Srinagar, October 31

As the clock struck 12 and a new day beckoned, Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday transitioned from a state into two union territories with a wary Valley shutting down as it has for 88 days and Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the “new system” is aimed at “building a strong link of trust”.

President Ram Nath Kovind revoked President’s rule imposed in the restive state, long the centre of global attention, and took over control of the administration of the two new union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

This is the first time that a state is being downsized into union territories, the two new entities taking the total number of UTs to nine and bringing down the number of states in India to 28.

This was in accordance with the government’s August 5 announcement withdrawing the state’s special status under Article 370 and bifurcating it into union territories.

Girish Chandra Murmu in Jammu and Kashmir and Radha Krishna Mathur in Ladakh stepped into history as the first lieutenant governors of the new union territories. Jammu and Kashmir High Court Chief Justice Gita Mittal administered the oath of office to the new appointees, first in Leh and then later in the day in Srinagar.

As the changes came into effect, the Prime Minister was at the Statue of Unity in Kevadiya in Gujarat where he paid glowing tributes to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his 144th birth anniversary and led the “national unity pledge”.

Defending the abrogation of Article 370, he said the special status provisions only generated terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir.

“The new system in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh is not meant to draw a line on the land (to draw a boundary) but to build a strong link of trust,” the Prime Minister said.

In a swipe at Pakistan, he said those “who cannot win wars” against India are trying to destroy its unity.

“The country took the decision of abrogation of Article 370, which had given only separatism and terrorism to that state,” Modi said.

“Patel had once said that had he handled the Kashmir issue, it would not have taken so long to resolve it,” Modi said, in a veiled swipe at Jawaharlal Nehru, the country’s first prime minister whom the ruling BJP often blames for the Kashmir issue.

Addressing a gathering in the national capital, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Articles 370 and 35A were the gateway of terrorism into Jammu and Kashmir. Modi closed the gateway by repealing them, he said.

With this move, the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir and the Ranbir Penal Code have ceased to exist.

In the Kashmir Valley, however, it was another day of shutdowns and tension with markets shut, deserted roads and children staying away from school.

“This is a decision against our interests. They have robbed us of our special status and our identity,” Muzammil Mohamad, a resident of Srinagar’s Civil Lines area, said.

Another local, Umer Zargar, said, “Kashmir was a disputed territory and India’s decision was illegal, immoral and unconstitutional.”

“India cannot abrogate Article 370. This issue is in the United Nations. There are resolutions on it. This decision is illegal, immoral and unconstitutional,” he said.

For the third consecutive day, no vendors set up stalls on the TRC Chowk-Lal Chowk road, the officials said.

The roadside vendors, who had regularly set up their stalls over the past two months, have not been turning up for business since Tuesday when a delegation of EU parliamentarians landed for a two-day visit to assess the situation.

Landline and post-paid mobile phone services have been restored across the Valley, but all internet services continued to remain suspended since the night of August 4.

Most top-level and second-rung separatist politicians have been taken into preventive custody while mainstream leaders, including two former chief ministers–Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti–have been either detained or placed under house arrest.

Lok Sabha MP from Srinagar Farooq Abdullah has been arrested under the controversial Public Safety Act, a law enacted by his father and National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in 1978 when he was the chief minister.

In a late-night notification on Wednesday, the Home Ministry replaced the state of Jammu and Kashmir with the “union territory of Jammu and Kashmir” and announced omission of “permanent residents or hereditary state subjects”.

The ministry’s Jammu and Kashmir division announced a slew of measures, including application of central laws to the state. PTI

IAF’s policy of 2011 under which Sqn Leader Sangeetha Damodar was denied permanent commission not applicable in her case, says AFT

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 28

Eight years after a woman IAF officer was released from service after her claim for permanent commission was declined, she may be reinstated in service as the Armed Forces Tribunal has held that the policy under which her claim was rejected was not applicable in her case.

In her petition, Sqn Ldr Sangeetha Damodar had averred that she was not granted permanent commission by applying the eligibility criteria under the IAF’s policy of August 2011 whereas she ought to have been considered under the policy issued in November 2010.

Setting aside the IAF order that rejected her claim for permanent commission, the AFT, in its order earlier this month, directed the IAF to consider her case on the basis of the IAF’s policy of November 2010, read with the policy of September 2004, within four months and if found eligible, reinstate her in service.

