Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 6

A Major, who allegedly injured three officers at a Rashtriya Rifles unit near the Line of Control in a camp in J&K’s Rajouri district, faces a Court of Inquiry. Apprehended last evening, he had fired bullets with one hitting an officer in his neck, triggering tension in the Neeli post in Thanamandi area of the district. So far, the injury is not fatal.

Panic attack after death of relative?

• According to information, the “erring” officer appeared to be under panic attack owing to some domestic issues following the death of a close relative.
• The injured were taken to Thanamandi from where three were airlifted to the Command Hospital in Udhampur.

The Major also triggered a blast using a grenade which resulted in injuries to the commanding officer of the unit and one more officer. Sources said the Major was facing some issues on the domestic front following the death of a close relative.

According to information gathered through various sources, the Major, who has been identified as ‘Prince’, created a hue and cry about a possible terror attack, prompting his commanding officer to rush his second-in-command from Thanamandi, located 18 km from the Neeli post.

Attempts were made to pacify the officer who seemed to be under some panic attack. The erring officer had ensured that all weapons in the post were deposited in the armoury.

As soon as attempts were made to pacify him, he is alleged to have started indiscriminate firing and lobbing grenades leading to injuries of two middle-rung personnel and the unit’s second-in-command. This prompted the commanding officer of the unit, along with the regimental medical officer, to rush to the scene. They too were injured. They are believed to have received splinter injuries.

The officer has been detained and is being questioned, officials said. The tense situation at the camp had lasted nearly eight hours before the officer was overpowered inside the armoury late in the evening on Thursday.

Official sources said there was a firing practice going on at the camp for the past several days and the accused officer started firing on his colleagues and subordinates without any provocation on Thursday afternoon. The injured were taken to Thanamandi, from where the three were airlifted to the Command Hospital in Udhampur. (With PTI i

1. Ladakh has a long and rich history of human settlement dating back to 9th Century. It has been at the crossroads of Asia for thousands of years and has seen many cultures and empires in the region. As a result, Ladakh has imbibed many traditions and cultures from its neighbours resulting in a unique tradition and culture of its own. It is bordered by Tibet in the East, Gilgit – Baltistan to the West and Xinjiang across the Karakoram Pass in the North and since 1947, Ladakh has been a subject of dispute between India, Pak and China.

2. The history, geography, strategic location and cultural linkages of Ladakh makes it significantly important for both China as well as India wherein its geo strategic importance flows from important border areas of Gilgit – Baltistan, Akshai Chin, Siachen Glacier and Kailash Mansarovar. Its proximity to two of our adversaries and being the only region having LC, AGPL & LAC and also having participated in all the wars fought since independence makes the region vital from socio-economic and military point of view. A strong hold in the region is thus of utmost importance to maintain our territorial integrity and ensure continued economic growth.

3. As Military Commanders, it is important to be aware of the history of the region, analyse the wars fought in the theatre & dynamics of geo-strategic fall outs that are expected in the near future including political, socio-economic and religious implications of Ladakh. Keeping this in view, a two-day seminar titled “Historical Perspective of Ladakh : Crossroads of Civilisations” is proposed to be conducted on 05th & 06th Oct 2023 with eminent speakers from military and civil domain having deep knowledge and expertise. This will help develop better understanding of the historical perspective of “Crossroads of Civilisations” i.e., Ladakh Sector. The seminar will cover myriad issues ranging from History of Ladakh, the boundary disputes and will focus on the wars fought in the region post-independence. The seminar will also touch upon the various infrastructure development projects that are being undertaken including “Vibrant Village Scheme” in the region.

In best-ever Asiad performance, India’s medal tally to cross 100

Rohit Mahajan in Hangzhou

Harmanpreet Singh and his men, feted and cheered by a stadium full of Indian officials and athletes — and Chinese fans, standing in attention to the national anthem — jumped and whooped, sang and danced on the hockey turf, making it an Indian party to remember in the leafy Gongshu Canal Sports Park here.

