http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation/42-killed-in-pak-air-base-attack/135043.html
42 killed in Pak air
base attack
16 offering prayers
among dead | 13 militants from Pak Taliban shot
Afzal Khan from
Islamabad
At least 42 persons,
including 13 militants, were killed on Friday when heavily armed Taliban
terrorists in military uniforms launched a brazen attack on a Pakistan Air
Force base and a mosque inside the compound, in one of the deadliest assaults
on a defence facility.
A group of gunmen
wearing explosives-laden jackets and armed with grenades, mortars, AK-47 rifles
attacked a guard post as they tried to fight their way into the Badaber air
base, 6 km outside Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
At least 16 persons
offering prayers at a mosque inside the air force camp were shot dead by the
militants, military spokesman Major General Asim Bajwa said.
Addressing a press
conference he said that seven other people were killed in the ablution area of
the mosque.
An army captain was
also among 29 persons killed in the attack on the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) base
and a mosque inside it, Geo TV reported. (With PTI inputs)
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/civil-military-divide-mind-the-gap/134014.html
Civil-military
divide: Mind the gap
The OROP crisis
highlights the long-simmering distrust between the government and the defence
services. This is dangerous. Seemingly little things can trigger disaffection
because the world view of the civilians is opposed to that of the defence
personnel.
THE Pakistan Army
originated in the Indian Army, their bureaucrats and politicians were once
ours. And yet, a breakdown of relations between them has led to terrible
consequences. Virtually the same thing happened in Myanmar. Servicemen, of all
nationalities, believe that politicians
are driven by a hunger for power; bureaucrats by a thirst for the privileges of
tenure in office. Similarly, netas and babus, worldwide, are convinced that
Servicemen are uniformed dolts, fit only to carry out orders and become cannon
fodder. The OROP imbroglio is the result of these skewed perceptions.
This is not a new
problem. Warriors of many societies, throughout history, tended to associate
with other like-minded people. They were the artisans of war as others were
specialists in construction, copper crafting, medicine or worship.
Professionals tended to cluster together, share technical secrets, intermarry
and form themselves into guilds. In the late Vedic period in our land, these professional
guilds coalesced into exclusive castes. This proud exclusivity is the source of
the problem.
Defence personnel
have evolved into an exclusive guild, a jati. Their cohesion is insured by
self-contained, sequestered, environments, adherence to revered customs and
traditions, and unquestioning loyalty to their comrades. When your life depends
on others, trust is obligatory. It cannot be bought because no one will put a
price on his or her life. This was brought into sharp focus during one of the
annual cruises organised for Members of Parliament by the Indian Navy. An MP
asked one of our officers, “For a poor country like ours, don't you think you
are being paid too much?” The Lieutenant smiled at the politician “What price
do you put on your life, sir?” The neta
was taken aback. “How can I put a price on my life? How can anyone?” The young
officer nodded, “Exactly. When your life is threatened by an enemy, we put our
lives on the line to protect you. My salary is your life insurance, sir”. The
MP smiled wanly and waddled away.
Service personnel
face frequent transfers, retire young and are unable to put down their roots
long enough to acquire the wealth of their peers in other professions. They
have had to find another ballast to give purpose to their lives: honour. They
are sustained by the driving power of honour. The Japanese samurai had their
bushido code, “the way of the warrior”, valuing honour more than life. Rajputs
had a similar code. When Rajput warriors faced certain defeat, their women and
children immolated themselves, while the men rushed out armed and naked
welcoming the glory of death on the battlefield as a matter of martial honour.
They were not paid to die: they were inspired to die. Such traditions gave rise
to guilds of professional fighters, eventually forming the Kshatriya caste of
hereditary warriors.
The OROP imbroglio is an auto-immune
affliction born out of the guild-caste stratification of our society. The
British structured their Indian Army on such variations. The mores of our Armed
Forces glorify these distinctions, while widening the gap between servicemen
and civilians. This has also given rise to a conflict of perceptions.
The Defence Services
tend to see the world in terms of black and white, right and wrong. There is no
time for doubts on the battlefield. Their civilian counterparts, however, spend
their lives adjusting and compromising. It is difficult for one to understand
the other, or not to have a mutual contempt for each other. Nevertheless, this
dichotomy is hazardous and must not be allowed to grow. Seemingly little things can trigger
disaffection. The British officers of the East India Company's Army thought
that the grease used on their bullets was an insignificant thing. This “misunderstanding” festered and led to
the trauma of 1857 and the eventual crash of the British Empire.
