Our Correspondent

Srinagar, March 29

A massive avalanche struck the Sonamarg area on the Srinagar-Leh highway in Ganderbal district on Friday.

According to the reports, a avalanche struck the Hung area, burying several vehicles under snow. The authorities promptly mobilised a coordinated response involving the police, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), residents and other agencies to initiate rescue operations in the area.

The avalanche directly impacted two vehicles having tourists on board. However, swift action from the rescue teams and locals led to the successful evacuation of all passengers. There were no reports casualties.

Ties between India, China have nose-dived significantly following clash in Galwan Valley in June 2020

PTI

New Delhi, March 27

In the backdrop of the nearly four-year border row with China in eastern Ladakh, Army Chief General Manoj Pande on Wednesday said the Indian Army’s preparedness levels are of a “very high order” and the force is keeping a “very close watch” on developments across the border.

In response to questions asked during a panel discussion at Times Now Summit here, General Pande also said he believed that it was “only through talks” that one can find resolution of the balance issues that are currently at hand.

The eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Lake area.

The ties between the two countries nose-dived significantly following the clash in the Galwan Valley in June 2020 that marked the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.

“We are prepared in every manner. Our levels of operational readiness, operational preparedness is of a very high order. In terms of our deployments along the entire length of 3,488 km (LAC) of our borders, I would say is both robust as well as balance. We have also ensured that we have adequate reserves in terms of dealing with contingencies… We have our response mechanism firmly in place,” General Pande said.

He was asked how well is the Indian Army prepared in the backdrop of the eastern Ladakh border standoff.

“We have talks at two levels. One is at the military level, at the level of our corps commanders, we have had 21 rounds of talks. At the diplomatic level, where we have the mechanism, WMCC (Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs,” he said, adding several rounds of WMCC talks have taken place post the event of mid-2020.

The 28th meeting of WMCC was held on November 30, 2023.

“It is my belief that only through talks you will find resolution of the balance issues that are currently at hand. While these talks are progressing, we are also focusing on capability development along our northern borders, of which technology infusion, modernisation are important,” the Army chief said.

General Pande said the Army is also focusing on infrastructure development and “I believe, we are moving in the right direction”.

“Our preparedness levels are of a very high order and we are keeping a very close watch on developments and what is happening across the border,” he added.

Asked to quantify the threat perception from China, General Pande said from time to time “we keep reviewing threats”.

So, threat during the winter months may be slightly different from what it may be during the summer months, he added.

“Just as our western adversary, with respect to our northern adversary, I would only say, our preparedness level is of a very high order,” the Army Chief asserted.

On the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, he underlined the Army formations deployed in the UT, both in hinterland and along the LoC in counter-infiltration grid.

“There are attempts at infiltration, which are continuing both in the Valley region as to the south of the Pir Panjal region. But we have a very robust and effective counter-infiltration grid which has proven successful,” he said.

On criticism surrounding the Agnipath scheme, General Pande said it was a “transformational” change or reform that “we undertook in the past so many years”.

The feedback received from the units is “extremely encouraging, extremely positive”, General Pande said, adding cynicism as to what will happen to the Agniveers after four years is “misplaced”.

On role of the women in the Army, he said, “Close to 128 women officers are now donning the rank of a Colonel and they are now Commanding Officers”.

The General was also asked about the Indian Army’s role in controlling the Manipur situation.

“On the night of May 3-4, I think it was our pro-active deployment, induction of additional forces there that we were able to control the violence levels to a very large extent. Be it the Assam Rifles or the Army units deployed there, I would say they have given an excellent account of themselves,” General Pande said.

In terms of preventing collateral damage to non-military or civilian population, in terms of ensuring their own protection, “I would believe they have done an excellent job”, he said.

On the challenges there, General Pande said one is the aspect of weapons which are still available at large.

There is still fairly a large number of weapons that is still available and that is a “cause of concern”, he added.

Also, the issue of activities happening across the Indo-Myanmar border and with these kinds of weapons available that remains a challenge, the Army chief said.

The situation in Manipur transcends the law and order situation or of land domain, General Pande said.

“We will have to come up with a very comprehensive and a detailed framework to be able to find an answer to the ongoing issues there. We have a large ex-servicemen community. So, we have asked them to engage with people. Our units are helping internally displaced people in various relief camps,” he said.