Gold in men’s hockey exorcised the ghosts of Jakarta 2018 and earned the team a ticket to next year’s Paris Olympics — and took India’s medal tally at the Asian Games to 95. A maiden 100 is a certainty as there will be no nervous 90s; in fact, the figure of 102 has already been reached because at least seven more medals are secure with India — in archery (3), kabaddi (2), cricket (1) and badminton (1). Their colour will be determined tomorrow as the curtain comes down on the Hangzhou Asiad. The total (95) is already 25 better than India’s previous best at Asian Games, 70, achieved in Jakarta-Palembang five years ago. The men’s hockey team beat Japan 5-1 in front of a high-decibel Indian-dominated crowd, which made the Gongshu Canal arena resound to the cheers of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘India jeetega’. On the field, the players were first locked in a stiff contest by the feisty Japanese, who were eventually overpowered and then pinned down. After a goalless first quarter, India scored twice in the second quarter through Manpreet Singh (25th minute) and Abhishek (48th); Harmanpreet (32nd, 59th) and Amit Rohidas (36th) scored through penalty-corners in the second half, sending waves of ecstasy through the Indian officials and players — including the cricket team — cheering for them.

Five years ago in Jakarta, the Indian men had suffered a shock defeat to Japan in the semifinals, having earlier dominated the tournament; this complicated matters because now they were forced to go through a tough grind to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Harmanpreet was clearly a man with a burden off his shoulders. “I’m feeling on top of the world right now. This was our target, to qualify for the Olympics,” he said.

The day’s two silver medals were won in men’s team events in bridge and recurve archery. Women wrestlers Sonam Malik (62kg) and Kiran (76kg) won bronze, and Aman Sehrawat took one in the men’s 57kg freestyle. Defending champion Bajrang Punia, the biggest name in Indian wrestling, had a shocker in the 65kg division. The winner of a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, Punia seemed to be completely out of sorts against two top-class wrestlers — former world champion Rahman Amouzadkhalili crushed him 8-1 in the semifinals; then, in the fight for bronze, Japan’s Kaiki Yamaguchi handed him even greater humiliation, winning 10-0 on technical superiority.

In men’s singles badminton, HS Prannoy, hobbled by pain in the back, went down to Li Shifeng in the semifinals, but he did assure India of a first men’s singles bronze at an Asiad since 1982. Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, however, cheered up the badminton camp a bit when they beat Malaysia’s Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik 21-17 21-12 in the semifinals; the Indians, world No. 3, would be counted as favourites in the final against Choi Solgyu and Kim Wonho of South Korea, world No. 15.

India also reached the final of men’s cricket, beating Bangladesh by nine wickets in the semifinals, with Tilak Varma smashing a 26-ball 55 not out in a comfortable chase. In men’s kabaddi, it was a complete mismatch as India crushed Pakistan 61-14, and the women’s team also made it to the gold medal match by beating Nepal 61-17. The men will take on the formidable Iran — the defending champions, who had beaten India in the semifinals back in 2018 — tomorrow, and the women will take on Chinese Taipei.

Reclaim gold after 9 years, Qualify for OlyMPICS

, 6 OCTOBER Pakistan government has started the process of eviction of illegal Afghan nationals from the country, as it starts implementing its recent announcement when it gave a deadline of November 1, 2023 for all illegal immigrants to leave the country or face arrest and deportation. Police authorities have started raiding various Afghan refugee camps and other areas housing Afghan nationals, taking into custody hundreds of families who did not have any legal documentation to prove status of stay in Pakistan. Authorities have also start[1]ed raising down makeshift Afghan refugee camps in Islamabad and other major cities, leaving no other options for Afghans to gather their belongings and move towards the Torkham border to cross over into Afghanistan. At least 16 trucks carrying a minimum of 20 families had reached the Torkham border on Thursday, while about 40 more families reached there on Friday. “After com[1]pletion of legal requirements, these families, which comprise about 1,000 people, will be allowed to enter Afghanistan,” said an official. “These residents are from an Afghan refugee camp near Margalla Town in Islamabad, which was demolished by the Capital Development Author[1]ity (CDA) on the instructions of the federal government”, the official added. Till now, at least 503 Afghan refugees have been sent to jail as they failed to provide any legal document as proof of their identity status in the country. “At least 1,126 people were checked in various operations. Of them, 623 people were released on presentation of legal identification documents. However, 503 of them were sent to jail for not having the nec[1]essary documents”, said a police official in Islamabad. “The 503 arrested people were presented before dif[1]ferent courts under Section 14 of the Foreigners Act. After October 31, a crackdown will begin against all illegal resi[1]dents,” he added. Pakistan’s big decision to crackdown against illegal immi[1]grants has not gone down well with the Afghan Taliban regime, which has termed the decision as “unacceptable”. Afghan Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid questioned the behav[1]iour of the Pakistan government, raising serious concerns over the expulsion plan of at least 1.7 million of unregistered Afghan immigrants, back to Afghanistan. “The behaviour of Pakistan against Afghan refugees is unac[1]ceptable. The Pakistani side should reconsider its plan. Afghan refugees are not involved in Pakistan’s security prob[1]lems. As long as they leave Pakistan voluntarily, that coun[1]try should tolerate them,” said Taliban spokesperson Zabiul[1]lah Mujahid. Sources said that while Afghan Taliban are not happy with Islamabad’s deci[1]sion, there is a mutual consensus between both sides that any Afghan with no legal docu[1]ments to reside in Pakistan should be sent back to his home country. Experts said that Afghan Taliban have been taken by surprise by the actions Pak[1]istan has taken after seeing no positive response from Kabul over the presence and move[1]ments across the border of mil[1]itants of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)