As a couple that has
experienced life on both sides of the gap, we don't believe that things have
reached that impasse. But we do see disturbing signs of disaffection. When
service personnel put up a complaint to their seniors, they never use the word
“we”. We implies collective action and, unlike in civilian organisations,
collective action is anathema in the Defence Services. Clearly, ex-servicemen,
brought up in this tradition, must have been hard pressed to stage a public
protest. Their conduct is being watched with anguish by their sons and
daughters who are serving personnel.
In particular, the
decision to pit one uniformed service against another, to use young policemen
to manhandle grey-haired, retired soldiers engaged in a peaceful, permitted
protest was one of the most ill-advised actions taken by any state. It was our
Tiananmen moment. It was the reprehensible act of a cowardly state masquerading
in a masculine image. Its subsequent silence on this shameful event has not
been interpreted as toughness but as the shame of a guilty mind. This
disgraceful incident has been discussed and dissected wherever servicemen and
their families meet and, naturally, in the absence of a sincere apology or
explanation, it is growing in size and gravity. When this burgeoning chimera
eventually emerges to confront its presumed tormentors, the consequences could
be very ugly.
Any attempt at
appeasement by offering incentives to one section of ex-servicemen and not the
other, jawans vs officers for instance, will be seen as the divisive tactic of
netas and babus who feather their own nests at every opportunity but throw
crumbs to the Services. The offer may be accepted by some, but the tactic will
be viewed with contempt. The only way to douse this smouldering discontent is
to meet the veterans head-on, discuss things with them, arrive at unequivocal
terms, and stick to those conditions. Don't depend on smarmy doublespeak and
prevarications, or diktat and fiat to ride roughshod over their objections.
Other governments have tried such ill-advised tactics and failed. And if these
lessons are forgotten, look across our western border.
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/jammu-kashmir/five-militants-killed-as-army-foils-infiltration-bid-in-gurez/134869.html
Five militants
killed as Army foils infiltration bid in Gurez
Majid Jahangir
Tribune News Service
Srinagar, September
18
Five unidentified
militants were killed as the Army foiled a fresh infiltration attempt in north
Kashmir. It was the first infiltration bid in the Gurez sector of Bandipore
district along the Line of Control this year.
Sources said there
was prior information about the infiltration of four to five heavily armed
militants from the sector and troops had stepped up surveillance in the area.
The militants were
intercepted within a kilometre after crossing the LoC and they were engaged by
the troops in the dense forest in Kanzalwan, Gurez, nearly 125 km from here
around midnight.
“The group of heavily armed
militants was challenged and they opened fire, triggering a fierce encounter.
The militants divided themselves into small groups as they took cover in rocks
and bushes. At dawn, bodies of two militants were recovered. The firefight
continued till 1 pm today and three more bodies were recovered from different
spots in the forest taking the toll to five,” a source said.
The identity and group
affiliation of the slain militants is being established. Defence spokesman Col
N N Joshi here said the search operation was continuing in the forest area.
“The alert soldiers effectively
foiled the infiltration bid and killed five terrorists who were trying to
infiltrate through the LoC in the Gurez sector. Five AK- 47 rifles, 1 RPG
(rocket propelled grenade) and 1 UBGL (under barrel grenade launcher) were
recovered from the encounter site,” he said.
Gurez was once a key infiltration
route for militants and the sector had witnessed many deadly firefights in the
past. But in past few years, there has not been much infiltration. However,
defence sources said those who attempt to sneak through the Gurez sector were
better trained and relatively well equipped as it was the most treacherous
stretch to sneak into the Valley along the LoC in Kashmir region.
Defence sources said militants
had stepped up efforts to sneak into the Valley as mountain passes along the
LoC were likely to get closed by next month due to snow. Infiltration by
militants into the Kashmir valley recedes in winter months as the heavy
snowfall blocks mountain passes along the LoC.
