Indian Army: News and Discussions 15 Apr 2012

[member_23629]

^^^ The problem is that treason has become fashionable among Indian elite and intellectuals. This is what happens when a society becomes so full of apathy and disinterest that it stop taking action even against traitors. One such worthy who was collecting money for Chinese soldiers in Cambridge during the 1962 war joined Congress and went on to become a union minister. Most commies who supported China that time are still around giving speeches. There are limits to tolerance. A society crosses them at its own peril.

[d_berwal]

do you even know what happens to ones body (medically) after 3 years in SF ? get real!!!

I am always willing to learn - so please educate me - what happens to one's body after 3 years in SF???

Based on what i have seen, out of 10-15 of my friends or people i know who ended up in SF: within 2-3yrs
- 3-4 of them are medical category and on staff jobs only
- 2 are no more
- 3-4 had to leave IA because of medical reason
- 90% have had multiple fractures
- 50% have become Alcoholic

These are purely my observations

any can visit Artificial Limb Center pune and check out the ratio of SF guys there!!!!

[vaibhav.n]

<SNIP>
well you are wrong in the second part, we have the Revert system. Even a Armour Corps guy can opt for SF if vacancy is there. Typically SF tenure is 2-3 yrs. In few rare cases they leave their parent regiment and become SF if they are extraordinary. There are enough people from Engineers with Balida even Armoued Corps guys with Balidan.

Armoured Corps guy with a SF badge is like an oxymoron. Why will they leave their posh climate controlled tincans??

Rohit is right. Injuries are common in the military, more so in the SF. I think we can wish the good Maj our best and move on. There is no revert system with OR/JCO/Offr, You will not spend years of man-hours in training just to let them go unless and until medical or personal circumstances force you to do so. Recruiting and training is a time consuming process. The idea of training of troops to high standards, then having them study small unit tactics, foreign languages and cultures, is unique to the Special Forces.

[Akshay Kapoor]

^^^ The problem is that treason has become fashionable among Indian elite and intellectuals. This is what happens when a society becomes so full of apathy and disinterest that it stop taking action even against traitors. One such worthy who was collecting money for Chinese soldiers in Cambridge during the 1962 war joined Congress and went on to become a union minister. Most commies who supported China that time are still around giving speeches. There are limits to tolerance. A society crosses them at its own peril.

I agree. But we have crossed those limits and seen our peril several times in our history but never seem to learn. Our lack of vision is mind boggling. I mean its not as if these guys get any benefits from this , they just utter nonsense to sound important and do a lot of damage. One small manifestation of that is when on a LRP (long range patrol) a jawan sees all this in the media and society and asks you 'sahab main kis ke liye lad raha hoon'.

Anyway hope most people here have seen Times Now's fantastic program called Tribute to those who fight for the nation. One of the best programs I have seen in a long long time. Btw Armd Corps is not a cushy life..its not only expensive (all that paraphernalia for your uniform) its bloody hot inside a tank-;).

[member_23455]

Army rejects calls to raise new units based on caste or religion

And who this Praveen Swami is??
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/l ... epage=true

It might be useful for posters on this topic to reflect on the self-defeating logic of their statements on this forum:

1. Angst is expressed that India takes all these outrages lying down and there is a call for eye for an eye (literally)

2. When evidence is presented that Indians have retaliated in the same way, then because the messengers of this evidence are prime examples of DDM, the entire reporting is rubbished

...those with a real willingness to dig deeper should tally reports of the Bandala raid in 1998 with accounts appearing in TIME (and before you condemn that publication as an instrument of Satan, do remember it was the first publication to expose Pak involvment in Kargil, quoting NLI soldiers verbatim).

Many of the larger issues around Pakistani perfidy, India being a soft state are indeed true, but as when nuggets of facts present themselves, one should try and build a more informed opinion.

Standing by for incoming!

