Paris: India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday, 8 October 2019, participated in the Rafale fighter aircraft handing over ceremony, coinciding with Vijayadashami festival which symbolises the victory of good over evil and marking the Indian Air Force Day, at Merignac in Bordeaux along with French Minister of Armed Forces Ms Florence Parly.
The Defence Minister performed the ‘Shastra Puja’ on the auspicious occasion of Vijayadashami before flying a sortie in the Rafale fighter aircraft
Singh earlier during the day held talks with President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron. He arrived here on Monday for a two-day official visit to France. During the talks, the two leaders comprehensively discussed key aspects of bilateral defence partnership and resolved to continue strengthening the ties between the two countries. “I thanked President Macron for his strong support to further intensifying our strategic partnership, especially in the defence sector, with India and for our ‘Make in India’ initiatives”, Singh said after the meeting.
The Defence Minister also thanked the French President for the strong support by France to India’s strategic interests and principles, including in fighting terrorism.
Earlier, on his arrival in Paris, the Defence Minister had tweeted that France is India’s important strategic partner and its special relationship with India goes far beyond the realm of formal ties. He also said that his visit to France is aimed at expanding the existing strategic partnership between both the countries.
Singh also expressed his deepest condolences, on behalf of the Indian Government and its people, upon the demise of former French President Jacques Chirac, saying Mr Chirac had played a decisive role in forging India-France Strategic Partnership.
While Indian soldiers are laying down their life and casualties continue to mount in Jammu and Kashmir due to the low intensity war being waged against India by Pakistan, the Home Minister of India, Rajnath Singh has had this to say on the Kashmir crisis:
Currently there is tension at India-Pakistan border. Whatever is happening now & whatever will happen in future, I would like to assure you that India’s head will always be held high… today and always. (Lucknow Jan 20, 2018)
The same day, when three civilians were caught in exchange of fire on the border, the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had the temerity to bracket together India and Pakistan and say:
Distraught to hear of three more civilians caught in the crossfire on the border. The people of J&K are the worst victims of the acrimony between the two neighbouring countries. I pray that the hostility on the borders ends soon.
Notwithstanding the prevailing situation, Mehbooba Mufti prevailed on the Centre and the Narendra Modi led NDA Government capitulated and ordered the halting of security operations in the Valley during the month of Ramzan. Within less than a fortnight of the Ramzan ceasefire, on June 1, the youth started pelting stones after the Friday prayers in the Nowhatta Police station area near Jamia Masjid in Srinagar.
A CRPF vehicle that was passing through that area at the same time was targeted by the stone pelting mob. As the CRPF driver tried to steer through the rampaging crowd, two persons were hurt – one of them died in hospital later that night. Earlier during the day, as word spread, downtown Srinagar was flooded by stone pelters. To control the situation, the authorities brought the area falling under the Nowhatta Police station under curfew.
Violence still continued the next day. In the meanwhile, leveraging its act from large-scale stone pelting and bloody violence, the Hurriyat leaders declared a complete shutdown in the entire Kashmir Valley.
Stone pelting mobs and Pakistan-backed terrorists have been holding normal life to ransom in Srinagar and adjoining areas after the security forces had registered major success in combating terrorists and secessionist forces around 2006-2007. Ever since, terrorists operating from bases in Pakistan have been infliterating into Jammu and Kashmir to strike targets in the trouble-torn State. As a combined strategy, the Hurriyat leaders have been radicalising the local youth who are being used to attack the security forces.
In 2008, six people were killed and 100 injured when police fired into a crowd in Srinagar protesting against the transfer of forest land to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) in the Kashmir valley to set up temporary shelters and facilities for Hindu pilgrims. Separatist leaders Shabir Ahmad Shah, Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Omar Farooq, of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), had planned the protests. In 2010, the Kashmir valley went through large-scale violence leading to the death of at least 120 persons in firing.
After PDP president Mehbooba Mufti was sworn in as the 17th Jammu and Kashmir Chief minister to head the PDP-BJP Government in April 2016, stone pelting mobs have taken to the streets of Srinagar and adjoining towns in big way.
