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Cases against disabled troops may be dropped Defence Minister asks officials to find solution, end pension delays

Cases against disabled troops may be dropped

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, January 18

In what may remove a major irritant, the Ministry of Defence is working on a solution to withdraw cases filed in courts against disabled soldiers. There are some 50-odd pending cases of soldiers whose disability pensions have been challenged by the MoD in courts.

In some cases, appeals have been filed by the government despite lowers courts or Armed Force Tribunals (AFTs) having ruled in favour of the soldiers. Sources said Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has asked officials to work out a solution so soldiers facing such cases do not have to face any more legal costs or delays.

In June 2017, the MoD had decided against filing fresh appeals against disability pensions and benefits. However, there was no decision on withdrawing the appeals pending in the apex court.The settled legal position and directions from the Supreme Court, high courts and AFTs is that such appeals are frivolous and force soldiers to endure expensive and long legal battles due to appeals.

Disability benefits are separate from routine pensions and are accorded as per grade of injury to the soldier. It is further defined in monetary terms. For example, some injuries entail 100 per cent disability pension, which in monetary terms means literally getting double the routine pension.Year 2018 was observed as the ‘Year of Disabled Soldiers in Line of Duty’.

Women to be recruited in military police: Nirmala 

New Delhi: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the government has taken a “historic” decision to induct women in the military police. They will be inducted in a graded manner to eventually comprise 20 per cent of total Corps of Military Police, the official handle of the Defence Minister tweeted. Their role would range from probing rape and molestation cases to assisting the Army wherever required. Currently, women are allowed in areas such as medical, legal, educational, signals and engineering wings of the Army.  PTI

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Woman officer takes army to SC over lack of childcare facilities

Lt Col Dogra, in her petition filed on Friday, claimed that her temporary posting to Kamptee entails her travelling from Jodhpur to Nagpur every time the court martial proceedings resume and this “deprives her of the fundamental right of tending to her infant child by being sent to different locations from Jodhpur which do not even provide the basic facility of crèche”.

Supreme Court,lieutenant colonel,Nagpur

A female lieutenant colonel, the mother of a two-year-old child, has approached the Supreme Court , alleging harassment by Indian Army authorities for posting her temporarily to a place that did not even have a crèche.

Lt Colonel Annu Dogra, 39, the petitioner in the case, is serving as an officer in the Judge Advocate General (JAG) department of the Indian Army in Jodhpur. In November 2018, she was posted to Kamptee in Nagpur district to act as judge advocate in the court martial of another officer. Her husband is also an army officer and is deputy JAG in Jodhpur.

Lt Col Dogra, in her petition filed on Friday, claimed that her temporary posting to Kamptee entails her travelling from Jodhpur to Nagpur every time the court martial proceedings resume and this “deprives her of the fundamental right of tending to her infant child by being sent to different locations from Jodhpur which do not even provide the basic facility of crèche”.

Lt Col Dogra said the temporary posting “entails her to undertake movement of over 1,600 km along with her child alone at a short notice.

This had led to “neglect of her very small child due to the absence of family and community based care arrangements at the current place of duty in Nagpur”, she said.

She also said that because of the attitude of the army, her husband has had to travel with her and take care of her child while she attended to her official duties.

Lt Col Dogra’s petition also said that her representations to higher authorities to relieve her of her duties in Kamptee on compassionate grounds had gone unheeded. The army’s move to post a woman officer with an infant to look after was is in violation of the National Policy for Children.

The policy was issued by the ministry of women and child development in 2013 and provides for the all-round development of children by protecting their rights.

“The policy advocates to provide and promote creche and day care facilities for children of working mothers, mothers belonging to poor families, ailing mothers and single parents and promote appropriate baby feeding facilities in public places and at workplaces for working mother in public, private and unorganized sector,” the petition said.

When contacted, an army spokesperson refused to comment on the matter.


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Don’t tinker with time-tested combat systems by Lt Gen SR Ghosh (retd)

Don’t tinker with time-tested combat systems

Lt Gen SR Ghosh (retd)

Lt Gen SR Ghosh (retd
The debate on inducting women into combat has missed the woods for the trees. The central focus here is the ability of women to cope with difficulties of frontline infantry combat rather than it being a gender issue. Before the uninitiated start glamorising warfare, they must understand the harsh realities of being in actual combat, which is a far cry from soft operating environments of other jobs.
Don’t tinker with time-tested combat systems
TOUGH JOB: Let alone women, even many men find it difficult to cope with the rigours that a combat soldier has to face.