[Surya]

Based on what i have seen, out of 10-15 of my friends or people i know who ended up in SF: within 2-3yrs
- 3-4 of them are medical category and on staff jobs only
- 2 are no more
- 3-4 had to leave IA because of medical reason
- 90% have had multiple fractures
- 50% have become Alcoholic

These are purely my observations

Err - I already mentioned he was most probably medically invalidated (not that I agree with your numbers0


What I , rohit , vaibhav (and his sources are top notch ) are doubting is this thing about training and then sending them back to parent unit even if they are medically fine. That defies logic for the time and resources invested. Anyway my chaiwallah will confirm on that shortly

The SF like to think they have a certain life span - and they try to do their professional best in that time

injuries are par for the course whther in training or in ops -
in ops you heal , and if not long term you get back


there are guys who get injured , get cut from probation, heal - come back and spent years.

[merlin]

IA's Gorkha "Brigade" does recruit from Nepal. Certain regiments of the Gorkha Brigade recruit primarily from certain areas of Nepal and some also recruit from Nepali speaking areas of India like Darjeeling and surrounding areas.

[nits]

Army rejects calls to raise new units based on caste or religion]

Curious to know - how does army decide which recruit goes to which regiment... as far as i understand if say recruit is a jat he will be probably goes to Jat regiment and so on... ? Is it a fixed rule... ?

What happens if recruit is a Muslim or Gujrati etc... as there is no specific regiment on those names... I am not a supporter of religion based regiments just want to understand the process

[Sanku]

^^ Brigade of Guards, Mech Inf, Para, Grenadiers, Mahar
Engineers
Armor
Arty
Signals
etc etc

[Surya]

Contextually in your original comments you were referring to the Armoured Corps as a whole. So what were you talking about? If you're saying tasking shouldn't be changed it's a bit like saying RR personnel shouldn't go elsewhere. Or after HAWS people shouldn't go to Jungle warfare school. There too the difference is tasking.

lets try again - this is what I am talking about

Yes he can be in armored corp or whatever and try for SF

but now once in SF there is a certain ethos, mindset etc. If I have put time and resources, trained someone and have a plan and need for him - why would i let him go back never mind he may now be a total misfit in terms of the ethos of the group he is going back to. if he is medically invalidated its one thing - but if he is in good shape - it makes no sense

you mightget deputed from SF to NSG or something (this too with great reluctance considering how overstretched our SF is) but you revert back to SF

[Surya]

SF are by nature one way travel and expected to be self sufficient with planned extraction which never happens as planned

It's not even like this description applies only to SF. Regular infantry batt. train for and are expected to be used for things like heliborne insertion.

it does require a certain type of trained men (or as my IAF friends say - crazed buggers) to make that attempt to hold a bridge deep behind enemy lines.

Please see above. Regular battalions can and will be used for holding bridge X till linkup.

there are limits to the analogy
examples
Well you saw in Jaffna Univ - yeah both Sikh LI and SF were inserted

what was the difference? one got torn to pieces the other held (and almost got their target) out till rescus force arrived


take jungle search and destroy ops

again in SL - both regular battalions and SF companies took part

See the difference in outcomes

more importantly much as the IA hoped that the regular units would pick up and improve from the SF
It did not happen -

To the SF guys its not a surprise - they are mentally and physically a very different bunch of people

[Aaryan]

And who this Praveen Swami is??
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/l ... epage=true

Lets decode what Mr swami has written...

In classified protests to a United Nations watchdog that have never been disclosed till now, Pakistan has accused Indian soldiers of involvement in the torture and decapitation of at least 12 Pakistani soldiers in cross-Line of Control raids since 1998, as well as the massacre of 29 civilians.

 If its classified and never been disclosed, What’s your source?? I am sure UN did not leak it nor did Indians, So he must have got it from Pak… Which means whole story is based on his Pakistani sources.. Just like his earlier story blaming aggressive Indian commanders.

The Ministry of Defence did not respond to an e-mail from The Hindu, seeking comment on the alleged decapitation of Pakistani civilians and troops reported to UNMOGIP. However, a military spokesperson said the issue had “not been raised by Pakistan in communications between the two Directors-General of Military Operations.” The Ministry of External Affairs also said the UNMOGIP complaints had not been raised in diplomatic exchanges between the two countries.

