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ibune News Service

Srinagar, December 13

Two recently recruited local Lashkar-e-Toiba militants were killed in a gunfight in north Kashmir’s Sopore sub-district on Thursday, the police said.

The 14-hour-long gunfight erupted at Brath Kalan in Sopore, some 60 km from Srinagar, on Wednesday evening when joint teams of the security forces were conducting a search operation in the area following a “credible intelligence input” regarding the presence of militants in the area.

“As the searches were going on, the search party was fired upon by the terrorists hiding in the area. The fire was retaliated leading to a gunfight. In the ensuing encounter, two terrorists associated with the Lashkar-e-Toiba were neutralised,” a police spokesman said. “A huge quantity of arms and ammunition, including rifles, were recovered from the site of encounter.”

The two slain militants were identified as 22-year-old Owais Ahmad Bhat, alias Abu-Bakar, a resident of Gund-Brath in Sopore, and 23-year-old Tahir Ahmad Dar, alias Abu-Abdullah, of Saidpora in Sopore. A house was partially damaged during the encounter.

According to police records, Owais had joined militant ranks on October 21 and Tahir was recruited into the Lashkar on November 10. Locals said Owais was a final year student of the Bachelor’s course he was pursuing before he went missing.

Intense clashes erupted in various parts of Sopore after the gunfight ended. A large number of people attended the funeral of the slain militants amid “pro-freedom and anti-India” slogans.

This year the security forces have killed the highest number of militants in the last eight years. Union minister of state for home Hansraj Ahir had on Wednesday said 238 militants were killed by the forces in J&K till December 2.

Pune, December 13

The Indian Army should not be looked upon as a job provider organisation, Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat said here on Thursday, and warned personnel who feign illness or disability in order to avoid duty or get benefits.

He assured all help to former and serving soldiers who have actually suffered disability in the line of duty.

“Aksar dekha gaya hai ki log Bhartiya Sena ko ek employment ka jariya manate hai, naukari hasil karane ka jariya (It is often seen that people feel the Army is a means of employment, a means to get a job,” he said. — PTI

Photo for representation only.

Shirdi (Maharashtra), December 6

A 38-year-old retired Army jawan was arrested for allegedly firing four rounds in the air from his licensed shotgun here early on Thursday, police said.

The incident took place on Saibaba Palkhi Marg near Hotel Sai Kausalya around 1.30 am, they said.

“The accused, Pushkaraj Singh, a resident of Rewa district of Madhya Pradesh, fired four rounds in the air from his licensed 12-bore shotgun. He was accompanied by his two friends at the time of the incident,” police inspector Arvind Mane said.

Before that, the accused also threatened some people in a nearby locality, he added.

“The shotgun as well as 10 cartridges was recovered from the accused and he was arrested,” Mane said, adding that it was being ascertained if Singh had consumed liquor. — PTI

Varinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 28

Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur Sahib (Pakistan) was reconstructed during the reign of the then Maharaja of Patiala Bhupinder Singh at a cost of Rs 1.35 lakh in the 1920s.

As the gurdwara building was in a poor condition, the Maharaja had taken the initiative to rebuild the shrine in the town where Guru Nanak Dev spent the last years of his life.

The Pakistani authorities have been displaying a glass case containing a shrapnel of a bomb in the shrine’s courtyard. A plaque next to it reads that the bomb was dropped by the Indian Air Force during the 1971 war. The shrine, the plaque says, was saved as the bomb had landed in the well on its premises.

The Kartarpur corridor was earlier envisaged when Gen Pervez Musharraf was the President of Pakistan. A tender was floated, following which 50 per cent of the road for the corridor was constructed on the Pakistan side.

The then Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh had offered a golden palanquin in 2005 after paying obeisance at the gurdwara.

In 2017, a Parliamentary Committee led by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had ruled out the construction of the corridor, citing security issues and India-Pakistan hostilities.

Kartarpur Sahib is considered to be the oldest Sikh shrine in the world. Its foundation stone was laid in 1572. Maharaja Ranjit Singh had got its dome gold-plated, besides offering a palanquin. The existing structure, it is learnt, was raised by Lala Shayam Dass in 1911.

Admiral Sunil Lanba is scheduled to visit the Nakhimov Naval School and Admiralty Shipyard that is building Lada-class submarines of project 677. The non-nuclear Amur-1650 submarine – an export option of the Lada-class submarine – is one of the contenders in India’s project p75I for six non-nuclear submarines for the Indian Navy.

India and Russia are exploring newer avenues for defence cooperation. In this connection, Chief of the Indian Navy Admiral Sunil Lanba is currently on a four-day visit of Russia starting Monday. On the first day of his visit, Lanba is holding bilateral discussions with his counterpart, Admiral Vladimir Korolev, commander-in-chief of the Russian Federation Navy (RuFN).

