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https://www.thecitizen.in/opinion/raining-lathees-on-the-future-of-india-1356544
The Constitution gives every citizen the right to protest peacefully. In Delhi, the state has designated exactly one place for it: a stretch of pavement at Jantar Mantar, hemmed in by barricades, within walking distance of Parliament and safely out of its sight. What happens on that pavement tells us what the right is now worth. Consider who has been dragged off it in the last decade: Olympic medallists, decorated soldiers, and schoolchildren. Also Read – A Ceasefire Without Peace In January 2023, some of India’s most decorated wrestlers — Sakshi Malik, Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia among them — sat down at Jantar Mantar and accused Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, then president of the Wrestling Federation of India and a six-term MP of the ruling party, of sexually harassing junior wrestlers over several years. Delhi Police registered FIRs only in April, after months of protest and a nudge from the Supreme Court. DownloadInteractive Maps Also Read – Not A Celebrity, Just An IAS Officer On May 28, as the wrestlers set out towards the new Parliament building, the police did not ask them to leave. They were dragged off the road and detained — national champions, hauled away like contraband, in front of the cameras. On August 3 this year, a Rouse Avenue court acquitted Singh, holding that the prosecution had not proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. That verdict must be respected; it is also worth stating precisely what it means and does not mean. It closed a trial that ran 127 hearings over 1,133 days. It did not establish that the complaints were false, and the wrestlers’ counsel has indicated an appeal. Nor does it retrospectively license what was done on the road on May 28, 2023. Also Read – Is Siang Dam Construction Advisable? Whether or not the allegations could be proved three years later, the women were entitled to make them from a pavement the state had designated for exactly that purpose, without being manhandled. The strength of the case has nothing to do with the propriety of the policing, and one should not be used to excuse the other. Before the wrestlers came the veterans. The One Rank One Pension dharna of 2015 was the quietest agitation this country has seen; the men sat in ranks, and largely did not even raise slogans. On August 14, on the eve of Independence Day, Delhi Police moved to clear them from the site on grounds of security. They came with lathis. A photograph went around the country of an old soldier with his ribbons torn from his shirt. Among the men handled that way were gallantry award winners and soldiers who had left limbs on battlefields. The outrage was such that within days the Joint Commissioner of Police went to Jantar Mantar and apologised, on the Home Minister’s own direction — an admission, if any were needed, that the force used had no justification. Also Read – Nepal Floods, The Cost Of Reckless Development The veterans had already been sending their medals to Rashtrapati Bhavan, in the thousands, over several years, some with letters written in blood. The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces never received their representatives. OROP was announced on September 5, 2015 and notified that November in a form the veterans called diluted; more than two thousand of them returned their medals again in protest, and two tried to burn theirs before television cameras. The Defence Minister’s response was to call their conduct unlike that of a soldier, and to say they had been misguided. That sentence deserves to be remembered. Men who had spent their lives being shot at were told by a civilian minister that they were behaving unlike soldiers because they asked for their pensions. The serving officer watched all of it. What was unforgivable was that the Army’s own leadership never once told the government, in the terms it deserved, that this was not done. Our police, eighty years after the British left, still conduct themselves as the colonial force they were trained to be — an instrument for managing subjects rather than protecting citizens. Then came the children. Paper leaks in this country are not a lapse; they are an industry, with lakhs changing hands and coaching institutions inside the trade. In May 2026 the NEET-UG medical entrance was cancelled outright after a leak and handed to the CBI. CBSE’s on-screen marking collapsed at the same time, leaving lakhs of school-leavers with no reliable result. A generation that had staked everything on those examinations discovered that its future was a commodity. Some of them did not survive the discovery. Their parents are still living with that. The protest that followed took its name from the Chief Justice of India, who in May had described unemployed young people as cockroaches and parasites who attack the system through social media and litigation. Within days a movement had adopted the insult as its banner. The Cockroach Janta Party’s first sit-in at Jantar