 So he accepts that he got nothing from Indian Side.. He in fact asked for response from Indian side, If his source would have been Indian, he would have asked for response from Pakis..

“Ever since 9/11,” a senior Pakistan army officer told The Hindu, “we have sought to downplay these incidents, aware that a public backlash [could] push us into a situation we cannot afford on the LoC, given that much of our army is now committed to our western borders. Each of these incidents has been protested by us on both military and UNMOGIP channels.”

 Ever since 9/11,” a senior Pakistan army officer told The Hindu, hmmm Admitting again that he got his story from Pakistan.

Six months after the Kargil war, on the night of January 21-22, 2000, seven Pakistani soldiers were alleged to have been captured in a raid on a post in the Nadala enclave, across the Neelam River. The seven soldiers, wounded in fire, were allegedly tied up and dragged across a ravine running across the LoC. The bodies were returned, according to Pakistan’s complaint, bearing signs of brutal torture.

 Whats his source again, who leaked him the story?? The answer is given in next para

Code: Select all

“Pakistan chose to underplay the Nadala incident,” a senior Pakistani military officer involved with its Military Operations Directorate told The Hindu, “as General Pervez Musharraf had only recently staged his coup, and did not want a public outcry that would spark a crisis with India.”

“Pakistan chose to underplay the Nadala incident,” a senior Pakistani military officer involved with its Military Operations Directorate told The Hindu, “as General Pervez Musharraf had only recently staged his coup, and did not want a public outcry that would spark a crisis with India.”

 He clearly mentions senior Paki mil officer who probably is posted in Paki DGMO/ PR office as his source

Indian military sources told The Hindu that the raid, conducted by a special forces unit, was intended to avenge the killing of Captain Saurabh Kalia, and five soldiers — sepoys Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Arjun Ram, Bhika Ram, Moola Ram and Naresh Singh — of the 4 Jat Regiment. The patrol had been captured on May 15, 1999, in the Kaksar sector of Kargil. Post mortem revealed that the men’s bodies had been burned with cigarette-ends and their genitals mutilated.

 Create a fictional source to give credibility to story. Obviously we can’t ask him to name his source. Since we all know that sentiments were running high so mention an incidence and give credibility to story..

In October last year, highly placed military sources said, Pakistan’s Director-General of Military Operations complained about Indian construction work around Charunda, in Uri. His Indian counterpart, Lieutenant-General Vinod Bhatia, however, responded that India’s works were purely intended to prevent illegal border crossings. The unresolved dispute led to exchanges of fire, which eventually escalated into shelling and the killings of soldiers on both sides

 That’s a classic, highly placed military sources ( sources from which coutry?? Why is he shying to mention the name the country here) also here he completely forgets Brig Rawat. What happened to his earlier story of aggressive Indian commander, cross border raid by Indian forces and Brig Rawat ( Who by the way was on leave till 7 jan, so how can he order cross border raid)

So just like his earlier stories, he again wrote a garbage based on the leaks from his Pakistani sources.. Now its unto you guys if u want to believe him or have a good laugh..

[member_23455]

And who this Praveen Swami is??
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/l ... epage=true

Lets decode what Mr swami has written...

So just like his earlier stories, he again wrote a garbage based on the leaks from his Pakistani sources.. Now its unto you guys if u want to believe him or have a good laugh..

...maybe there is a middle ground, where one is supposed to sift through the spin and disinformation and often plain journalistic stupidity and identify certain facts - especially if they are being corroborated through other sources - and reach a conclusion, and also be ready to change that conclusion when more information comes to light.

Framing complex situations in simplistic either/or terms may be efficient and go down well with the popular narrative, but demanding covert tit-for-tat action and then wanting an overt acknowledgement of such actions, is an exercise in wishful thinking...

[KrishnaK]

What seems to be the problem wrt Praveen Swami's article. It seems to be in line with everything rohitvats & co have been saying. The IA ensures payback.

[Surya]

the tone is that the Pakis have suffered and have been very angelic about it to not have uncontrolled escalation

you can put the emphasis in the places of your convenience and spin it anyway you want

while the facts are - we retaliated in each and every instance

[sum]

What seems to be the problem wrt Praveen Swami's article. It seems to be in line with everything rohitvats & co have been saying. The IA ensures payback.

