Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 14Army Chief General Bipin Rawat is learnt to have told officers at an Army’s internal function that the issue of rank parity is being addressed and Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has promised full support on it.General Rawat was addressing a gathering of officers who are to retire at the end of this month. This was a customary farewell meeting of the Chief with officers who were in the ranks of Colonel and above. Sources in the know of things said the Chief clearly brought out that certain oversights and anomalies were made by the service headquarters in the past. These were being addressed and amendments were being carried out. The Tribune was the first to report the matter in October following which the Army headquarters made corrections.General Rawat talked in great detail about the classification of various services and why the Army was not categorised as ‘group-A’ service. The Army, he said, had a pyramid structure and it should not be compared with others. Terms and conditions of service are very challenging and difficult, he reportedly told the officers.

LONDON: Seven Indian companies are among those from 20 countries named in a list whose components were used by the ISIS to make explosives, a EU-mandated study said, suggesting that more work needs to be done to track the flow of chemicals and other items to the terror group.

The study by Conflict Armament Research (CAR) showed that 51 companies from 20 countries such as Turkey, India, Brazil, and the US produced, sold or received the over 700 components used by ISIS to build improv ..

With interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma in Srinagar for talks with all stakeholders, the separatists are not too keen on joining the dialogue process initiated by the Modi government.

Women separatists protest the visit of Dineshwar Sharma, the Centre’s interlocutor for J-K, in Srinagar on Monday. Pic: Mohammad Amin War

Arun Joshi

Kashmiri   separatists declared on Sunday that they “cannot disappoint” their people by talking to the Centre’s new interlocutor Dineshwar Sharma as that would be a betrayal of “sacrifices” made for the “sacred cause”. The “sacred cause”, in common perception in Kashmir, is “azadi” or independence from India and Pakistan. It is a rejection of the two-nation theory as also plebiscite.Syed Ali Shah Geelani, speaking on behalf of the separatists, particularly moderates Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chief Yasin Malik who had collected more than three million signatures from Kashmiris for “azadi”, decreed that no section of the Hurriyat Conference would talk to the interlocutor. The gag order has a ripple effect in non-separatist camps as well. The civil society has maintained a distance from Sharma.Geelani’s aim is to discredit the dialogue process initiated by the Modi government. The majority in the Valley is for “azadi”. Thousands have died for this cause and the end to the conflict is not in sight. Although Geelani, the Hizb-ul-Mujahadeen and some other groups have been asking for right to self-determination as envisaged in the United Nations Security Council resolutions of 1948-49, the fact is that those fighting the Indian security forces were doing so for their “complete independence,” and not for Pakistan. They were grateful to Pakistan for its help to the militants, but not obliged to let Pakistan declare Kashmir as its fifth province.Just when Dineshwar Sharma arrived in Srinagar, Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi told an audience in London that “an independent Kashmir is not possible.” This has poured cold water on the hopes of those believing that Pakistan was helping them achieve freedom and since then, separatists have gone in a silent mode.The current Kashmir “mood” can be understood in three constituencies:  (1) the sections of silent people who want peace and normal relations with Pakistan with status quo on borders and some dignified measures to give them a sense that they got something at the end of the day. (2) the vast majority that have made their political, geostrategic and economic calculations in which an independent Kashmir is viable and internationally important place; and (3) the traditional pro-Pakistanis since 1947. It would be wrong to assume that the sections that want to live with India will ever speak out. These sections are mute and they live in peripheries and sectarian enclaves in the Valley. Given this scenario, the public mood is to air day-to-day grievances before the interlocutor. This way, their calls for economic and political uplift and good governance would reach Delhi.The separatists are caught in their own web. For 30 years, they have been promising “azadi”. Over 50,000 people have died, a few thousands have disappeared or are languishing in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. A vast majority of them are desperate to come back to their homes here from across the Line of Control. This raises a question:  why are the misguided youth, fired to “liberate their motherland”, are desperate to return home if Pakistan was such a heaven.Even if separatists’ argument is taken at its face value that it is fruitless to meet the Centre’s interlocutor, what is the option — Pakistan  is promoting the idea of Pakistan-only option for Kashmiris. The PoK is better known to them  as a “terrorist state’. Geelani’s skepticism to talks emerges from the past experience with Delhi in which the Centre flinched at implementing the reports of its own men to resolve the Kashmir issue. Even National Conference President Farooq Abdullah has said: “Not much is expected of the new interlocutor.” But a larger point is being missed. Apart from Pakistan’s machinations to stall any Delhi-Srinagar dialogue, there is a problem with the Kashmiri leadership, particularly with the separatists: their clock is stuck in the mid-twentieth century. The electoral parties — National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party — have their agendas rooted in autonomy and self-rule, respectively, but the separatists have no such roadmap. Separatists have only their assertions: “We will not disappoint our people,” “they will not hesitate to offer sacrifices, even at the cost of their life.”Since Sharma has not challenged the Pakistan premier, it is spreading disappointment among the people here. They want to know the status of “azadi”.Any leadership should have asked Sharma what he has to offer (essentially, a direct question to Modi). Delhi cannot afford to repeat its mistake if it has to replace the disappointment on the ground with optimism. The Kashmir imbroglio

• The majority in the Valley is for “azadi” and an end to the conflict is not in sight even after thousands of deaths.
• Pakistan Prime Minister SK Abbasi told an audience in London that “an independent Kashmir is not possible.”
• The Kashmiris want to know the status of “azadi” since despite Pakistan’s help, they have never wanted Pakistan to  rule over them. Their “sacrifices” have been for “azadi” only.

