File photo of AgustaWestland chopper.

New Delhi, April 5

The Congress on Friday termed as “rehashed insinuations, lies, and cheap election stunt” the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) act of mentioning names of some party leaders in their supplementary chargesheet in the AgustaWestland case and said a “panic-stricken” Modi Government will not be able to change its “exit date and fate.”

The Congress’ communications in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala said “a single uncertified page leaked by the ED of a purported chargesheet is a cheap election stunt to divert attention from imminent defeat of the Modi government”.

“The ED has become ‘Election Dhakosla’ of a government manufacturing a lie a day,” he said.

Surjewala said the Modi government has lost all litigations against the Italy-based Finmeccanica and its British subsidiary AgustaWestland.

He said on January 8, 2018, an Italian appeals court acquitted Giuseppe Orsi, Former Chief Executive and Bruno Spagnolini, former head of the Helicopter Unit from the charges of any wrongdoing in the sale of 12 helicopters to India.

“On September 17, 2018, a higher court in Milan, Italy affirmed the order in a 322-page detailed judgment and upheld the finding of ‘no graft or wrong doing’ by any Indian official. Modi government was a party in the case and lost. Modi government has chosen to not file an appeal in the matter,” he said.

“All these rehashed insinuations and lies were bundled out earlier too through a set of pliable media. Ultimately, they failed in an international court and were rejected as trash. A panic-stricken Modi government and its puppet ED will not be able to change its exit date and fate. The Prime Minister has already been rejected by the people,” he added.

The ED on Thursday filed a supplementary chargesheet against British national Christian Michel, the alleged middleman in the Rs 3,600-crore AugustaWestland VVIP chopper deal, in which it has mentioned “Mrs Gandhi”, but not named her as an accused in the case.

The chargesheet said that Michel knew “Mrs Gandhi” since 1986.

Names of other Congress leaders were also mentioned in the chargesheet, but not as accused in the case.

The chargesheet has listed a series of “despatches” between February 2008 and October 2009 by Michel, including one dated March 15, 2008, that mentioned “Mrs Gandhi” as the driving force behind the V.I.P. informing that she will not fly any more in the Mi-8. — IANS

UTTAR PRADESH CM Yogi Adityanath has a knack for renaming places. Now, he has gone a step further by referring to the Army as ‘Modiji ki sena’, as if it’s the Prime Minister, not the President, who is the Supreme Commander of the armed forces. Adityanath made the remark while campaigning for none other than former Army Chief VK Singh, a minister in the NDA government. He said: “The Congress leaders would feed biryani to the terrorists, while ‘Modi’s army’ gives them bullets or bombs.” This brazen personalisation of the Services has expectedly drawn a sharp reaction from retired officers as well as opposition parties. Former Navy Chief Admiral L Ramdas has asserted that the armed forces don’t belong to any individual but to the nation, while Lt Gen HS Panag (retd) has said such comments could lead to politicisation of the Army.

The government has been quick to extract political mileage from the exemplary work done by the defence personnel, be it the surgical strikes after the Uri attack in 2016 or the recent Balakot airstrikes in the wake of the Pulwama carnage. The ASAT missile test, a landmark in defence research, was announced with great fanfare last week and touted as an achievement of the ruling dispensation, but the Election Commission (EC) did not consider it a violation of the model code of conduct. The EC went by the rule book. But these are political minefields open to diverse interpretations.

Such lacunae embolden politicians to ‘appropriate’ national institutions for electoral gains. The EC needs to crack the whip — while acting within the ambit of the model code’s provisions — so as to discourage such practices. Irresponsible statements that denigrate the defenders of the nation can have a disturbing effect on their morale, besides straining ties between the military and political leadership. The Army, the Air Force and the Navy know their job pretty well and are known for taking decisive action for the sake of national security, no matter which party is in power. Piggybacking on the forces’ feats is not only unfair, but also unethical.

New Delhi, March 31

CRPF convoys moving to and from the Kashmir valley will now be commandeered by a higher SP-rank officer and a single motorcade will not have more than 40 vehicles at any point of time, the paramilitary force has ordered in the wake of the Pulwama attack that killed 40 troops during a similar movement.

The new standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the force headquarters in Delhi for vehicle-mounted movement of troops in Jammu and Kashmir says that the ‘passenger manifest discipline’ for each vehicle in the convoy be strictly adhered to.

