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Kargil war: the neglected heroes
Avoid the politics of language |
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Punjab pays for growth On Record Profile
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Kargil war: the neglected heroes
Captain Nongrum had demonstrated outstanding gallantry while leading his men to capture Point 4812 and was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) posthumously. His battalion also captured the first Pakistan Army prisoner of war, Naik Inayat Ali, which ended all misinformation about mujahideen being the infiltrators. The Keishings maintain Nongrum’s room with almost everything that he left behind. All awards, presentations, write-ups in the media are kept in this room. Keishings have lost their son. But his gallantry and sacrifice for the nation live on for the family and their friends! Gopi Chand and Mohini Pandey too maintain a separate room with all the memorabilia of their son Manoj in their house in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow. “He continues to live with us”, said his sister when we visited their home. Her brother Lieutenant Manoj Pandey of 1/11 Gorkha Rifles participated in a series of attacks at Khalubar. On the night of July 2–3, 1999, when Manoj’s platoon approached their final objective under intense enemy fire at Khalubar, it was nominated to clear the interfering enemy bunkers. While clearing the third bunker, he sustained a machine-gun burst to which he succumbed. His daredevil act, however, enabled the Gorkhas to capture Khalubar. Manoj Pandey was awarded the Param Vir Chakra for his outstanding acts of bravery. In every martyr’s home that I have visited after the Kargil war, there is a room or a corner full of memories, which gives pride and sustains the family. Captain Vikram Batra, awarded the PVC for his actions at Point 5140 and Point 4875, reminds us of his success signal, “Yeh dil mange more”. Grenadier Yogendra Yadav, also awarded the PVC, led the assault to fix a rope for his colleagues on top of Tiger Hill. Captain Vijayant Thapar, in his last letter to his parents, wrote, “By the time you get this letter, I will be enjoying the company of Apsaras in the sky.” He ended up his letter with “OK then, it is time for me to join my assault party of the dirty dozen.” The Vir Chakra in Vijayant’s room is the pride of the family. Sudhir Kumar, my ADC, volunteered to join his battalion 9 Para. Without acclimatisation, he led his troops to capture Zulu Top, almost the last battle in the Kargil war. Hanif-ud-din led his team of 11 Rajputana Rifles to capture Point 5590. He succumbed to his injuries and the body fell in a crevice. His mother had to wait for 20 days before we could recover his body and hand it over to her. Captain Kengruse scaled a sheer rock face at Three Pimples in Dras bare-footed, literally hanging on by his fingers and toes. After reaching the top, he killed two enemy soldiers with a commando knife before he was fatally wounded. Thousands of Naga people along the road between Dimapur and Kohima spent long hours to salute his body on its last homeward journey. 1 Bihar lost Major Sarvanan in a failed assault on Point 4924 at the Jubar complex on May 29. Determined to recover his body, the battalion captured this feature finally on July 8. The battalion recovered his body along with a large cache of enemy arms and ammunition and dead bodies of many Pakistani soldiers. At this time, our national spirit and respect for the soldiers was so high that a Union Minister, the late Ranganathan Kumaramangalam, personally escorted Saravanan’s body to his hometown in Trichnapally, where a solemn farewell was given. There were countless acts of gallantry, displays of steely resilience, single-minded devotion to duty and sacrifices. The war in Kargil saw unalloyed heroism, which will remain a benchmark for valour whenever the security of our nation is threatened. All units responded with alacrity and with their characteristic steadfastness and perseverance. The above-mentioned tactical battles were a follow-up of a simple war strategy. At the grand strategy level, the approach was that India was a victim of intrusion and yet was willing to exercise restraint by not crossing the LoC or the border. That notwithstanding, it would take all measures, including military, to ensure that the intruded area is vacated. The military strategy was to threaten and maintain pressure on Pakistan throughout the land, air and sea borders with a view to creating a strategic imbalance for Pakistan and to reduce enemy pressure on Kargil. We were prepared to escalate the situation and launch our forces across the border or the LoC if the situation demanded. All formations tasked for the western border were deployed on the front, or located close to it. Our strike formations were ready to cross into Pakistan at short notice. These formations, their equipment and ammunition —- over 19000 tonnes —- were moved in 446 military special trains over several nights. A part of the Eastern Naval Fleet was moved to the Arabian Sea. The Indian Navy deployed war ships