Current Events :
Whoever designed the new uniform for Parliament marshals was either ignorant of what he was doing or it was yet another attempt to denigrate the military. It is for the Centre to ensure that no one copies any item of the military uniform.
Lt Gen Harwant Singh (retd)
Former Deputy Chief of Army staff
The law does not permit copying and wearing of any item of military uniform. However, this law has been openly flouted by not only a range of police organisations, both in their dress and badges of rank, but even the private security staff of a number of security companies.While all this not only tends to denigrate and diminish the military, it has serious security implications. After all, the military is the ultimate instrument of the government to combat security threats to the country: both internal and external. Often, during threatening internal security situations, mere deployment of the military has the necessary salutary effect on the rampaging mobs and order is restored without having to use force.
In this context, it would be appropriate to recall an incident in Kashmir that took place in the sixties. The Holy Relic (Muay Mukadus) went missing from the Hazratbal mosque. As word of this went around, nearly half a million people collected in Srinagar. The mob set fire to the local police station and tehsil headquarters. It then turned to the five-star hotel of the then Chief Minister (Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad) under construction and set it on fire. The fire brigade vehicles, as they arrived to put out the fire, too were set ablaze.At this stage, a call for the military’s fire brigade was made. Fire brigade vehicles from the military’s ordnance depot were sent along with a fully armed platoon of infantry. The mob stayed away from these fire brigade vehicles, while they dealt with the fires.
Being winter time, the state government had moved to Jammu and the local commissioner, thinking that his police will not be able to cope with the deteriorating situation, decided to hand over the city of Srinagar to the military. Since we had only one JAK Rifle Battalion in Srinagar, two battalions were moved from Baramulla to Srinagar. For the next three days, a crowd numbering nearly half a million, kept assembling in Srinagar, yet there was not even a single incident of arson or damage to any property. Such was the salutary effect of the presence of the military on the unruly mobs.
Unfortunately, all that has vanished and one of the reasons is that it has become difficult for the mobs to tell the military from the central police.
However, at present, the military, when called to deal with terrorists in J&K, is subjected to stone-pelting, attacks on their vehicles and even attempts at snatching weapons from soldiers. The reasons for this sad state of affairs are many, though the one that stands out is the indiscriminate copying of the military’s uniform by all and sundry, particularly by the central police organisations. Thus, during the Jat agitation in Haryana, military’s columns, during flag marches, had to carry huge posters which noted the column as that of the military, because it was near impossible for an average citizen to tell a military column from a central police column. In insurgency-affected regions, often terrorists are able to take advantage by wearing military-pattern dresses and are thereby mistaken for the Central police personnel.
Whoever designed this new uniform (later withdrawn) for the marshals of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha was either ignorant of what he was doing or it was yet another attempt to denigrate the nation’s military. It is indeed surprising that no Member of Parliament felt offended and demanded the removal of this new dress of the marshals. All else apart, the cap in this dress of the marshals is the same as worn by general officers of the Indian military.
It is for the Central government to ensure that no one is allowed to copy any item of the military uniform. If that does not come about, then the military, in its own interest, needs to revert to the olive green (OG). After all, the Indian army fought through the Burma campaign wearing the OG.
New Delhi, November 28
The Centre has extended the ban on the Assam-based insurgent outfit ULFA for five years for continuing subversive activities, including killings, kidnapping and extortions.
In a notification, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the ULFA has been indulging in various illegal and violent activities intended to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India in furtherance of its objective of liberating Assam.
“Now therefore, in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (37 of 1967), the central government hereby declares the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) along with all its factions, wings and front organisations as an unlawful association,” it said.
A ministry official said the ban has been extended for five years.
The home ministry said in its notification that the ULFA has aligned itself with other unlawful associations of Northeastern region to secede Assam from India and in pursuance of its aims and objectives, engaged in several unlawful and violent activities during the currency of its declaration as an unlawful association.
The central government is of the opinion that the unlawful and violent activities which are attributed to ULFA include about 70 incidents of violence, either individually or in alliance with other insurgent groups of the Northeast, killing of 32 persons — 25 civilians and seven security forces personnel—during the period from January 1, 2015 to July 31 2019.
The outfit has also indulged in a spate of extortions and secessionist activities, and endangering the lives of innocent citizens, in addition to acts of kidnapping for ransom, instructing its cadres to carry out acts by targeting the establishments of security forces and their personnel, political leaders, railways and oil installations and establishing sanctuaries and training camps in the neighbouring countries.
“And Whereas, for the reasons mentioned above, the central government is also of the opinion that the activities of ULFA are detrimental to the sovereignty and integrity of India and that it is an unlawful association.
“And Whereas, if there is no immediate curb and control of the unlawful activities of ULFA, it may take the opportunity to mobilise its cadres for escalating its secessionist, subversive and violent activities openly propagate anti-national activities in collusion with forces inimical to India’s sovereignty and national integrity,” it said.