Among the first set of changed SOPs is the move to depute a second-in-command rank officer (equivalent to Superintendent of Police rank) of the force to lead the convoy instead of the current practice of a junior Assistant Commandant-rank (Assistant SP) officer heading the entourage. 

This is to ensure that the convoy is led by an experienced and senior officer who will have a better understanding and strategy to manoeuvre the convoy to and from the Kashmir valley, which is operationally very sensitive due to terrorist acts and IED threats, official sources said. This will also upgrade the accountability hierarchy and the new convoy commander will now directly report and co-ordinate with one of the three CRPF Deputy Inspector General (operations) based in Kashmir.

Till now, the convoy commander or the Assistant Commandant used to report through the Commandant to their higher-ups. The convoy commander usually travels in the lead in a communications gadget-fitted vehicle comprising armed troops for quick reaction.  It has also been decided that the convoy strength will not go beyond 40 vehicles in any case and “all possible efforts” will be made to essentially keep the number of vehicles in a motorcade to the least possible of about 10-20 for effective management and control, they said. 

A CRPF bus in the fifth position of a 78 vehicle convoy was targeted by a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) suicide bomber after he detonated his explosives-laden SUV near it on the Jammu-Srinagar highway in Pulwama on February 14. — PTI

On March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh, along with his associates Sukhdev and Rajguru, was hanged to death for the assassination of British police officer John Saunders. Produced here is the letter written by Bhagat Singh and his comrades on May 8, 1930, to the tribunal, seeking to avail themselves of legal help in the Lahore Conspiracy case. The Punjab Archives, Lahore, has made it public

Chaman Lal
Former JNU Professor and Honorary advisor to Bhagat Singh Archives and Resource Centre, Delhi

A Special Tribunal of three High Court judges was notified by Chief Justice of Punjab High Court Chief Justice Shadi Lal, on May 1, 1930 for the trial of the Lahore Conspiracy case. This tribunal consisted of Justice Coldstream as President and Justice Agha Haider and Justice Hilton as members. While on May 5, five comrades of Bhagat Singh wrote to the tribunal about their decision to boycott the tribunal, 10 other comrades, including Bhagat Singh, wrote on May  8, 1930, their response to avail themselves of legal help for the case.

This letter had not been found earlier. But in March 2018, the Punjab Archives, Lahore, for the first time after 1931, put up an exhibition of a few exhibits from the over 100 files related to Bhagat Singh. Ammara Ahmad, a Lahore journalist, was kind enough to send the photographs of a few exhibits, including this letter.

The Punjab Archives, Lahore, has claimed that it has now made all records of Bhagat Singh public and probably digitalised them also. It would be good if the Punjab Government in Chandigarh approached the Punjab Government in Lahore to share all records relating to Bhagat Singh and the records are put on display in Khatkar Kalan (Nawanshahr-Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar State Museum on Bhagat Singh). 

The following is the text of the letter:

In the court of the Special Tribunal

Lahore Conspiracy case, Lahore

Crown vs. Sukhdev & others

Charged under secs 302, 120-B+121-A, IPC

This humble petition of the accused persons Bhagat Singh & others most respectfully showeth:

(1) That the petitioners are charged with most serious offences including sec. 302 with 120B and 109 IPC

(2) That the majority of the petitioners have been lodged for the last eight or nine months in jail.

(3) That with one exception, all the petitioners as stated below belong to distant provinces and as such have no relative here to look after their defence.

1. Ajay Kumar Ghosh  — Allahabad, U.P

2. Bejoy Kumar Sinha—Cawnpore, U.P

3. Prem Dutt — Srinagar, Kashmir

4. Kamal Nath Tewary—Betiah, Bihar

5. Shiv Verma —Hardoi, U.P

6. Jai Dev Kapoor — Hardoi, U.P

7. S.N. Pande — Cawnpore, U.P.

8. Kishori Lal — Quetta, Baluchistan

9. Des Raj — Sialkot, guardian outside India

(4) That five of the petitioners are unrepresented accused defending their case themselves.

(5) That for the reasons stated above in paras 3+4, the petitioners can make arrangement for their defence only through their friends, attorneys and members of defence committee.

(6) That it is therefore prayed that in the interest of justice, the learned court be pleased to grant the petitioners following facilities-

I. Interviews with friends, attorneys, legal advisors and members of defence committee members and relatives in court during lunch hours or after the rising of the court during the one hour stay… for mutual consultation

II. Instructions should be sent to the Supdts of Borstal and Central jails for allowing interviews with the same.

III. Subject to accommodation the legal advisors of the unrepresented accused be given seats in the body of the court room.