ASHRAF JEHANGIR QAZI E xplanations of human behav[1]iour — whether individual, group or collective — neces[1]sarily involve simplification because of their inherent complexity. This allows the ‘common man’ to claim the right to his individual if not always correct opinions on social, political and economic matters which have a palpable personal impact on him in a way he would not presume to claim with regard to complex physi[1]cal processes which do not appear to have any such immediate impact on his well-being. In physics, any thesis that is ‘testable’ by rigorous observations and mathematical equations that are internally consistent is considered valid until further observation and theoretical and mathematical advances confirm or challenge its validity. The James Webb Space Tele[1]scope is doing just this with regard to the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe. No such rigour is avail[1]able for the social sciences. If it were, the basis for democratic governance would cease to exist because science or, alternately, religion and ideology, in alliance with state power would decide all social issues. This alliance (based far more on religion and ideology than science) has provided the woof and warp of political history in general and Pak[1]istan’s history in particular. That is why democracies, whether young or old, unless constantly nourished and renewed through the rational ques[1]tioning of established authority and dogma, degenerate into tyrannies. The precondition for such nourishment and renewal is, of course, human development which is premised on culture, science and technology, an education of public opinion which provides uncensored and non-manufactured informa[1]tion, an ability to think rationally, and a spirit of community, accom[1]modation and tolerance — all of which are essential to democratic governance. All of the above has been consis[1]tently denied to the people of Pakistan culminating in today’s state of the nation in which usurpers, in one form or another and on one pretext or another, seek to permanently prevail over the people, the Constitution and the rule of law. Everyone knows this, but every[1]one is coerced into believing they can do nothing about it. History will not absolve those responsible for this betrayal of the nation. Those respon[1]sible include not just the ruling elites and the purchased middle class intel[1]ligentsia and professional classes, but also the people who instead of stand[1]ing up for the survival of their chil[1]dren confine themselves to unorgan[1]ised, sporadic, and unavailing protests. Their ‘leaders’ easily betray them. There are several hundreds of statistics, ratios, measures, etc. to gauge the health of a nation. The extent and quality of education is a prime measure. Sports is a vital com[1]ponent of education. It teaches an individual to reach for his or her potential. It teaches competition, fair play, how to take triumph and defeat and, above all, playing for the team and passing the torch onto the next generation. Pakistan is sports-crazy. But its sportsmen and sportswomen are betrayed by bosses who see sports as a personal opportunity rather than a nation builder. Accordingly, it has marginal social priority and its devel[1]opment is neglected. When I was in Beijing in 1996, I wrote a report on China’s fine performance in the Atlanta Olympics as one indicator of its emergence as a great power. Much the same could be said about India’s performance at the recent Asian Games in Hangzhou. India’s best-ever performance of 81 medals including 18 gold contrasted with Pakistan’s worst-ever perform[1]ance of two medals and zero gold. This pathetic performance reflects the low priority of sports and education in the governance of the country. The same neglect is appar[1]ent in current human rights, judicial, economic, social, political, health, institutional, corruption, inequality, poverty, and other statistics that col[1]lectively define multidimensional state failure in Pakistan. I might add that selling the family silver is not a legitimate caretaker responsibility. None of this should instil despair. But it does define an unprecedented existential challenge the people have to take up in an organised and sus[1]tained manner. This is the meaning of jihad — a collective and unrelent[1]ing effort and struggle for survival, truth and justice. Such a jihad must provide the social and political core of our faith. Should we avoid taking up this challenge we shall forfeit the right to survive. In his seminal 1967 article on ‘The responsibility of intellectuals’, Noam Chomsky makes clear that intellectuals have a choice: either, as Norman Finkelstein puts it, they devote themselves to the service of truth and justice or they seek power and privilege. They cannot do both. Serving truth and justice entails a price, often a very heavy price. Very few intellectuals are willing to make the choice in favour of this calling. They choose to compromise pretend[1]ing to speak truth to power while pre[1]serving their jobs and perks, the secu[1]rity of their families, their social status and their personal freedoms. They end up betraying their professed com[1]mitments. Their sin is not so much their caution which is understandable as it is their pretence which is inexcusable. Pakistani public intellectuals including media commentators are, by and large, no exception. There have, however, been intellectuals and commentators who were true to their calling and responsibilities, many of whom, as a result, paid the ultimate price. Their contribution to the ulti[1]mate saving of Pakistan should never be forgotten. According to Chomsky, this applies even more to those countless nameless persons who organise protests and movements on behalf of millions, nay billions, of their compa[1]triots and fellow humans around the world who shall never know them. Pakistan is fortunate to have many such selfless and priceless souls. Their courage and sacrifices are a standing rebuke to the cynicism and compla[1]cency that hides under many disguis[1]es. The power and political elites of Pakistan are confident they can always overwhelm and defeat such valiant people. But the people of Pak[1]istan have begun to demonstrate they never will