Lt Gen SR Ghosh (retd)
Former GOC-in-C, Western Command

OVER 12 years after the then Vice Chief of the Army fired the first salvo, the present Army Chief carried out ‘carpet-bombing’ last month when he spoke his mind on the problems of inducting women into combat. In 2006, the Vice Chief had remarked that the comfort levels with women officers in the Army were low and that we could do without them. Right or wrong, he was pressured into making a public apology. Gen Bipin Rawat, in a recent interview to a news channel, reopened the debate when he stated that women in combat areas would have to be kept cocooned from prying eyes and that the Army could not have Commanding Officers of operational units getting pregnant and proceeding on long maternity leave.

The Army Chief’s views may not have been couched in diplomatese, but there definitely was merit in what he implied. Unfortunately, this has reignited an avoidable debate with indignant protests from women’s rights activists, IPS officers and even some military veterans. The arguments given by most of these people are based on superficial knowledge or experience of our combat arms and of warfare. Their reactions are based more on social issues of equal rights and feminism rather than on pragmatism, ranging from an absurd comparison with Jhansi ki Rani who “could even fight with her adopted son strapped to her back”, to the modern era where women succeeded in becoming airline pilots, Everest summiteers and champions in boxing and wrestling. One veteran commentator even suggested that the Army should induct women into combat roles quickly before the judiciary forced it to do so.

At the outset, it must be clarified that the capability of women in any field, be it politics, banking, civil services, business or sports, to name a few, has never been doubted. In the military, women doctors and nurses have served with distinction since time immemorial. Since 1992, women have also been commissioned into other branches of the Armed Forces, even though issues of their management and logistics keep cropping up from time to time. In 2015, the Indian Air Force inducted the first women as fighter pilots, while the Navy will probably soon allow them to be deployed on battleships.The fresh debate has unfortunately missed the woods for the trees. The central focus here is the ability of women to cope with the difficulties of frontline infantry combat rather than it being a gender issue. Before the uninitiated start glamorising warfare, they must understand the harsh realities of being in actual combat, which is a far cry from the soft operating environments of other jobs.

Combat means violence of the extreme kind where men are required to kill others at the cost of getting killed or wounded themselves. Combat means large-scale destruction and death all around from repeated barrages of artillery rockets, missiles and shells. The horrors and violence of combat are too many and can neither be sufficiently explained to nor understood by armchair specialists.Let alone women, even many men find it difficult to cope with the rigours that a combat soldier has to face. The physical and physiological capabilities of a woman to handle the difficulties and hazards that infantry soldiers encounter during operations and when involved in physical combat with an enemy, terrorist or insurgent have, therefore, to be understood in the correct perspective and not seen as a gender equality issue. The dangers and horrors of women officers being taken prisoner by the enemy and being violated, tortured and mutilated are too real to be brushed aside. Are we as a society prepared to see young girls, wives and mothers coming home in coffins or to live with their faces and bodies disfigured from gunshot wounds or with amputated arms and legs?

The Army would only get increasingly embroiled in conducting courts of inquiry and court martials in cases where privacy and authority of female officers were allegedly encroached upon, at the cost of carrying out critical operations against terrorists and insurgents.

In the overall context, is there really a compelling necessity to induct women into infantry or armoured units? Is the nation so short of physically and mentally fit male volunteers for combat units? The Army is in the serious business of protecting our borders and citizens from our enemies and violent terrorists. Warfare and combat are, therefore, best conducted by trained, hardy men led by tough commanders who live together, train together and fight together, at times to their last breath. This has nothing to do with gender bias or masculinity.

In case there really is such a strong demand of women wanting to be involved in some sort of physical combat, let us first use the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) such as the BSF, CRPF and ITBP as a test bed. The pan-India strength of women police personnel is just above seven per cent, whereas the share of women in the CAPF is an abysmal three per cent or less. Only a minuscule percentage of these are women officers. In fact, the BSF inducted its first direct-entry woman officer only in 2017, while the CRPF did so just a year before that. It would also be of interest to check how many IPS officers, male or female, are manning posts in CAPF battalions located in any operational area. The answer is probably zero.

Let us use this opportunity to blood our women IPS officers as company and battalion commanders in the BSF, ITBP and CRPF, where they will be able to lead troops in hostile operational areas, including anti-terrorist and insurgency operations.

Considering that the IPS cadre is short of about 1,000 officers, the government must seriously consider lateral induction of trained and experienced short-service women Army officers into the IPS. This will not only result in huge budgetary savings on induction and training, but also go a long way in filling critical vacancies in state police cadres.