General Pande in his opening remarks said that he saw the Indian Army as “a key contributor and a stakeholder” in the nation’s rise.

“I believe the nation’s security and progress are inextricably linked. While the economic progress is the fountainhead of growth, it is the military strength that lends it the capability to be able to address ongoing as well as future security challenges. The Army’s commitment to India’s growth story is absolutely unwavering,” he said.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 29

Sanjeev Rana, a social worker who has made memorials in North India in memory of soldiers killed in action, now plans to expand his initiative across the country.

Rana, who is the national coordinator of the campaign “Eek Eint Shaheed Ke Naam”, says, “We have made six such memorials in North India so far and now plan to do the same in other states too.”

“We do not take any funds as donations. We follow the contributory model to erect memorials. A donor can donate bricks or cement, or provide labour,” said Rana, who was born in Chandigarh.

“To ensure accuracy in our work, we coordinate with local Sainik Boards,” he said.

The campaign was started from Kurukshetra and the first “Martyr Memorial” was built in Pehowa, followed by another one at Anthedi and third at Indri (Karnal). Two have been made in Himachal Pradesh — Bilaspur and Mandi. The sixth has been raised in Samba, Jammu and Kashmir.

The one at Samba is in memory of Colonel Narayan Singh, who was in the 7th Jammu and Kashmir State Forces and held back the rebels for two days in October 1947. The demand for a memorial was made by the Colonel’s 79-year-old daughter Sharmistha, said Rana.

He said his organisation was also repairing houses of slain soldiers’ families. The organisation has planted 140 trees in memory of 140 soldiers in educational institutions in Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh.

Rana recollected that when he started the campaign in June 2017, then Haryana Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki donated a brick. Then President of Ram Nath Kovind, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, then Himachal Governor Acharya Devvrat and Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya made donations, he said.

Many senior military officers, 30 IAS officers and international players have contributed to the cause over six years.

National Conference vice-president was addressing party workers at Sopore in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district

PTI

Sopore (J-K), March 28

National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah on Thursday accused BJP leader Gen (retd) V K Singh of sabotaging the revocation of AFSPA during the UPA-2 government when he was the Army chief.

“The Home Minister remembers AFSPA now. I fought for it (revocation of AFSPA) since 2011 when I was the Chief Minister. Where from did its opposition come from? It was Gen V K Singh, who was his ministerial colleague, and who was the chief of armed staff when I was the chief minister.

“Shah sahab, ask him (Singh) why did he stop the process to revoke AFSPA. Why did he sabotage it then? Why did he say that the Army will not accept it? Today, you are befooling the people that you will revoke AFSPA,” Abdullah said, addressing the party workers here in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

The NC leader said the Union Home Minister should first ease the public movement on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway.

“We will see about the AFSPA later, but at least ease the movement of people on highway and we will be grateful to you for that. As for now, stop the Army men from stopping our vehicles, harassing us on the highway when convoys pass through. Then we will accept that you can revoke AFSPA,” he added.

The former Chief Minister also said the Union Home Minister should start by releasing prisoners from J-K who are languishing in different jails across the country.

“Many of our youth are in jails outside the state. Release them first. They have started a new process now of forcing the children and grandchildren of separatists to publish advertisements in newspapers. You are repeating the era of which we have faced the brunt when our and Congress workers were forced to quit politics by announcing in newspapers,” he said.

Abdullah was referring to the public notices published in the newspapers recently in which Ruwa Shah, granddaughter of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, and Sama Shabir, the elder daughter of Shabir Shah, owed an allegiance to the sovereignty of the country.

Later, speaking to reporters, Abdullah said it was regretful that the Union home minister remembered about AFSPA now.

“We have apprehensions that the way the people of Ladakh were befooled on Sixth Schedule, the same will happen with us. When the parliamentary polls conclude and the BJP loses all the five seats, they will forget about AFSPA,” he said.

india’s fading commitment to Tamil autonomy and the 13th Amendment points at the changed geopolitics.

Maj Gen Ashok K Mehta (retd)

Military Commentator

INDIA is now courting a political party from Sri Lanka that was earlier on its banned list and had its name circled in red, denoting its ‘enemy’ status. Last month, it invited to New Delhi a delegation from that once-dreaded organisation, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) or the People’s Liberation Front, led by Anura Kumara Dissanayake. He has emerged as a popular leader since the historic people’s movement (Aragalaya) in 2022 that dislodged then President Gotabaya Rajapaksa following a catastrophic financial meltdown. The Institute for Health Policy’s recent survey showed Dissanayake well ahead of Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa in the ratings of presidential hopefuls.

