Skirmishs at LOC, LAC & International Border

[AMCA]

OPINIONS
‘The Print’ must answer why it’s spinning sensational stories about Chinese aggression in Doklam

ByKesariDhwaj
Posted on March 24, 2018
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For some in the English mainstream media, Doklam is a gift which keeps on giving. Various articles and analysis offered on the subject have ranged from few balanced pieces to many which have been sensationalist.

Latest in this series, comes an article from ‘The Print’ which claims that Chinese have found a new route to South Doklam.

The article relies on satellite imagery (purchased by the news organization) to claim and I quote :

“China has worked through the winter to bypass India’s aggressive blockade at Doklam, making a new road that can give its troops access to the southern part of the plateau – a move that has serious strategic implications for New Delhi”

It further states :

“However, latest satellite imagery from the area suggests that while road construction at the point of contention has stopped, China has been working through the winter to create an alternate route that will give it access to the southern part of the plateau. Unlike the June standoff, where Indian troops had to climb down about 100 meters from their posts to block construction, the new Chinese alignment is deep into Bhutanese territory and over 4 km away from the Indian border, leaving narrow choices for an intervention”

There is an inherent contradiction in the above assertion. Google search of the meaning of the word bypass gives the following, “a road passing around a town or its centre to provide an alternative route for through traffic”

Now, if as per the analysis given in the article itself, the road being constructed by the Chinese is at a distance of 4 km from the point of the stand-off, and is an ALTERNATE route along a different alignment, how have the Chinese bypassed the point of Indian blockade?

Interestingly, while the article provides two separate satellite images which show the original point of conflict opposite Indian positions along Doka La and the point from where a new road is supposed to start towards Jampheri ridge, it does not provide them together on a SINGLE satellite image; something which would’ve have shown the relative position of the two locations. Yes, there is an illustration which shows the original stand-off point and direction of a new road under construction but it oversimplifies the ground situation.

To put things in perspective, let’s look at the satellite image of the plateau. But before we do so, here is a word of caution – the article claims to have obtained satellite images as of February 2018. And since I’m but an armchair general with no such organizational backing, I’ll be using the Google Earth (GE) satellite images. As per time stamp on GE, the satellite image of the area was updated on 10th December 2018.

Here is the satellite image of the Doklam plateau along with major features:

Satellite Image_1 (Google Earth)

A quick summary of the places mentioned on the map (La means mountain pass):

1. Senche La: The main access point for the Chinese. A major road from Chumbi Valley comes to Doklam across this pass.
2. Merug La: Another mountain pass on the ridgeline. Also leads into Chumbi Valley and other sectors north of Doklam opposite India-Tibet border in Sikkim.
3. Batang La – The tri-junction as per India and Bhutan where Indian, Tibetan and Bhutanese boundaries meet.
4. Doka La – On India-Bhutan border where Indian Army maintains a strong presence. Indian troops had moved from this position to block the road construction activity by the Chinese towards Jampheri Ridge.
5. Mount Gymochen/Mount Gipmoche – Tri-junction of Indian, Tibet and Bhutanese boundaries as per the Chinese. If this point is accepted as boundary tri-junction, it will place entire Doklam plateau in Chinese control.
6. Torsa Nala – Water body which drains into the Amo Chu river. This V-shaped depression with steep walls divides the Doklam Plateau into two segment – north and south. As will be explained later, the presence of this steep depression has a major impact on the ground situation.
7. Point A – the approximate location where the stand-off between India and Chinese troops happened
8. Point B – the last point in eastern part of the Doklam Plateau from where a road/track is supposedly being built by the Chinese towards Jampheri Ridge

SO, WHERE IS THE BYPASS?
There is none. With India showing the resolve to block construction work from Point A towards Jampheri Ridge, the Chinese seem to be trying to build an ALTERNATE, and much more difficult and challenging road towards the ridge. That is if they’re trying to build a road in the first place.

So, if the Chinese are super clever and can build a road towards the ridge from Point B (as claimed in the analysis in ‘The Print’), why did they not do it earlier?

There are two main reasons why Chinese wanted to construct a road/track from opposite to Indian positions on Doka La towards the Jampheri Ridge. These are as follows:

1. It is in-line with Chinese claim that the tri-junction of Tibetan-Indian-Bhutanese boundaries lies on Mount Gymochen/Gipmoche. Over last many years, Chinese have slowly, but surely, build infrastructure on the plateau and extended their hold on it. They’d already reached a point opposite Indian position on Doka La. The road building exercise towards Jampheri ridge was an extension of their creeping occupation of the plateau.
2. Geography of the plateau!
   1. The area along and in front of the Indo-Bhutanese border on the plateau is the most conducive to build a road/track connecting northern and southern parts of the plateau.
   2. As explained earlier, the Torsa Nala is a deep V-shaped depression on the plateau which divides it into the northern and southern half. This depression runs in the west to east direction with the depth of the depression increasing sharply as we move from east. This becomes evident when you compare the altitude of various points along the Nala. For example, in the GE satellite map below, the difference in altitude of Point D [3,999 meters (13,120 feet)], which is close to Indian position along Doka La and Point E [3,417 meters (11,210 feet)] is evident.

Satellite Image_2 (Google Earth)

While there is no denying the fact that Chinese access and control of Jampheri Ridge poses threat to Indian security, what is also true is that had the Chinese wanted to build a road towards it through the eastern part of the plateau, they would’ve attempted to do so in the past. While not insurmountable, building a road along this direction requires much more engineering effort as compared to building a road/track from the area opposite Indian positions on Doka La.

The challenge of building a road from Point B towards the Jampheri Ridge (or Point H marked on the map) is demonstrated in GE satellite image below. The map shows a direct route between Point B and Point H. Also given towards the bottom part of the satellite image is the elevation profile of this direct route. Please note that right corner of this elevation profile corresponds to Point H and left corner to Point B.

Satellite Image_3 (Google Earth)

While both Point B and Point H are at an elevation in excess of 4,000 meters (13,123 feet), the deepest point along the direct route between Point B & H is at 3,406 meters (11,175 feet). A difference in elevation of more than 1,900 feet from either point! Another important thing is the slope or gradient; there is a steep decline from Point B to the deepest point and a steep climb/incline from this point towards Point H.