Definitely.... But the problem is the attempt by the author to make the TSP-ians as the wronged party. Its almost like reading a article from a Paki paper.

[Aditya_V]

Some of it about civilian deaths is pure Paki proganda, plus a clear date line between paki Unprovoked atrocity and retaliation is clearly missing.

[Aaryan]

What seems to be the problem wrt Praveen Swami's article. It seems to be in line with everything rohitvats & co have been saying. The IA ensures payback.

Sir please read the article again.. See how things are projected. Where is mention of paki raids and their brutality. The whole tone of article portrays pakis as good guys who keep bearing the atrocities of Indians and don’t make any noise to keep peace.. I dunno about u but I never heard of any civilian massacre in POK in which Indians were blamed.. This is a 1st here.. And mark my words we may see many such allegations in future..

[chaanakya]

Victim-hood of a Criminal , Manhood of a Paki and truthfulness of Samy are doubtful propositions.

[rohitvats]

<SNIP>you mightget deputed from SF to NSG or something (this too with great reluctance considering how overstretched our SF is) but you revert back to SF

AFAIK - even this is not happening any longer. No SF chaps for NSG.

[member_23455]

I dunno about u but I never heard of any civilian massacre in POK in which Indians were blamed.. This is a 1st here.. And mark my words we may see many such allegations in future..

No wonder they say that perception is reality.

Two Words: Neelum Valley

Including two links which might seem as independent confirmation of the price India has extracted from Pakistan in the past, but I am sure the resident conspiracy theorists will find these to be part of a devious ISI "active measures" campaign.

http://dashtnavard.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/zero-point/

http://www.himalmag.com/component/conte ... 2271-.html

[K Mehta]

This Hindu story talks about 12+29 deaths in 15 years, and there is no such corresponding number from Indian side being posted. Not to mention it sidesteps the entire Kargil perfidy!
We need to atleast post the corresponding number on the Indian side.

[hnair]

x-posting about the "22 villagers killed in 1998"

That 1998 "incident" against paki villagers was a joint Paki-Khan propaganda during the peak of Clinton's paki love. I remember it was prominently published in a Times magazine article at that time and sounded so freaking fake, like a Chuck Norris filmi script of a Soviet baddie in action. Infact I remember thinking this makes the pakis look so less like the mards they want to believe they are and that it has to have been "forcefully approved" by the more devious SD of khan.

Most probably some shia-balti village got erased by Musharaf and co, with khan's SD spinning it in another direction to pressurize an unstable Indian political leadership.

This article is curious. Pakis on their own never admit India slapped them around nor would India need this, because it has a status quo, benign power imagery. So khan's imprints are sort of visible here. Current govt might also try to ride this wave, because it makes them look macho. Dangerous slope to put it mildly.

[negi]

^Low life edited that article a few hours back and changed the date from 27th November to 27th March.

[member_20292]

much hullabaloo about nothing being raised aroud these parts.

i thought that the revenge killings were common knowledge? How does the Indian army maintain any izzat in the eyes of their own men...?

[KrishnaK]

The most savage cross-LoC violence Indian forces are alleged to have participated in was the killing of 22 civilians at the village of Bandala, in the Chhamb sector, on the night of March 26-27, 1998.
....
the Bandala massacre is alleged to have been carried out by irregulars backed by Indian special forces in retaliation for the massacre of 29 Hindu villagers at Prankote, in Jammu and Kashmir, by the Lashkar-e-Taiba. The LeT attackers slit the throats of their victims, who included women and children.
....
However, an officer serving in the Northern Command at the time said the massacre was “intended to signal that communal massacres by jihadists, who were after all trained and equipped by Pakistan’s military, were a red line that could not be crossed with impunity.”

Incidentally he then reports that the LeT didn't stop and continued to kill civilians.