Simulatenously, ceasefire violations by Pakistan are also on the rise.
During the year 2017, 860 cases of ceasefire violations were reported by the Central Government. During the single month of January this year, 209 ceasefire violations have been reported along Indo-Pakistan Border (LOC) in the State of Jammu & Kashmir.
Year wise details of Cease Fire Violations (CFVs), Terrorist Initiated Incidents (TIIs) & Infiltration Bid Eliminated (IBE) along the Line of Control (LC) under operational control of Army in Jammu & Kashmir in the last three years including current year (till 29 January, 2018) are as under:
Sl. No.
Nomenclature
Year wise Instances
2015
2016
2017
2018
(a)
CFVs
152
228
860
192
(b)
Terrorist Initiated Incidents (TIIs)
48
92
131
07
(c)
Infiltration Bid Eliminated (IBE)
18
27
33
03
Details of casualties suffered by security personnel/civilians in Terrorist Initiated Incidents (TIIs) and Infiltration Bid Eliminated during the last three years and the current year (up to 29 Jan) are as under:
Period
Army personnel
(CFV)
BSF personnel
(CBF)
Civilians
Fatal
Injured
Fatal
Injured
Fatal
Injured
2015
06
17
04
09
16
71
2016
08
74
05
25
13
83
2017
15
58
04
14
12
79
2018
05
12
03
17
08
58
Details of casualties suffered by security personnel/civilians in Terrorist Initiated Incidents (TIIs) and Infiltration Bid Eliminated during the last three years and the current year (up to 29 Jan) are as under:
Period
Army personnel
BSF personnel
Civilians
J&K Police
Fatal
Injured
Fatal
Injured
Fatal
Injured
Fatal
Injured
2015
08
14
02
15
17
70
11
27
2016
40
61
07
23
15
66
17
50
2017
14
46
02
02
40
99
31
85
2018
0
02
0
0
01
0
4
10
The details of terrorists killed along the along the LoC / India-Pakistan Border in Jammu & Kashmir Border, in the last three years including current year (up to January, 2018) are as under :
Sl. No.
Year
Number of Terrorist killed
(i)
2015
108
(ii)
2016
150
(iii)
2017
213
(iv)
2018
08
Government of India states in no uncertain terms that increase in Cease Fire Violation in J&K has been precipitated by the nefarious designs of Pakistan in perpetrating violence and creating instability in the region but action in right measure to combat the situation is missing. In the process, the citizens are mute spectators to the supreme sacrifice of our brave soldiers and security personnel.
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh today underscored the initiatives taken for tackling the menace of Left Wing Extremism, insurgency in the North Eastern areas, Jammu and Kashmir problem and said that the main priority of the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre is security and development.
The Home Minister was briefing the media on the achievements and key initiatives taken by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) during the last three years. On the occasion, he also released a booklet on the initiatives and achievements of the Ministry.
The Minister said that the Government has taken various effective measures to bring peace and stability in the North Eastern Region of the country. Sustained security initiatives during the last three years have brought peace and stability to the North-Eastern region of the country after decades of insurgency. The year 2016 has witnessed the lowest insurgency incidents in the last 20 years. The insurgency incidents have reduced from 824 in the year 2014 to 484 in the year 2016. The number of incidents was 574 in 2015 which was the lowest since 1997 and has further reduced in 2016. The number of civilian casualties in the North East has also come down drastically in the last three years.
