Dear friends,

I wish to inform you that recently the ARMED FORCES TRIBUNAL, Principal Bench at New Delhi has rendered a favourable judgment in the matter of extension of retirement age of Colonels of the Indian Army, at par with that of Gp Captain and Captains of the other two sister services. My plea was to enhance the retirement age of Colonels from 54 to 57 years. I was the first person to file this matter in the AFT way back in 2015 just prior to my retirement (case No 599/2015). Other officers filed similar cases subsequently.

A copy of the judgment has just now been made available on the website and I have gone through the entire contents of the said judgment. Judges have passed a very strong and favourable judgment, directing Govt of India to consider the case of the applicants and formulate a policy which shall set right the anomaly. The judgment can be accessed here. http://aftdelhi.nic.in/index.php?option=com_casetracking&view=judgement&layout=pdfdetail&did=11330&Itemid=5 .

The judgment also grants consequential benefits to the applicants (alone). In simple terms, it means that post formulation and implementation of the revised policy relating to superannuation ages of Cols, the Cols who were applicants in this case will be given continuity in service, seniority and all pay and allowances as admissible.

Now, those who have retired in the last few years and those who are at the brink of retiring, should also be made aware so that the benefits flowing out of the above judgment can be availed by all. To avail the benefits of extension of retirement age, and the consequential benefits viz. continuity in service, pay and allowances, seniority, and refixation of pension in case of already retired officers, they should also approach the AFT, New Delhi by filing their respective cases seeking same relief as had been asked by the original batch of applicants who now stand vindicated and are bound to get their rightful due from the MoD very soon. It is important that this exercise be completed ASAP preferably within the next few weeks as delay will only weaken and hamper your chances of getting same relief and benefits from the AFT. Interested officers may contact my lawyer Shri Harshvardhan at +91- 9140870945.

Regards,

Col Nisheeth Singhal Retd

+91-7045533967

If you asked my father Neil O’Brien, the pioneer who brought quizzing to India in 1967, what his favourite subjects were, pat would come the reply: heavyweight boxing and World War II. Our bedtime stories, oddly enough, were not about Hansel and Gretel.

Now you know why my speech in Parliament last month on behalf of the All India Trinamool Congress drew a comparison between Hitler’s Old Germany and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s “New India”.Were the drafters of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), and the National Register of Citizens-National Population Register (NRC-NPR), which are inextricably linked to it, drawing from the Nazi copybook? The similarities are ominous.

One, in 1933, the first Nazi concentration camp for Jews was set up in Germany. In 2018, the Union home ministry sanctioned a detention camp in Assam for non-Indians.

Two, in 1935 Germany, one needed an “ancestor pass” to prove their Aryan lineage. In 2019 India, a piece of paper proves your Indian citizenship.

Three, the Germans called it GroßeLüge or the Big Lie, which convinced them how the Jews are a threat to their race. Today’s lie: India is under 24×7 threat.

Four, Germany had the Lügenpresse or the lying press to push propaganda. Today’s Indian equivalent of the Lügenpresse is fake news and the pressure on the owners of mainstream newspapers and television networks to push the BJP’s divisive agenda.

The Narendra Modi-Amit Shah, or the Mo-Sh (copyright on the coinage!), government is good at making promises. They are even better at breaking promises. How easily we forget. Didn’t the prime minister publicly plead for just 50 days to fix the disaster created by demonetisation? “Hang me in public after that! 50 days is all I ask for.” The failure was so monumental that the PM has barely used the term demonetisation in the last two years.

In April last year, the PM said “Chowkidar ki paanchvarsh ki chowkidari mein koi bada dhamaka hua kya? (Has there been a big attack in the five years that I have been a guard?)” Another broken promise. A total of 388 “major” terrorist incidents were recorded in India between 2014 and 2018. In 2018, Kashmir saw the highest fatalities in terror-related violence in a decade with 451 deaths in a single year.

If one was generous you would call Mo-Sh breakers of promises. But using a more blunt characterisation about the licenses they take with truth will not be out of place either.

Last month, the home minister had the gumption to tell Parliament that the government would implement NRC across India. At least two Union ministers said the same on the floor of both the Houses. There is also more evidence in the public domain linking CAA-NRC-NPR. As a member of the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) that examined the CAA for three years, one doesn’t know whether to be angry or just plain amused when the Mo-Sh duo are now doing damage control and saying there is no link. It is simply not true.

Even greenhorn marketing managers would laugh at the idea of scaling up a failed “pilot project”. The pilot was a big disaster. In Assam, 7% of the residents of the state were left out of the final NRC list. Extrapolating 7% to the national level, over 100 million Indians will become stateless. How will the government ever make up for the human cost of this exercise?