Mantar was on 6 June, with police permission, with the national flag, with copies of the Constitution. The demand was narrow and constitutional: that the minister responsible for the examination system resign. Accountability is a small word. This government does not use it. DownloadInteractive Maps What followed, over seven weeks, is a catalogue worth reading slowly. On June 20 the site’s lights were switched off and access to food and drinking water was cut off to make the students leave. Sonam Wangchuk began a hunger strike on June 28; by the nineteenth day he had lost 9.1 kilograms and could not stand unaided. The Education Minister called the protesters a B-team of terrorists. On July 18 police carried Wangchuk off the pavement to hospital. On July 20, when thousands marched towards Parliament on the first day of the monsoon session, they met lathis and tear gas. Sixteen metro stations were shut. The Internet was shut around Parliament. Twenty companies of CRPF were flown in from Kolkata. More than a hundred injured protesters reached RML’s emergency ward, some with head injuries, one in intensive care. Police denied using pellet guns, calling the reports completely false and misleading — until a Safdarjung medical report recorded pellet wounds and a police station’s own general diary recorded the rounds fired. Policemen were photographed working in plain clothes. An Additional DCP was filmed slapping a woman protester; he was quietly moved off duty, not charged. When students went to court, the High Court declined an urgent hearing and told them not to drag it into this, and the Chief Justice told a petitioner not to waste the court’s time and that he was not interested in the videos. The doors that opened were those of Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, where the injured and the gassed were carried in, treated and fed. It is worth asking why a langar hall did the work a constitutional court would not. Delhi Police say 118 of their personnel were hurt, that stones were thrown, that vehicles were overturned, and there is footage supporting parts of that account. Honesty requires stating it. It settles nothing. Between a crowd of unarmed nineteen-year-olds who lost their tempers and a state that answers with pellets, tear gas, a CRPF airlift and an internet shutdown, only one party is trained, paid and sworn to keep its head. That is the entire point of discipline. Nor is the police case improved by announcing afterwards that 2,873 men with criminal antecedents were present — a claim that conveniently arrives after the batons, and that no student can disprove. The minister resigned on July 25. An anti-paper-leak amendment was rushed through Parliament and cleared by the President on August 2, with the opposition protesting that the debate had been curtailed. The state deployed everything it had against its own children and still lost the argument. That is not a vindication of the crackdown; it is a measure of how unnecessary it was. And despite written assurances that non-violent protesters would not be pursued, cases have continued to be filed and students arrested. None of this is finally about one pavement. Nearly a lakh government schools have been closed. Thousands run with a single teacher, no electricity and no toilet. The midday meal is what it is. Private schooling has been priced beyond the reach of the poor. We are producing a generation that is uneducated or half-educated, and then filing FIRs against the half that noticed. A government that answers its children with lathis has already conceded the argument. It should think very hard about what it is teaching them. Lt.General Harwant Singh (Retd) is former Deputy Chief of Army Staff. Views expressed here are the writer’s ow
https://www.thecitizen.in/opinion/raining-lathees-on-the-future-of-india-1356544
The Bengal Engineer Group & Centre, Roorkee, today hosted the grand Flag-Off Ceremony for the joint Corps of Engineers Mountaineering Expedition to the formidable Mount Trishul-I. Uniting all ranks from the Madras Sappers, Bengal Sappers, and Bombay Sappers, the expedition reflects the true tri-group spirit and high-altitude prowess of the Indian Army.
The expedition was formally flagged off by Lt Gen Anindya Sengupta, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM, YSM, GOC-in-C, Surya Command. The event was graced by Lt Gen Vikas Rohella, AVSM, SM**, Engineer-in-Chief and the Colonel Commandant, Bengal Sappers & Military Survey alongside a distinguished gathering of serving and veteran military dignitaries renowned for their achievements in mountaineering and adventure.
Addressing the assembly, the Army Commander lauded the team’s grit and determination in tackling a peak deeply rooted in the folklore and military history of the Garhwal Himalayas. Highlighting the legendary legacy of Sapper mountaineers—from pioneers like Major Nandu Jayal to Major Jai Bahuguna—the GOC-in-C commended the expedition team for upholding the highest traditions.
The Corps of Engineers continues to push boundaries, living up to its motto of SARVATRA, propelled by SADAIV and TATPAR!