“At Moscow, the Admiral will have discussions with General VV Gerasimov, Chief of General Staff and First Deputy Defence Minister of the Russian Federation and Mr. Dmitriy Shugaev, Director, Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSMTC) of the Russian Federation,” the Indian Navy’s statement read.

The Indian Navy’s statement indicates that the two countries remain undeterred by US sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) and is likely to soon clear pending deals in the maritime domain.

Earlier this year on July 6, Sputnik reported that India and Russia had started discussions on joint construction and development of a nuclear submarine at a very cost effective rate at an Indian shipyard. Going by the proposal, the two countries intend to develop a prototype for under $200 million following which the Russian firm would transfer the technical know-how and related documents to the Indian shipyard.

Only last week, India and Russia concluded a $1.5 billion guided missile frigate deal under which two 3,620-ton Admiral Grigorovich-class vessels will be purchased off the shelf by India while two other frigates will be built at a state-owned shipyard in Goa, southern India. India has so far leased two nuclear-propelled submarines from Russia, including the Chakra, which is currently in service.

Admiral Lanba will also visit the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and will deliver a talk on the “Indian Navy’s Perspective on Maritime Security.” He will also lay a wreath at Piskarev Memorial Cemetery in memory of the victims of the Siege of Leningrad.

Senior Superintendent Police Suhai Aziz Talpur led the security operation that foiled the brazen attack by members of the Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, in Karachi. Photo: Twitter

Karachi, November 23

A fearless woman officer of the Karachi Police, who was once abandoned by relatives in her village for joining a private school, on Friday saved the lives of many Chinese diplomatic staff when heavily-armed terrorists stormed the mission in the Pakistani city.

Senior Superintendent Police Suhai Aziz Talpur led the security operation that foiled the brazen attack by members of the Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, in Karachi.

She ensured the terrorists, armed with nine hand-grenades, assault rifles, magazines and explosives, did not reach the diplomatic staff inside the consulate building.

Police said the terrorists were carrying food supplies and medicines, suggesting they had planned to take hostages.

But as soon as they reached the gates of the consulate, the police team took positions and retaliated. Two police officials were killed in the gunfight in which all the attackers were also neutralised.

Suhai hails from a lower middle-class family of Bhai Khan Talpur village in Tando Muhammad Khan district of Sindh province. She joined the police force after clearing elite Central Superior Services exam in 2013, The Express Tribune reported.

“When my parents decided to enrol me at a school, most of our relatives started taunting my family. So much so, that my family had to leave our village and move to a nearby town,” she told the daily.

Her father Aziz Talpur, a political activist and writer, always dreamt big for his daughter.

“My relatives cut off ties with me because I wanted Suhai to study as they were only in favour of religious education,” Aziz told the daily. “But I vowed to provide my daughter quality education.”

Suhai started her primary education at a private school in Tando Muhammad Khan and joined Bahria Foundation for her intermediate studies.

Her educational path then led her to pursue B.Com from the Zubaida Girls College, Hyderabad in Sindh province.

“My family wanted me to become a chartered accountant but I found the job to be very dull as it had no social value,” she said. “That is when I appeared for CSS and cleared it in the first attempt.”

She credited her success to hard work and her upbringing. “My parents are nationalists. As a child, they used to emphasise that I memorise Sindhi poetry. This developed my interest in literature and history, leading me to secure top marks in both the subjects in the CSS (Central Superior Services) exams.” PTI

Ajay Banerjee
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, November 22

India and China have finally firmed up dates for resumption of their bilateral military exercise ‘Hand-in-hand’, with the two-week drill set to kick off at Kunming in south-east China on December 10.

The Indian Army will be represented by the 11th battalion of the Sikh Light Infantry. The exercise was originally planned in October-November last year, but China backed out in May following the 73-day (June 16-August 28) Doklam standoff. China was to be the host, as per an arrangement to conduct it in each country by rotation. India had hosted it in 2016.

So far, there have been six editions of the exercise. It was suspended for five years (2010-14) after China refused visa to then Northern Army Commander Lt Gen BS Jaswal claiming Jammu and Kashmir was a “disputed” territory. In a turnaround to that stance, the two armies conducted their first-ever joint drill in eastern Ladakh (Jammu and Kashmir) in October 2016.

The talk of resuming the exercise had started in March this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping had met at an informal summit in Wuhan and issued “strategic guidance” to their respective militaries. “Build trust and have a mechanism to prevent incidents in border regions,” said a statement issued from Wuhan.

In June, almost an year after Delhi and Beijing were locked in military stand-off at Doklam, the People’s Liberation Army troops conducted a three-day tactical exercise close to last year’s confrontation point at the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan border. The only difference was India was informed in advance. The drill was conducted from June 6-8 near Chumbi Valley, a Chinese territory located between Sikkim and Bhutan that India literally overlooks — 25 km at widest and 2 km at its narrowest. 

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/video-on-demand/asia-in-the-great-war/india-the-forgotten-army-10909062