from the Gulf to the western Indian coastline. The Air Force, which was already supporting battles at Kargil, had prepared all its bases and aircraft for war. In the Kargil war, the Pakistan Army had taken the initiative and surprised us. We were reacting to a situation, like we did in 1947-48, 1962 and 1965 when attacked by the enemy. The political objective was to “get the Kargil intrusion vacated and restore the sanctity of the LoC” with a rider not to cross the LoC or the border. We achieved that on July 26 when Pakistani troops were either thrown out physically or withdrew from some occupied positions on our terms and conditions. In the current geopolitical and strategic environment, it is not possible to take the war to the conclusion of old-style politico-military victories. Wars now are conducted with the objective of achieving political success rather than military victories. That is what we achieved for our political authority in the Kargil war. Our war diplomacy could not have succeeded if we had not been able to beat the hell out of the Pakistan Army intruders in Kargil. When the truth about the foolhardy Kargil venture filtered out in Pakistan, all those responsible for the catastrophe were vehemently condemned within their country. Historically and culturally, despite having to go to war so often for external and internal security, we Indians never take pride in our military achievements or our military heroes. It is a strategic cultural weakness. The military is sidelined as soon as the conflict is over. Till date, there is no national war memorial. Questions are raised whenever the military wishes to celebrate an event to maintain military traditions and to inculcate regimental spirit and espirit de corps. That is also the reason why our long-term defence planning continues to suffer. Kargil heroes and martyrs like those of 1971 and other previous wars are facing the same neglect. It is sad to see that the political leadership, even the media, does not realise the adverse impact of such neglect while the military continues to be engaged in a proxy war in J&K and the Northeast. The media tends to spend columns and days describing a military aberration. But there is little coverage of its heroes and sacrifices. Many of them wrote off the whole of the Kargil war over a tribunal decision on a dispute between a Brigadier and his Corps Commander. It must be remembered that such disputes over promotions, honours and awards occur after every war. And for every single brave deed noticed and recognized, there are many that go unnoticed in the fog of war. Recently, I was in Srinagar when Colonel Neeraj Sood of the Rashtriya Rifles was shot dead by the militants in Kupwara. At the airport, I witnessed his devastated wife and daughter taking his body to Delhi. Neeraj’s military colleagues were present to look after the family. Not a single representative from the Central or state government was present to see them off. The sense of nationalism and pride in the military generated during the Kargil war is missing today. The men and women of the armed forces have been on the front lines of violence almost continuously since the early 1980s. There is not enough recognition of the stresses that they operate under and the terrible disruptions and strains that affect their families even after the Kargil war. Many veterans have returned medals awarded to them for gallantry and fighting wars to the President, a sure sign of frustration and feeling of neglect. If we wish to maintain good civil-military relations to optimise national security, our people, particularly political and media leaders, must realize this important responsibility and ensure that there is no feeling of frustration or injustice in the military
profession. The writer was the Chief of Army Staff during the Kargil war
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Avoid the politics of language
Belgaum is in the news again following the Central government filing an affidavit in the Supreme Court, saying that Maharashtra couldn’t claim jurisdiction over 865 villages in Belgaum, Karwar, Bidar and Gulbarga districts of Karnataka just because they had Marathi-speaking people in majority. The Centre’s intention has predictably set the political pot boiling in Maharashtra. Political parties across the spectrum have jumped into the fray trying to defend the rights of the ‘Marathi manoos’ of Belgaum. Given the volatility associated with the political class in general and the Maharashtra political scenario in particular, the matter is most likely to snowball into a major controversy that would bring into question the Centre-state and state –state relations. A case is being made for amalgamating the Marathi-speaking populace of Belgaum with the state of Maharashtra. The logic being forwarded is that only by keeping the people of a linguistic group together in a geographical enclave can their rights be protected. This is a perverse logic and throws up some fundamental questions about the very nature of our nationhood and the character of our democratic institutions. The controversy at one level betrays the poverty of political