Six months after the Kargil war, on the night of January 21-22, 2000, seven Pakistani soldiers were alleged to have been captured in a raid on a post in the Nadala enclave, across the Neelam River. The seven soldiers, wounded in fire, were allegedly tied up and dragged across a ravine running across the LoC. The bodies were returned, according to Pakistan’s complaint, bearing signs of brutal torture.
.....
Indian military sources told The Hindu that the raid, conducted by a special forces unit, was intended to avenge the killing of Captain Saurabh Kalia, and five soldiers — sepoys Bhanwar Lal Bagaria, Arjun Ram, Bhika Ram, Moola Ram and Naresh Singh — of the 4 Jat Regiment.

Indian troops, Pakistan’s complaints record, beheaded a soldier and carried his head across on June 19, 2008, in the Bhattal sector in Poonch. Four Pakistani soldiers, UNMOGIP was told, died in the raid.

The killings came soon after a June 5, 2008 attack on the Kranti border observation post near Salhotri village in Poonch, which claimed the life of 2-8 Gurkha Regiment soldier Jawashwar Chhame.

The Hindu had first reported the incident based on testimony from Indian military sources, who said two Pakistani soldiers had been beheaded following the decapitation of two Indian soldiers near Karnah. The raid on the Indian forward position, a highly placed military source said, was carried out by Pakistani special forces, who used rafts to penetrate India’s defences along the LoC.

In each one of those he's linked IA's actions with what PA and their assorted piglets did. I know Praveen Swami and his articles are not looked upon favourably here. While the byline does look suspiciously like he's peddling the Paki line, the rest of the content looks quite OK, imho. That Saurabh Kalia and his men weren't forgotten, warms the very cockles of my heart.

[Aditya_V]

But the men who conducted the Beheadings, the colonels and Brigadiers got away.

Would much prefer artillery strikes when a Paki corp commander is visiting to hear that a dozen afsars 100 Paki soldiers died in an accident near the LOC.

[anjan]

there are limits to the analogy
examples
Well you saw in Jaffna Univ - yeah both Sikh LI and SF were inserted
what was the difference? one got torn to pieces the other held (and almost got their target) out till rescus force arrived

That's an odd lesson to take away from it. The Paras landed nearly two companies and could consolidate under light opposition. SikhLI ended up landing under heavy fire with 30 odd people in a static position. If one were to extrapolate from single incidents then there would be no paradrops after Crete or Arnhem.

Anyway what is the argument? That only a very special type of soldier can be taught to slither down from a helicopter? Or are you contending that a situation with a unit cut off and trying to hold off enemy forces is a unique thing that regular infantry has never been known to do in known history?

I have no real position on SF rotating in-out, staying in there forever or whatever. And I got sidetracked with tasking arguments. That's an entirely different argument concerning super specialization. My primary objection is to the OMG.. SF slumming it in the Armoured Corps kind of remarks. They betray an rather odd worldview with a poor understanding of the Army outside of the SF.

[Ankit Desai]

anjan with due respect Special Forces are called Special Forces because they are Special Forces. There is the word "Special" in front of forces and that has meaning to it.

-Ankit

[member_23360]

This guy pravin swami, he is writing bullshit about indian army and government is just quietly listening, if he will write anything about madam, yuvarj then all hell would break loose.

This kind of third rate citizens thinks that Indian army is their slave, they themselves have no guts and expects army to behave similar.

[SagarAg]

anjan with due respect Special Forces are called Special Forces because they are Special Forces. There is the word "Special" in front of forces and that has meaning to it.

-Ankit

That is because they are trained for specific or "special" purposes or tasks.
What exactly are we debating about? Who is better between infantry soldier and SF ? Its like comparing F-1 race car with a tank. They are not comparable. Each ( SF or infantry) are trained for their own "special" purpose.

[Surya]

there are limits to the analogy
examples
Well you saw in Jaffna Univ - yeah both Sikh LI and SF were inserted
what was the difference? one got torn to pieces the other held (and almost got their target) out till rescus force arrived

That's an odd lesson to take away from it. The Paras landed nearly two companies and could consolidate under light opposition. SikhLI ended up landing under heavy fire with 30 odd people in a static position. If one were to extrapolate from single incidents then there would be no paradrops after Crete or Arnhem.

