Time to act, not talk’, Punjab CM wants mix of military, diplomatic, economic measures against pak

Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh.

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, February 18

Asserting that the entire country was fed up with the senseless killings of Indian soldiers every day, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday called for tough coercive action against Pakistan, which he suggested could be military, diplomatic or economic, or a combination of all three.

Advocating a strong stance in the wake of the Pulwama terror carnage, the Chief Minister said it was for the Centre to decide what form of action should be taken, but it was clear that some measures had to be taken urgently. “India wants it now,” he declared during a chat with some TV channels.

“No one is asking anyone to go to war, but these killing of soldiers is not a joke. Something has to be done. I am fed up, the country is fed up,” said a visibly-agitated Amarinder, adding that he was not asking for war but definitely wanted tit-for-tat action against Pakistan.

“Pakistan can’t hold India to ransom just because they are a nuclear nation, even we are nuclear,” pointed out the Chief Minister, observing that they had nuclear capability even during Kargil but were defeated by the Indian forces. In any case, Islamabad could never resort to use of nuke weapons, as international pressure would not allow that, he said, suggesting that New Delhi should call Pakistan’s bluff against such threats.

It was for the Indian Prime Minister and Defence Minister to decide what action should be taken now, but it was clear that something needed to be done, said an emotional Capt Amarinder, adding that “there is time for talk but that is not now”.

At the moment, there was palpable anger across the country, which wanted some strong measures by the Indian government, he asserted.

The ex-Army man, whose first love has always been the Army, declared that, “If they (Pak-backed terrorists) kill our soldiers, we have to do something.” Calling for a proactive role in destroying the safe havens of the terrorists, he said terror organisations within Jammu & Kashmir have to be dealt with. “We should get 82 of them since 41 of our men have been killed, the Chief Minister asserted, demanding an ‘eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’.

‘Army should go after Jaish’

Lamenting that the Army had softened since those days when he had joined it 50 years ago, the Chief Minister said they should go after Jaish-e-Mohammad in Kashmir, instead of firing pellets and blinding youth. “Let’s win their hearts and minds with love,” he said, urging the Army not to look at Kashmiri youth as their enemies.

The message needs to go out to Pakistan – stop meddling in J&K and stop promoting terror; enough is enough, said the Chief Minister, adding that the Pak hand in Pulwama was clear. It was evidently the Army that was calling the shots there, with Prime Minister Imran Khan also a plant of the military, he said.

“The Indian government should take whatever measures required to tackle the terror and we will support them,” he said, adding that inputs could be taken from central agencies like RAW to formulate a structured strategy to deal with the situation. Questions were bound to be asked on the issue of intelligence failure in Pulwama, said the Chief Minister, adding that the government would need to answer for that.

Pointing out that ISI had tried to whip up mischief even in Punjab, where they had been unsuccessful, Amarinder called for a clear-cut policy framework to deal with them. “I have sent out the message loud and clear that our police force is not the same as it was in the 80s and 90s, but has been through the baptism of fire and is ready to deal with their sinister and evil designs,” he added.

If China and Muslim countries stop giving them doles, they (Pakistan) will be left struggling with a begging bowl in hand, the Chief Minister suggested. He called for a global diplomatic offensive against Pakistan, mooting harsh measures to put a lid, once and for all, on Islamabad’s anti-India actions. The surgical strikes had not achieved anything, he commented, adding that Islamabad needs to be made to understand that Indian soldiers are not dispensable.

Asked to comment on the attacks on Kashmiri students and others in the wake of the Pulwama incident, Capt Amarinder asserted they were very much part of the country and Punjab would ensure their full protection. Everyone in the force is one family and we are identified by our units not religion, he added, pointing to the unity in the Army as an example for the entire nation to emulate.

On removal of photographs of Pakistani cricketers from the Mohali stadium, the Chief Minister said while he was not aware of the incident, it seemed like an emotional reaction, possibly by some clerk.

The Chief Minister hoped the Pulwama incident would not push back the Kartarpur initiative, which was the realisation of the aspirations of the entire Sikh community and with which his own grandfather was closely associated, having rebuilt it after the floods in 1920s.

The inquiry will investigate allegations of financial and procedural irregularities made against him.

The Army has ordered an inquiry against the Commander of an artillery brigade in Bathinda to investigate allegations of financial and procedural irregularities made against him.