The Estate Office, Chandigarh, has done away with the requirement of a separate no-dues certificate (NDC) for two key property services — NOC for transfer of lease rights and conversion from leasehold to freehold tenure — under a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) approved by the Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Gulab Chand Kataria.
Speaking to The Tribune, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Estate Officer Nishant Kumar Yadav said applicants earlier had to first apply separately for an NDC and, only after obtaining it, file a fresh application for the main service. This led to two applications for the same property, repeated scrutiny of records and delay in service delivery, he said.
Under the revised system, applicants would apply directly for the main service through the online portal. Dues, which were earlier checked at the NDC stage, would now be verified and calculated during processing of the main application itself, Yadav said.
The Estate Officer said the checklists and workflows for both services stood revised on the online portal, with the NDC requirement deleted and replaced with a provision that dues would be assessed during processing and intimated through a single notice.
The integrated procedure would initially apply to the two identified services and might later be extended to other Estate Office services where a separate NDC was presently insisted upon, he added.
Single-window process
Under the SOP, all documentary deficiency, dues and service charges will be consolidated and communicated to the applicant through a single “Discrepancy Memo-cum-Demand Notice”, rather than in a piecemeal manner.
Yadav said the notice would list all deficiencies in documents, the government dues, applicable conversion, transfer or service charges, the total amount payable, the mode of payment and the time allowed to the applicant for compliance. The application would be disposed of within 15 working days of its receipt, he said, adding that the period during which compliance by the applicant was awaited would not be counted, and the clock would resume from the date of complete compliance, including payment of dues.
“The principle is one application, one scrutiny, one discrepancy or demand notice and one final disposal,” Yadav said.
WITH the government declaring that the country is free of the Naxal menace, surplus troops of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are set to be redeployed to Jammu and Kashmir, where they will gradually take over counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism (CI/CT) responsibilities from the Army in parts of Udhampur and Kathua districts. According to security establishment sources, the government has recently communicated to the CRPF to prepare for and facilitate replacement of Army personnel in designated CI/CT roles. The move is aimed at rationalising the deployment of security forces involved in internal security operations in the region. The transition is expected to cover 21 hyper-sensitive locations across the UdhampurKathua belt, the sources said, adding that the requirement of personnel at each location is being assessed and deployment will be carried out according to a pre-decided, priority-based plan. The formalities are currently under way and the CRPF is expected to assume charge at these locations shortly
The restructuring will also involve the CRPF’s specialised CoBRA unit. Nine CoBRA teams are planned to be deployed in the Udhampur-Kathua sector, while another nine teams will undergo training. Their operational deployment will subsequently be managed dynamically depending on security requirements,” a source familiar with the plan said. The move is part of broader efforts to streamline the deployment of forces engaged in counter-insurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir. The sources said the region could witness significant structura
changes in the security architecture in the coming months, including a phased reduction in the deployment of Rashtriya Rifles troops in certain areas and an expanded CRPF presence. However, the changes will not mean a complete withdrawal of the Army’s counter-insurgency force from Jammu and Kashmir. A significant number of Rashtriya Rifles personnel will continue to remain deployed in the region, with the restructuring aimed at recalibrating responsibilities between the Army and the CRPF rather than eliminating the Army’s role, they said.