Oh so the paras had light opposition? and the sikhs found heavy!!!! static positions!!!! and the Sikh landed on some magnets and were stuck there - right!!! - seriously - now are you arguing for sake of arguing. and you ignored the other search and destroy ops in the jungles where time and time again SF units outperformed infantry and worse the regular infantry never picked up their levels

Anyway what is the argument?

you figure it out - i have had my say - if you think that all the selection, training etc does not deliver a mentally much tougher and better skilled soldier (special ) - then not much we can do
others can judge and make up their own minds.

regards

[jamwal]

I dunno about u but I never heard of any civilian massacre in POK in which Indians were blamed.. This is a 1st here.. And mark my words we may see many such allegations in future..

No wonder they say that perception is reality.

Two Words: Neelum Valley

Including two links which might seem as independent confirmation of the price India has extracted from Pakistan in the past, but I am sure the resident conspiracy theorists will find these to be part of a devious ISI "active measures" campaign.

http://dashtnavard.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/zero-point/

http://www.himalmag.com/component/conte ... 2271-.html

You post links to a Paki blog with text like the one quoted below and still expect us to take you seriously ? The other one calls PoK Azad Kashmir while Indian side is shown as blood thirsty murderers taking pot shot at innocent villagers. Have you ever been even close to LoC or have even a small idea of what actually goes on in the area ?
Why is there not a single mention of massacre of civilians on Paki side by their own army and poverty of the region due to PoK being treated as 3rd rate province with no equal rights ? But I guess having contrarian views is a sign of intellectualism and free thinking these days.

In these apparently peaceful days, I wonder about those hard days these people have seen. While ceasefire certainly couldn’t bring anything positive for Pakistan from military and strategic point of view, it brought back the routine life for ordinary people living along the line of control. I pray for the day to come soon when we will be able to visit the other side of Kashmir and meet our brothers and sisters there who have been living under suppressing Indian rule for such a long time. Meray watan teri jannat main ayin gay ik din!!!

According to anecdotal quotes, Indian army doesn't take sneak attacks by Paki jihadi army lightly. Pakis do get a reply in kind, but I've never heard of army men deliberately attacking civilians or torturing prisoners. That Praveen Swamy farticle in Chindu is a copy-paste of Paki allegations and should be treated as such. These journalists are a gone case anyway.

[member_23455]

^^^^

"....Have you ever been even close to LoC or have even a small idea of what actually goes on in the area ?"

Yes. Would you like to now compare distances from the LoC in a d$$k waving contest?

The rest of the tone and tenor of your reply is sort of QED to my earlier post. I would be actually very disturbed if posters like you would take me seriously as that would indicate a meeting of minds.

As the old hindi song goes "Samajhne waale samajh gayein hain, na samjhe woh...."

[PratikDas]

Yes, I too would be very disturbed if posters like Jamwal took RajitO seriously.

[arijitkm]

And response to our peace process the reply from our neighbor

NEW DELHI: The terrorist who beheaded Indian soldier Lance Naik Hemraj Singh on January 8 was rewarded with Rs 5 lakh by Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, which executed the attack on Indian troops with the assistance of terrorists, according to a detailed report of Military Intelligence (MI) on the brutality which almost pushed peace talks with Pakistan off track.

According to the MI report, the beheading was done by one Anwar Khan, a local guide who runs a shop in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), and he was also involved in the beheading of an Indian Army captain in 1996 in the same Mendhar area. Anwar, who was handed over the reward by Colonel Siddiqui of ISI, was part of a group led by Subedar Jabbar Khan of ISI. The attackers included members of ISI-backed jihadi terror outfits Lashkar and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

The MI report said ISI masterminded the January 8 beheading of Hemraj and mutilation of Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh's body, and involved terrorists in the execution of the plot aimed at triggering unrest along the border.

The report named several officers of ISI who were part of this operation, directly pointing fingers at Pakistan. The report said the beheading was pre-meditated, with an ISI officer leading the 15-member Border Action Team (BAT) which ambushed the Indian soldiers in Mendhar that day. A brigadier-rank ISI officer oversaw the attack.

