Fake Encounters haunt the Army

Army forcing us to withdraw case against Gen Bikram Singh: NGO
Harinder Baweja, Hindustan Times
Srinagar, October 05, 2012
The army has been accused of putting pressure on the civil society in Kashmir to withdraw a PIL against its chief, General Bikram Singh.
YES Kashmir, an NGO, had approached the Jammu and Kashmir high court in October last year to raise the issue of an encounter that occurred in Janglat Mandi, Anantnag, in March 2001.
In the clash, Singh — then a brigadier posted in the Valley — suffered gunshot wounds while two army officials lost their lives.
According to the police, an alleged militant dressed as a beggar had approached Singh and opened fire. In the battle that ensued, the militant was killed.
The PIL, however, questions the police theory. A family had come forward in October 2011, claiming that it was their son Abdullah Bhat, an innocent bystander, who had been killed.
The timing of the PIL was questioned in military circles, with many seeing it as an attempt to narrow down Singh’s chances of becoming the army chief.
Soon after Singh took over as the chief of army staff, NGO head Khurshid Ahmed Mir approached the court once again and — in a sworn affidavit — claimed that the force was pressurising him.
Mir has now alleged in the affidavit that “officers of Sector–1 RR are pressurising me to help them withdraw the case by influencing relatives and the counsel for the petitioners… Since the case has turned out to be a high-profile one, I feel insecure in the hands of the army. They are repeatedly putting pressure on me, and can harm me and my family.”
The police had then closed the case, saying the beggar was actually Mateen Chacha — a Pakistan-trained Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist.
They are now refusing to produce a photograph of the ‘beggar’ or identify his grave, demands that the family has made through the PIL.
The board of officers inquiring into the funding of the controversial intelligence unit, constituted by former army chief Gen VK Singh, is now probing possible links between the ‘snoop unit’ and the NGO.
The inquiry notwithstanding, the petition can be embarrassing for the chief as well as the government, particularly if the court orders an investigation into the ‘fake encounter.’ The army declined to comment on the grounds that the inquiry was still on.
>Army forcing us to withdraw case against Gen Bikram Singh: NGO Comment: Fake Encounters and Gallantry Awards was a sure sign of Career Success for many Senior Officers. This short cut was fine tuned by AHQ from 1995 to 2007. When busted the reactions are for a cover up by all means... The AHQ CoI is waste of time. The Army is not designed for IS duties or Anti Insurgency ops. The designed role is only COMBAT- defensive and offensive.

Lt Gen A K Choudhary lauds NGO working for ex servicemen

Lt Gen A K Choudhary lauded NGO working for ex servicemen
Report by Arvind Sharma; Dharamsala:
Counting with its policy of “Army Cares for its veterans”, GOC of the Rising Star Corps Lt Gen A K Choudhary, AVSM,SM,VSM, in a simple ceremony at Yol Cantt near here, presented a large No of gifts to a NGO “Himachal Pradesh Poorav Sainik Sahayta Sangathan”. These gifts were given to enhance functional efficiency on the NGO, were received by NGO Chairman Col (Retd) S C Sharma.
Addressing the large gathering Lt Gen Choudhary said “ Sangathan is doing yeoman’s services by helping fellow soldiers which is exemplary emulation for worthy and noble cause. I would like more people to come forward to help the ex servicemen by ex-servicemen contributory health scheme polyclinics and also establishing ex servicemen helplines at all station headquarters to assist them.
“Himachal Pradesh Poorav Sainik Sahayta Sangathan “ was established in 2001 at Sidhwari in Dharamsala. Since then the sangathan has taken a lot of steps and initiatives at the grass root level to address the problems of Ex servicemen and their families if the remote areas of Himachal Pradesh. NGO is helping in so many problems from pension of ex servicemen to preparing youth for army recruitments. It also helps war widows to rebuild their future.
click here to read the original post

Steps to tackle Maoists improper: Ex-Army chief

Subhrangshu Gupta Tribune News Service Kolkata, December 29
Neither the Centre nor the states so far has taken any steps to tackle the Maoists problems, former Army Chief Gen. Shankar Roychowdhury alleged. He did not think the problem could be solved either with the deployment of the joint action force in the vulnerable areas or allowing the troops to operate there.