In New Delhi, Dissanayake met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. Veterans of the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) recall that the JVP was bitterly opposed to India; a JVP sympathiser in the Naval Honour Guard had hit then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with a rifle butt before the signing of the India-Sri Lanka Accord in Colombo in 1987.

The JVP delegation also visited Ahmedabad and Thiruvananthapuram. After the meeting in Delhi, Jaishankar said he had a good discussion “on our bilateral relationship and mutual benefit from its further deepening”. He also discussed Sri Lanka’s economic challenges and the path ahead, adding that India would always be a reliable friend and a trusted partner. JVP MP Vijitha Herath, who was part of the delegation, said after his talks with Doval: “We discussed regional security and bilateral issues connecting India and Sri Lanka.”

Jaishankar had earned his diplomatic spurs in Sri Lanka in the late 1980s when India tried in vain to help Sri Lankan Tamils obtain autonomy, even as around 1,200 Indian soldiers lost their lives. He stated that “the Sri Lankan society has good feelings towards India as we built infrastructure, supplied fuel and power, and made other investments. We gave Colombo $4.5 billion to tide over the country’s first sovereign default”. For a long time, the Sinhalese harboured anti-India sentiments over the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), against whom Sri Lanka fought a bloody 30-year-long battle. Eventually, the Tamil Tigers were defeated — which was originally the IPKF’s mission.

Jaishankar’s sharp comment (‘bullies don’t give $4 billion’) was a riposte to Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu’s allusion to the presence of Indian soldiers in his country.

India’s intervention in Sri Lanka at the invitation of then President JR Jayewardene was to help it fight its two-front wars: the LTTE in the north-east and the JVP in the south. Earlier, in 1971, Indian troops helped Sri Lanka crush a JVP-armed revolt that targeted police stations in the south. In its more menacing second avatar in 1987, the JVP came close to capturing key installations in and around Colombo. One of the reasons for the revolt was the presence of Indian troops on Sri Lankan soil. In 1970, the communist JVP, with the help of North Korea and even China, had been planning to mount a nationwide insurrection against the Sirimavo Bandaranaike government. The mastermind was a Marxist-Leninist, Rohana Wijeweera. On April 5, 1971, the JVP attacked police stations, captured many cops and held towns for several weeks. One of the key missions of the campaign was to free Wijeweera from the Wellawatte jail. An international operation that involved the UK, the erstwhile USSR, Australia and India came to the government’s rescue. Gorkhas were heli-lifted from Bengaluru to Colombo, while three Indian Navy frigates established a cordon sanitaire. The revolt was crushed in six months, but later, Wijeweera was released. He unsuccessfully fought the presidential elections in 1982.

By 1987, Wijeweera had organised a military wing that carried out assassinations and a terror campaign. He was killed in 1989 in an intelligence-based operation. When Wijeweera was taken out, then Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne declared it the greatest success of the security forces. JVP politburo members Athula Jayasinghe, Mahinda Wijesekera, Somawansa Amarasinghe, Victor Ivan and Jayadeva Uyangoda became politicians, ministers and academics. Following its failed revolution, the JVP transformed itself into a democratic political party along with the National People’s Power Alliance (NPPA) and a politburo. The NPPA has 21 groups and calls itself a ‘collective’. It is anti-India and opposed to the implementation of the 13th Amendment for full Tamil autonomy. Its aim is to build a utopian, classless society. The JVP originally entered electoral politics in the 1980s. It secured sufficient votes in a proportional representation system to have three to four MPs and Central ministers in coalition governments. In 2020, it won 4 per cent of the national vote. In 2001, the JVP had 16 elected members in Parliament; Dissanayake first visited Delhi as part of then PM Mahinda Rajapaksa’s delegation in 2004. Last year, China invited the JVP to Beijing — not for the first time. It was the JVP that opposed 49 per cent stake in the East Container Terminal, Colombo, for Adani Ports.