What this means is that Chinese will have to be build winding roads with multiple loops while going down towards the Torsa Nala and then while going-up from it towards the ridge. Something similar to the famous ‘gata-loops’ along the Srinagar-Leh highway.

And this will take time.

That is if they actually are building a road or decide to build such a road in future.

Source: Daily Bhaskar

In comparison, consider the elevation profile of the road/track planned earlier from Point A towards Point G. It is much gentler. The path starts at Point A [4.049 meter (13,284 feet)] and ends at the place below Point G on the ridge. This endpoint is at an altitude of 4,087 meters (13,408 feet). The lowest point on this route is at about 3,961 meters (12,995 feet).

Satellite Image_4 (Google Earth)

It was the Indian action of blocking their original effort last year whereby they will have to opt for an alternate and much more difficult alignment.

And in doing so, Chinese are not being clever by half. Indian analysts tend to suffer from ‘7-foot China-man syndrome’ where anything & everything which the Chinese do is supposed to have deep profound wisdom behind it.

In this case, a forced necessity is being described as an example of Chinese cleverness!

The Chinese claim line in Doklam

The final paragraph of the article consists of the following:

The construction seems to be targeted at providing access to the ridge connecting Mt Gipmochi with Mt Gyamochen. The ridgeline is a possible claim line, although the real claims of China have not been made public till date.

First, as far as I understand, Mount Gipmoche and Mount Gyamochen are the same; old topographic maps of this region mention either of the two names. So, the ridgeline runs from Mount Gipmoche/Gymochen towards the east and then curves in south-eastward direction. It runs parallel to Amo Chu River and losses altitude as it moves south-east.

Coming to the Chinese claim lines, the Chinese claims in this region are much larger than Doklam. And the claim line does run along the Jampheri Ridge.

I reproduce two maps below. First is a Chinese map which highlights the disputed areas between Bhutan and China, as per the Chinese. The second map was shared by the Chinese foreign ministry official when explaining the Indian ‘aggression’ after India blocked their construction activity.

Map_1 (Source: www.bhutannewsservice.org)

The blow of above map which highlights the boundary issue in the present area:

Map_1.1



The alignment of the boundary along the Jampheri ridge-line, east of Mount Gipmoche/Gymochen can be made out in both the maps. And follows the alignment along the ridge towards the Amo Chu river.

I’ve tried to create the Chinese claim line on a Google Earth map by using features I could identify. These features correspond to those mentioned in Chinese claims as per the two maps attached earlier.

Satellite Image_5 (Google Earth)

The reason Chinese are doing this is because it gives depth to Chinese positions in the Chumbi Valley. As has been widely reported, Chumbi Valley is extremely narrow with steep mountainsides on either side. This gives very less real estate to PLA to station troops and provisions. Further, this puts them at disadvantage vis-à-vis India position on ridges to the west along Sikkim-Tibet border.

The importance of this area to the Chinese can be gauged from the fact that Chinese have in past tried to get Bhutan to exchange 495 sq.km area of disputed area in the north for the total area of 269 sq.km in western Bhutan. This covers the Doklam Plateau as well as larger area towards its east and north-east.

Final Word – Need for balanced analysis

The use of open source, high-resolution satellite images, backed with professional military analysis, is a welcome addition to the media world. The images and analysis give common people a peep into events or aspects which are generally not available outside the security establishment.

However, what is also required is that such analysis is balanced and provides a holistic picture of the ground situation. Along with professional military analysis which covers all the aspect. What we’re witnessing of late is the use of information – satellite images – to present only a part of the picture. And too in a sensational manner. The unbiased and complete military appreciation of the situation is also missing.

Till we get more balanced analysis, keyboard commandos and arm-chair generals like me will have to rely on free Google Earth satellite images and do our own analysis!

 

[AMCA]

Check out this Air chief's PC video:

On J20 , He says: " Yeh jo aapka su30 ka radar hai na, Kai kilometers mein pick up kar lega usko..."

 

[indus]

Check out this Air chief's PC video:

On J20 , He says: " Yeh jo aapka su30 ka radar hai na, Kai kilometers mein pick up kar lega usko..."

Its known fact that Su30 can backup as a mini awacs. It will become even more potent after MLU when it gets aesa radar.

 

[Akshay_Fenix]

A new Air force base at gujarat border.

 

[Mikesingh]

OPINIONS
‘The Print’ must answer why it’s spinning sensational stories about Chinese aggression in Doklam

Presstitutes and tabloids like the Print and the Quint are desperate to retrieve what little credibility they have left, by sensationalizing stuff for 'TRP's but in the process shooting themselves in the foot by doing so. These tabloids are the Indian version of Global Times.

 

[delbruky]

Pakis are deploying more troops, that means more opportunity for Indian Army to cause collateral damage for their perfidy. Source: HT
Pakistan deploys more troops along LoC, Indian Army keeps watch
"
The Pakistan army has now moved troops from Kotli, Mirpur and even Rawalpindi to match Indian deployment on the LoC , Indian army officers said on condition of anonymity.
"
https://www.hindustantimes.com/indi...ml?li_source=LI&li_medium=recommended-for-you

 

[indus]

So IAF had taken same set of approval in 2011 also but no work done for 8 long years.

A new Air force base at gujarat border.

IAF set to turn Deesa airport into airbase
Express News Service , Express News Service : Vadodara, Fri Sep 02 2011, 02:31 hrs
The Defence Ministry has approved a proposal to develop Deesa Airport in north Gujarat as a full-fledged airbase, said A K Gogoi, Commanding in Chief, South Western Air Command (SWAC), who was talking to reporters after the induction of 25 squadron at the IAF station here.

The 25 squadron, popularly known as Himalayan Eagle, has been relocated from Chandigarh to Vadodara.

"We had mooted this proposal (to turn Deesa Airport into an IAF airbase) to the Defence Ministry, which has granted the approval. The first phase of the project will cost over Rs 3,000 crore and it will go towards strengthening infrastructure at the airport," said Air Marshal Gogoi, adding it will add to the IAF's strategic edge since Deesa is close to the Pakistani border.