Let not the focus of our military commanders be distracted from their primary job of destroying inimical forces from across the border. Let us also not tinker with the Army’s tried-and-tested combat systems or organisations at such critical times. Women officers are already posted in the Army’s combat and combat support arms such as the Engineers, Army Air Defence, Corps of Signals and Intelligence Corps. Add to these the fresh opportunities in language skills and military police now being offered by the Army Chief. These will provide more than sufficient avenues for women to showcase their organisational, intellectual and analytical skills in the Army without having to get into physical contact with an unpredictable enemy.


The Kashmir conundrum by Lt-Gen Raj Kadyan (Retd

A soldier is operating to protect national interests. He has no choice in the matter. On the other hand, the civilians rush to the encounter site of their own volition. They also know that by obstructing the operations of the security forces, they are helping terrorists who have taken up arms against the State.

The Kashmir conundrum

LOCAL SUPPORT TO MILITANTS: Civilians in J&K at times resort to attacking the security forces with stones.

Lt-Gen Raj Kadyan (Retd)
Former Deputy Chief of Army Staff

IN his conventional training for war, a soldier is taught the principle of ‘shoot to kill’. While deployed to control domestic disturbances, this principle gets modified to ‘shoot to incapacitate’. Even this shooting is below the waist, using minimum force. In either case, the soldier always ‘fires for effect’.  And this is what distinguishes the Army from the police forces that routinely have to fire in the air to disperse unlawful crowds.

Avoiding or minimising collateral casualties to the civilians forms part of the Army’s guidelines or ‘commandments’  issued to every unit deployed in tackling insurgency situations. Adherence to the resultant ‘standard operating procedure’ is strictly expected and enforced. Given the unclear and confused nature of the situation, mistakes do happen. At times, operations have even been abandoned and militants allowed to slip away, only to avoid civilian casualties.

Showing sensitivity, the government is constantly on the lookout for means and methods to avoid fatalities through collateral damage. Non-lethal weapons, such as the pellet gun, have been tried, though even their use also raised a hue and cry. Another proposal, reportedly under examination, is the induction of specialised dogs trained to control and disperse unruly mobs. Though, in the prevailing situation, in some parts of the Valley, their efficacy is open to serious question. What has been happening in J&K for nearly three decades is not a classic insurgency that the Indian Army faced in Nagaland, Mizoram and elsewhere. There, the insurgents operated mostly in jungles where there was no risk of any collateral damage. But in J&K, it is a proxy war, waged by Pakistan, with no holds barred. Terrorists take shelter in houses in villages/towns, which increases the risk of collateral damage.

Examining the Dec 15 incidentIn the incident of December 15, 2018 in Pulwama district, three terrorists were eliminated and one soldier was martyred. Unfortunately, seven civilians also lost their lives during the operation. Not unexpectedly, there was a lot of criticism of the security forces. While any death is deeply regrettable, the issue needs to be examined dispassionately.

Some parts of J&K have seen open support by locals for terrorists. The operations are hindered by a mass gathering of civilians. From forming a human shield between the security forces and holed-up terrorists, and thus facilitating the escape of the latter, the civilians have started attacking the security forces with stones.

There is no equivalence between the casualties suffered by the security forces and civilians. A soldier is deployed by order and is operating to protect national interests. He has no choice in the matter. On the other hand, the civilians rush to the encounter site by choice and of their own volition. They also know that by obstructing the operations of the security forces, they are helping terrorists who have taken up arms against the State. Their action, therefore, amounts to abetment to terrorism. Even before coming out to the encounter site, they are fully aware of the risks involved in their action.

In the December 15 encounter, a leaked video clearly showed the crowd attacking the heavily outnumbered soldiers with sticks and stones. Those who later criticised the soldiers — including some high-visibility politicians from the Valley — should introspect and analyse. What option do the soldiers have under such circumstances? Should they surrender meekly and get lynched? Or they take action in self-defence, which even the law permits? They chose the latter, and the only viable option.

The Dec 22 incident

A week later, the security forces carried out another operation on December 22 in the same Pulwama district. Since no civilians resorted to stone-pelting, the operation was conducted in a precise and clinical manner. Six terrorists were killed, including Soliha Akhun, the deputy of Zakir Musa, who heads the Al Qaida-affiliated Ansar-ul-Ghazwa-ul-Hind terror outfit.  There was no collateral damage. Those that had condemned the Army for shooting ‘innocent’ and ‘unarmed’ stone-pelters on December 15, now strangely went silent.

The absence of stone-pelting on December 22 is, of course, no guarantee that such incidents are over for good. But it augurs well.