The ISI has several BATs for such operations along the LoC and Pakistani army was hand in glove with the intelligence agency in the operation.

According to the report, there was a meeting between senior ISI officers, important terrorist commanders and guides a few days before the attack at Rawalkote in PoK. The meeting was presided over by a brigadier level officer of ISI and included Colonel Siddiqui (of Rawalkote), Azad Khan (of Peshawar), Yousuf Khan alias Pathan (of Muzzafarabad) and Major Abbasi (of Tattapani).

Several guides familiar with the topography of line of control (LoC) were also present in the meeting. Among the guides who attended the meeting were Anwar, Sabar Khan (of Battal, PoK) and Meeru (Madarpur, PoK). A local Lashkar operative Chaudhary Bashir was also present.

"During the meeting, it was decided that local guides aware of the topography of the area would facilitate terrorist groups not only in infiltration along the LoC in Poonch district but also assist in operations by BATs (Border Action Teams). For this a reward of Rs 5,000 for planting of a mine on Indian soil, Rs 10,000 for killing an Indian Army soldier in sniper fire and Rs 5 lakh for beheading an Army jawan was announced. For each of these BAT operations, the guide would be rewarded Rs 2,000 to Rs 12,000," the secret document said.

It added, "Pakistan army units have been asked to recruit local persons from villages near the LoC so that they can be trained and subsequently recruited for acting as local guides."

Giving details of the beheading of Indian soldiers, the report said, "The ambush by BAT from across in Krishna Ghati sector, 10 Inf Brigade, Mendhar, district Poonch in which two Army jawans of 13 Rajputana Rifles were killed was carried out by a group of 15 terrorists, having 10 members of Lashkar and 5 of Jaish-e-Mohammad. The group was led by Subedar Jabbar Khan of ISI unit of Tattapani (PoK) and included among others Anwar Khan, resident of Jabbar Mohalla of village Sher Khan (Rawalkote) as the local guide, Qari Shah of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Ajmat Khan of JeM. Anwar Khan carried out the beheading of one of the soldiers."

The report said that before the act, "the ambush party was stationed at Barmoch BOP, PoK, across Atma Post of 13 Rajasthan Rifles for a fortnight before the incident and terrorists were watching the daily movements of Indian Army jawans".

Till January 9, a day after the incident, this ambush party was camping at Tattapani and was also involved in planting anti-personal mines in Helmet, Chattri, Dayal Top, Atma and Rocket BOPs of KG Brigade.

About Anwar, the local guide, the report said "he was also involved in beheading an Indian Army captain in KG Brigade in 1996 in the same area (Mendhar). He runs a shop in Barmoch Gali in PoK".

[jamwal]

Certainly meeting of minds You, Swamy trust words of those jihadis who behave like mad dogs, torture and kill human beings, disclaim all knowledge when confronted with evidence and then reward their minions who actually do the dirty work. Read link posted by arijitkm and the 2nd one that I can recall is that of Iliyaz Kashmiri rewarded by Musharraf.

I can not even dream of attaining such standards.

[Ajit.C]

Lt General Ashok Singh takes over as Commander of the Southern Command from frontierindia
http://frontierindia.net/category/india ... orces-news

Lt General Ashok Singh will take over as Army Commander of the Southern Command, Pune on 01 February 2013. General Officer who is an alumni of St Anselm’s, Ajmer, was commissioned in to 7 GUARDS in December 1974. He is a second generation officer. His father was the first commanding officer of the unit. He is a graduate of Defence Services Staff College, LDMC, Master of Management Studies from Osmania University and Diploma in Advance Software Technology from CMC. He has held many command, staff and instructional assignments and has served in all types of terrain that our country has to offer. He commanded 7 GUARDS in Operation ORCHID (Nagaland), commanded a Mountain Brigade on the Line of Control and Counter Insurgency in Jammu & Kashmir and RAPID Division in deserts. The General Officer has been decorated with the Vishisht Seva Medal, the Sena Medal and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal respectively, during his various command assignments.