India is reaching out to the JVP as the mood of the people during the Aragalaya reflected that they were fed up with mainstream parties and corruption in domestic politics. The presidential elections are slated for later this year, and the incumbent Ranil Wickremesinghe has promised to hold them on time. Still, people fear that the polls may be postponed. And if the elections are held, Dissanayake could be a frontrunner. After the Maldives fiasco, India is keeping national interest uppermost following the $4.5-billion ‘good faith’ investment in Sri Lanka. India’s fading commitment to Tamil autonomy and the 13th Amendment points at the changed geopolitics. Though police powers are reported to have been finally devolved, a private member’s Bill is attempting to revoke them. Whether it will be implemented is the question. A JVP President in Sri Lanka is no longer a remote possibility.

Troop pullback, AFSPA revocation worth a try

UNION Home Minister Amit Shah has said that the Central Government will consider revoking the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Jammu and Kashmir. He has also mentioned the government’s plans to pull back troops from the state-turned-UT and leave law and order duties solely to the J&K Police. The announcements leave no room for doubt that there has been a significant improvement in the security situation in J&K in recent years. The frequency of terror incidents and encounters has gone down; the annual death toll of civilians as well as security personnel has also dropped. Stone-pelting incidents, which had once become commonplace, are now a thing of the past.

Troop pullback and AFSPA revocation are a must for the government to achieve its objective of winning the hearts and minds of the UT residents. Recurring allegations of the misuse of the law — which gives the armed forces sweeping powers and immunity against prosecution in disturbed areas — have aggravated the trust deficit between the security forces and the citizens. The dreaded law should no longer be allowed to impede the restoration of normalcy in J&K. The authorities can take a cue from the phased withdrawal of AFSPA from one state after another in the North East, where development has gained momentum after decades of insurgency.

With the Supreme Court validating the constitutionality of the decision to abrogate Article 370, the Centre needs to promptly set into motion a series of confidence-building measures. Shah has stated that the J&K Assembly elections — last held in 2014 — would be conducted before September, as directed by the apex court. It is imperative to resume the electoral exercise so that regional political parties and voters can again become active constituents of a democratic polity. A timeframe for the restoration of statehood, which is at the core of the people’s aspirations, should also be spelt out.

PTI

Chandigarh, March 25

Holi was celebrated in Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh with fervour on Monday as children threw balloons filled with colourful water at each other while elders visited friends and relatives and distributed sweets.

All of them painted each other’s faces with gulal.

While some revellers zoomed through the streets on motorbikes, others danced to music.

Durgiana Temple in Amritsar witnessed heavy rush on the day.

Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator Banwarilal Purohit, Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his Haryana counterpart Nayab Saini extended Holi greetings to the people.

“The festival of Holi marks the arrival of spring and symbolises the victory of good over evil. As the onset of spring fills the environment with mystic charm and fragrance, may this vibrant festival of colours transcend across all social barriers and strengthen social harmony, bring joy, delight, hope and happiness in the lives of people of Punjab and Chandigarh,” Purohit said.

Dattatreya urged people to celebrate the festival of colours with love, joy and compassion.

Mann on X said, “May God fill everyone’s life with colours of joy and maintain mutual love and brotherhood.”       

Nayab Saini, who celebrated the festival at his official residence here, said Holi festival symbolises the victory of good over evil and appealed to the people to celebrate the festival in a true spirit of amity, goodwill and brotherhood.

Haryana Minister Kanwar Pal and State Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta were among those present at Saini’s residence.

Industrialist and former Congress MP Naveen Jindal, who joined the BJP on Sunday, met Chief Minister Saini and former chief minister ML Khattar here on Monday and greeted them on Holi.https://6607c1e9bc07489cde5d15e89371d6f7.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

“Following the path shown by my father (late) Shri O P Jindal ji, politics has always been a medium of service for us,” Jindal posted on X after meeting Saini.

Khattar celebrated Holi with party workers at the party office in Panchkula.

Police in the two states and Chandigarh had made elaborate arrangements to ensure a safe and joyous Holi.

A warning was issued against hooliganism, while traffic and local police were deployed at many places to check incidents of hooliganism, speeding and reckless driving.

Meanwhile, there was a huge rush of devotees for the Holla Mohalla festival of the Sikh community at Anandpur Sahib in Punjab.

They also offered prayers at the Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib. 

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 24

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh celebrated Holi with soldiers in Leh today. He asked the chiefs of the three armed forces to establish a new tradition of celebrating festivals with soldiers a day before the actual date. Holi is on Monday.