 

[12arya]

https://swarajyamag.com/insta/massi...orce-pakistan-to-deploy-more-troops-along-loc

Massive Indian Retaliations To Ceasefire Violations Force Pakistan To Deploy More Troops Along LoC

Indian army soldiers take position near the Line of Control in Nowshera sector. (Nitin Kanotra/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)


The Pakistan Army, which has been losing a large number of soldiers in Indian retaliations to ceasefire violations, has deployed more troops to the Line of Control (LoC) and the International Border (IB), Hindustan Times has reported.

In the past few months, India has adopted a policy of massive response to all ceasefire violations. By some accounts, the army is responding to Pakistan’s provocation using heavy equipment, including artillery. The Army has reportedly brought back artillery guns for the first time in 15 years along the 15 Corps Zone, north of the Pir Panjal mountain range, to respond to Pakistani provocations.

According to the report in Hindustan Times, Pakistan has moved troops from Kotli, Mirpur and Rawalpindi to match Indian deployment on the LoC.

“Since the November 26, 2003 ceasefire, the Pakistan army’s headcount was half for the same area as the Indian Army. While the Pakistan Army was under no stress or pressure, the Indian Army was facing the brunt on the LoC as it was being targeted by infiltrators as well as border action teams of terrorist groups,” the daily quoted an Army commander as saying. “With Indian Army now responding to each and every firing from the other side, the Pakistan army also cannot afford to relax anymore as there is always a fear of September 29, 2016,” he said, referring to the surgical strike conducted by the Indian army in 2017.

Pakistan has not been revealing the number of casualties it has suffered in Indian retaliation in the past few months, even to the country’s parliament, fueling speculation that the figure is higher than it is believed to be. According to some reports, the Indian Army inflicted 20 casualties on Pakistan Army in the first one-and-a-half months of the current year.

There were 633 ceasefire violations along the LoC in the first two months of 2018. In comparison, the total number of ceasefire violations in 2017 was 860.

“We will continue our tough posture both on the border as well on the counter-insurgency grid in J and K hinterland and ensure that neither Pakistan nor its supporters in the valley hold the levers of violence in the state,” said the army officer. “Instructions to rebuild bunkers have been issued to civilian administration as well as beefing up defences of civilian population close to the border,” he added.

 

[12arya]

https://swarajyamag.com/insta/china...i-husbands-sending-them-to-re-education-camps

China Is Separating Women In Muslim-Majority Xinjiang From Pakistani Husbands, Sending Them To Re-Education Camps

Chinese security agencies have separated women in the country’s restive Muslim-majority province of Xinjiang from their Pakistani husbands and sent them to ‘re-education camps’, The Guardian has reported.

A large number of women belonging to China’s Uighur Muslim minority are married to Pakistani men, who come to the province of Xinjiang for trade. After work on multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor started, the number of Pakistani men visiting the region increased significantly.

Even as it continues to develop the corridor and invest in its “deeper than the deepest ocean, sweeter than honey” relations with Pakistan, China remains wary of the unrest in its Muslim population. A number of separatists and militants from Xinjiang have found refuge in restive parts of Pakistan in the past. Although Islamabad has made efforts to drive out Uighur militant outfits under pressure from Beijing, China has traced back terror attacks in the region to Pakistan-based camps of outfits such as al-Qaeda-linked East Turkestan Islamic Movement.

According to experts, Beijing could have taken this step to make sure that dissidents in the Xinjiang, which borders Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, are unable to coordinate with militant outfits based in restive parts of Pakistan.

According to a report by Radio Free Asia, at least 120,000 Uighurs have been placed in “re-education” camps in the province.

At least 50 women married to men from Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan have also been separated from their husbands and sent to re-education camps on charges of extremism. Lawmakers in Gilgit-Baltistan last week demanded that authorities in Xinjiang province immediately release the women.

 

[12arya]

meanwhile in jammu

https://swarajyamag.com/politics/wh...part-of-an-islamist-project-and-want-them-out

Why Locals In Jammu See Rohingya Settlement As Part Of An ‘Islamist Project’ And Want Them Out

Representational image: Rohingya Muslim refugees crowd as they wait to proceed to camps. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Snapshot

• The Rohingya make the arduous journey from beyond India’s eastern border, all the way to Jammu to start a new life.
  
  They appear to have it relatively easy in trying to build a life here, surprisingly, but find no favour among the local people and authorities, who see a sinister plot at work.
  
  This is our ground report from Jammu:
  

Sayed Hussain, 60, offers a rather implausible explanation for how he ended up in faraway Jammu after crossing the border in West Bengal. “I boarded the first train I saw [at Kolkata station]. It was noon. The journey ended at Jammu,” he says. Hussain is among the first Rohingya to have settled in Jammu’s Bhatindi 10 years ago.

In an adjoining camp, 27-year-old Mohammed Tahir, who arrived last year, gives the same reason.

Later, a senior officer in the intelligence wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police laughs off this explanation. “By all accounts, they boarded the Sealdah Express that crosses Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab before reaching Jammu. It’s an arduous two-day journey. Why did they not alight at any of the stations in between?”

Now visibly annoyed, the officer says with an air of finality, “There is a syndicate active in Kolkata that facilitates their migration to Jammu. They tell the Rohingya that the only Muslim-majority state in India is their natural home.”

The new home of these runaways, ironically, is always Hindu-majority Jammu and never Muslim-majority Kashmir, the officer observes with a smirk as he produces a break-up of Rohingya settlements in the region. The Rohingya are scattered over 42 sites, Muslim-populated Bhatindi a home to the largest and oldest camp, housing 192 of the 1,548 Rohingya families in Jammu, as of January 2018.

“You see a pattern?”

I pore over the list in reply.

“They are being settled all over the region. Some areas have just two Rohingya families. Many Army camps in Jammu city are now surrounded by them.”

The officer says they are keeping a tight vigil on the community as authorities are apprehensive about the Rohingya people’s links to terror groups. In 2015, a militant killed by security forces in south Kashmir – Abdur Rehman al Arkani, initially identified by the pseudonym “Chota Burmi” – was found to be from Rakhine, the Myanmar epicentre for the Rohingya refugee crisis.