Chail fantasised about killing the late monarch since adolescence, and had shared this information with an artificial intelligence-powered ‘girlfriend’ he named Sarai

IANS

London, October 6

A crossbow-wielding British Sikh who had threatened to “assassinate the Queen in revenge for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre” in 2021, has been sentenced to nine years in prison by a UK court.

Jaswant Singh Chail, 21, had admitted to treason charges in February this year for scaling the Windsor Castle walls and telling royal guards on Christmas Day 2021 that he was there to kill the late Queen Elizabeth II.Chail, who identified himself as an “Indian Sikh” in a social media video that emerged soon after the incident, reportedly suffered from mental health issues and was partly inspired to attack the Queen inspired by the Star Wars films.

A London court heard that Chail fantasised about killing the late monarch since adolescence, and had shared this information with an artificial intelligence-powered “girlfriend” he named Sarai.

Justice Nicholas Hilliard said despite conflicting diagnoses from different experts, he concluded that Chail lost touch with reality and had become psychotic, but that the seriousness of the crimes required him to serve prison time, ABC News reported.

According to the report, Chail will first return to a psychiatric facility where he has been receiving treatment, and if deemed to be well enough in the future, he will serve the rest of his sentence in prison.

“The defendant harbored homicidal thoughts which he acted on before he became psychotic,” Hilliard was quoted as saying by ABC News.

“His intention was not just to harm or alarm the sovereign — but to kill her.”

Chail had also written in a journal that if the Queen was “unobtainable” he would “go for” the prince as a “suitable figurehead”, in an apparent reference to King Charles III.

He had scaled the perimeter of the grounds with a nylon rope ladder, some two hours before his arrest.

He was wearing a hood and mask and was carrying a crossbow loaded with a bolt, with the safety catch off and ready to fire.

The prosecution told the court that the Supersonic X-Bow weapon he was carrying had the potential to cause “serious or fatal injuries”.

The Queen was in her private apartments at Windsor Castle at the time of the intrusion.

The country had won 70 medals in the last edition in Indonesia to record their best-ever performance

Hangzhou, October 6

India are poised to celebrate a historic century of medals at the Asian Games after wrestlers bagged three medals, the sport of sepaktakraw added a historic bronze and the men’s hockey team reclaimed the gold to take the country’s tally to 95 here on Friday.

India are already assured of six medals in different disciplines — kabaddi (2), archery (3), hockey (1), badminton (1) and cricket (1) and once the competition folds in these event, the country will cross the coveted 100-medal mark for the first time ever on Saturday.