Highly placed sources in the Army have informed The Indian Express that the one-man inquiry against the Brigadier (name withheld) has been ordered by the Jaipur-based South Western Command. It is being conducted by Maj Gen ARS Kahlon, who is the General Officer Commanding of an armoured division based in Hisar, Haryana.

It is learnt that the irregularities were pointed out in some complaints made to the South Western Command Headquarters following which the one-man inquiry was ordered. The irregularities pertain to the purported repairs which were to be done to the Gun House — the official residence of the artillery brigade commander — as well as the stay of a woman in the guest room of the officers mess which was booked in the name of the brigade commander.

When contacted a senior officer in the Army Headquarters confirmed that the inquiry was on. He further said that the one-man inquiry had been ordered to ascertain the allegations which had been made in the complaints and if there was any requirement to proceed further and order a full fledged Court of Inquiry. “The inquiry is still in progress and is yet to be finalised,” the officer said.

A one-man inquiry is often ordered in the Army to investigate certain allegations against officers at a preliminary stage. If any truth is found in the allegations then a formal Court of Inquiry is ordered in which there are three members including one officer senior in rank to the person against whom the inquiry is being held and two officers of similar rank as the person facing the inquiry.

The present Chief of Army Staff, General Bipin Rawat, has given strict instructions to deal with any incident of impropriety or moral turpitude with strong hands. There have been a number of cases in the past two and a half years where even senior officers have faced dismissal from service after having faced a General Courts Martial for the offences committed by them.

Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Dinanagar (Gurdaspur), Feb 16

CRPF Sepoy Maninder Singh was cremated with full military honours at Dinanagar. Anti-Pakistan sentiment ran high among the thousands of mourners who bid adieu to the soldier.

The martyr’s body, wrapped in the Tricolour, was taken through the main roads of the city with more than 3,000 people raising slogans against Pakistan. Shops remained closed till noon.

The pyre was lit by Maninder’s elder brother Lakhwinder Singh who arrived early this morning from Shillong, where he is posted as a constable with the CRPF.

Union minister Vijay Sampla led the mourning. Cabinet minister Aruna Chaudhury was also present.

Cabinet minister and Dera Baba Nanak MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said he would organise a prayer meeting “to ensure the prayers of the community of letting the Kartarpur corridor see the light of the day do not go waste.”

He added, “Maninder’s sacrifice will not go in vain. I have written to the Union government to build a memorial in memory of the brave soldier.”

BJP leader Kavita Khanna sent her condolences to Satpal Attri, father of Maninder.

Prominent among those who were present were DIG, CRPF, DL Gola, DIG (Border) AS Chahal, Pathankot MLA Amit Vij, Ashok Chaudhury, husband of Aruna Chaudhury, Deputy Commissioner Vipul Ujwal, SDM Sakattar Singh Bal, former MLAs Gurbachan Singh Babbehali and Sucha Singh Chottepur, senior BJP leader Swaran Singh Salaria and former Cabinet minister Master Mohan Lal.

New Delhi, March 9

A retired Major General is facing court martial after the Army found that he had produced wrong information to avail a higher disability pension, official sources said today.

The officer was serving in the Military Training Directorate until he retired in August 2017. The disciplinary proceedings against the retired officer are being initiated under the provisions of the Army Act.

The Army has mentioned four charges against him, including furnishing of wrong information that led to him receiving a high disability pension post-retirement. Officers, soldiers are entitled for an extra pension, which is non-taxable, if they meet with an injury during service. The officer had claimed that he had met with an accident in 2010. — PTI

Arun Joshi

Tribune News Service

Jammu, February 14

Today’s terror incident on the Srinagar-Jammu highway in which nearly 40 CRPF men were killed in a suicide attack by a Jaish-e-Mohammad recruit of Pulwama district in south Kashmir has brought forth the dangerous situation that spotlights Kashmir and the ramifications of which are likely to travel beyond the borders. The toll is the highest-ever in the state.

The toll is more than that of the 2002 Kaluchak (near Jammu) massacre in which more than 30 soldiers, their wives and children were killed in May 2002 when the Indian and Pakistan armies were in an eyeball- to-eyeball position following the December 13, 2001, terror attack on Parliament.

The attack carried out by a local youth, Adil, of Kakpora is not purely local as the Jaish-e-Mohammad group that owned the responsibility for it has its policy and planning headquarters in Pakistan protected by Rawalpindi.

The attack has come less than a fortnight after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke of fight to finish against terrorism during his visit to the state early this month. He had specifically mentioned how the Indian forces had subdued terrorism by undertaking surgical strikes against Pakistan after the attack in Uri in September 2016. In the Uri incident, 20 soldiers were killed by Lashkar militants.

