Surgical strike day: Let’s not make mockery of sacrifice by army
It is imperative that we remember the sacrifices our soldiers made, even as we hail the accomplishments of modern day India. If the nation has been able to stand shoulder to shoulder with many other strong countries post-independence, the main reason for this is the most noble form of sacrifice made by our soldiers. One of the most significant achievements of modern India is that its army has never interfered with democracy. Both segments have maintained a good distance between each other.
Defence forces has working to maintain democracy, and this is what sets India apart from Pakistan. Army has won many wars after India achieved independence. Kargil was out biggest feat. Army ensured the country didn’t have to spare even an inch of land in the disputed area. The defence forces freed Bangladesh from Pakistan when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. They come up with new strategies to defeat the enemies and safeguard the interest of our nation. All such operations remain a closely guarded secret and never publicized. And it is not even wise to publicise them given the fact that army and national security is of prime importance.
Ever since Modi became the PM, accusations of politics interfering with army and its working have been heard from early days. The army heads have been embarrassed enough in the recent times owing to unnecessary statements made by union ministers. Surgical strike, claimed to be done by the army two years ago, had also created similar controversy for having killed terrorists in a flash operation by crossing over into the enemy side. But this is a normal course of work for the army. All other countries usually keep this a top secret than an issue of public consumption. The government tried to project this as some high level accomplishment after failing to stop terrorist attacks in Kashmir. Even if army did carry out such an operation, what is govt’s role in this? Why would the govt even claim credit for this job? Unfortunately, a very common defence operation was projected like a massive war victory and the defence minister held a press conference and dedicated this triumph to the people of RSS!
An outfit that had no role in Indian independence, and is responsible for most communal clashes without having to contribute any bit for the surgical strike, was given the credit of an operation that should have been the crowning glory of the defense forces. This way, the government humiliated the sacrifices made by the army.
Where was RSS when India won war against Pak, to free Bangladesh? How did it figure at the time of surgical strike, per se? At a time when terrorism has reached its peak in Kashmir, central government is going to celebrate Sep 29 as surgical strike day. A circular has been issued by the UGC to all universities and higher education institutions from the govt. A huge question remains as to how this would pan out in the future with regard to educational roadmap. All institutions understand this is a direct instruction by the government. The most funny thing is UGC is now supposed to answer questions regarding surgical strike and its impact on the country. If UGC feels these questions need not be answered, we will soon have to celebrate Modi day in Doklam. Also, a demonetization day to celebrate eradication of black money, along with GST day!
In all, this is an example of how the central government is interfering in higher education. If it is indeed true that the terrorist camps along the border were destroyed in a flash strike, we have to remain indebted to the army for having the chink in the armour to do so. If it was a success, who is continuing attack on our army in Kashmir now? Terrorism should have come to a standstill with this. But the continued attacks speak a different truth altogether. When this is the case, should the universities celebrate a ‘surgical strike’ day at all? Yes. We need to remember the sacrifices made by our soldiers and army. All the wars we won, and all the freedom we have has to be indebted to our defence forces. But instead of all this, if we begin to celebrate a surgical strike, it would be an insult to the army and misuse of UGC funds.
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SWR announces special trains for passengers stranded by large-scale IndiGo cancellations
Bengaluru (PTI): The South Western Railway on Saturday announced a series of special trains, in coordination with Central, South Eastern and Southern Railways, to clear stranded passengers following large-scale IndiGo flight cancellations across the country.
The special services will operate between December 6 and 10 on high-demand routes, including Bengaluru–Chennai, Bengaluru–Pune, Yesvantpur–Hazrat Nizamuddin, Shalimar–Yelahanka and Ernakulam–Yelahanka, officials said.
According to an official statement, SWR will run Train No. 06255/06256 between Chennai Egmore and KSR Bengaluru, 06257/06258 between Bengaluru and MGR Chennai Central, 06259/06260 between Yesvantpur and Hazrat Nizamuddin, and 06263/06264 between Bengaluru and Pune.
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Central Railway will operate Train No. 01413/01414 between Pune and Bengaluru, while South Eastern Railway will run Train No. 08073/08074 between Shalimar and Yelahanka. Southern Railway will operate Train No. 06147/06148 between Ernakulam and Yelahanka, the statement said.
Railways has advised passengers to check updated timings on its official channels and arrive early at stations.
For at least five days in a row, IndiGo flight operations have been significantly disrupted, with a large number of cancellations and delays causing hardships to thousands of passengers. In many cases, baggage has been misplaced.