The security forces have eliminated over 250 militants in 2018. This is a great achievement and they deserve accolades and the gratitude of the country.

However, the killing terrorists per se is not synonymous with solving the problem. The latter is beyond the purview of the security forces; they are designed to handle only military problems. In the context of J&K, they can only play a complementary role to other government organs, by creating conditions of relative peace where normal work by the government and social organisations can be carried out.

Pakistan has been selling dreams of azadi to gullible Kashmiris. They have also been supplying jihadis the wherewithal to keep the violence going. Their aim is, of course, to destabilise India and they are using Kashmiris only as an expendable prop. As soon as the people in the Valley see through the game and realise the futility of violence, peace would be on the horizon.

The solution to the problem lies with the Kashmiri people.  They need to dissuade their wards and the youth from joining or supporting terrorists. Governments can only provide material help and resources to maintain law and order. But the attitude and perceptions of people can be changed by themselves alone.


Lt General Ranbir tells students to dream big

Lt General Ranbir tells students to dream big

Lt Gen Ranbir Singh interacts with students on Saturday.

Tribune News Service

Jammu, December 29

Northern Command chief Lt Gen Ranbir Singh on Saturday interacted with 20 girl students from various schools and colleges of Srinagar in Udhampur. The students had returned from a capacity-building tour organised under Operation Sadbhavana.

The tour was aimed at providing exposure to the students about the rich cultural heritage, diversity and economic growth of the country, besides giving them an insight into some of the leading educational institutes.

A Northern Command spokesman said the tour was flagged off by the Chief of the Staff, Chinar Corps, on December 19 and the students visited various places of historical and educational importance.

“Some of the important institutions visited by the students included Lady Hardinge Medical College, Convent of Jesus and Mary, Miranda House, Parliament House, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Taj Mahal and Fatehpur Sikri. The students also visited various places of recreational interest in the national capital and returned with memories which the dust of time will not be able to fade,” the spokesman said.

Interacting with the students, Lt Gen Ranbir Singh exhorted them to work hard, dream big and contribute positively to nation-building.

 


‘Will Bring Feminine Leadership Styles’: Before Army Chief Rawat, US Too Worried About Women Officers

The concerns raised by Rawat and those in the US military were interrogated by the US Army and published in 2015 the US Army Training and Doctrine Command Analysis Center as a Gender Integration Stud

New Delhi: Should women in the Army be in combat roles? Like Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, the United States Military also had its reservations until 2015 when it initiated a detailed study to address their concerns.

Rawat, in an exclusive interview to CNN-News18, said that India wasn’t ready to see women in combat roles, and neither were women ready to be in those roles. Rawat spoke of a woman’s responsibility as a mother and said that they couldn’t be given six months maternal leave. He also said that the women might accuse soldiers of peeping while she changes clothes.

The United States, too, had its apprehension before it began admitting women in combat roles, while other countries such as Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany and Israel had already paved the way.

In 2013, after the US formally announced the move, the country took a massive research exercise to probe the concerns and concluded, “The Army should proceed with integrating women into previously closed combat arms MOS/units.”
The concerns raised by Rawat and those in the US military were interrogated by the US Army and published in 2015 the US Army Training and Doctrine Command Analysis Center as a Gender Integration Study.

It concluded, “The Army should proceed with integrating women into previously closed combat arms MOS/units. To successfully integrate, the Army must address the following barriers: inconsistent enforcement of existing standards and perceptions of double standards; incidents of unprofessional behavior and indiscipline; fear of sexual harassment and assault; cultural stereotypes; and ignorance of current Army policy.”

Like India, the US army knew that there would be barriers. But the American gender integration model had some key differences to what India has been doing. For instance, while Rawat that a woman commanding officer would not get acceptance from jawans who come from villages, the US Army initiated a ‘leaders-first’ approach. The idea being that they would first focus on the integration of female officers and non-commissioned officers into combat units, before bringing in juniors in combat units in the hope that this would create mentors and role models.

Apart from this, the US Army’s integration plan also includes a plan for initiating a gender-neutral testing and training that would start with the trial rollout of a new, gender neutral physical training to address concerns that there were lower standards for physical training for women.

The 2015 study identified stereotypes that “women are emotionally weaker, less mentally resilient, and more emotional than men” or that it’s the “chivalrous duty of men to watch over women” or that “women will bring ‘feminine’ leadership styles” to the army. But argued, “Army must confront these broad cultural stereotypes about men and women, while simultaneously communicating the rationale and importance of integration.”

