’s name was nominated by Lockwood, who is assistant professor of history at the University of Alabama, as a modernising and uniting force, whose reign “marked a golden age for Punjab and north-west India”.

“This golden age would not survive him. After his death in 1839, Ranjit Singh’s empire of toleration unravelled. The British invaded, the Sikh empire collapsed and instability returned to the region,” says Lockwood.

“Though certainly an imperialist, Ranjit Singh represented a different, more enlightened, more inclusive model of state-building, and a much-needed path towards unity and toleration. We could still benefit from his example,” he adds. — PTI

Our Correspondent

Abohar, March 2

Family members of an Army man who allegedly ended his life in a makeshift jail inside the military station here on Friday night today organised a silent protest outside the City-1 police station.

Ankit (25), who hailed from Bahavari village of Shamli district in Uttar Pradesh, had gone on annual leave but didn’t report back on duty after the prescribed period. As per the rules, he was on February 6 directed to spend 28 days as punishment in the makeshift jail. However, he reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself on Friday night.

Ankit’s father Rakesh other family members carried placards to demand justice. In a three-page memorandum given to the authorities concerned, the kin said they were on Saturday informed at 2 am that Ankit had committed suicide. As they reached Abohar, the authorities had reportedly got autopsy of the body conducted in their absence, and this was a violation of the law, they alleged.

Ambala, March 3

A woman Major of the Indian Army, currently posted in Ambala Cantonment, has accused her husband, also a Major, of thrashing her.

In her complaint to the police, the woman officer alleged that they had tied the knot in February 2015 and have a three-year-old daughter. There were some matrimonial issues between them for the past some time. On February 26, her husband asked her to accompany him as he was going to meet an advocate. Later, she came to know that her husband wanted to take divorce and asked her to sign the divorce papers, she alleged.

As she refused, they had an argument after they reached home and her husband allegedly thrashed her, she alleged, adding that due to repeated slaps on her face, blood started oozing out of her left ear.

She went to the Military Hospital for treatment where the doctor told her that her eardrum was damaged.

As per the complainant, she has raised the matter with a senior official of her unit too.

A case under Sections 323, 325 and 506 of the IPC has been registered at the Ambala Cantonment police station. The Ambala police have obtained the report from the Military Hospital which stated that as of today, the injury is grievous in nature. However, she needs regular follow-up as the severity of injury may change in due course of time.

Vijay Kumar, SHO, Ambala Cantonment police station, said, “A case has been registered on the complaint of the woman Major. We are in touch with the senior official of her unit. The matter is being investigated. Further action will be taken accordingly.” — TNS

New Delhi, March 3

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has withdrawn a controversial order which withdrew income tax benefits to disabled soldiers. The Principal Controller Defence Accounts (PCDA) on Tuesday issued instructions which are based on the advice of the Secretary Defence (Finance). This asks that ‘no income tax be deducted’ till the case is decided by the Supreme Court.

The PCDA had issued instructions on February 20 citing a June 24, 2019, letter of the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) withdrawing income tax exemptions. Strangely, the PCDA issued a circular despite the fact that the Supreme Court had granted a stay on the matter, saying parties (MoD and respondents) shall maintain status quo. — TNS

Srinagar, March 3

The National Investigation Agency’s probe into last year’s Pulwama terror strike that killed 40 CRPF personnel, which had virtually reached a dead end, saw a major breakthrough on Tuesday after the agency arrested a man and his daughter who allegedly were witness to the conspiracy behind the audacious attack.

The NIA arrested Tariq Ahmed Shah and his daughter Insha Jan after investigation led to their house at Hakripora in Pulwama district of south Kashmir, where a video was filmed by Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist Adil Ahmed Dar, who rammed an explosive-ridden car into the CRPF convoy. The video was released from Pakistan after the attack.

A truck driver by profession, Shah disclosed that his house was used by Dar, Mohd Umar Farooq, a Pakistani terrorist and IED-maker, Kamran, another Pakistani terrorist (both were later killed in encounters with security forces), Sameer Ahmed Dar, a Jaish terrorist from Pulwama, and Ismail, alias Ibrahim, alias Adnan, also a Pakistani terrorist.

Shah facilitated the terrorists by sheltering them at his house, where they planned the heinous attack on the CRPF convoy and also recorded a video of ‘Fidayeen’ (suicide bomber) Adil Ahmed Dar which was released by the Jaish-e-Mohammad soon after the Pulwama attack, an NIA spokesman said.

Insha Jan (23) also facilitated the terrorists, provided them food and other logistics during their stay at the house on more than 15 occasions, for two-four days each time, during 2018-2019, he said.

“Initial interrogation has revealed that Insha Jan was in constant touch with Mohd Umar Farooq, a Pakistani IED maker, and was in communication with him over telephone and other social media applications (till he was alive),” the spokesman said.

The arrest has brought new life into the case which had virtually reached a dead end, with five people, who were either conspirators or executers of the ghastly attack, being eliminated by the security forces in various encounters.

The case had thrown a unique challenge to the NIA, the anti-terror probe agency formed in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror strikes in 2008, as there was no solid information about the perpetrators or the mastermind behind the attack.

The first challenge was to establish the owner of the car used by the suicide attacker as there was nothing available from the vehicle which carried a cocktail of explosives like ammonium nitrate, nitro glycerine and RDX, the officials said.

But with the help of forensic methods and painstaking investigations, the serial number of the car that was blown into pieces was extracted and within no time, the ownership of the vehicle was established—from the first to the last owner.

After JeM spokesperson Mohd Hassan claimed in a video that his group was responsible for the attack, it was sent for forensic examination and the Internet Protocol address was traced to a computer-based in Pakistan. PTI