The ULFA was established in 1979 and the group was first banned in 1990. Since then the central government has been extending the ban imposed on it regularly.
A faction of the ULFA is currently involved in peace talks with an interlocutor of the central government, while another faction, led by its military chief Paresh Baruah, has been engaged in subversive activities. — PTI
The BJP has recommended Pragya Thakur’s removal from the consultative committee on defence after she referred to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a ‘deshbhakt‘ in the Lok Sabha.
BJP working president J P Nadda announced disciplinary actions against her and condemned the controversial Hindutva leader’s remarks in a bid to defuse the political crisis triggered by her remarks in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
“The statement given by MP Pragya Thakur is condemnable. BJP never supports such statement and we do not support this ideology. We have decided that Thakur will not attend meetings of BJP parliamentary party during the session,” Nadda said.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in Lok Sabha that the BJP condemns any philosophy which describes Nathuram Godse as a patriot.
During Wednesday’s debate in the Lok Sabha on Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill, 2019, DMK member A Raja said that Godse nursed a grudge against Mahatma Gandhi for over three decades. Following which Thakur interjected speaking against the example.
However, her remarks were expunged by the Chair.
Afterwards, Thakur, the MP from Bhopal, told ANI, “The topic that was discussed was of security and A Raja spoke about ‘deshbhakt‘ Udham Singh. He said that Udham Singh nursed a grudge against General Dyer of Jallianwala Bagh massacre for 20 years before killing him. When Raja went on speaking, I interrupted to say that he should not take the name of patriots – ‘Deshbhakto ka naam mat lijiye‘.”
Her comment drew flak from Congress and other opposition parties.
“Our party has said everything that needs to be said on the issue… Her comments are shocking,” Congress president Sonia Gandhi said.
Echoing similar sentiments, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that he does not want to “waste time on what Pragya said”. “That is the heart of the RSS. What can I say?” he added.
Earlier, during the Lok Sabha election campaign, Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, had described Godse as a “patriot”, triggering a huge political storm and all-around condemnation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying he would never be able to forgive her fully.
The Hindutva activist had then withdrawn the statement and issued an apology. Even PM Narendra Modi had condemned her comments.
(With inputs from PTI)
New Delhi, November 28
Cracking the whip on its serial-offender MP Pragya Thakur, who hailed Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse in the Lok Sabha, the BJP on Thursday barred her from attending its parliamentary party meeting in the ongoing Parliament session and removed her from the consultative committee on defence.
BJP working president JP Nadda announced the disciplinary action against her and condemned the controversial Hindutva leader’s remarks in a bid to defuse the political crisis triggered by her remarks in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Nadda said Thakur would be removed from the consultative committee on defence, to which she was recently appointed.
“The statement given by MP Pragya Thakur is condemnable. The BJP never supports such a statement and we do not support this ideology. We have decided that Thakur will not attend meetings of the BJP parliamentary party during the session,” he told reporters.
Thakur created a controversy on Wednesday with her remark in the Lower House during DMK member A Raja’s narration of a statement by Godse before a court on why he killed the Mahatma.
However, after opposition members protested against Thakur’s remarks, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said only the DMK leader’s speech during the discussion on the Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill would go on record.
Opposition parties targeted the government, particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the PM’s “inaction” against her proved his latent support to “Godse’s sinister thought”.
The opposition party said Thakur’s remarks were a “perfect representation” of the BJP’s “deplorable hate politics”.
“We are very clear about it that we condemn her statement and we do not support this ideology,” Nadda, who was accompanied by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi,, said.
During the Lok Sabha election campaign, Thakur had described Godse as a patriot, triggering a huge political storm.
Later, she had apologised for her statement. PTI
HT Correspondent
letters@hindustantimes.com
New Delhi : The Bharatiya Janata Party has condemned its controversial MP Pragya Thakur’s for her remarks on Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, and barred her from attending the regular meeting for party MPs for the rest of the winter session, BJP working president JP Nadda said.
Pragya Thakur is also being pulled out from the parliamentary panel on defence.
“Her statement yesterday in Parliament is condemnable. The BJP never supports such statement or ideology,” BJP working president JP Nadda told ANI on Thursday morning. Nadda’s statement implies that the party has rejected her claim that she wasn’t referring to Godse when she made the remark in Lok Sabha. Her remark led to an immediate uproar in the House. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expunged her remark from the house records but it did not help stop the barrage of criticism from political parties and on social media.
It spilled over to Thursday morning when the Congress sought action against her. But Om Birla would have none of it, pointing out that since her statement was not on record, it couldn’t be discussed.
When asked about the controversy, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said, “That is the heart of the BJP, that is the centre of the BJP, that is the heart of the RSS [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh].” The opposition parties are also likely to move a censure motion against Thakur in Lok Sabha on Friday.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh sought to blunt the opposition attacks, emphasising that the government firmly reject and condemn Thakur’s remark on Godse.