To tackle the menace of Left Wing Extremism (LWE), Singh said that in January, 2015, the Government launched the National Policy and Action Plan comprising of security, development and ensuring rights & entitlements of the local communities. As a result, there has been a decline of 25% in LWE related incidents of violence and casualties to Security Forces dropped by as much as 42% during the period May 2014-April 2017 as compared to May 2011-April 2014. Also, the elimination of LWE cadres rose by a sharp 65% and the surrenders by LWE cadres recorded 185% increase. During a review meeting of the LWE-affected States, presided over by the Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh on May 08, 2017, the Home Minister enunciated an operational doctrine ‘SAMADHAN’ to fight Left Wing Extremism. The elements of this strategy are S for Smart Policing and Leadership, A for Aggressive Strategy, M for Motivation and Training, A for Actionable Intelligence, D for Dashboard-based Key Result Areas and Key Performance Indicators, H for Harnessing Technology, A for Action Plan for Each Theatre and N for No Access to Financing.
The Minister said that in Jammu & Kashmir, after Surgical Strikes in September 2016, infiltration incidents have dropped significantly by as much as 45%. Under Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP 2015) amounting to Rs. 80,068 crore, Rs. 61,112 crore has been sanctioned for 63 Major Development Projects and Rs. 19,961 crore released. The remunerations of Special Police Officers enhanced from Rs.3000.p.m. to Rs.6000/p.m. and 10,000 additional SPOs sanctioned in addition to the existing 25,474 SPOs. There are several welfare schemes for displaced families from Pak occupied J&K, transit accommodation for Kashmiri migrants, monthly cash relief of Rs.2,500 per person and up to Rs.10,000/ per family for Kashmiri migrants and same relief sanctioned for the first time for Jammu migrants. Five new India Reserve Battalions have been sanctioned and also asked the State Government to provide 33% reservation for women. Nodal officer in MHA and State Nodal officers also appointed to assist the students of J&K studying in their states.
Singh said that Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi chaired the 11th meeting of Inter State Council on July 16, 2016, which was held after a gap of 10 years. The Government also revived the Zonal Councils with the Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh having chaired 8 meetings of Zonal Councils, where 199 items were discussed and 87 resolved.
In pursuit of the SMART policing initiative laid out by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi during the 2015 Annual DGPs conference, the HOme MInister said that the MHA has shared online nearly 28,000 best practices for replication by other states. The Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS) project is fast towards completion with the number of states/UTs sharing FIR data rising to 33, while this figure was nil in March 2014.The Total number of FIRs registered using CCTNS has leaped from less than 1.5 lakhs in March 2014 to about 1.25 crores, registering a jump of almost 100 times.
Giving push to border infrastructure and developmental works, the Minister said that the Government has sanctioned Rs. 5,188 crore worth projects in the last three years, of which Rs. 2,138 crore has been released for Indo-Bangladesh and Indo-Pak border projects. This includes 200 kms fence, 430 kms long border roads, floodlights spreading across 647 kms long borders and 110 composite border outposts. As regards to Indo-China border, out of 27 border roads sanctioned in 2008, first 8 roads have been completed during the period 2014-16 and while another 9 roads are due to be completed by this year end.
Singh said that a new initiative has been undertaken for creation of Model Villages in border areas for which more than Rs. 92 crore has been released to 7 states for development of 41 Model Villages, including 24 in J&K. To facilitate the border trade and passenger movement at land border crossings, the Government has been promoting the setting up Integrated Check Posts (ICPs). ICP at Raxaul was operationalised in June, 2016 and at Jogbani in November 2016. While the cargo terminal at ICP, Petrapole was inaugurated by Prime Minister of India and Bangladesh in July last year, foundation stone for an ICP at Dawki, Meghalaya was laid in January 2017.
To facilitate legitimate foreign travellers, Singh said that the Visa regime has been liberalised, simplified and rationalised during the last three years. E-visa facility has been extended to nationals of 162 countries. The duration of stay on e-visa has been increased from 30 days to 60 days. The Visa-on-Arrival scheme has been introduced for Japanese nationals from March 2016, while the duration of multiple entry tourist Visa for senior citizens from Bangladesh has been extended from one to five years.
The Minister said that India is playing a leading role in Disaster Management in the south Asian region. The Prime Minister has released the National Disaster Management Plan in June 2016, which is the first such plan in the world to integrate the four priority areas of Sendai framework. India also hosted the first South Asian Disaster Management Exercise in Delhi NCR while the city also hosted the 7th Asian Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in November 2016 where the Prime Minister announced the 10-point plan for DRR. The Government also raised two additional battalions of NDRF in the year 2015, for better coverage of Uttar Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh.