“It has come to our notice that some of them helped Pakistani militants trespass the Jammu border. You see, Rohingyas are experts in infiltration, they are deft in cutting the fence, they know tunneling, they are skilled in camouflage.”

Security forces are increasingly noticing the use of the word ‘Burmi’ in conversations between militants. “Rakhine militants are known to have direct links with ISI [Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence] and we are not ruling this connection out. They have a victimhood narrative of being wronged by non-Muslims. There are definitive leads that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba is trying to exploit them for carrying out terror activities in India and Bangladesh,” the officer says.

“Of course this does not mean that all of them have links with terrorists.”

These revelations are unnerving. They have led to calls for the deportation of the Rohingya. But amid these disturbing possibilities of the community being a security risk, the sight of their children playing with trash, their clothes in tatters, tugs at the heart as one walks through the cramped, grubby streets of Bhatindi’s Kiryani Talab. The blazing sun makes passage more difficult, but inhabitants of the 50-odd shanties, all huddled together, offer a welcome with a cheerful demeanour.

A girl plays with trash at a Rohingya camp in Bhatindi’s Kiryani Talab


The men help with chairs to sit while children crowd around. Women, too shy to speak, smile and look away. They have harrowing tales to tell, of rape and murder of their neighbours at the hands of Buddhists and security forces back in their native Rakhine state in Myanmar. “They killed our men, raped our women, imprisoned them on frivolous grounds, set our houses on fire,” they say in unison.

The tales of their eventual escape are as chilling.

Mohammed Idris, 30, recalls how, fearing for his life, he left everything behind and joined a crowd of about 250 Rohingya to reach the Myanmar border on foot in 2015. It took them two days. Once in Bangladesh, he rented a hut and reached out to his contacts in India. “I bought a SIM card and called up my friend in Hyderabad [also a Rohingya]. Then I paid Rs 3,000 to a person who put me on to a mini-bus to Bengal. Later I reached Hyderabad. A few months later, I was told life is better in Jammu, so I came here,” he narrates his story.

Their shanties are flanked by high-rises under construction on either side. The Rohingya say they find plenty of work in such buildings that appear to dot the entire Bhatindi area. Those who made stopovers at other cities like Delhi and Hyderabad say they somehow find Jammu better. When asked why they never consider Kashmir for their new home, they say the city is not fit to live. “We won’t find any work in Kashmir. It’s always under curfew. Gunshots are always being fired. It’s also too cold for comfort,” says Idris.

Their tales are heart-breaking. Yet, many of their claims don’t add up.

Inhabitants of a Rohingya camp in Bhatindi


They keep correcting each other when providing accounts of the losses they faced. “I had 500 cows in Rakhine,” says a despondent Mohammed Hussain, a claim that evokes laughter from others. “Did you have even ten?” someone grins.

“If I go to Rakhine, I’ll be killed,” says Mohammed Yunus, who seems to forget this claim minutes later. He says three months ago, he went to Rakhine to attend a family wedding and stayed for a week. He returned with his brother’s family in tow.

They say none of the Rohingya women go out to work and remain strictly to home, but scores of factories in the area admit to having employed Rohingya women in large numbers for cracking walnuts. The factory owners show us inside and introduce us to their ‘Burmi’ employees, mostly adolescent girls.

Rohingya girls crack walnuts at a factory


The Rohingya say they ended up in Jammu somehow, but it is clear they are brought here. They are not only welcomed with open doors but also pampered. They are taken care of.

Bhatindi’s ‘Burmi market’, run by the Rohingya, is bigger and better-stocked than all the adjoining ones existing for decades.

One of the shops in ‘Burmi market’


Billa Ram, who runs a small general provision shop nearby, shrugs as he says it’s only a wonder how refugees who had nothing on them have managed to own shops much bigger than his. “What they have made in five years, I could not in 20 years. Obviously, they are being helped with land and resources.”

What Ram means is that the administration and the Kashmiris living in the area want the Rohingya to not just stay but flourish.

“This market is a thorn in everyone’s eye,” says a bitter Noor Mohammad, a Rohingya who owns a meat shop in ‘Burmi market’. He demands to be left alone. His neighbour, who owns a grocery shop and refuses to tell his name, looks away and says no one in the market is “allowed” to talk.

There are enough hints that the administration is going out of its way to settle the Rohingya. They have been found possessing ration cards, Aadhaar cards, voter identity cards and, most shocking, the permanent resident certificate (PRC), all obtained through fraudulent means. Only the citizens of J&K are entitled to a PRC, which allows them to buy land, get government jobs, and pursue higher studies in the state. A Crime Investigation Department (CID) officer reveals, “Rohingyas have managed to buy state land on the outskirts. We recently found one possessing a bungalow on the outskirts worth two crores!”

A Jammu-based senior journalist, who retired as an editor of a leading daily, says all this is happening in connivance with officials at the helm of affairs. “It’s next to impossible for me to get a PRC for my children. The process is just too cumbersome. But Rohingyas seem to have been served it on a platter.”

Many suspect that at the heart of this fraud is an attempt to change the demography of Jammu. Others sound alarm bells that the Rohingya settlement is essentially an Islamist project. It suits the politics of some, and the Islamist ideology of the militants.

“How come none of the West Pakistan refugees, who are mostly Hindus, have never been made state subjects in seven decades?” asks J&K Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta. He is referring to an estimated 19,960 families of West Pakistan refugees who migrated to Jammu during the 1947 partition and, for years, have been protesting denial of citizenship.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader had pointed fingers at the Rohingya for the 10 February terror attack on Sunjwan military station while speaking in the state legislative assembly. Six soldiers, a civilian, and three Jaish-e-Mohammed militants were killed in the attack carried out at the crack of dawn.

Gupta expunged his remarks after protests by the opposition party, National Conference, and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party. “I was forced to withdraw my statement. You see, they can’t hear a word against Rohingyas. Their solidarity for refugees is limited to Rohingyas!”

