by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : The Supreme Court will hear on September 4 a plea by a group of serving Army officers against the dilution of AFSPA that gives immunity to military personnel from prosecution for their actions in disturbed and insurgency-hit areas.
A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice Uday Umesh Lalit will hear the matter. The bench is already hearing a plea by kin of victims of alleged fake shootouts or extra-judicial executions in Manipur by state police and the armed forces.
A bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer and Justice Deepak Gupta listed the matter for hearing by the two-judge bench on September 4.
The petition is essentially rooted in the top court’s order on alleged extra-judicial killings in Manipur.
The petitioners have sought specific guidelines to protect military personnel from criminal proceedings for bona-fide actions done in the discharge of official duties in areas infested with insurgents and witnessing proxy wars against India.
The petitioners range from Section Commanders to Commanding Officers who lead section, platoon, company, battalion made of 10 to 1,000 men each.
They have contended that the protection provided by the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) does not confer any special right on a soldier for himself, but facilitates his functioning and operations in extraordinary circumstances of proxy war, insurgency, armed hostility, ambushes, and covert and overt operations.
Drawing a distinction between routine policing and military operations in disturbed areas, they contended that absolute protection for bona-fide actions of soldiers in extraordinary situations is imperative to enable them to carry out their duties effectively and efficiently.
This protection from criminal prosecution for bona-fide actions of a soldier in the course of military operations in disturbed areas, the petition says, is sine qua non for the protection of the country’s sovereignty and integrity.
The officers have sought a court direction that “protection of persons acting in good faith under the AFSPA is sacrosanct with the sovereignty and integrity of the nation” and that “no prosecution, suit or other legal proceeding shall be instituted, except with the previous sanction of the Central government….”
They further averred that it was the Army alone which is familiar with the dynamics of these operations, and was capable of probing allegations of criminality, misuse, abuse, or of excessive use of power by men in uniform.
“Civil police or even the Central Bureau of Investigation can’t even be expected to be in the know of complete picture,” they claimed.
The petition by Colonel Amit Kumar and others is rooted in the persecution and prosecution of military personnel for carrying out their bona-fide duties in disturbed areas of the northeast, particularly in Manipur and trouble-torn Jammu and Kashmir, and directing registration of cases.
The military personnel, the petitioner officers contended, were being targeted without making any distinction or determination whether their actions were in good faith and without any criminal intent.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Interviews
Lt. General (retd) D.S. Hooda
By Mohd Asim Khan,
New Delhi : Cyber warfare is emerging as a grave threat with a potential to wreak havoc in a war situation, but India is not yet prepared to handle it effectively, a former Indian Army general has said.
“We have been alive to the (cyber) threat for some time, but the nature of the threat is expanding quite rapidly. With Internet of Things (IoT) and everything around our life getting interconnected, we suddenly realise the potential of the threat to be enormous. In preparation we are still lacking a bit as the organisational structures that are needed to counter this are not in place,” Lt. General (retd) D.S. Hooda told IANS in an interview.
Hooda, who specialises in the field, said that with critical infrastructure and military installations getting connected through the internet, the threat of cyber attacks was becoming increasingly lethal and that an emerging India was particularly at risk of such attacks.
Calling cyber warfare the “fifth dimension” of war — after land, water, air and space — Hooda said that India was ranked third in terms of facing threats of cyber warfare but was at 23rd position when it comes to preparedness to deal with them.
“Since India is growing economically, diplomatically and politically, people will target us. It’s the weapon of weaker nations against stronger nations. I see no reason why Pakistan would hesitate to use it against us,” said Hooda, who was the architect of the famous surgical strikes against Pakistan in 2016 as the Northern Army Command chief.
He said there had not been enough discussion and debate on the strategic aspect of cyber warfare, otherwise an integrated cyber command would have been in place by now.
But how damaging can a cyber war be?
“Well, a lot of people say that so many cyber attacks have already happened yet not a single person has been killed. But I think that has got to do with intentions. In these attacks, so far, the intent was not to do that (kill people), but the capability definitely exists,” Hooda said.
“If you get into infrastructure, for example, related to dams, and you are able to flood some areas, or you get into the command control networks… there is talk that the Americans did get into the North Korean missile programme and managed to do some damage to that. So I think the potential exists for what you can do with it because our lives are so interconnected now,” he said.
“It can actually impact each sphere of your life. So rather than saying that it has not happened till now, I think what we should look at is whether the capability of kinetic damage to human life exists, and I think it does exist right now,” Hooda said.
He said the more we get interconnected, the more risk we face.
What are the various aspects of cyber warfare? Hooda said that in such attacks normally weaker, hostile countries are involved and they carry out targeted attacks on critical infrastructure or military installations of the rival country, including spreading disinformation to create societal unrest.