Singh said that women’s empowerment and women’s safety have been a priority of the Government. The MHA has approved the 33% posts at Constable Level for being filled up by women. The 33% reservation of Constable level posts in CRPF & CISF and 14-15% posts at Constable level in border guarding forces i.e. BSF, SSB & ITBP will start immediately to begin with. The Government has also set in motion the setting up of National Emergency Response System (NERS) website and Mobile App which will be launched by October this year.
Singh said that on the occasion of Valour Day of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the web portal and mobile application named “Bharat Ke Veer” was inaugurated on 9th April, 2017. The portal is an IT based platform, with an objective to enable willing donors to contribute towards the family of a braveheart who sacrificed his/her life in line of duty. The amount so donated will be credited to the account of ‘Next of Kin’ of those Central Armed Police Force/Central Para Military Force soldiers. The portal is getting good response from public. The Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh also launched the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Mobile Application for grievance redressal of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) personnel on May 11, 2017. The Mobile application has a provision for MHA to continuously monitor the action taken by various CAPFs on grievances of personnel and regulate the process for further improvement in the Grievance Redressal System.
During the press conference, the Ministers of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir and Kiren Rijiju, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi and other senior officers of MHA and heads of CAPFs and Commissioner of Delhi Police were also present.
Usually, newspapers do not hold my attention for more than 3 minutes as there is not much to read and learn, feel happy about or ponder over. I just scan through the headlines feeling sad and cheated. But today, I held the newspaper in my hand for whole 6 minutes and 10 seconds.
The reason were two news items – First about the Civil Service Day workshop in Bhopal, presided over by the Chief Minister and the other one was about a young commissioner, who is toiling hard to restore the riparian habitats along the Narmada in Hoshangabad district.
The first news would have been drab but for the speeches delivered by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. The Chief Minister held the mirror to the bureaucrats. It was a dressing down that many public servants are worthy of. The arrogance, conceit, coercion, corruption, and tendency to consider others filth and muck all appeared plastered over their faces in that shining mirror that the Chief Minister held in his hand yesterday. There are only a few bureaucrats who consider themselves public servant and remember that the taxpayers give them their salaries to serve. ( Dainik Bhaskar, Bhopal 21.4.2017)
In Delhi, Union Home Minister, Shri. Rajnath Singh reminded the babus that they were not punctual for the Civil Service Day Workshop. He then made a pertinent remark about a forgotten tenet of civil service – the code of conduct for all those who hold a public office. He said “ If a political executive gives wrong orders, do not be scared to show them the rules. Tell the political executive that they are legally wrong. Haan mein haan mat milaiye. Don’t betray your conscience.”(TOI 21.4.2017)
What Shri Singh said is a sacrosanct verse from the Bible of civil servants, but it seems a significant number of public servants are godless these days. I hope that what the Hon’ble Ministers have told the civil servants on the Civil Service Day this year will be honoured by both parties- the speakers as well as the listeners. I hope that the servants of the public whether they are politicians or a bureaucrats will mend their ways, drop their egos, arrogance, callousness, indifference and take upon themselves to serve the country, the constitution and the public at large.
Regarding the commissioner of Narmada Nagaram, I can only say here is a public servant who is conscious of his duties and responsibilities. Usually, officials outside the forest service give a damn to the environment and wildlife. The forest service is seen as an impediment to their development agenda. But little do they realize that what they perceive as development is a business that gives you short-term gains. The commissioner of Narmada Nagaram apparently understands this truth, and he is bent upon balancing his act- installing safeguards that would mitigate the adverse impact of lop-sided development that ignores environmental concerns. Hats off to him.
The author is former Principal Chief Conservator Forest, Madhya Pradesh Forest Department and Member Environment and Forests, Narmada Valley Development Authority, Madhya Pradesh.