Also perturbed is Harsh Dev Singh, chairman of National Panthers Party. He calls the Rohingya settlement a “deep-rooted conspiracy” to alter Jammu’s demography so that Dogras are reduced to a minority. “What kind of refugees settle in a disturbed state like J&K?” he asks. “The manner in which they have come all the way here seems very sinister. Foreign hand cannot be ruled out. It’s a ticking time bomb,” declares Singh, who has been leading rallies and protests to free Jammu of the Rohingya. Singh has been demanding immediate measures for their deportation, saying any further delay is fraught with danger. Jammu has seen several rallies and protests by activists and residents demanding that the Rohingya leave.

Among these activists is advocate Ankur Sharma, who earlier filed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition in Supreme Court for scrapping of minority benefits to Muslims in J&K. Sharma says he has no doubt that the Rohingya settlement is part of a multi-pronged attack on Jammu, aimed at Islamising the region.

Sharma explains his allegations in several points, “One, we have Roshni Act legislated in Hindu-dominated areas under which state land was given primarily to Muslims in and around Jammu, Udhampur, Samba, Kathua, etc. Even as cases of Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, and Buddhists were kept pending. Two, actual minorities are denied minority rights in J&K. Three, Muslims from outside Jammu are being settled here with the aid and support of hawala money. They are being clandestinely registered as migrants (due to terrorist-related activities) and are given all incentives and sops available to Kashmiri Pandits. Four, by Kashmiri leaders’ own confession, Article 370 and 35A are aimed at maintaining the Muslim-majority character of the state. This is dangerous, bad, suicidal, and unwarranted. And now, we see planned and organised settling of the Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims here, with NGOs [non-governmental organisations] from the valley helping with money, taking public stands in their favour.”

Sharma further asks, “If the aim is not to propagate Islamism, why is it that militants who vow to wipe the area of ‘cow-worshipping Hindus’ have been warning against any move to deport Rohingyas?” Among others, Zakir Musa, the head of al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Kashmir, and the outfit Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulma, headed by separatist Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, have expressed solidarity with the Rohingya in Jammu.

Fall-outs of Islamism in the state are only too familiar. No wonder Jammu has been witnessing marches against the Rohingya people, at times bordering on violence.

But even as activists and political leaders talk of conspiracy theories and security threats, residents around the Rohingya settlements, who have no idea of the events in Rakhine or even the term ‘Rohingya’, want their new neighbours gone because they see them as criminals.

In Bhatindi, cross the Burmi market to enter Hindu-inhabited Rajeev Nagar and residents say they are scared of the ‘Burmi’ people. “Every night, they crowd these streets selling drugs. Stay here for an evening and see for yourself,” says an angry Satpal Sharma, a shopkeeper. “Looks like they never sleep. They are always out.”

Residents of a nearby Hindu colony named Rajeev Nagar


The Rohingya have been found involved in drug trade. Across Jammu, 25 first information reports (FIRs) have been registered against them for drug-trafficking. A senior police officer said 65-70kg of heroin was seized from them. “It’s worrying because heroin, unlike marijuana that comes from central UP [Uttar Pradesh], is sourced from Pakistan-Afghanistan border,” he said.

Residents also point with disgust to the houses of Kashmiri men who have married Rohingya girls much younger in age. “Sometimes, they don’t even marry them,” says Neelam Kumari in a low voice, referring implicitly to prostitution.

At least three FIRs are registered against the Rohingya for flesh trade. That many of the Rohingya girls are brought to India on the pretext of work and “sold” to Muslim men is a claim made by intelligence agencies and supported by media reports. Recently, a Hindi daily reported on a flesh trade racket busted by the police in Jammu, where Rohingya men were found selling girls to Kashmiris.

“Kashmiri men who aren’t exactly eligible bachelors and cannot cough up enough mehr [mandatory payment by Muslim grooms to brides] go for these young girls who come for cheap. Many of the girls go to Kashmir,” a CID officer said.

Residents around the city talk of “new faces” flooding the streets as beggars, infiltrating homes as domestic help. They also object to their “ways”. Opposite the Sunjwan army camp that was recently attacked by terrorists, used to be a Rohingya camp of about 10 families in Channi Rama area. In December, the families slaughtered a cow in public. Angry residents protested and called the police. The Rohingya were then asked to leave.

Rajendra Singh, 65, whose house is adjacent to the now-uprooted camp, recalls the incident. “It was a horrible sight. The cow was pregnant and its calf was also slaughtered.” Singh remembers his ‘Burmi neighbours’ as a violent lot who would keep fighting among themselves and roaming in the night. “Had they stayed, I would have sold my house. I would feel so scared.” While residents’ grudge with the Rohingya is mostly attributed to their high involvement in crime and cultural difference, activists say it’s worrying that with the rise in their numbers, their criminal activities have intensified.

For the police, the headache is that they don’t know what to do with the criminals. “We arrest them and send them to jails. We also slap a case of illegal trespassing. They serve their sentence and return to a life of crime again. Because we can’t deport them. Myanmar doesn’t recognise them as their citizens and refuse to take them back. So the cycle keeps repeating.”

No Rohingya, however notorious a criminal he is, leaves. But more of them keep coming in. After all, Rs 3,000 is all it takes to trespass the border at West Bengal. Their eventual journey to Jammu is, of course, a cakewalk.

 

[aystle]

Massive revamp in the 'Intelligence Bureau' nearly 500 officers transferred to different stations.
Any idea..??
https://mobile.twitter.com/TimesNow/status/977464671165804544

 

[AMCA]

meanwhile in jammu

https://swarajyamag.com/politics/wh...part-of-an-islamist-project-and-want-them-out

Why Locals In Jammu See Rohingya Settlement As Part Of An ‘Islamist Project’ And Want Them Out

Representational image: Rohingya Muslim refugees crowd as they wait to proceed to camps. (Kevin Frayer/Getty Images)

Snapshot

• The Rohingya make the arduous journey from beyond India’s eastern border, all the way to Jammu to start a new life.
  
  They appear to have it relatively easy in trying to build a life here, surprisingly, but find no favour among the local people and authorities, who see a sinister plot at work.
  
  This is our ground report from Jammu:
  

Sayed Hussain, 60, offers a rather implausible explanation for how he ended up in faraway Jammu after crossing the border in West Bengal. “I boarded the first train I saw [at Kolkata station]. It was noon. The journey ended at Jammu,” he says. Hussain is among the first Rohingya to have settled in Jammu’s Bhatindi 10 years ago.