At least four more wrestlers are in contention on the penultimate day of the competition and it won’t be a surprise if more medals are added to the tally.

India had won 70 medals in the last edition in Indonesia where the country’s athletes won 16 gold, 23 silver and 31 bronze medals to record their best-ever performance.

On the back of a splendid show by the shooters (22) and track and field athletes (29 medals), who contributed 51 medals, India had already surpassed its best-ever show on Wednesday.

The Indian contingent won many surprise medals, the biggest being a women’s table tennis team bronze by Sutirtha Mukherjee and Ayhika Mukherjee, who humbled the mighty China in the semifinals.

Parul Chaudhary’s sensational dash in the last 30 metres of the women’s 5000m event will also be remembered for a long time as the Meerut runner snatched a gold by edging Japan’s Ririka Hironaka in a close finish.

Javelin thrower Kishore Kumar Jena’s astonishing 86.77m throw that gave him lead over superstar Neeraj Chopra for a brief period in the men’s javelin event was another unforgettable moment.

Later Chopra won the gold, while Jena finished behind him to settle for a silver medal.

Canoers Arjun Singh and Sunil Singh Salam’s historic bronze in the men’s double 1000m along with Ram Baboo and Manju Rani’s third place finish in the mixed 35km race walk were perfect examples that if athletes refuse to bow down to the hardships life throws, excelling in sports is possible.

Ex-servicemen association accuses defence ministry of being regressive, negative, & anti-soldier for coming out with ‘impairment relief’, which is likely to be taxable.

New Delhi: In a major move, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has tweaked the rules for grant of disability pensions to military personnel by introducing a new nomenclature, ‘Impairment Relief’, while also slashing eligibility criteria for lifestyle diseases like hypertension and heart-related ailments.https://3131f0fec2e260b92920ef4504e24cd4.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

The new rules titled, ‘Entitlement Rules for Casualty Pension and Disability Compensation Awards to Armed Forces Personnel, 2023’, that came into effect from 21 September, have even linked certain diseases to be eligible for disability pension only to specific terrain.

The rules have also made it clear that this emolument will not be treated as ‘pension’ and will stop after the death of the recipient, as is the case even now.

Sources in the know of the matter explained to ThePrint that disability pension will be given to those who are invalided out of service prematurely on medical grounds, while impairment relief will be given to those entitled for it but are discharged or retired in the normal course.

At present, any soldier certified to be having 100 percent disability gets 30 percent extra as disability pension. This emolument reduces as per the disability percentage.

In the case of hypertension, the disability percentage for high blood pressure induced by stress and strain of military service has been reduced from 30 percent to just 5 percent. The minimum required figure for disability pension is 20 percent disability.

For those with hypertension that has led to organ damage, the disability was fixed at 20 percent, down from the 30-100 per cent earlier depending on the kind of organ and the damage.

Hypertension and heart-related issues are considered to be one of the main diseases in militaries across the world due to the nature of stress and strain in the life of their personnel, irrespective of field or peace postings.

The new rules come after the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), in its report published in March, mentioned that nearly 36-40 percent of military officers who retire every year were getting disability pensions as opposed to only 15-18 percent of jawans.

This, the Army sources said, was startling but the numbers were high because several cases were related to lifestyle diseases. However, they did not give a breakup of the figures.

What is interesting is that the new “impairment relief” could end up having tax implications for the beneficiaries. A source familiar with the matter told ThePrint that disability pension is tax-free, but impairment relief may become taxable.

Ex-servicemen up in arms, military responds 

The new rules have drawn strong reactions among the ex-servicemen as well as the All India Ex-servicemen Welfare Association (AIEWA) which has objected to the new rules, especially the change in the definition of “invalidation”.https://3131f0fec2e260b92920ef4504e24cd4.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-40/html/container.html

The ex-servicemen association accuses the defence ministry of being regressive, negative, and anti-soldier for coming out with impairment relief” which could also be taxable.

“In the new rules, the disability pension/disability element of pension, which is granted to disabled personnel who retire or are discharged on completion of terms of engagement, shall now be called —‘Impairment Relief’ rather than ‘Disability Pension’, as it has been specially stated that it not be treated as ‘pension’,” AIEWA said in a press note on 21 September.