ideas wherein linguistic affiliation alone is propounded as a prerequisite for seeking otherwise legitimate aspirations of development and progress for a populace. At another level it points at the ‘politics of patronage’ wherein the common linguistic identity is seen as a passport for currying political favours for the dominant among the linguistic group. The genesis of the problem lies with the original basis of the language that was chosen for the creation of states in the country. The Independence that was attained as a result of huge sacrifices made by our great leaders embodied some of the most hallowed principles. The freedom struggle encompassed every nook and corner of the country and was not limited to merely a region, ethnicity or linguistic group. In that sense, the freedom attained was a pan-Indian achievement. However, in spite of the great principles with which the freedom struggle was fought, the nation had to pay a heavy price for the diabolical agenda of the communalists which resulted in the ‘vivisection’ of the country as Gandhiji called it. Not surprisingly, the framers of the Constitution ensured that secularism remained the guiding ideology of our Republic. There would be no place for religion in matters of State. To that extent, the secular Constitution was a document which seemed to be the logical framework on which the nation would evolve after Independence. However, what was taken care of in the sphere of religion was not done in the case of language. Language, perhaps, is an even more emotive issue than religion and, as was proved during the early years of our Republic, became a strong divisive force. Interestingly, just after Independence in December 1948 the JVP Committee was constituted to look into the question of state reorganisation on linguistic lines. It discouraged the idea of language being the basis for statehood. Inter alia, it stated that “The primary consideration (for reorganisation of states) must be the security, unity and economic prosperity of India, and every separatist and disruptive tendency should be rigorously discouraged”. The experience of sectarian violence and the resulting partition of the country was fresh in the minds of Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel who were the members of the committee. The visionaries had rightly envisaged the divisive potential of linguistic associations for the creation of states. Owing to immense political upheavals of the early years of the nation, however, the Centre had to give in to the parochial demands of the linguistic groups across the country. What we see today is but an outcome of the path chosen then. What is worrying is that the language remains the most contentious of all issues outside of religious affiliation that has a potential of pushing the nation to the precipice. By agreeing to the idea of linguistic states there seems to be a tacit acknowledgement of a notion that only being governed by one’s ‘own’ people can one be guaranteed of one’s rights. It tacitly talks of not just the separateness of identities above the national identity but also the predominance of the former over the latter. The logic is dangerously close to the two-nation theory of the Muslim League. Language is cited as a ground for the reorganisation of states on the specious argument that by doing so the political aspirations of the community would be met. The logic forwarded is flawed and puts into question the very institution of democracy as it takes shape in our country. In a working democracy, it should not matter as to what the ethnicity or linguistic background of the governed is. Progress and development as a concept should be impervious to the ascribed status of the citizenry. It should be a logical corollary to a true democracy that the fruits of development should reach all sections of society irrespective of one’s caste, region, ethnic background or linguistic affiliation. The impending crisis gives us an opportunity to take a fresh look at the policy to reorganise states on the basis of language. The only reason that warrants the creation of a new state or altering the borders of an existing one should be administrative ease or developmental needs. It is time to move beyond the politics of language and shift to the language of
development. The writer, an Indian Revenue Service officer, is an Assistant Commissioner of Customs, Mumbai
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Punjab pays for growth
Punjab
