Chidambaram made a statement on granting autonomy to Kashmir on the basis of Article 370, while addressing a gathering in Rajkot, where he was supposed to speak on the GST. The Congress immediately distanced itself from the statement, stating that it is the views of an individual, not of the party. The Congress claimed that the solution to J and […]
Post the state police report of Ahmed Dar, who was tied to the jeep having voted earlier being released, army baiters have again begun revisiting the Gogoi controversy. The officer is once again being maligned for an action which saved lives, with no logic. These anti-army critics have been viewing the police report with a myopic vision, failing to comprehend […]
Recent press reports stated that a group of hundred serving officers of the ranks of Major and Lt Cols of the Army Service Corps (ASC) have approached the Supreme Court for rectification of an act of discrimination. They claim they are deployed on combatant tasks when the army needs them, but are denied benefits on promotion prospects, which come with […]
Lt Col Prasad Srikant Purohit was released on bail after nine years in custody for the Malegaon blasts of Sep 2008, which killed seven and injured over a hundred. Initial investigations led to the involvement of a hard-line pro-Hindu group, Abhinav Bharat. Subsequent investigations led to arrests of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, Major Ramesh Upadhyay (retired) and Lt Col Purohit, a […]
The writing has been on the wall for a long time, yet the government hesitates to act. Management of defence at the national level, desperately needs restructuring. The Ministry of Defence (MoD), in its present form is unsuitable for meeting the challenges of the twenty first century. It is the only MoD, amongst all international military powers, which is more […]
Eighteen years ago, India declared victory in Kargil, after it reclaimed the heights occupied by Pakistan. The men fought valiantly, braving odds which were stacked against them, led by junior leaders who were resolute and uncaring for their personal safety, solely focussed on their mission and backed by dedicated Commanding Officers, many of whom were at the forefront of the […]
Post the Gogoi incident there has been no respite to army bashing, either by politicians, human right activists and political commentators. Everyone who is someone, has his views. Those who have commented adversely claim to be nationalists, defending democratic rights and the power to criticize all organs of the government. The thought is right, as no organ, including the army, […]
I first saw Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw at the Navy Ball in Mumbai in Dec 1972, when I was still in school and had accompanied my parents there. He was already a legend for his leadership role in the 1971 war. He walked around with a slight hunch, the result of his bullet wounds of the second world war, personally […]
A recent press statement suggested that within the military there appears to be a disagreement, in the establishment of Unified Commands. This flows from the views being projected by service HQs on the Shekatkar committee report, which had recommended establishing Unified Commands in the country. This is in sharp contrast to another recent event where the three service chiefs stood […]
South Asians being attacked or insulted in different parts of the globe, on racial grounds, is a daily occurrence. Recent reports include incidents in New Zealand, Australia and most commonly the US. The shooting of Srinivas Kuchibhotla in Kansas recently, was a case of the shooter assuming he was targeting Iranians. Similarly, Sikhs have been mistaken for Moslems and targeted. […]