The note added that the definition of “invalidation” has also been changed “regressively”.

After the AIEWA reaction, the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS), which includes the Army, Navy and Air Force, issued a statement on 30 September assuring veterans and their families that the revised rules continue to be beneficial for them.

It said that the rules, which lay down the conditions for awards of deaths and disability compensation to armed forces personnel, were revised and implemented from 21 September.

The rules include the recommendations of a study group, which had members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of Ex-servicemen Welfare and MoD (Finance), assigned to update the entitlement rules by incorporating all relevant policy changes made since 2008, the HQ IDS said.

“No changes have been made either in the type or the amount of death/disability compensation that is awarded to entitled personnel. This will have a prospective effect and takes care of the genuine interest of all our soldiers, veterans and widows,” it added.

However, the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff’s statement has done little to reassure ex-servicemen.

Speaking to ThePrint, one such veteran, who is among the many disabled officers who are legally contesting disability pensions for injuries, disabilities sustained while in service, asserted that the new rules fully subdue the relationship of diseases that happen due to service conditions.

He listed some of these diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, hypertension, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), delayed manifestation of degradation of the body, especially the spine, due to exposure to stress and strain, inclement weather and terrain like Siachen and high-altitude areas.

Taking to social media platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter),  another veteran said,“Under the new rules, the widow of a soldier dying of sudden cardiac arrest or due to sunstroke caused by hypertension while patrolling in counter-insurgency duties in Srinagar would not be entitled to Special Family Pension, and the soldier, if survives would not get the disability pension. Earlier, all such disabilities were listed as affected by ‘stress and strain of military service.’

Earlier, if a disability was endured or aggravated due to military service, disability pension was extended to ex-servicemen unless it was caused due to their own negligence. The area of posting did not have any bearing on the death and disability benefits after retirement.

In fact, the Supreme Court, in its several rulings had upheld the right for such a provision to be extended to officers and soldiers, irrespective of their area of service. The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF), who come under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and serve in the same conditions as the armed forces are also entitled to benefits, irrespective of the place of posting.

The Ministry of Defence has revised its rules for casualty pension and disability compensation awarded to armed forces personnel. A new Guide to Medical Officers 2023, which details the norms for conducting the various types of medical boards that decide the percentage of disability and its attributability to military service, has also been issued.  This policy is based on the recommendations of a study group that comprised members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare, and MoD. The mandate is to update the rules by incorporating all relevant policy changes since the issuance of the Entitlement Rules 2008.

On the face of it, the aim of the new policy is to streamline the process, improve it, and curb abuse and misuse of the provision, particularly with respect to ‘lifestyle’ diseases. As per the Integrated Defence Staff, “No changes have been made either in the nature or the extent of death and disability compensation that is awarded to entitled personnel. This will have a prospective effect and takes care of the genuine interest of all our soldiers, veterans and widows.”

However, the reality seems to be different, with financial considerations and incompetence in preventing misuse negatively impacting soldiers’ welfare.

A backdoor attempt

Death and disability pension for soldiers is a sensitive subject and requires broader parliamentary, media, and public debate. Unfortunately, politicians, the media and serving/retired soldiers—except those directly affected by the development—often have only a superficial understanding of the subject.

Since the new policy has come into effect prospectively even veterans have not been very outspoken about it. Ironically, in the past, our high courts, the Supreme Court, and the Armed Forces Tribunal have rationally interpreted death and disability compensation and modified the interpretation of existing rules. The new policy is a backdoor attempt to negate the progressive actions taken by the courts and at times the government itself, over the years.

The All India Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association wrote a scathing letter criticising the policy, “Disability Benefits in the Defense Services have taken the current form over a period of almost 85 years through various regulations, government orders, pay commission recommendations approved by the Union Cabinet and decisions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court and various Hon’ble High Courts…However, it seems that the members of the Defense Services are children of a lesser God. Contravening al rules, regulations, letters, including decisions made right up to the Union Cabinet and judgments of Hon’ble Courts, the Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare of the MOD on the insistence of the finance department of MOD, has issued new Disability & Death Rules (Entitlement Rules) … which have not only restricted disability and death benefits, but have turned the clock back to 85 years rather than liberalising the benefits with the changing times and improving sensitivity and perception towards disability.” The detailed statement of the association was circulated on the social media.