Roychowdhury said the Maoists problem was a human problem and an Army operation against the Maoists would be disastrous. He suggested that both the Centre and the respective state government should adopt a joint master plan for developing those neglected villages on a war footing. But for some time, the joint action force should remain there and from time to time conduct the flushing-out operations of Maoists.

Talking to a private TV channel today, the former Army chief suggested that all political parties, irrespective of their differences, should come to a common platform and launch welfare activities in those vulnerable areas with the involvement of the local people. This would compel the Maoists and other vested interests to gradually withdraw.

Roychowdhury did not think the Maoists problems could be treated merely as law and order problems of the state, meant only for the respective state government to tackle. The Centre should share the responsibility of protecting the people against the Maoists since the Centre too was responsible for their plight. He suggested that the Maoists should be brought into the mainstream in phases and they should be engaged in suitable alternatives for earning their livelihoods.

The Bengal government had taken a foolish step, according to the former Chief, by engaging the police force for combating the Maoists in the first stage instead of initiating a dialogue with the local people and redressing their grievances.
Steps to tackle Maoists improper: Ex-Army chief

2 million under five Indian children die every year: Report

Despite India's economic prosperity, nearly two million children under the age of five, die every year in the country, the highest number anywhere in the world, a media report said on Sunday.

More than half of them die the month after birth and 400,000 in their first 24 hours, The Observer said based on a report by an international NGO 'Save the Children'. Even in the national capital, Delhi, where an estimated 20 per cent of people live in slums, the infant mortality rate was reported to have doubled in a year, it said.

"The difference between rich and poor is huge. In a city like Delhi it is more stark because we have got state-of-the-art hospitals and women giving birth under flyovers. The health services have failed to deliver," Shireen Miller, Head policy and advocacy of the NGO in India said.

The report also revealed that the poor are disproportionately affected and accused the country of failing to provide adequate healthcare for the impoverished majority of one billion people.

Malnutrition, neonatal diseases, diarrhoea and pneumonia were identified as the major causes of death. "For many poor parents and their children, seeking medical help is a luxury and health services are often too far away," Miller said

The report said nearly nine million children die worldwide every year before the age of five. India has the highest number of deaths, with China on the fifth place.
2 million under five Indian children die every year: Report

Reality Check: Veteran Organisations

It may be useful to have a reality check of the existing veteran organisations. All are involved in pursuing the issues affecting the veterans but each has adopted a different methodology. Their primary and other objectives are also different. These are conditioned by the agendas of their organisations, the environment in which they operate, the extent of official patronage, if any, that they get, which is actually pitifully little when compared to what even the run of the mill (and mostly fake) non-government organisations (NGO’s) get.

The oldest veteran organisation is the Indian Ex Services League (IESL), founded by two early and highly respected Chiefs of the army – Field Marshal Carriapa and General Thimayya. This is the only veteran organisation that is recognised (whatever that means!) by the government and gets funds from the Central government. Most, if not all state governments, have not considered it fit ever to assist or nurture any veteran organisation, on the specious plea that they assist the veterans officially through their departments of defence. Without sounding offensive, most activities of these departments are in actuality designed for furthering the cause of the politicians in power! An offshoot of the IESL is the All India Ex-Services Welfare Association (AIEWA), which had carried out considerable work in the past to get equal pension for the veterans. Then there is the Sainik Sangh, also known as All India Ex Soldier’s League. The Navy and Air Force have Foundations, which have a well laid out agenda, and they seem to work only within this.

The IESM comes next. It is a comparatively recent organisation, which has only one aim – to get One Rank One Pension (OROP) at the earliest. It is the first veteran’s organization to adopt an agitational approach to meet their objective. They have captured the imagination of a large number of veterans and it continues to increase its membership. It professes to represent all ex-servicemen of the country, a claim disputed by many. They are in the eye of the storm at present because of the manner, in which they pushed their Advisory supporting a particular political party during the elections, disregarding the sensibilities of a large number of their members. Other groups are really local, as their membership and agendas have a predominantly local colour.

The military veterans of the nation are as fractured as the verdict that was expected to be delivered by the electorate according to all pundits. While the polity has proved them wrong, the veteran organisations continue to be fractured. Despite the past failures in efforts to forge unity, it continues to remain the goal of all veteran organisations, as they do understand that without unity they will continue to be marginalised. Let us hope they succeed.
Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd)
President
War Wounded Foundation
Full article:
Elections and the Indian Military: A perspective