“The example of this you saw in the US elections when social media was used to influence the voters. Whether that actually happened or not is a matter of investigation. When you combine all this, that’s why we are now defining cyber as the fifth dimension of warfare. After air, land, sea and space, now you see cyber warfare becoming an integral component of the overall war,” Hooda said.
“See what happened between Russia and Ukraine. Twice the Russians got into the power grid of Ukraine and shut down the power supply to thousand of households. It happened in Estonia in 2007. So this is what we are talking about when we say cyber warfare,” he added.
He said that, earlier, the defence establishment looked at this in a “limited way”, something confined to, say, the communication system.
“Then we suddenly saw that more and more critical infrastructure had started to get connected to the internet. You heard about cyber command and how the British have put up such a command structure in place. For some reason, there has been a lot of delay. I hope this defence cyber agency comes through. But unless you have structures in place to be able to deal with this threat we are going to be found wanting in case of a serious cyber attack,” Hooda said.
Asked if we have ever attacked Pakistan in the cyber space, the general just smiled and said: “These are classified intelligence operations. So I will not comment on that. All I can tell you is that, yes, we have the capability.”
(Asim Khan can be reached on mohd.a@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : The Congress on Thursday accused the Modi government of using the 2016 surgical strike carried out in Pakistan as “political fodder” to gain votes and listed many similar strikes done in the last two decades to assert this was not the first action of its kind.
Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala’s comments came a day after the release of the video footage of the Indian Army’s surgical strikes in September 2016 when troops crossed the Line of Control (LoC) to attack terror hubs in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Surjewala told reporters that BJP President Amit Shah had “dishonoured” the 70-year-long history of bravery and sacrifice of the armed forces by making a “disgraceful statement” on October 7, 2016 that the “Indian Army had crossed the LoC for the first time in 68 years”.
Stressing that Congress President Rahul Gandhi and her predecessor Sonia Gandhi supported the armed forces and the government in the 2016 action, Surjewala said the Army had conducted strategic surgical strikes “with utmost precision and effective penetration” at different times in the last two decades.
He listed eight “surgical strikes” conducted prior to 2016.
“We are proud that our forces successfully conducted multiple surgical strikes over the last two decades, particularly post 2000 — January 21, 2000 (Nadala Enclave, across Neelam river); September 18, 2003 (Baroh Sector, Poonch); June 19, 2008 (Bhattal Sector, Poonch); August 30 to September 1, 2011 (Sharda Sector, across Neelam river Valley in Kel); January 6, 2013 (Sawan Patra Checkpost); July 27 to 28, 2013 (Nazapir Sector); August 6, 2013 (Neelam Valley); January 14, 2014; September 28 to 29, 2016.”
He said the Modi government sought credit for the sacrifices of the soldiers but had “utterly failed” to provide the direction, vision and policy for dealing with Pakistan and checkmating Pakistan-sponsored terrorism.
“No wonder the apathy and incapacity of the Modi government has resulted in the sacrifice of 146 soldiers, more than 1,600 ceasefire violations by Pakistan and 79 terrorist attacks post September 2016,” Surjewala said.
“Doublespeak of the Modi government and the BJP’s stand is reflected in the stepmotherly treatment of our armed forces, both in terms of providing for security apparatus as also in slashing their budgetary allocation.”
Surjewala alleged that Army Vice Chief Sarath Chand was “forced” to say that 68 per cent of all equipment was vintage.
“On account of budgetary cuts, procurement from ordinance factory is being reduced from 94 per cent to 50 per cent, which will force our soldiers to buy uniforms, combat dress, belts and shoes on their own.”
Surjewala said the report of the Parliamentary Committee on Defence highlighted lack of money for emergency purchases by Armed Forces after the Uri terror attack, the surgical strike and the Doklam standoff with China.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
New Delhi : With the Kashmir Valley enveloped by rising violence, the Indian Army on Friday said it would prioritize bringing radicalized youth to the mainstream through a “collective approach” and convince militants to “shun violence and gun culture”.
The issue of conducting de-radicalizing exercises along with counter-terror operations in the Kashmir Valley was discussed during the ongoing biannual Army Commanders’ Conference that began here on Monday amid reports that Islamic State ideology was moulding new-age militants in the state.
“It was felt that priority must be accorded towards ushering peace by conducting counter-terrorist operations that minimize collateral damage. Radicalized youth must be brought into the mainstream by carrying out de-radicalization and collective approach that focuses on convincing the youth to shun violence and gun culture,” Director General Staff Duties Lt. Gen. A.K. Sharma told reporters.