In an adjoining camp, 27-year-old Mohammed Tahir, who arrived last year, gives the same reason.

Later, a senior officer in the intelligence wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police laughs off this explanation. “By all accounts, they boarded the Sealdah Express that crosses Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Punjab before reaching Jammu. It’s an arduous two-day journey. Why did they not alight at any of the stations in between?”

Now visibly annoyed, the officer says with an air of finality, “There is a syndicate active in Kolkata that facilitates their migration to Jammu. They tell the Rohingya that the only Muslim-majority state in India is their natural home.”

The new home of these runaways, ironically, is always Hindu-majority Jammu and never Muslim-majority Kashmir, the officer observes with a smirk as he produces a break-up of Rohingya settlements in the region. The Rohingya are scattered over 42 sites, Muslim-populated Bhatindi a home to the largest and oldest camp, housing 192 of the 1,548 Rohingya families in Jammu, as of January 2018.

“You see a pattern?”

I pore over the list in reply.

“They are being settled all over the region. Some areas have just two Rohingya families. Many Army camps in Jammu city are now surrounded by them.”

The officer says they are keeping a tight vigil on the community as authorities are apprehensive about the Rohingya people’s links to terror groups. In 2015, a militant killed by security forces in south Kashmir – Abdur Rehman al Arkani, initially identified by the pseudonym “Chota Burmi” – was found to be from Rakhine, the Myanmar epicentre for the Rohingya refugee crisis.

“It has come to our notice that some of them helped Pakistani militants trespass the Jammu border. You see, Rohingyas are experts in infiltration, they are deft in cutting the fence, they know tunneling, they are skilled in camouflage.”

Security forces are increasingly noticing the use of the word ‘Burmi’ in conversations between militants. “Rakhine militants are known to have direct links with ISI [Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence] and we are not ruling this connection out. They have a victimhood narrative of being wronged by non-Muslims. There are definitive leads that Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba is trying to exploit them for carrying out terror activities in India and Bangladesh,” the officer says.

“Of course this does not mean that all of them have links with terrorists.”

These revelations are unnerving. They have led to calls for the deportation of the Rohingya. But amid these disturbing possibilities of the community being a security risk, the sight of their children playing with trash, their clothes in tatters, tugs at the heart as one walks through the cramped, grubby streets of Bhatindi’s Kiryani Talab. The blazing sun makes passage more difficult, but inhabitants of the 50-odd shanties, all huddled together, offer a welcome with a cheerful demeanour.

A girl plays with trash at a Rohingya camp in Bhatindi’s Kiryani Talab


The men help with chairs to sit while children crowd around. Women, too shy to speak, smile and look away. They have harrowing tales to tell, of rape and murder of their neighbours at the hands of Buddhists and security forces back in their native Rakhine state in Myanmar. “They killed our men, raped our women, imprisoned them on frivolous grounds, set our houses on fire,” they say in unison.

The tales of their eventual escape are as chilling.

Mohammed Idris, 30, recalls how, fearing for his life, he left everything behind and joined a crowd of about 250 Rohingya to reach the Myanmar border on foot in 2015. It took them two days. Once in Bangladesh, he rented a hut and reached out to his contacts in India. “I bought a SIM card and called up my friend in Hyderabad [also a Rohingya]. Then I paid Rs 3,000 to a person who put me on to a mini-bus to Bengal. Later I reached Hyderabad. A few months later, I was told life is better in Jammu, so I came here,” he narrates his story.

Their shanties are flanked by high-rises under construction on either side. The Rohingya say they find plenty of work in such buildings that appear to dot the entire Bhatindi area. Those who made stopovers at other cities like Delhi and Hyderabad say they somehow find Jammu better. When asked why they never consider Kashmir for their new home, they say the city is not fit to live. “We won’t find any work in Kashmir. It’s always under curfew. Gunshots are always being fired. It’s also too cold for comfort,” says Idris.

Their tales are heart-breaking. Yet, many of their claims don’t add up.

Inhabitants of a Rohingya camp in Bhatindi


They keep correcting each other when providing accounts of the losses they faced. “I had 500 cows in Rakhine,” says a despondent Mohammed Hussain, a claim that evokes laughter from others. “Did you have even ten?” someone grins.

“If I go to Rakhine, I’ll be killed,” says Mohammed Yunus, who seems to forget this claim minutes later. He says three months ago, he went to Rakhine to attend a family wedding and stayed for a week. He returned with his brother’s family in tow.

They say none of the Rohingya women go out to work and remain strictly to home, but scores of factories in the area admit to having employed Rohingya women in large numbers for cracking walnuts. The factory owners show us inside and introduce us to their ‘Burmi’ employees, mostly adolescent girls.

Rohingya girls crack walnuts at a factory


The Rohingya say they ended up in Jammu somehow, but it is clear they are brought here. They are not only welcomed with open doors but also pampered. They are taken care of.

Bhatindi’s ‘Burmi market’, run by the Rohingya, is bigger and better-stocked than all the adjoining ones existing for decades.

One of the shops in ‘Burmi market’


Billa Ram, who runs a small general provision shop nearby, shrugs as he says it’s only a wonder how refugees who had nothing on them have managed to own shops much bigger than his. “What they have made in five years, I could not in 20 years. Obviously, they are being helped with land and resources.”

What Ram means is that the administration and the Kashmiris living in the area want the Rohingya to not just stay but flourish.

“This market is a thorn in everyone’s eye,” says a bitter Noor Mohammad, a Rohingya who owns a meat shop in ‘Burmi market’. He demands to be left alone. His neighbour, who owns a grocery shop and refuses to tell his name, looks away and says no one in the market is “allowed” to talk.

There are enough hints that the administration is going out of its way to settle the Rohingya. They have been found possessing ration cards, Aadhaar cards, voter identity cards and, most shocking, the permanent resident certificate (PRC), all obtained through fraudulent means. Only the citizens of J&K are entitled to a PRC, which allows them to buy land, get government jobs, and pursue higher studies in the state. A Crime Investigation Department (CID) officer reveals, “Rohingyas have managed to buy state land on the outskirts. We recently found one possessing a bungalow on the outskirts worth two crores!”