Governor Satya Pal Malik has traced the attack to inimical forces across the border, as he said, “Visibly it seems to be guided from across the border as the Jaish has claimed the responsibility for it.” He also vowed to finish the inimical forces. That is an indication of intensified counter-terrorism in the coming days and a robust response to Pakistan’s provocations on the Line of Control that separates Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The Jaish-e-Mohammad outfit claimed the responsibility for the attack to spotlight its exploits and to raise the level of confrontation between India and Pakistan which were paving a path of peace and reconciliation with the Kartarpur corridor. The problem, however, is that the so-called non-state actors have the protection and patronage of state actors. No action was taken against Masood Azhar even after the terror assault on the Pathankot airbase in the opening days of 2016.

Former J&K Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah had warned the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government of the consequences of setting free Masood Azhar, then with Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, and two others in exchange of the passengers and crew of the hijacked airliner IC-814 parked in Kandahar on December 31, 1999.

He had told Vajpayee and LK Advani that it would cost many more lives than were at the stake at that moment. His prophecy has turned out to be true time and again since then.

Within weeks of his release, Azhar founded Jaish-e-Mohammad and mounted severe suicide attacks at prominent places — the first was a car suicide bombing by a local youth outside the gate of Badami Bagh cantonment, Srinagar, resulting in more than 20 deaths in April 2000. The attacks on the Legislative Assembly on October 1, 2001, and Parliament in December 13, 2001, were joint operations by Jaish and Lashkar militant outfits.

Social media is already abuzz with calls for revenge and the government would be judged by the retaliation standards that it claims to have set with the surgical strikes in response to the Uri attack. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has already warned: “Terrorists will be given a unforgettable lesson for their heinous act.”

At present, the IAF’s Mirage-2000 are equipped with the SPICE-2000 bombs and these aircraft were used in the pre-dawn strike on the biggest terror camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in Pakistan recently.

New Delhi: The Indian Air Force (IAF) is in the process of equipping its Su-30MKI with Israeli SPICE-2000 laser-guided bombs, as part of its effort to make the fighter jets more potent, sources said.

At present, the IAF’s Mirage-2000 are equipped with the SPICE-2000 bombs and these aircraft were used in the pre-dawn strike on the biggest terror camp of the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Pakistan recently.
“The IAF is in the process of equipping Su-30MKI with Israeli SPICE-2000 bombs, to make the fighter jets more potent,” a source said.
The move comes amid heightened tensions in ties between India and Pakistan.

A fleet of Mirage 2000 deep-penetration fighter jets was chosen for the non-military, preemptive strike on February 26 on the camp of the JeM in Pakistan due to the combat aircraft’s capabilities of hitting long-range targets with “pin-point” accuracy and dropping a range of bombs and missiles, including laser-guided ones, government sources had earlier said.

In a statement released on February 26, foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale had said India struck the JeM’s camp in Balakot and that a very large number of JeM terrorists, trainers, senior commanders and groups of jihadis who were being trained for fidayeen action were eliminated.

The air strike had escalated tensions between the two countries, with New Delhi saying its move was a “non-military and preemptive strike”.

Meanwhile, government sources in New Delhi said on Tuesday that India will have “all options” available in case there is another cross-border terror attack, while maintaining that the counter-terror strikes in Balakot were intended to demonstrate the “capacity and will” to act against terror network in Pakistan.

Jammu, January 29

A group of faculty and course members from the National Defence College led by tour coordinator Banita Devi Naorem called on Governor Satya Pal Malik at Raj Bhawan here on Tuesday.

The group of officers from armed forces and civil services who are on study trip to J&K comprised Brig Satish Dahiya, Air Cdre S Dutta, Brig V Parida, Col Sani Ahmed (Nigerian Army), Brig Sanjeev Kumar, Col Myo Htut Win (Myanmar), Col Brett Paul Chaloner (Australian Army), Brig Yogesh Chaudhary, Brig V S Sekhon, Ponugumatla Ramjee, Cdre Subir Mukherjee, Captain MD Hasan Tarique Mondal (Bangladesh Army) and Brig Ajay Kumar.

During an interaction, the Governor shared his perspective about the Kashmir issue and initiatives taken by his administration in meeting the aspirations of people about investment, environment, tourism potential, education scenario and ongoing developmental programmes in the state. — TNS

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