faces a serious problem of soil degradation, ground water depletion and river water pollution as a consequence of unfettered and imbalanced growth. Economic compulsions of the last few decades have pushed Punjab into being a granary for the country and to shoulder the responsibility of the federal government to provide food security. This has led to rampant environmental pollution with attributed costs such as the health of the citizens of the state and corruption of the food chain and soil. The pressure for agricultural growth and political compulsions of the Government of India have led to a situation where the cropping pattern of grain followed by grain has affected soil nutrition. This can be explained by the fact that at the beginning of the Green Revolution in the late 60s, one unit of fertilizer produced more than one unit of grain of wheat or rice whereas in 2010 multiple units of fertilizer are required to produce the same quantity of the grain. The net effect is that the soil of Punjab is getting exhausted, and a micro nutrient agricultural imbalance has taken place and the soil structure is deteriorating. Crop intensity and the desire of the farmer to maximise his return on investment has also resulted in excessive drainage of its groundwater resources. This has now reached alarming proportions. The 10.5 million acres of cultivable land requires 5 ft plus of water for a paddy/wheat crop by the conventional flood irrigation method. Therefore, using the thumb rule the state would require in excess of 55 million acre feet (MAF) of water. At present Punjab has less than 25 MAF of water available from the rivers and canals. This has resulted in faster extraction of groundwater than is being replenished or harvested. As a consequence, the water table is receding every year. Due to the excessive fertilizer usage the soil is becoming a sort of hazardous compound and even the ground water at some places is getting poisonous because of the permeation of chemicals into the soil. In this background, some basic solutions can be applied even at this stage to try and stop this catastrophic development before it gets even more unmanageable. The first major solution is to change the cropping cycle and move more farmers from foodgrains to cash crops. Farmers need to be encouraged to use water harvesting techniques and these must be made mandatory at all levels. Ground water needs to be replenished. Besides, more capital needs to be invested in intensive irrigation systems which yield better crops. Remove perverse subsidies from farming through various methods such as providing free water, free electricity and subsidies on urea and DAP. The farmer needs to be encouraged to use micro nutrients which are actually required by the soil. Till 2005 the Government of India had neglected the single super phosphate industry. The single super phosphate being a low-end fertilizer in industrial terms is a great source of sulphur. It is a recognised fact that the Indian soil lacks sulphur. It is only in the last 2 years that government has woken up to this reality. Whilst DAP is a very good fertilizer in the traditional sense, its rampant usage along with urea has resulted in the soil being dependant on it and at the same time leaching the soil of other micro nutrients which have never been provided during the course of irrigation. There is an urgent need to push towards water soluble fertilisers such as NPKs and more complex fertilizers which deliver micro nutrients required on a measured basis. At the policy level, the government needs to set up an environment depreciation fund to take into account all the usage of capital resources which have been depleted and this fund should be used for providing lead finance in agriculture, education of farmers and creation of value-added services which will help the farmer realize more value from moving to cash crops. A possible mechanism would be to help farmers to set up cold storage chains which would encourage or support the export of such cash crops and by reducing the wastage would actually result in better returns for the farmer. There is need to invest more in high-yielding seeds and research for better crop yields. The agricultural universities must work to develop sustainable models of cropping and agriculture. In conclusion, as an officer who has served in Punjab and with roots in the state I can only hope that the governments of the day both in the state and at the Centre would take concrete steps to alleviate this major problem, which could affect us all in the years to
come. The writer is a retired IAS
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On Record
Pargat Singh has always been a rebel with a cause, who has fought for the betterment of Indian hockey and a better deal for the players, ruffling the feathers of many a big gun in the process. He was one of the best fullbacks Indian hockey has ever seen. He often overlapped and scored goals, which proved his fitness, speed and flexibility — a rare quality for a defender. He had the unique distinction of leading the Indian team in two Olympics — Barcelona (1992) and Atlanta (1996). After he hung up his hockey stick as a player, he switched over to coaching and then to the sports administration, and made a mark too. Now he has thrown his hat into the Hockey India election ring, putting himself as a candidate for the post of president against Hockey India candidate and incumbent president Vidya Stokes. He spoke to The Tribune about his chances of victory, and his plans for the revival of Indian hockey. Excerpts: Q: How do you rate your chances of victory as the numbers of the electoral college are heavily tilted in favour of the official Hockey India candidate? A: Most of the state associations and individuals fully back my candidature as it’s a