Another concern, regarding sexual harassment or as Rawat described, “peeping”, is also addressed in the study. But to mitigate these fears, the study spoke of the need for “sustained leader involvement”, educating soldiers and “training for conducting official Army investigation” and to “assign women together at the company-level in previously closed units to avoid isolation.”

In fact, as early as 1997, a study titled ‘New Opportunities for Military Women’ found that gender integration in the armed forces could lead to increased morale. “Gender integration also has some positively perceived effects upon morale…In addition, both women and men told us that men could discuss frustrations and other personal issues with female colleagues more than with men, and that this opportunity prevented them from seeking more destructive outlets, such as excessive drinking or fighting,” it said.


To save Dal, Army begins clean-up ops

To save Dal, Army begins clean-up ops

Soldiers remove lilies and weeds from the Dal Lake in Srinagar on Tuesday. Tribune Photo: Amin War

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, December 18

In a desperate move to save an ailing lake in Srinagar, Army men have joined efforts to clean up the Dal Lake, which is at the heart of Kashmir’s tourism industry.

An official of the Lakes and Waterways Development Authority (LAWDA) said 100 soldiers were working for the past two days to clean up the lake, which is facing an existential crisis due to the outgrowth of lilies and weeds.

The soldiers start the exercise of removing lily patches from the lake early morning when the temperatures are still sub-zero. The uprooted lilies are collected in boats and dumped on the banks.

On social media, a Netizen described the Army’s intervention to clean up the lake as the “proof of the failure” of politicians, bureaucracy and the administration.

The LAWDA official said the soldiers come with 20 boats to perform the operation clean-up. “The soldiers are not trained to this and they asked for 20 skilled labourers, who are now guiding them,” the official said.

The lake, which receives perennial high-altitude glacial melt and run-off from a catchment spread over more than 350 sqkm, has a total area of 25.76 sqkm and is the focus of continued conservation efforts.

The increased human interference over the decades and the slow and unscientific conservation efforts in the past have resulted in continuous degradation of the lake with entry of sewage and high-nutrient load posing a major challenge to its eco-system.

The water expanse of the lake covered by lilies is estimated to be 6 sqkm. The LAWDA launched a major clean-up drive of the lake in July and pressed into service nearly 1,000 skilled and unskilled labourers to uproot lilies and another 500 for deweeding. The official said 1.5 sqkm of lily patches have so far been uprooted in the past six months.

Rs 759 crore spent, but little to show  

  • According to the state government, Rs 759 crore has been spent on the lake since 2002 even as little has been achieved to conserve it and prevent its decay
  • Once pristine and picturesque, Dal is at the heart of the tourism circuit of the Kashmir valley and serves as a base for thousands of tourists arriving in the region each year

 


India, US partners in defence, says American commander

India, US partners in defence, says American commander

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Hawaii. courtesy: Twitter

Washington, December 8

India and the US are global partners in defence and regional security, a top American commander has said, as Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman toured the headquarters of the strategic Indo-Pacific command in Hawaii before concluding her maiden visit to America.

Sitharaman described her US visit as part of her endeavour to “take forward the bilateral defence cooperation”.

Noting that the India-US relationship in defence has acquired the dimensions of a strategic partnership over the last decade, she said that the two countries have made considerable progress.

Sitharaman capped off her trip with a visit to Hawaii -– the headquarters of what early this year was rechristened as US Indo-Pacific Command. The US calls Asia Pacific as Indo-Pacific. It has renamed Pacific Command as Indo-Pacific Command or INDOPACOM.

“Our two democratic nations are committed to upholding a rule-based international order which has brought decades of peace, stability and prosperity. We are global partners on defence and security, and this exemplifies our mutual cooperation to assure a free and open Indo-Pacific,” said US INDOPACOM Commander Admiral Phil Davidson. — PTI


Sidhu to file defamation case against channel

Sidhu to file defamation case against channel

Navjot Sidhu.

Jaipur, December 3

Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said on Monday he would file a defamation case against a television channel for allegedly running a fake video about slogans purportedly in support of Pakistan during his rally in Rajasthan’s Alwar district two days ago.

He said the slogans were of ‘jo bole so nihaal’ and was shown as in favour of Pakistan in the video.

“I am going to file a defamation case after consulting with my lawyer. I cannot compromise with the name I have earned,” he told reporters at the Congress office here.

Sidhu said he do not need to give any proof for loyalty towards India. Without clearly blaming the BJP, the Punjab minister said such things were done because his campaigning was getting “tremendous response”.

Targeting the Narendra Modi government, Sidhu said he had raised questions related to farmers, minimum support price, demonetisation at the rally.

But, there was no answer to them and instead such videos were broadcast, he added.  — PTI