IV. Recognition of the defence committee and permission to two members of committee to sit in the body of the court subject to accommodation.

(7) That it is prayed that in view of the large number of prosecution exhibits of this case, one of the days of the week preferably Saturday be set for the examination of the exhibits by the accused and their counsels.

Hand written and signed by-

1. Bhagat Singh

2.  Bejoy Kumar Sinha

3. Ajay Kumar Ghosh

4. SuPande

5. Jai Deva Kapor

6. Kishori Lal Ratan

7. Prem Datt Varma

8. Shiv Varma

9. Kamalnath Tewari

10. Des Raj

8th May 1930

(Official Stamp Lahore)

Mumbai, March 9

Linking Pathankot and Pulwama terror attacks to elections, MNS chief Raj Thackeray today said another “Pulwama like strike” could occur in near future in a bid to win polls.

He also slammed as “insult to jawans” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement that presence of Rafale jets could have added to more firepower to the February 26 raids by Air Force on a terrorist camp in Pakistan’s Balakot.

Thackeray was addressing party workers on the 13th Foundation Day of the MNS.

Thackeray alleged that the warnings issued by intelligence agencies prior to the Pulwama attack were ignored.

“Forty jawans were martyred in the Pulwama attack. Should we still not ask questions? In December, National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had met his Pakistani counterpart in Bangkok. Who will tell us what transpired at the meeting?” he said.

Taking a dig at BJP president Amit Shah’s statement on the number of casualties in the Balakot strike, the MNS chief said whether Shah was one of the the “co-pilots” who participated in the air strike.

Thackeray claimed the Indian Air Force “missed” targets it had intended to hit in Balakot because of “wrong information” provided to them by the Modi government.

“If the Prime Minister himself says that results would have been better had the country have Rafale jets, it was an insult to our jawans,” he said.

Disputing that terrorists were killed in the air raids, Thackeray said had that been the case, Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman would not have been allowed to return home from captivity by Pakistan. — PTI

Recalling his conversation with Khan during a congratulatory call after he became Pakistan’s premier, Modi said he told him “let us fight against poverty and illiteracy” and Khan gave his word – saying he is a Pathan’s son – but went back on it.

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday asked his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, to “give peace a chance” and assured him that he “stands by” his words and will “immediately act” if New Delhi provides Islamabad with “actionable intelligence” on the Pulwama terror attack.

On February 19, Khan had assured India that he would act against the perpetrators of the Pulwama terror attack if it shares “actionable intelligence” with Islamabad but warned New Delhi against launching any “revenge” retaliatory action.

India said Khan’s offer to investigate the attack if provided proof is a “lame excuse”. “It is a well-known fact that Jaish-e-Mohammad and its leader Masood Azhar are based in Pakistan. These should be sufficient proof for Pakistan to take action,” the Ministry of External Affairs said.

“The Prime Minister of Pakistan has offered to investigate the matter if India provides proof. This is a lame excuse. In the horrific attack in Mumbai on 26/11, proof was provided to Pakistan. Despite this, the case has not progressed for the last more than 10 years. Likewise, on the terror attack on Pathankot airbase, there has been no progress. Promises of ‘guaranteed action’ ring hollow given the track record of Pakistan,” it said.

Last week, China, which has doggedly blocked the listing of JeM chief Masood Azahar as a “global terrorist”, has signed off on a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) statement that “condemned in the strongest terms” the Pulwama terror attack and named Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad for the “heinous and cowardly suicide bombing”.

Shyam Sood

Rajouri, February 16

Major Chitresh Singh Bisht, 31, was killed while defusing an improvised explosive device (IED) in Jhangar area of Rajouri district in Nowshera sector today.   He belonged to Dehradun. Sources said his marriage was fixed for March 7.

Sources said four IEDs were detected deep inside the Indian territory. “A team headed by Major Bisht was called. One of the IEDs was neutralised but another got activated. The Major suffered grievous injuries and died,” said defence spokesperson Lt Col Devender Anand.

Major SG Naik and Rifleman Jeevan Gurung were killed in two IED blasts in the same area on January 11. In another incident, Havildar Jagdev Singh was injured in Runglidhar, Babakhori area, also in the Nowshera sector, reportedly in sniper fire across the Line of Control.

With the situation tense following the fidayeen attack on a CRPF convoy in Pulwama on Thursday, “exchange of heavy mortar shelling can’t be ruled out in the coming days”, sources said.