The Trinamool Congress had estimated the scale of the catastrophe, and even provided hard numbers in writing to the JPC. The guestimates turned out to be very close to the actual figures. Beyond just the verbatim records of the committee which prove our contention, the dissent note submitted by the two Trinamool Members of Parliament on it could have the words “we told you so” scribbled on it.

Then of course, what of the 10 million people who migrated to India from East Pakistan? They did not come here in the 1970s because of religious persecution.It is well- documented that they moved here because of linguistic persecution. Or take the case of the Matuas, Bengali Hindus living and voting in Bengal for decades. They are deemed citizens who have not only voted, but in 2011 even had a minister of state for refugee rehabilitation in the Bengal government. You are gifting them citizenship that they already have.

At the end of it all, just like demonetisation, the debate on CAA-NRC-NPR boils down to the rich versus the poor. Were there any crorepatis in queues during notebandi? Of the 130 people who died during demonetisation, how many were lakhpatis? In this cold, senseless legislation too, the poor and the marginalised will suffer once more. The socially deprived will suffer. They will scurry around for documents lost in floods and ethnic violence. Worse still, millions of them, genuine Indian citizens, have never had documents.

In 2006, Mamata Banerjee sat on a 26-day hunger strike to fight for land rights and rights for farmers. She fought the good fight. In 2016, the Supreme Court vindicated her decade-long struggle. In 2020, ordinary citizens, including students, are headlining this people’s movement against CAA. A mass leader like Banerjee, who hit the streets from Day One, will be only too glad to play the role of just a catalyst. This isn’t a battle to win brownie points. This is truly a people’s movement to save the Idea of India.

Derek O’Brien is Trinamool Congress’s

Parliamentary Party Leader in Rajya Sabha

The views expressed are personal

HT Correspondent

letters@hindustantimes.com

New Delhi : Army chief General Manoj Mukund Naravane on Wednesday called the nullification of Constitution’s Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu & Kashmir, a historic step that would prove to be significant in integrating the region with the mainstream.

In his address at the Army Day parade, Naravane said the revocation of the region’s special status disrupted the plans of India’s “western neighbour (Pakistan)” and its proxies. “We have zero-tolerance for terrorism. There are a lot of options to respond to the country that is encouraging terrorism and we will not hesitate to use these options,” said General Naravane in his first Army Day address after taking over as the chief on December 31.

On January 3, Naravane had said that peace was returning to the Kashmir Valley after the Centre’s move in August to revoke the region’s special status even as Pakistan-backed terrorists were making infiltration attempts every day.

January 15 is celebrated as Army Day since 1949, when General KM Cariappa (later Field Marshal) became the first Indian to take charge of the force as the commander-in-chief.

Naravane said the country faced some security challenges last year. “Not only it countered proxy war but other situations. Whether it is LoC (Line of Control) or LAC (Line of Actual Control), we have ensured security with activeness and strength,” he said, adding the situation along borders with China is peaceful.

The situation along India’s de facto border with Pakistan in Jammu & Kashmir — the LoC — is linked with the situation in the region, Naravane said.

He referred to his visit to Siachen last week and said he was extremely happy to see all the ranks brimming with confidence.

In his Army Day message on Twitter, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the courage and commitment of soldiers, describing the Indian Army as the country’s pride.

“It is also respected for its humanitarian spirit. Whenever people have needed help, our Army has risen to the occasion and done everything possible! Proud of our Army. I pray for the good health of Shamima and her child,” he said in a separate tweet.

Modi’s tweet was in response to a tweet by the Srinagar-based 15 Corps detailing how soldiers helped an expecting mother, Shamima, in urgent need of medical help, to reach a hospital, where she gave birth to her child.

Apart from the three service chiefs, India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat, also attended the parade.

A woman officer, Captain Tania Sher Gill, was the parade adjutant for the first time at the event. The parade adjutant plays an important role in directing and conducting the parade.

A fourth-generation soldier, Captain Gill was commissioned into the Corps of Signals two years ago.She will also be in the same role at the Republic Day parade.

The military hardware showcased at the Army Day parade included infantry combat vehicle BMP-2K, K9 Vajra-T artillery guns, locally built Dhanush towed guns, T-90 main battle tanks and the short span bridging system.

Naravane also gave gallantry awards to soldiers and unit citations to different battalions for outstanding and sustained performance.

Press Trust of India

letters@hindustantimes.com

New Delhi : The Chinese Navy’s presence is rapidly increasing in the Indian Ocean region and the Indian Navy is keeping a watch on the developments through “mission-based” deployments, Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh said on Wednesday.

The Navy chief asserted that China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor impinge on India’s sovereignty.

Speaking at a panel discussion at the Raisina Dialogue here, he said there have been instances when People’s Liberation Army (PLA) ships have entered India’s exclusive economic zones and the Navy has told them that it impinges on Indian interests.

