In a press conference two days ago, the army chief General Bipin Rawat supported the opening of cantonment roads. He stated, ‘If a road is being planned for a particular civil area, should we close it and think we are above everyone else’. He quoted two examples. The first example he gave was of walking plaza’s which exist in select […]
India has begun gearing up for 2019. Every nation would await the decision of the world’s largest democracy on who would hold the mantle for the next five years. For India’s enemies or those who have been impacted by the present single government’s hard-line policies, a change at the centre is essential. It would be better with a mixed coalition, […]
In a report released to the press seeking to justify its decision on opening of roads in cantonments, the defence ministry stated that the decision was influenced by letters to the defence minister by MPs, cutting across party lines, representing multiple states. The MPs sought opening cantonment roads to provide better and easier access to the population residing in its […]
The aim of this article is not to degrade the government nor to deride the defence ministry as it has attempted to produce the best with limited resources. I have immense respect for the leadership of the nation and believe that it can still deliver, though elections are around the corner. However, the press conference by the defence minister, Nirmala […]
With one nod of her head, Nirmala Sitharaman has caused the greatest divide between the armed forces and civilian community in the country in the nation’s seventy-year history. Social media is abuzz with the pro-military and anti-military lobby, solely on the closing and subsequent opening of roads within cantonments. An editorial in The Statesman even went on to threaten that […]
The recent unilateral decision by the defence minister in opening army cantonments across the nation, without taking the views of the army hierarchy, solely based on inputs from the Defence Estates Officer (DEO) and MPs is a major retrograde step. As per press reports this decision was taken unilaterally based on requests from MPs of the concerned areas. MPs, being […]
The IB and the LoC are active, casualties are mounting on both sides, civilians being targeted, posts being destroyed with firing all through the day. There were news reports of Pak Rangers seeking peace, post the destruction of their bunker by the BSF in retaliation, however the next day, tempo from their side increased. This could possibly have been on […]
It began with Secunderabad, where the Local Military Authority (LMA) shut multiple roads for use by civilians residing in colonies located around the cantonment. In some cases, it led to commuters covering an additional distance of seven Kms. Angered residents created multiple social organizations to challenge the authority of the LMA and the powers of the Secunderabad Cantonment Board. Requests, […]
The Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) was established as a military tribunal under the Armed Forces Tribunal act in 2007. This was based on the Law Commission’s 169th report of 1999, which stated that disciplinary and service matters of military personnel required quick resolution and proposed a special tribunal for the same for para military and armed forces. The act was […]
There are press reports that the home ministry is considering the deployment of National Security Guard (NSG) teams in the valley. The proposal involves deploying a unit of Black Cat Commandos in the Kashmir valley for highly specialized anti-terror operations particularly to deal with hostage situations. Presently, these tasks are being conducted by the army’s Special Forces (SF), who are […]