A Jammu-based senior journalist, who retired as an editor of a leading daily, says all this is happening in connivance with officials at the helm of affairs. “It’s next to impossible for me to get a PRC for my children. The process is just too cumbersome. But Rohingyas seem to have been served it on a platter.”

Many suspect that at the heart of this fraud is an attempt to change the demography of Jammu. Others sound alarm bells that the Rohingya settlement is essentially an Islamist project. It suits the politics of some, and the Islamist ideology of the militants.

“How come none of the West Pakistan refugees, who are mostly Hindus, have never been made state subjects in seven decades?” asks J&K Assembly Speaker Kavinder Gupta. He is referring to an estimated 19,960 families of West Pakistan refugees who migrated to Jammu during the 1947 partition and, for years, have been protesting denial of citizenship.

The Bharatiya Janata Party leader had pointed fingers at the Rohingya for the 10 February terror attack on Sunjwan military station while speaking in the state legislative assembly. Six soldiers, a civilian, and three Jaish-e-Mohammed militants were killed in the attack carried out at the crack of dawn.

Gupta expunged his remarks after protests by the opposition party, National Conference, and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party. “I was forced to withdraw my statement. You see, they can’t hear a word against Rohingyas. Their solidarity for refugees is limited to Rohingyas!”

Also perturbed is Harsh Dev Singh, chairman of National Panthers Party. He calls the Rohingya settlement a “deep-rooted conspiracy” to alter Jammu’s demography so that Dogras are reduced to a minority. “What kind of refugees settle in a disturbed state like J&K?” he asks. “The manner in which they have come all the way here seems very sinister. Foreign hand cannot be ruled out. It’s a ticking time bomb,” declares Singh, who has been leading rallies and protests to free Jammu of the Rohingya. Singh has been demanding immediate measures for their deportation, saying any further delay is fraught with danger. Jammu has seen several rallies and protests by activists and residents demanding that the Rohingya leave.

Among these activists is advocate Ankur Sharma, who earlier filed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition in Supreme Court for scrapping of minority benefits to Muslims in J&K. Sharma says he has no doubt that the Rohingya settlement is part of a multi-pronged attack on Jammu, aimed at Islamising the region.

Sharma explains his allegations in several points, “One, we have Roshni Act legislated in Hindu-dominated areas under which state land was given primarily to Muslims in and around Jammu, Udhampur, Samba, Kathua, etc. Even as cases of Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, and Buddhists were kept pending. Two, actual minorities are denied minority rights in J&K. Three, Muslims from outside Jammu are being settled here with the aid and support of hawala money. They are being clandestinely registered as migrants (due to terrorist-related activities) and are given all incentives and sops available to Kashmiri Pandits. Four, by Kashmiri leaders’ own confession, Article 370 and 35A are aimed at maintaining the Muslim-majority character of the state. This is dangerous, bad, suicidal, and unwarranted. And now, we see planned and organised settling of the Rohingya and Bangladeshi Muslims here, with NGOs [non-governmental organisations] from the valley helping with money, taking public stands in their favour.”

Sharma further asks, “If the aim is not to propagate Islamism, why is it that militants who vow to wipe the area of ‘cow-worshipping Hindus’ have been warning against any move to deport Rohingyas?” Among others, Zakir Musa, the head of al-Qaeda’s offshoot in Kashmir, and the outfit Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulma, headed by separatist Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, have expressed solidarity with the Rohingya in Jammu.

Fall-outs of Islamism in the state are only too familiar. No wonder Jammu has been witnessing marches against the Rohingya people, at times bordering on violence.

But even as activists and political leaders talk of conspiracy theories and security threats, residents around the Rohingya settlements, who have no idea of the events in Rakhine or even the term ‘Rohingya’, want their new neighbours gone because they see them as criminals.

In Bhatindi, cross the Burmi market to enter Hindu-inhabited Rajeev Nagar and residents say they are scared of the ‘Burmi’ people. “Every night, they crowd these streets selling drugs. Stay here for an evening and see for yourself,” says an angry Satpal Sharma, a shopkeeper. “Looks like they never sleep. They are always out.”

Residents of a nearby Hindu colony named Rajeev Nagar


The Rohingya have been found involved in drug trade. Across Jammu, 25 first information reports (FIRs) have been registered against them for drug-trafficking. A senior police officer said 65-70kg of heroin was seized from them. “It’s worrying because heroin, unlike marijuana that comes from central UP [Uttar Pradesh], is sourced from Pakistan-Afghanistan border,” he said.

Residents also point with disgust to the houses of Kashmiri men who have married Rohingya girls much younger in age. “Sometimes, they don’t even marry them,” says Neelam Kumari in a low voice, referring implicitly to prostitution.

At least three FIRs are registered against the Rohingya for flesh trade. That many of the Rohingya girls are brought to India on the pretext of work and “sold” to Muslim men is a claim made by intelligence agencies and supported by media reports. Recently, a Hindi daily reported on a flesh trade racket busted by the police in Jammu, where Rohingya men were found selling girls to Kashmiris.

“Kashmiri men who aren’t exactly eligible bachelors and cannot cough up enough mehr [mandatory payment by Muslim grooms to brides] go for these young girls who come for cheap. Many of the girls go to Kashmir,” a CID officer said.

Residents around the city talk of “new faces” flooding the streets as beggars, infiltrating homes as domestic help. They also object to their “ways”. Opposite the Sunjwan army camp that was recently attacked by terrorists, used to be a Rohingya camp of about 10 families in Channi Rama area. In December, the families slaughtered a cow in public. Angry residents protested and called the police. The Rohingya were then asked to leave.

Rajendra Singh, 65, whose house is adjacent to the now-uprooted camp, recalls the incident. “It was a horrible sight. The cow was pregnant and its calf was also slaughtered.” Singh remembers his ‘Burmi neighbours’ as a violent lot who would keep fighting among themselves and roaming in the night. “Had they stayed, I would have sold my house. I would feel so scared.” While residents’ grudge with the Rohingya is mostly attributed to their high involvement in crime and cultural difference, activists say it’s worrying that with the rise in their numbers, their criminal activities have intensified.