Asked if China has abided by India’s assertions when such incidents have taken place, Singh said in one such incident, recently, “we acted then, they respected and moved out”.

His remarks were in reference to the incident in which a Chinese naval ship was driven away from India’s Exclusive Economic Zone in the Andaman sea.

The Chinese Navy is the strategic arm of the PLA and it has grown at a very rapid pace, Admiral Singh said.

“We are all aware of the numbers, the tonnage, the number of ships, everything that is growing. We have seen in the Indian Ocean region itself starting 2008 when they came in for the anti-piracy patrol. Before that they weren’t really very obvious in the Indian Ocean region but now you find that at any given time, 7 to 8 PLA warships in that area,” he said.

Djibouti is a reality, Gwadar is on and more places are to come, he said, speaking on China’s growing presence.

“We have placed our ships in mission-based deployments so that we get an idea what are the activities, not only of China but of all other countries, so that if there is anything that impinges on our national interest or sovereignty, we will have to act,” Singh said.

“To my mind if there is any maritime activity that deviates from the norm, that can cause regional instability. That is what we are looking for,” he said.

On the Indo-Pacific, he said such constructs are not against anybody but for something.

Harpreet Kaur

letterschd@hindustantimes.com

GARHDIWALA (HOSHIARPUR) : As he watched his daughter, Captain Tanya Sher Gill lead the parade at the Army Day celebrations in New Delhi on Wednesday, Surat Singh Sher Gill could not hold back his tears. It was one of the proudest moments of his life as a parent.

“I’m privileged to see my daughter reach thus far. It is not every day that a fauji gets such a chance (to lead the parade). This is a once in a lifetime moment. My daughter has been very fortunate,” said Sher Gill while talking to HT over the phone.

“My wife Lakhwinder and I got emotional when we watched Tanya lead the contingent. We are proud of her accomplishment,” he said.

Capt Tanya’s mother is a retired teacher, while her brother is settled in the US.

Captain Tanya with her parents.

DREAM COME TRUE

Surat Singh, who retired as a Central Reserve Police Force commandant five years ago, said Tanya always dreamt of donning the army uniform one day.

“Her dream came true in 2017 when she passed out of Officers’ Training Academy, Chennai. She was the academy cadet adjutant. Wherever she has reached today, is all due to her hard work and dedication”, added her father.

“We look forward to her tying the knot with a defence personnel one day,” he said in a lighter vein.

“My father and grandfather have served in the army. My daughter is carrying forward the family legacy of serving the nation. I could not have asked for more,” he said. Though the family belongs to Garhdiwala town, Tanya has mostly stayed in Mumbai and did her B Tech in electronics and communications from Nagpur University. Her present posting is at 1 Signal Training Centre, Jabalpur.

HOSHIARPUR’S PRIDE

Meanwhile, those knowing the family said they were very happy for Tanya. Gurnam Singh, her father’s cousin, said though he had not met Tanya recently, he knew her to be bright.

Municipal councillor Rachhpal Singh said that Tanya had made the town proud. District Sainik Welfare Board deputy director Col Dalvinder Singh said that it was another feather in the cap of the district that has a high number of serving and ex-servicemen.

HT Correspondent

letterschd@hindustantimes.com

AMRITSAR : The Amritsar (rural) police on Wednesday booked the brother of army Naik Rahul Chauhan, one of the main accused in the recently busted narco-terror module.

The accused has been identified as Rohit Kumar of Karnal in Haryana. His name cropped up during the ongoing investigation.

Police on January 10 seized two highly sophisticated Chinese-made drones, and arrested an armyman, Rahul Chauhan, of Haryana, Dharminder Singh of Dhanoa Khurd village in Amritsar and Balkar Singh of Kalas village in Tarn Taran district, allegedly a part of a narco-terror module involved in smuggling of weapons and narcotics across the Indo-Pakistan border. The recovery also included two walkie-talkie sets, ₹6.22 lakh in cash, believed to be proceeds of drugs, and the magazine of an INSAS rifle.“We have booked Rohit Kumar into the case,” said senior superintendent of police (SSP-rural) Vikramjit Singh Duggal.

Another senior official, privy to the investigation, said, “After Rahul Chahuan’s interrogation, the name of Rohit cropped up. According to our investigation, money was being transferred to the bank account of Rohit. Raids are being conducted to nab Rohit.”

Preliminary investigations had confirmed that Rahul Chauhan was directly involved in operating drone sorties across the border for picking up heroin as well as weapons from Pakistan, along with his associates in India and Pakistan. Earlier on Tuesday, the police had identified six more accused who were getting heroin supply from the arrested members of the module.