Jammu, November 27
In consonance with the ongoing efforts to reach out to the local populace, the Army organised a medical camp for people living in the remote Gohra Gali village of Ramban.
The Army is continuously undertaking various activities to “win hearts and minds” of people residing in far-flung areas of Jammu and Kashmir. In all, 53 people reaped the benefits of the medical camp which reached them at their doorsteps.
The medical patrol team provided medicines and medical advice to residents of the village. The Indian Army Medical Patrol also interacted with locals and discussed the hardships being faced by them. — OC
Tribune News Service
Jammu, November 27
In a bid to perk up the morale of their workforce working in “extremely hazardous” and hostile conditions bereft of even a semblance of entertainment, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has embarked upon organising musical events “Call of the mountains” at Ladakh’s remote forward areas by renowned film and theatre artistes.
The musical shows are performed by different bands through ‘Go Magic Trails’, a company promoted by Bangalore-based entrepreneur Uma Sudhindra. The company specialises in conducting musical events for the armed personnel of the country whose motto is to promote military tourism.
The initiative is the brainchild of Chief Engineer, Project Himank of BRO, Brig NK Sharma, who conceived the idea about two years ago for the sole objective of boosting the morale of his jawans.
“Jawans are performing relentlessly at some of the world’s highest terrains all along the Indo-China border. The areas where they work remain entirely cut off from the rest of the world with no means of even the basic modes of communication, not to speak of any Internet facility or any other mode of recreation,” an official spokesperson for the BRO said.
“Discharging duties at an altitude of 18,000 feet above the sea level where oxygen levels are highly rarefied and icy winds blow is very difficult. This result in exposing them to high levels of mental fatigue, besides taking a toll on their physical well-being,” the spokesperson said quoting Brig Sharma.
“For addressing health-related issues of jawans, medical facilities have been established at vital installations. This has resulted in dramatic dip in casualties over the past three years,” the Chief Engineer said, adding, “It, however, remained a challenge to boost the morale and mental fitness of the jawans. It is with this motive to boost their morale and provide some kind of entertainment to our jawans that we teamed up with Go Magic Trails.”
This is the third year in row when the band has been performing at remote forward locations. Recently, they conducted a musical event at Shyok base — almost 130 km north of Leh — and at Daulat Beg Oldies (DBO) forward post, which is situated 350 km away from Leh along with the Indo-China border.
Tribune News Service
Kurukshetra, November 27
State Education Minister Kanwar Pal Gujjar on Wednesday inaugurated a museum dedicated to the heroes of the 1857 First Warof Independence at Kurukshetra University. The memorial has been constructedat a cost of Rs 5 crore.
Speaking on the occasion, Gujjar said: “There was hardly any museum in the country dedicated to the martyrs of the 1857 freedom struggle. The museum at the KU has been constructed to commemorate the sacrifice of the 1857 martyrs. It will motivate the younger generations.”
The minister also inaugurated a shooting range established at a cost of Rs5.48 on the university campus.
Vice Chancellor KC Sharma said: “The aim is to ensure that the students are well aware of the country’s history, culture and art. The university is working to save the art and culture of Haryana through the Dharohar Museum. With thisnew museum, more people from across the country and world will be attracted to the KU. This museum dedicated to the first freedom struggle of 1857 will remind thecoming generations of the country’s valour.”
“The freedom struggle of 1857 started from Ambala, spread to Meerut and then in the entire country. An attempt has been made to presentthe same history throughphotographs through this museum,” he added.
The museum also has a statue of Rani of Jhansi, Laxmibai. Apart from this, it has been prepared in three parts. The first part depicts the activities of the first freedom struggle on the national level, second one shows the state’s contribution to it and the third one has the details of the unsung heroes of the Independence of Haryana. The museum has a lobby, art gallery, auditorium hall, audio visual room, and a library.
Jammu, November 28
Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway remained closed for the second consecutive day on Thursday after heavy rain in the Banihal-Ramban section triggered five landslides, leaving over 3,000 vehicles stranded at various places on the route, officials said.
The traffic on the highway was suspended on Wednesday evening after heavy rain triggered shooting of stones from the hillocks overlooking the arterial road in Ramban district, officials said.
“Highway is closed. There have been five landslides triggered by rain at various places in Banihal-Ramban section of the highway,” a traffic police official told PTI.
As result of which, over 3,000 vehicles, mostly trucks, were stranded at various places on the highway at Jammu, Nagrota, Udhampur, Ramban, Chenani, Batote, Banihal and Kathua, they said.
The 270-km highway, the only all-weather road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, was closed around 5.15 pm on Wednesday, the officials said.
Heavy rain lashed the Jammu-Srinagar national highway throughout the day with Banihal on this side of the Jawahar Tunnel receiving 19.6 mm of rainfall, they said, adding that the highway town of Qazigund on the other side recorded 24.8 mm of rainfall during the day. A hailstorm also hit Banihal and adjoining areas.
The officials said the Border Roads Organisation is working to clear snow from the highway. PTI