Sqn Ldr Damodar joined the IAF as a short service commission officer in July 2000 and was released from service in August 2011.

She contended that she was commissioned on the basis of a letter issued in June 2003, which was reiterated in the policy of September 2004 that listed the criteria for grant of extension to women short service commission officers. The policy did not provide for permanent commission to women officers.

Some women officers had approached the Delhi High Court for grant of permanent commission, which allowed their petitions in March 2010, making all women officers eligible for grant of permanent commission on the same parameters as applicable to male short service officers.

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Dera Baba Nanak, October 25

The Punjab Government, apparently to prevent a repeat of last November’s function when Vice-President Venkaihah Naidu laid the inauguration stone of the Kartapur corridor amid controversy and chaos, has formed various committees and sub-committees to ensure all impediments pertaining to the corridor’s opening are removed well in time.

Last year’s November 26 fiasco is playing heavily on the minds of ministers and officials alike forcing them to make preparations in advance. At that time two venues were prepared, one by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the other by the Punjab Government under the supervision of Cabinet minister and local MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa. Chaos ruled supreme and there was even talk of calling of the festivities at the eleventh hour because of the confusion. Finally things were sorted out after Randhawa prevailed upon the NHAI to hold a joint function.

This time, apparently to remove any confusion occurring due to possible over-lapping of responsibilities, all committees and sub-committees have been asked to report to Randhawa.

The Cooperation Department has been given charge of the main ‘pandal’ following which five senior IAS officers have been deputed to supervise.

The ‘pandal’ is being established just adjacent to the Tent City on the T-point which is an area on the Kalanaur-Dera Baba Nanak road from where a road branches off to the International Border, the site of the corridor.

Sources said the selection of leaders who will deliver speeches is yet to be sorted out. “The speakers should be chosen in advance to avoid a fracas like it happened during the vice-president’s visit. Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal, much against the wishes of many Punjab ministers, was allowed to deliver an extempore but once on the stage she went off in a tangent extolling the achievements of the Modi government before a minister complained to Naidu about her alleged misdemeanour. I have been made to understand that this time the list will be prepared jointly by the state and Union governments and will have the final approval of the Prime Minister’s Office,” said a senior officer.

The PWD has been made the nodal agency to supervise the facilities at the Tent City which will house nearly 3,500 pilgrims. The tents have been divided into three categories. Langar (community kitchen) will be served by the management of Ghalari Sahib Gurdwara.

Three parking lots are being established, two within the city and one on the outskirts. Buses will be plied from these lots till the ‘Darshan Sthal’ where the BSF is in the process of installing 11 high resolution telescopes.

Dera Baba Nanak SDM Gursimran Singh said several religious organisations had been asked to hold community kitchens till the rush of devotees subsides.

Batala SSP Opinderjit Singh Ghuman has been made head of the committee which would supervise the security arrangements. A special police cell is being set up to oversee the movement of VVIPs which is likely to include PM Modi, his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh, CM Capt Amarinder Singh, MPs, Ministers and MLAs.

PWD nodal agency for Tent City

• The PWD has been made the nodal agency to supervise the facilities at the Tent City which will house nearly 3,500 pilgrims
• Batala SSP Opinderjit Singh Ghuman has been made head of the committee which will supervise the security arrangements.
• A special police cell is being set up to oversee the movement of VVIPs which is likely to include PM Modi, his predecessor Dr Manmohan Singh, CM Capt Amarinder Singh, MPs, Ministers and MLAs.

Washington, October 22

The US on Tuesday said it supported a direct dialogue between India and Pakistan as outlined in the Simla Agreement, asserting that the “chief obstacle” to talks remained Islamabad’s continued support to extremist groups that engaged in cross-border terrorism.

“We believe that direct dialogue between India and Pakistan, as outlined in the 1972 Simla Agreement, holds the most potential for reducing tensions,” Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Alice G Wells told the Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and Nonproliferation of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

She said that during the 2006-2007 backchannel negotiations, India and Pakistan reportedly made significant progress on a number of issues, including Kashmir.

“History shows us what is possible,” Wells said in a prepared statement submitted to the Congressional subcommittee on the eve of the hearing ‘Human Rights in South Asia: Views from the State Department and the Region’.

“Restarting a productive bilateral dialogue requires building trust, and the chief obstacle remains Pakistan’s continued support for extremist groups that engage in cross-border terrorism,” she said.