The minister said he decided to celebrate Holi with soldiers a day earlier, as he believed that festivals should first be celebrated by and with the protectors of the country.

“Such celebrations with soldiers on the snowy peaks of Kargil, in the scorching plains of Rajasthan and in the submarines in deep seas should become an integral part of our culture,” he said.

Addressing the troops, the minister commended their valour, determination and sacrifice as they serve in harsh terrains and inclement weather conditions to protect the motherland. “The positive commitment of the soldiers posted in high-altitude areas is much stronger,” he said.

Ladakh, he said, was India’s capital of valour and bravery, just as Delhi is the national capital, Mumbai the financial capital and Bengaluru the technology capital.

Rajnath Singh also laid a wreath at the Leh War Memorial as a mark of tribute to the bravehearts who have made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the nation.

Rajnath Singh was originally scheduled to visit Siachen Glacier to celebrate Holi with the troops. However, due to adverse weather conditions, his helicopter was not given clearance to take off from Leh, necessitating a change in the programme and the celebration was held in Leh.

The minister extended Holi greetings to the soldiers posted at Siachen over the phone. He told them that he would visit Siachen soon and interact with them.

Rajnath Singh was accompanied by Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande and General Officer Commanding of the 14 Corps Lt Gen Rashim Bali.

Siachen visit cancelled

• Rajnath was scheduled to visit Siachen to celebrate Holi with the troops there. Due to adverse weather, there was a change in the programme and he celebrated the festival with soldiers in Leh.

Singh on Sunday termed the Ladakh region as the country’s capital of valour and bravery. “Ladakh is India’s capital of valour and bravery just as Delhi is the national capital, Mumbai is the financial capital and Bengaluru is the technology capital,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said while celebrating Holi with soldiers in Leh. The Defence Minister was accompanied by Chief of the Army Staff General Manoj Pande and the Gen eral Officer Commanding, Fire and Fury Corps Lt Gen Rashim Bali. He said that the entire country feels safe as the brave soldiers are protecting the borders and the country is progressing and leading a happy life due to the vigilant soldiers who stand prepared at the borders. “Every citizen is proud of the Armed Forces as they live far away from their families so that we celebrate Holi and other festivals with our families peacefully. The nation will forever be in debted to our soldiers, and their courage and sacrifices will keep inspiring future generations,” the Defence Minister said.

The struggle for Pakistan came with sacrifices of millions of people including women and children, Warraich was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Pakistan High Commission. India has in the past firmly told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir will always be an integral and inalienable part of the country.
The quest for sustainable peace and stability in South Asia can only be achieved through a “peaceful settlement” of all issues including the “core Jammu and Kashmir dispute”, Pakistan’s charge d’Affaires to India Saad Ahmad Warraich said on Saturday.
Pakistan commemorated its National Day at its High Commission here on Saturday. The day marks the adoption of the historic Lahore Resolution on March 23, 1940 which provided a framework for the realisation of the goal of a separate homeland for Muslims of South Asia. At a ceremony held at the Chancery lawn, the charge d’Affaires hoisted the Pakistan national flag. Messages of the president and prime minister of Pakistan were read out on the occasion.
The struggle for Pakistan came with sacrifices of millions of people including women and children, Warraich was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Pakistan High Commission. Pakistan was born of “a peaceful struggle” postulated on the inalienable right of the Muslims of the subcontinent to determine their destiny as per their own choice, he said, adding “peaceful coexistence based on equality and mutual respect serve as guiding principles of Pakistan’s foreign policy”.
These principles also underpinned Pakistan’s desire for a “peaceful relationship” with India, he said. The quest for sustainable peace and stability in South Asia could only be achieved through a peaceful settlement of all issues including the core Jammu and Kashmir dispute, the charge d’Affaires was quoted as saying in the statement. India has in the past firmly told Pakistan that Jammu and Kashmir will always be an integral and inalienable part of the country.
Warraich underlined that Pakistan’s “greatest strength was its resilient and enterprising people” who had overcome every challenge through their indomitable spirit and characteristic grit and determination. Endowed with rich natural resources and “a geostrategic location” as a bridge between the East, West and Central Asia, Pakistan would continue to “play its pivotal role” as a centrepiece for trade, connectivity and regional integration, he said. “Our desire for peace is reflective of the constructive and positive outlook of a strong and self-assured nation”, Warraich said.