For the police, the headache is that they don’t know what to do with the criminals. “We arrest them and send them to jails. We also slap a case of illegal trespassing. They serve their sentence and return to a life of crime again. Because we can’t deport them. Myanmar doesn’t recognise them as their citizens and refuse to take them back. So the cycle keeps repeating.”

No Rohingya, however notorious a criminal he is, leaves. But more of them keep coming in. After all, Rs 3,000 is all it takes to trespass the border at West Bengal. Their eventual journey to Jammu is, of course, a cakewalk.

There is something very dangerous going on. Rohingyas from Jammu, Haryana and UP are now moving to West Bengal. I think they want to consolidate their numbers.

 

[Mikesingh]

Pakis are deploying more troops, that means more opportunity for Indian Army to cause collateral damage for their perfidy. Source: HT
Pakistan deploys more troops along LoC, Indian Army keeps watch
"
The Pakistan army has now moved troops from Kotli, Mirpur and even Rawalpindi to match Indian deployment on the LoC , Indian army officers said on condition of anonymity.
"
https://www.hindustantimes.com/indi...ml?li_source=LI&li_medium=recommended-for-you

That is a clear indication that the Pakis are getting f****d real bad and thus reinforcing their positions! Also, since they are unable to infiltrate their terror proxies into Kashmir, want to beef up their launch pads and forward posts to try and help these yahoos to get across.

And that means more pork barbeque! :biggrin2:

 

[Samsung J7]

Bjp is in power both central and state. Why bjp supporters still moaning about rohingya instead of taking decisive action. Better to say we r incompetent or not capable to prevent bangladeshi rohingya infiltration

 

[Yggdrasil]

There is something very dangerous going on. Rohingyas from Jammu, Haryana and UP are now moving to West Bengal. I think they want to consolidate their numbers.

How the FFFFFFF do 1500+ families magically end up a 1000km away in Jammu from the Bangladeshi border? WTF is going on, is the national security machinery asleep? If Doval has some plan, it sure better materialise soon.

 

[lcafanboy]

A bomb to every Pakistani bullet only solution : Shah
IANS|
Updated: Mar 24, 2018, 10.35 PM IST
23Comments
Read more at:
//economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/63446788.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

 

[DivineHeretic]

That is a clear indication that the Pakis are getting f****d real bad and thus reinforcing their positions! Also, since they are unable to infiltrate their terror proxies into Kashmir, want to beef up their launch pads and forward posts to try and help these yahoos to get across.

And that means more pork barbeque! :biggrin2:

It's more complicated than a mere case of getting kicked hard in the face. All the way from 1989, pakistani Army has operated under the assumption that they alone hold the initiative as far as the LOC is concerned. They firmly believed that any attempt at changing status quo along LOC would be undertaken by them-which history tells us was bang on target.

Post Uri and the subsequent Surgical Strikes and the fact that Indian forces now barely tolerate even cursory ceasefire violations, Pakistani commanders are for the first time worried that India might actually seize the initiative and move on the offensive, at least at a local level. This fear is exacerbated by the fact that for the first time in almost 15 years, India has begun to proactively engage in CFVs.

Pakistan Army suddenly is finding its force composition along the LOC dangerously thinned out to counter any Indian push into their held territory. Every last Pakistani commander knows that if India manages a successful capture of territory, they can't retake it, not without a massive mobilization. And worse, they know that if that hammer blow occurs in their sector, they (the PA commanders) become the face of humiliation of Pakistan-the next Niazi. Their careers would go up in a plume of smoke. So you see the nervous redeployments of deeper held assets. No one wants to be that guy who got his ass handed over to him by India.

 

[delbruky]

That is a clear indication that the Pakis are getting f****d real bad and thus reinforcing their positions! Also, since they are unable to infiltrate their terror proxies into Kashmir, want to beef up their launch pads and forward posts to try and help these yahoos to get across.

And that means more pork barbeque! :biggrin2:

Bhai, reference to the article by Retd former GOC SA Hasnian and my quote December 30 2017.
https://swarajyamag.com/defence/in-trans-loc-operations-an-offensive-game-plan-is-key

In my opinion the gist of the article by Syed Ata Hasnian is this. Which also surmises that all the loss of lives and defensive posturing is a result of the army's own modus operandi.
"The government does not appear to have placed shackles in the Army’s way, so it is up to its hierarchy to draw up a more offensive game plan. Ethics and qualms do not work here. There have been times the Indian Army has actually deliberately held back its offensive designs to allow the Pakistan Army to continue its counter-insurgency operations, for which troops from the LOC had also been withdrawn. We need to do the reverse so that a larger strength of the Pakistan Army is forced to return to the LOC and be on 24 x 7 vigil, awaiting Indian Army ghataks and Special Forces who could be behind it or on its flanks."

 

[Samsung J7]

It's more complicated than a mere case of getting kicked hard in the face. All the way from 1989, pakistani Army has operated under the assumption that they alone hold the initiative as far as the LOC is concerned. They firmly believed that any attempt at changing status quo along LOC would be undertaken by them-which history tells us was bang on target.

Post Uri and the subsequent Surgical Strikes and the fact that Indian forces now barely tolerate even cursory ceasefire violations, Pakistani commanders are for the first time worried that India might actually seize the initiative and move on the offensive, at least at a local level. This fear is exacerbated by the fact that for the first time in almost 15 years, India has begun to proactively engage in CFVs.

Pakistan Army suddenly is finding its force composition along the LOC dangerously thinned out to counter any Indian push into their held territory. Every last Pakistani commander knows that if India manages a successful capture of territory, they can't retake it, not without a massive mobilization. And worse, they know that if that hammer blow occurs in their sector, they (the PA commanders) become the face of humiliation of Pakistan-the next Niazi. Their careers would go up in a plume of smoke. So you see the nervous redeployments of deeper held assets. No one wants to be that guy who got his ass handed over to him by India.

These troop deployments and reductions r happening for many years. After siachin take over we did nothing pro active or capture anything in LoC.

 

[Bornubus]

We Indians have bad habit to fight a war on our own territory.

Really ?

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