The United States, Wells said, welcomed Prime Minister Imran Khan’s recent unambiguous statement that terrorists from Pakistan who carried out violence in Kashmir are enemies of both Kashmiris and Pakistan.

“Pakistan’s harbouring of terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Muhammed, which seek to foment violence across the Line of Control, is destabilising, and Pakistani authorities remain accountable for their actions,” she said in a warning to Pakistan.

“We believe the foundation of any successful dialogue between India and Pakistan is based on Pakistan taking sustained and irreversible steps against militants and terrorists in its territory,” Wells said.

Both President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had met and spoken with their Indian and Pakistani counterparts multiple times, including at the recent United Nations General Assembly, to encourage dialogue, she told the lawmakers in the prepared statement.

Observing that the security situation in Kashmir remained tense, Wells said clashes between youth and security forces are a regular occurrence, and Indian forces killed suspected terrorists in multiple firefights last week.

“We are concerned about reports of local and foreign militants attempting to intimidate local residents and business owners in order to stymie normal economic activity. The United States supports the rights of Kashmiris to peacefully protest, but condemns the actions of terrorists who seek to use violence and fear to undermine dialogue,” she said. PTI

New Delhi, October 17

Intelligence agencies have alerted the government that at least five ISI-backed Pakistan terrorists, highly trained, are placed in Nepal to infiltrate into India either through Uttar Pradesh or Bihar border ahead of Diwali, sources said.

Sources in the agencies said telephonic intercepts of conversations between the terrorists in Nepal and their handlers in Pakistan suggest they have a plan to strike in India in a big way with the help of a few of the home-grown Kashmiri militants, who will meet them in Delhi.

Their last location was found to be near Gorakhpur on Nepal border, but for a few days they stayed at Beerganj, near Raxaul border in Bihar. Officials in the MHA said following the input, a high alert has been issued across the country.

On Wednesday, several defence bases in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab were put on orange alert after intelligence inputs suggested a group of terrorists is planning to target these, they said, adding a general alert had already been issued on August 5, when the government took the decision to do away with special status to J&K under Article 370.

In the last week of September, the multi-agency centre that collates data and inputs from human intelligence, radio intercepts and other sources had indicated that 60 terrorists had infiltrated into India since the government’s decision on Article 370, but most of them could manage through LoC. — TNS

Impending threat  

• Inputs suggest 60 terrorists infiltrated into India after decision on Article 370. Most entered through the LoC
• Around 450-500 ultras are there in Pak & PoK; 250 are at launch pads as well as camps along the LoC

New Delhi, October 15

Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat on Tuesday pitched for greater inclusion of indigenous technology in the armed forces and asserted that India will fight and win the next war with home-grown solutions.

In his address at the 41st DRDO Directors Conference, he also said the development of weaponry and other systems should be done keeping “future warfare” in mind.

“And, if we are looking at the contours of future warfare, it may not necessarily be contact warfare. So, there is realm of non-contact warfare. We need to start looking at development of cyberspace, space, laser, electronic warfare and robotics… and, along with that Artificial Intelligence (AI),” Rawat said.

“And, if we do not start thinking on it now, it will be too late,” he said.

He praised the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for its achievements in the last few decades and said India is making great strides in research and development. “We are confident the services will greatly benefit from it,” he said.

“India is one of the largest importers of weapons and ammunition, and after 70 years of Independence, it is not a very proud statement to make. But in the past few years, it is changing. DRDO is striving to ensure our requirements of services are met with home-grown solutions,” Rawat said.

“We are confident that we will fight and win the next war with indigenous weapon system,” the Army chief said.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh was the guest of honour at the inaugural session of the two-day event held at the DRDO Bhawan here.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria, Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh and DRDO chief G Satheesh Reddy were also present on the dais on the occasion.

The defence minister earlier paid tribute to former president APJ Kalam by garlanding his bust at the DRDO premises as the event coincided with the 88th birth anniversary of the distinguished scientist.

“Let us get inspired by his life and work towards realising his dream of making India a developed country through scientific advancement,” Singh said.

He also emphasised on the aspects of disruptive technologies that is changing the world and asserted that “India will have to emerge as a leader in this”.

Singh also pitched for working on indigenous system towards making the country “fully self-reliant”.

“All stakeholders must come together and hold interactions and come up with action plans as far as research is concerned, so as to increase our defence capabilities to take India to a new height,” the minister said.

Doval said, to make a strong and secure India, the role of DRDO would be very important. — PTI