Lt General Ashok Singh has served as Defence and Military Adviser in High Commission of India, Islamabad, Pakistan from December 2006 to July 2009. He was also posted as Commander, Junior Command Wing at Army War College Mhow. During this period in the Junior command wing, a new method of instruction and a new assessment system was put into place, which encourages practical application more than memorizing data. The General Officer commanded the prestigious ‘Strike One’. Under his able stewardship ‘Strike One’ successfully drove through one of the biggest exercises of all times ever conducted by the Indian Army ‘Ex Shoor-veer’, which was witnessed and highly appreciated by the cognoscenti.

He was posted as Commandant to his ‘Alma Mater’ – National Defence Academy, Khadakvasla wef 07 Aug 2012 to 31 Dec 2012. During the short stint of five months the sports curriculum was reviewed and reorganized to ensure cadets play more games and training is focused on individual development for all round growth as potential officers. Administration directly linked with cadets was upgraded with focus on their food, accommodation, revision of clothing and good medical aid. He is married to Mrs. Usha Singh and has a son who is an Ortho Dentist and a daughter who is married.

Lt Gen AK Singh, GOC-in-C, Southern Command retires from Indian Army

Lt Gen AK Singh, GOC-in-C, Southern Command hangs his uniform after an eventful 40 years in the Army on 31 Jan 2013. He took over as Army Commander, Southern Command on 01 Mar 2011 and now passes the baton to Lt Gen Ashok Singh, who incidentally has also succeeded him earlier as Corps Commander of ‘Strike One’.

As the Southern Army Commander, Lt Gen AK Singh is well known for conceptualizing and spearheading Exercise Sudarshan Shakti, that was much appreciated for its innovative execution to test bedding the major findings of the transformation Study undertaken by the Army. Lt Gen AK Singh has also been credited for bringing in greater accountability and coherence in dealing with complex land and Cantonment Board issues faced by the Southern Army.



Lt Gen AK Singh, GOC-in-C, Southern Command

Kt Gen AK Singh was commissioned into the 7th Light Cavalry in 1973. After command of his regiment, he distinguished himself as the Commander of an Armoured Brigade during Operation Parakram, the first formation to convert to T-90 Tanks. He later went on to command the Jhansi based White Tiger Division and the elite strike arm of the Indian Army the ‘Strike One’. As Director General Perspective Planning, Lt Gen AK Singh is credited with piloting the complex study dealing with the Transformation of Indian Army.

A through bred cavalry professional, he has been a graduate of Tank Academy, Moscow, the Defence Services Staff College, Camberley (UK) and the National Defence College, New Delhi. Post retirement, Lt Gen AK Singh is relocating to Delhi, where he intends to pursue doctoral research in military leadership and continue to contribute towards important National Security issues.

[chaanakya]

Ok Now get this. UPA2 is back with vengeance upon Army and the poor.

Union Budget 2013-14: Defence and welfare spending to be slashed

NEW DELHI: Finance minister P Chidambaram is putting welfare, defence and road projects on the chopping block in a last-ditch attempt to hit a tough fiscal deficit target by March, risking short-term economic growth and angering cabinet colleagues.

The cuts will reduce spending by about 1.1 trillion Indian rupees ($20.6 billion) in the current financial year, some 8 percent of budgeted outlay, or roughly 1 percent of estimated gross domestic product, two senior finance ministry officials and a senior government adviser told Reuters.

It is the first time the scale of the cuts and details of where the axe will fall have been made public, with officials revealing startling details about delays to arms purchases and belt-tightening for politically sensitive rural welfare schemes in an election year.

"The Indian army would be hit hard due to budget cuts," said the official, noting that a defence deal worth more $12 billion for procuring 126 jet fighters from France's Rafale was already delayed by at least three months.

Up to $4 billion will be lost at the rural development ministry, which has the largest budget after defence, hitting spending on roads, housing, and the government's flagship rural job-guarantee programme, a senior official in the ministry said.

[ramana]

The blame should really go the forces. How many times have the dilly dallied and wasted time by preventing procurements with funds already allotted? Its a annual feature to have the MoD return significant unused funds even after long delayed trials where they want to hit the back side of the moon!