As we celebrate Vijay Diwas, victory over Pakistan in 1971, it is time to retrospect. The 1971 war was a decisive victory. It concluded when Lt General AAK Niazi, then governor of East Pakistan, signed an unconditional surrender in Dacca on 16 Dec 1971 and Pakistani forces comprising of 93,000 soldiers, surrendered to the Indian army. Paintings of the surrender […]
A topic gaining prominence across the nation and being debated in multiple forums, mainly by political parties, is nationalism. It has been in the limelight since events criticizing the nation and supporting Afzal Guru began unfolding in JNU. Leading political parties have been blaming one another for changing the concept of nationalism on frivolous grounds, including religion. Despite orders from […]
Information on the armed forces flag day was for the first time well spread across the nation employing every medium, mainly social. While the event did have good coverage and possibly reasonable contributions flowed, however, the very concept and methodology of its conduct needs a revisit. It has followed a laid down schedule since 1949, with an increased emphasis this […]
Over the years, for multiple reasons, the defence ministry (MoD) has been viewed as a stumbling block in national security, rather than being the prime mover. It has been viewed as being anti- armed forces, rather than their supporters. Amongst all the ministries of the government, this has come in for maximum flak. The UPA regime refused to clear any […]
Since the announcement by the defence and railway ministers on the army being tasked to construct the Foot Over Bridges (FOB) at Elphinstone railway station in Mumbai and two other places, there has been a flurry of criticism for the government’s decision. The Elphinstone FOB, is being constructed where a recent stampede claimed over twenty-three lives and left scores injured. […]
War, ethnic cleansing and droughts create refugee movements, compelling hordes of suffering humans to move from their permanent residence seeking shelter, food and security to life. In reality, no one desires to leave his place of residence and become a refugee in an alien land, irrespective of present difficulties or benefits it may provide in the future. However, wars and […]
The recent upsurge in violence in Haryana had the army deployed in panic by the state government, even before it had run out of central resources. It ensured an early return to normalcy. The police and other Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) were a dismal failure. Anibhav Kumar, an IPS officer on deputation with CAPFs, wrote in the Indian Express […]
As early as 1967-68, Mr V Shankar, the defence secretary had stated, ‘In the absence of a single head at the top of defence forces organizations today, the ultimate burden of coordination, superior direction and working out of policies, of evolving weapon concepts suitable to defence policy and strategy and of settling inter-service rivalries or competing demands largely falls on […]
The Rohingya issue has begun taking a political turn, with leaders cutting across party lines, projecting their views, which in many ways is contrary to that of the government and against the national interest. Omar Abdullah stated that there were no reports of Rohingya’s being a security threat till 2014, when he was the Chief Minister. Mamta Banerjee, through whose […]
The Rohingya’s forced migration from Myanmar into Bangladesh has been in the headlines in the recent past. There are controversies surrounding this forced migration. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNCHR), US and many other nations have blamed the Myanmar army for ethnic cleansing. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the UNHCR, went on the state that this is clearly a […]