Defence ministry clears purchases worth `1.1 lakh cr Forces to get advanced choppers, radars; Su-30MKI fighter jets to get major upgrade
THE defence ministry on Monday cleared military hardware purchases worth `1.1 lakh crore for the Army, Navy and Air Force. Approximately 98% of the procurement by value will come from Indian industry. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh gave the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), or inprinciple administrative approvals, for the defence acquisitions. For the Air Force, the DAC cleared “various proposals to enhance the war-fighting capability of fighters, transports and helicopters”. Sources said these include the overhaul of 40 Su-30MKIs by Hindustan Aeronautics, twice the number the PSU had earlier proposed. IAF operates around 260 Su-30MKIs, its mainstay fighter fleet. The DAC had earlier cleared the overhaul of Su-30 aero-engine aggregates
The approval seeks to address a gap in the IAF’s long-range beyond-visual-range capability, with Operation Sindoor underscoring the requirement. The overhaul covers modifications to allow the Sukhois to fire the RVV-BD, the export version of Russia’s R-37M missile. Weighing 510 kg and carrying a 60-kg warhead, the missile has a range of 200 km and is designed to engage AWACS aircraft, aerial refuellers and other high-value airborne assets. For the Navy, the DAC cleared the design, development and subsequent procurement of a marine gas turbine in the 24-28 MW class, with the ministry saying the propulsion system “will reduce dependency on foreign vendors”. India currently imports turbines for several frontline destroyers and frigates. The Navy will also get Arudhra radars, which “will replace the existing Air Route Surveillance Radars at various Naval Air Stations”. Developed by the DRDO, Arudhra is a four-dimensional active phased-array radar with an instrumented range of 400 km whichis able to detect a two-square-metre target at up to 300 km. The Army stands to get more HAL-built advanced light helicopters, or Dhruv, to “execute complex missions across all terrains and operational situations”. A `8,073 crore deal for 34 ALH Mk-III was signed with HAL in March 2024.
DAC accorded Acceptance of Necessity to various acquisition proposals at an estimated cost of `1,10,000 cr Defence ministry CBRN recce vehicles The Army is set to get Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear recce vehicles, high mobility vehicles, self-propelled mechanical mine layers, advanced light helicopters, and trawl tanks Acceptance of Necessity AoN is the first step in defence acquisition. The process involves tech evaluation, trials as well as negotiations. Big acquisitions will require more govt approvals
A week ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s expected visit to India, senior military commanders of India and China met along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh on Sunday.
The meeting was held between Corps Commander-level officials at the ‘border personnel meeting’ point at Wacha, north of Kibithu in Anjaw district of the state, sources have confirmed. The meeting marked the first Corps Commander-level interaction at the Wacha point since it became operational in 2014.
The Army’s 3 Corps Commander Lt Gen Girish Kalia represented India. A Corps Commander is responsible for a designated operational area. The Corps oversees a major portion of the 1,140-km LAC in Arunachal Pradesh.
The development comes just a week ahead of the BRICS Leader’s Summit, where Xi, among other leaders like Russia’s Vladimir Putin, is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi.
The meeting at the LAC comes less than a month after a misunderstanding between the two militaries near Taksing in the Upper Subhansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh. Taksing is also under the command of 3 Corps. Sources said the Army had maintained a firm stance in responding to Chinese troop activity in the area.
India and China have different perceptions of the LAC in their territories and at times, that leads to issues on the ground. So far, there is no official statement by the Ministry of Defence. However, sources said the Corps Commander-level meeting discussed ways of maintaining peace along the LAC.
National Security Advisory Board former member Lt Gen SL Narasimhan (retd) said: “A meeting between senior officers along the LAC can bring stability and resolve friction, if any.”
Last month, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, while responding to questions on the ‘military situation’ along the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh, said developments along the border were a “serious matter” and would have a bearing on broader bilateral relations.
India and China have held several Corps Commander-level meetings at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point in eastern Ladakh since the Galwan clashes of 2020, during which both sides suffered casualties.
Sunday’s meeting also comes less than two weeks after the Special Representatives of India and China met in Beijing on August 25 and agreed to continue efforts towards a political settlement of the boundary dispute in keeping with the long-term interests of both countries. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi serve as the Special Representatives of the two sides.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said the armed forces have been given both the freedom and resources to respond decisively to threats, including carrying out strikes inside adversaries’ territory.
Speaking at an event hosted by a media organisation, Singh, in an apparent reference to Pakistan, said the neighbouring country had sought to undermine India’s security through various means, including misleading youth in Jammu and Kashmir, funding anti-India activities and promoting violence and terrorism.
The Narendra Modi government had foiled these designs, he said, adding: “We have made it clear that if any country promotes terrorism against India, there will be no dialogue; instead, our defence forces will deliver a befitting response.”
“India believes in peace. It neither desires war nor seeks to occupy the territory of any other nation,” Singh said.