ajoshi57@gmail.com

Jammu, September 20

Family members of Uri martyrs, who belong to the Jammu region, have demanded that the families of soldiers should be given ex gratia at par with neighbouring states like Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.Raj Kumar, brother of Uri martyr Havildar Ravi Pal, sought to draw attention of the state government towards the ex gratia announced by the neighbouring states. He said apart from enhancing the ex gratia, the J&K Government must provide job to at least a kin of the martyrs. Geeta Devi, wife of martyr havildar, has also applied for a government job, but no action had been taken so far.The Uttar Pradesh government had sanctioned Rs 20 lakh for Uri martyrs, Jharkhand Rs 11 lakh, Odisha Rs 10 lakh plus pension, Maharashtra and Bihar Rs 15 lakh each and the J&K Government has sanctioned Rs 5 lakh.Though the martyrs’ families have received Rs 5 lakh, they were of the view that the amount had been sanctioned by the Army not by the state government. However, the Army made it clear that the amount was sanctioned by the J&K Government, but handed over to the martyrs’ family through the Defence authorities. — TNS

Lieutenant-General Dushyant Singh

Jalandhar: Lieutenant-General Dushyant Singh took over as the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the prestigious Vajra Corps on Thursday. He replaces Lieutenant-General BS Sahrawat, who has moved to New Delhi. Lt-General Dushyant Singh was commissioned in December 1981 in the 9th Battalion of the Maratha Light Regiment and has a career spanning more than 36 

years. TNS

APPLICATION FOR GG

Punjab CM says Army not for building bridges or cleaning roads, would set bad precedent

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. File photo

New Delhi/Mumbai, October 31

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has criticised the central government’s unprecedented decision to rope in the Indian Army for rebuilding the Elphinstone bridge in Mumbai as deplorable and an admission of the failure of the government and the Indian Railways.(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)The Army’s job is to train for war and protect the country’s borders, not to build bridges and clean the roads, said Captain Amarinder, warning against the serious implications of such misuse of the Indian Armed Forces by utilising their services for non-emergency civilian jobs.Whatever the urgency of the situation, it does not merit such a decision, which would have adverse long-term implications as it could encourage the civilian authorities to seek Army help for major civilian works every time they find themselves ill-equipped to handle an infrastructural or other challenge, the Chief Minister said, in a statement.Urging Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to refrain from diverting critical defence resources of the country to civilian works, the Chief Minister said it would set a bad precedent.The minister, said Amarinder, was making the same mistake that Major General BM Kaul, GOC of ‘Red Eagles’ 4th Division, had made before the 1962 war with China. The scandalous misuse, by him, of military manpower to build accommodation cost the Indian Army heavily during the Sino-Indian war, the Chief Minister said.Observing that these kind of acts led to severe downgradation of the defence services then, Captain Amarinder warned that the Army would end up suffering similar lowering of its status if the defence ministry does not withdraw its decision to use the armed forces for building civilian bridges in Mumbai.Citing reports that the Army’s services will be utilised in building a new bridge at Elphinstone station and at two other suburban train stations in Mumbai, the Chief Minister termed the move as atrocious, and said the central and state governments should put their own resources at the disposal of the Railways if the situation was so urgent and serious. The Defence Minister, instead of being party to this decision and announcing it with such pride, should have categorically rejected any such suggestion in the interest of the Armed forces, Amarinder said.

Army to clean high-altitude tourist spots: Sitharaman

Centre has told the court it was considering a proposal by both EC and Law Commission to impose life ban on politicians convicted in criminal cases. File photo

New Delhi, November 1

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the central government to set up special courts to exclusively try politicians facing criminal cases so that the trial in such cases is expedited.

A Bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Navin Sinha gave the central government six weeks to detail its plans for setting up such courts, including the estimated budget.

The court wanted to know the status of 1,581 cases involving lawmakers since 2014 as well as the number of new cases that have been filed since.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The central government has told the court it was considering a proposal by both Election Commission and Law Commission to impose life ban on politicians convicted in criminal cases.

The court will hear the case on December 13. — IANS/PTI

Vikramdeep Johal

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 11

“Saragarhi: The True Story”, a documentary by UK-based journalist-filmmaker Jay Singh-Sohal, will be screened at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire tomorrow to mark the 120th anniversary of the epic frontier battle.It features footage from the site that falls within Pakistan’s unruly tribal region. The day shooting took place on the Samana mountain range, the Pakistan Army was fighting Islamic State militants 40km away at Rajgal. Filming also took place in the UK and India.Jay Singh-Sohal says: “It’s been a long but fulfilling journey to research, film and promote for the first time the bravery of the Sikhs at Saragarhi. It’s a personal endeavour; I’ve myself been inspired by it because it speaks to the shared history and values that make me proud to be both British and Sikh, and I know many others in my community feel the same.”On September 12, 1897, 21 Sikh soldiers of the 36th Regiment of Bengal Infantry had fought to the last man against 10,000-odd tribesmen during an uprising on the North West Frontier between colonial India and Afghanistan.According to the filmmaker, who has also penned a book on the battle, the Sikhs who fought for Britain on the frontier were “rightly rewarded and honoured” for their bravery and devotion to duty. “Today, we must continue to remember the sacrifices they and others made in such conflicts which might not be so well known, but are vitally important,” he adds.Gurinder Singh Mann, a historian and head of the Sikh Museum Initiative, says, “After the Anglo Sikh Wars (1840s) and the annexation of Punjab, many Sikhs were looking for employment. As a result, several regiments were formed in the British Indian Army over the subsequent decades. The battle at Saragarhi stresses the importance of the role the Sikhs played as part of the Empire.”The heroic tale is also the subject of two delayed Bollywood projects, one an Ajay Devgn production and the other being handled by veteran director Rajkumar Santoshi. In the latter, the lead role of Havildar Ishar Singh is being played by Randeep Hooda.