Prior to the Gurez gunfight,
Army had this year foiled 12 attempts by militants to sneak into the Valley
from across the LoC. The majority of the infiltration bids were made in north
Kashmir's Kupwara district. The Army said 23 militants were killed in these
infiltration attempts.
http://echoofindia.com/siliguri-defence-correspondents-course-young-journalists-94681
Defence
correspondents course for young journalists
Defence
Correspondents Course 2015 for journalists from electronic and print media was
conducted in Trishakti Corps from 05 Sep to 17 Sep 15. The course was attended
by 32 journalists including Gp Capt TK Singha, CPRO, Kolkata. The course was
conducted in two phases with the Army Module conducted at Sevoke Road from 05
to 11 Sep 15 and Forward Area Tour conducted from 12 to 16 Sep 15 in Sikkim.
The journalists were given an exposure to various training and operational
aspects of the Army including their interaction with forward troops. It was an
enriching experience for the young journalists who are entering into defence
journalism.
General Officer
Commanding Trishakti Corps addressed the course and expressed hope that the
participants would carry valuable lessons from the course which would help them
in defence related reporting in future.
Defence
Correspondents Course is meant for journalists from the print and electronic
media to acquaint them with the nuances of the armed forces to help become
Defence Journalists.
http://www.outlookindia.com/news/article/sc-asks-centre-to-apprise-about-batch-parity-in-army-promotion/913472
SC Asks Centre to
Apprise About Batch Parity in Army Promotion
The Supreme Court
today asked the government to apprise it about the factual position on the
issue of "batch parity" in promotion of army officers of the rank of
Colonel and above belonging to various branches like the Armoured Corps,
Engineering, Infantry and Artillery.
A bench comprising
Justices T S Thakur and Kurian Joseph asked Additional Solicitor General
Maninder Singh, appearing for the Ministry of Defence, to state the factual and
legal positions on the issue concerning army promotions.
The issue was raised
when Meenakshi Lekhi, appearing for some Army officers, alleged that the 2009
promotion policy was aimed at providing an edge to officers of the Infantry and
discriminated against officers belonging to other divisions.
The ASG referred to
the existing policy and said that army officers of certain branches were given
"combat edge" in promotions and it has never been disputed.
Lekhi, however, said
the position in the army was not like UPSC where promotions of IAS, IPS and
other cadres are based on rankings. The successful candidates of NDA and CDS in
the army are considered as a group and cannot be discriminated in promotions,
she contended.
The bench will
resume hearing the matter on September 22.
Earlier, the court
had asked the Centre to file a response as to whether it had approved the
Army's "command exit promotion" policy which was quashed by the Armed
Forces Tribunal (AFT) meant for officers of the rank of Colonel and above from
January 2009.
It had also asked
the Defence Secretary to file an affidavit stating "whether the government
had accepted the recommendations of the AV Singh Committee (AVSC) with regard
to the 'command exit promotion policy'".
The bench is hearing
the appeal of the Defence Ministry against AFT's decision to quash Army's
'command exit promotion' policy on the ground that it violated Article 14
(right to equality) of the Constitution.
The apex court had
on March 25 stayed the March 2 decision of AFT to quash Army's promotion
policy.
Some army officers
had claimed that the new promotion policy had adversely affected them as it was
"arbitrary" and "highly skewed" in favour of Infantry and
Artillery, as compared to other branches of the Army. (More)
Earlier, the court
had asked the Defence Ministry to file its rejoinder to the response of the
officers on whose plea the AFT had passed the order.
Advocate Meenakshi
Lekhi, appearing for several officers, had submitted that all ranks of
personnel from Colonel and above would be affected due to the
"biased" promotion policy.
She was appearing
for the main petitioners including Lt Col P K Choudhary on whose plea AFT had
said that the 2009 promotion policy had resulted in preferential promotions to
officers of select branches of Army and hence should be scrapped.
Some of the army
officers had said that personnel of all combative divisions except Infantry and
Artillery have joined the fight against the 2009 promotion policy.
In its appeal, the
government had justified the promotion policy, saying the Army, being the
employer, has a right to have its promotion policy and AFT should not have
interfered in the "policy decision".
It further said the
age profile of unit commanders in Pakistan and Chinese armies was 35 and 40
years respectively and hence the age limit of battalion commanders in Indian
Army also needed to be less.
The government had
in 2001 asked the Chief of Army Staff to refer the recommendations of AV Singh
Committee (AVSC) on restructuring of the officer cadre of the Army. The AVSC
report was aimed at reducing the age of battalion commanders.
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