He asserted that Jammu and Kashmir has witnessed unprecedented development since the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019, with new opportunities opening up for the youth. India, he said, adopted a strategy of tackling terrorism through decisive military actions such as the surgical strikes, the Balakot airstrike and Operation Sindoor, targeting terrorists and their handlers.
“The suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty sent a clear message that blood and water cannot flow together,” Singh said.
Referring to the changing nature of warfare, the minister said space and cyberspace had emerged as new domains of conflict alongside land, air and sea. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, drones, autonomous systems and precision weapons were transforming the battlefield, he added.
Singh said the government was focused on making India’s defence strategy and security apparatus future-ready, with an emphasis on developing advanced technologies indigenously.
He said India had moved from an import-dependent approach to one centred on indigenous defence manufacturing and self-reliance.
“The armed forces today possess indigenous systems such as the Akashteer air-defence control system, the Akash missile, the Pinaka rocket launcher and the Astra air-to-air missile. We also have indigenous helicopters such as Prachand and Dhruv, the Tejas fighter aircraft, the Arjun tank and modern drone and counter-drone systems,” he said.
Singh noted that India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, has been inducted into the Navy. The country is now producing a wide range of defence equipment while pursuing the development of a sixth-generation fighter aircraft.
“Our aim is to export defence equipment worth Rs 50,000 crore by 2029,” he said.
The Ministry of Defence on Monday okayed a new long-range, 300-plus km missile for the Sukhoi 30-MKI fighter jets. It also cleared a secure communication system for the IAF’s fleet of jets, transport planes and helicopters.
The ministry also approved the purchase of additional helicopters for the Army, in addition to specialised vehicles designed to operate in nuclear or biological warfare contaminated areas.
The decisions were taken by the Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
The DAC accorded the Acceptance of Necessity — in-principle administrative approval — to various acquisition proposals at an estimated cost of about Rs 1.10 lakh crore, the ministry said in a statement.
“For the IAF, approval was granted to various proposals to enhance the war-fighting capabilities of fighter jets, transport aircraft and helicopters,” it added.
Sources said the first phase of the upgrade involved modifying the Sukhoi jets to integrate them with Russian ‘RVV-BD’ air-to-air missiles, which could strike targets up to 300 km away at speeds exceeding ‘5 Mach’.
This integration significantly enhances the jet’s potency, as it carries the 300-plus km range Brahmos missile for ground strikes and the ‘RVV-BD’ missile for neutralising enemy aircraft and long-range UAVs.
The IAF has 260-plus Sukhoi jets. These played a key role during Operation Sindoor against Pakistan.
The move comes a week ahead of the arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin for the BRICS leaders’ summit in New Delhi.
The second part of the IAF upgrade involves adding next-generation communication equipment called the Software Defined Radio (SDR). In modern combat, the SDR serves as the primary backbone for communication, electronic warfare and intelligence gathering across multi-domain operations. It enables transmission of high-bandwidth telemetry, video feeds from UAVs, and battlefield awareness updates in real time. All this is done by changing radio frequencies to bypass enemy jamming attempts. It can also scan radio frequency to detect, identify and geolocate enemy communications.
For the Army, the DAC approved the procurement of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) vehicles for reconnaissance; high mobility vehicles (HMVs); and advanced light helicopters, among others.
The CBRN vehicles will be capable of detecting, identifying, monitoring and marking areas contaminated with CBRN agents. The HMVs will enhance operational capabilities, logistic support and mobility in challenging terrains.
For the Navy, the DAC approved the procurement of Arudhra Radars, as well as the design, development and subsequent procurement of marine gas turbines (MGTs). Arudhra Radar will replace the air surveillance radars at naval air stations, while the MGT, a warship propulsion system, will reduce dependency on foreign vendors.
The DAC also accorded its approval for procuring a ground-based multi-purpose jammer that will provide effective jamming against radars of adversaries.
The ministry will change access systems for military areas. A new Defence Forces Secure Access Card system will replace the existing paper-based identity cards with a radio frequency identification-based smart card system.