Lt. Gen. Sharma, who earlier headed Nagrota-based 16 Corps in Jammu, didn’t explain what kind of exercise the Army would employ to de-radicalize Kashmiri youth who appear to be getting influenced by Islamic State ideology amid heightened violence in the Valley.
Staring at yet another possible hot summer with hundreds of militants and many civilians already killed in the first three and a half months of this year, dozens of youths in Kashmir have reportedly joined three prominent militant groups: Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Taiba and a resurgent Jaish-e-Mohammad.
These groups have been historically linked to Pakistan and largely favour a merger of Jammu and Kashmir with Pakistan.
But new-age militants, including those from Ansar Ghazwat ul Hind of former Hizb commander Zakir Musa, have openly favoured pan-Islamism over nationalist goals, seeking “martyrdom or imposition of sharia” and declared jihad against not only India but “apostate” Pakistan too.
Though there is no concrete data available to prove the Islamic State’s physical presence in Kashmir, its online propaganda and the way it is influencing young Kashmiris indicate that the global terror group may have Kashmir ambitions at the very least.
Top Army commanders during the six-day conference that ends on Saturday also discussed the current situation along the borders with China and Pakistan, particularly “along the Line of Control, the increase in ceasefire violations and the adequacy of the response mechanisms”, said Lt. Gen. Sharma
“The apex commanders confabulated on the prevalent situation in the Valley and reviewed the recent developments affecting modus operandi of the operations of the armed forced deployed in the region,” he said, referring to the trend of civilians rushing to shootout sites to hurl stones at security forces in a bid to help militants escape.
The senior commanders, he said, also deliberated at length on the prevailing situation along the northern borders.
“During the conference, considerable time was spent on re-prioritizing the existing requirements to ensure that the resources allocated for force modernization and capacity building were utilized optimally with the budgetary allocation. The discussions also dwelt upon increasing the content of indigenization in force modernization.”
On the last day of the conference, the commanders would deliberate on matters pertaining “exclusively to military operations”, he said.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | News, Politics
By Gaurav Sharma,
Beijing : China on Monday expressed anger over Indian Army chief Bipin Rawat’s recent remarks, saying such “unconstructive” comments defy the consensus to maintain peace and would rather hurt it.
At a press conference last week, Gen Rawat said it was time India shifted its focus from the western border with Pakistan to its northern frontier with China, which could send back troops again to the point of face-off in Doklam plateau.
He also said that India needed to check China’s growing assertiveness in the neighbouring countries in the South Asia region.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang said the remarks would disturb peace, which both countries were trying to restore after a military stand-off last year.
“Last year, India-China relations have witnessed some twists and turns but Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS meeting last September reached a consensus to bring the ties back on track,” Lu said.
“Recently, the two sides enhanced dialogue on consultations and bilateral relations have shown sound momentum of improvement and development.
“Under such background, the unconstructive remarks by the Indian senior officials not only go against the consensus reached by the two heads of state and do not conform to the efforts made by the two sides to improve and develop bilateral relations.
“It cannot help to preserve tranquillity and peace in the border areas,” Lu added.
Lu said India should stick to the consensus reached between Modi and Xi and “refrain from doing things which may complicate the situation. This serves the common interest of the whole region and the interest of the Indian side.”
Briefing the media, Gen Rawat had said the Chinese troops retreated from Doka La in Doklam possibly due to the harsh winter and could return to the point of the face-off.
Indian and Chinese troops were locked in an over two-month stand-off at Doka La in Doklam plateau over road construction by China.
The borders of India, China and Bhutan meet at Doka La in Doklam, which is claimed by Beijing and Thimpu.
India’s objection to the road was Doka La’s proximity to its highway that connects its northeast with rest of the country. Both armies retreated from the point of face-off on August 28.
Asked which particular remark of Gen Rawat’s China has taken exception to, Lu said: “I have made myself clear. If the senior official according to the report referred to Donglang (Doklam), I think you are clear about our position – Donglang belongs to China and has always been in the effective jurisdiction of China.
“The China border troops patrolling and stationed in the area are exercising our sovereignty rights. We hope the Indian side has learned the lessons of history and will avoid similar accidents to take place again.
“If he refers to the situation in the whole India-China boundary, I have also said that last September the two heads of state have reached important consensus during the Xiamen summit. Both sides have maintained effective communication since then.
“The aim is to enhance strategic mutual trust and create enabling atmosphere for strategic communication. Recently the bilateral relations have shown positive momentum.
“On such background, the official mentioned by you made such kind of remarks that go against the consensus of the states and do not conform to the general trend of improvement of bilateral relations. We believe such kinds of remarks are not conducive to maintaining peace and tranquility in border areas.”
—IANS