fight between a 43-year-old player and an 83-year-old lady who has no hockey background. I don’t even like to make any comparison with her. The voters have to make the right choice for the good of Indian hockey. Q: What are your plans for the revival of hockey? A: There would be long and short-term plans. Upgrading the coaching and umpiring systems, a proper calendar for domestic and international competitions and proper marketing of the hockey team would be my immediate goals. We have to be on the practical side to promote hockey at the ground level. We should organise four-nation, six-nation tournaments. We have been allotted the 2011 Champions Trophy which we should conduct successfully to elevate the image of the country. We should bring more and more international tournaments to the country. Q: How are you going to go about creating a proper environment for the growth of the game? A: Focus should be on the development of hockey at the grassroots level and I want to create a conducive atmosphere for the growth of the game. I want to take everybody along for the overall development of the game. That’s the need of the hour. Q: What do you consider as your major achievements as the Director of Sports, Punjab? A: When I took over, there were just 25 teams at the district level. Now there are over 300 teams. We conduct week-end hockey matches in every district which last nine months, and there are over 12 astro-turfs in the rich pockets of Punjab. Last year we conducted a four-nation tournament in Chandigarh in which Holland and Germany competed. Holland played in the state after 20 years and Germany after 25 years. Hockey matches should be live on television. Otherwise, how can we make stars of hockey players, assess their performance? We want to bring in sponsors so that hockey can flourish. Q: What is your take on the sexual harassment allegation levelled against women’s team chief coach M.K.Kaushik by a woman player? A: As a person, Kaushik is a good man. I can’t believe that he would do such a thing. But the incident throws up a valuable lesson: we should have female staff to manage the women’s game. A woman player can interact with a woman coach much more freely than a male coach, and a woman can explain certain personal problems only to a woman coach. Kaushik may use strong language on the field, which he may have to improve. So an all-woman coaching staff would be a better option than a male coach at the
helm.
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Profile
He agreed to rejoin the reconstituted NAC last month after a great deal of persuasion by Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Sonia even went to the extent of insisting that the NAC-II would not be formed unless Dreze and Aruna Roy, a socialist activist, were on board. Fiftyone-year-old Dreze has lived in India since 1979 and became an Indian citizen in 2002. He has worked on issues like hunger, famine, gender inequality, child health, education and NREGA. His co-authors include Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, with whom he has written on famine, and Nicholas Stern, with whom he wrote on policy reform. He is currently an honorary Professor at the Delhi School of Economics. He also taught at the London School of Economics. Apart from academic work, Dreze has been actively involved in many social movements, including the peace movement, the Right to Information campaign that led to the Right to Information Act in India and the Right to Food Campaign. During the 1990-91 Iraq war, he joined a peace camp stationed on the Iraq-Kuwait border. His article with Haris Gazdar, “Hunger and Poverty in Iraq 1991”, was one of the first assessments of Iraq’s economy after the Gulf War. In nearly three decades he has been in India, Dreze’s powerful intellect and deep humanism have illuminated a range of issues like hunger, child malnutrition, education, rural employment, reservations for women legislatures and freedom of information. His peers say what Dreze uniquely brings to the table is extensive fieldwork — few economists live as much in the country’s villages — combined with outstanding analytical skills. Dreze is an incisive spokesman for an India which has been largely invisible to the middle class. “I am not aware that India is self-confident”, he reportedly said in interviews. “What does national self-confidence mean for someone who is driving a rickshaw or carrying bricks to feed the family? Only a small minority has the luxury of worrying about an international perception of India.” Few Westerners choose their countries — they usually stay with what is thrust on them. That Dreze chose India is a welcome thing. In his 26-year-long association with India, Dreze has studied issues minutely and has authored many books, research papers and newspaper articles on education, poverty, development, nuclear doctrine, freedom of information and the Narmada struggle. The well-known Public Report on Basic Education (PROBE), authored by Dreze and others, is a masterpiece research publication on the state of education in several northern Indian
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