Farmers stay put outside Karnal secretariat, refuse to budge until demands are met
Karnal(PTI): A large number of farmers stayed put outside the gates of the district headquarters here on Wednesday as they remained firm on their demand for action against IAS officer Ayush Sinha, who ordered a police lathi-charge on a group of peasants last month.
Locked in a showdown with the Haryana government over the lathi-charge, the farmers squatted at the gates of the mini-secretariat on Tuesday evening after talks with the local administration failed. Many spent the night outside the mini-secretariat.
The protesters are demanding action over the police lathi-charge here on August 28. Their main demand centres around Sinha, former Karnal SDM. He was later transferred out as part of a larger bureaucratic shuffle.
The officer, whose suspension farmers' union leaders are demanding, was caught on tape allegedly telling policemen to "break heads" if the protesters crossed the line.
About 10 protesters were hurt in the clash with police as they tried to march towards the venue of a BJP meeting. Their leaders also claimed that a farmer died later, an allegation rejected by the administration.
A number of farmers along with many leaders of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) spent the night outside the main entry of the mini-secretariat.
In the morning, volunteers at the protest site were seen preparing tea and serving breakfast.
"We are not going anywhere from here until our demands are met," Haryana Bharatiya Kisan Union (Chaduni) chief Gurnam Singh Chaduni told reporters on Wednesday.
On the demand for Sinha's suspension, he said, "First, we are saying transferring him is not a punishment. We are also saying when farmers are booked for even road blockade, why not take action against the officer who ordered (police) to break heads. Is there any law under which such an order can be given?"
The movement of traffic on the Delhi-Karnal-Ambala NH-44 remained normal.
Security had been beefed up here on Monday, a day before farmers' mahapanchayat, and central forces deployed.
The gherao began on Tuesday evening, several hours after farmers from Haryana and neighbouring states reached Karnal's New Anaj Mandi for the mahapanchayat, riding tractors and motorcycles.
They marched on foot from the mahapanchayat venue to the mini-secretariat about five km away.
Protest leaders Rakesh Tikait and Yogendra Yadav are also at the gherao site.
Karnal Deputy Commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav had on Tuesday said that the administration had invited the farm leaders for another round of talks and that it was hopeful of resolving the issue.
The Home Department has extended the suspension of mobile internet services in Karnal until Wednesday midnight as the situation is "still volatile".
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) banning gathering of people have been imposed in the district.
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Rajnath to top commanders: Outmaneuver adversaries with strategic surprise
Jaipur/New Delhi (PTI): Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday directed the top military commanders of the three services to integrate an "element of surprise" into modern warfare to outmaneuver India's adversaries and bolster strategic posture.
In his address at the joint commanders conference in Jaipur, Singh also described the Operation Sindoor as a testament to the "swift, precise, and joint response" of the Indian armed forces to safeguard national interests and called upon the military to remain ready to deal with any security challenges.
In their two-day deliberations, the commanders carried out a comprehensive review of the combat preparedness of the military in the wake of the evolving regional security situation.
Operation Sindoor was a demonstration of India's growing capabilities and a symbol of the nation's collective resolve and new military ethos, Singh said, a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
He also unveiled a 'Joint Doctrine for Integrated Communication Architecture' that is aimed at strengthening doctrinal clarity, interoperability and integrated communications across the armed forces in future multidomain operations.
The joint commanders' conference, themed 'Military Capability in New Domains', brought together the top leadership of the defence ministry and the three services to deliberate on emerging security challenges and future readiness.
Comprehensive deliberations were held on future warfare, multidomain operations, technological transformation and joint capability development.
The conference witnessed extensive discussions on cognitive warfare, cyber resilience against evolving quantum and AI-enabled threats, military capability development in emerging domains, indigenous innovation and AI-enabled warfighting concepts.
It was attended by Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi, Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh among others.
In his remarks, Singh asked the commanders to remain "future-ready" by learning from the operation as well as the current global security landscape.
He underscored the need to strengthen capabilities in artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, data analytics and secure communication networks to stay prepared in the rapidly evolving geopolitical security scenario. He emphasised that future conflicts will increasingly be shaped by hybrid threats, information dominance and operations conducted simultaneously across cyber, space, electromagnetic and cognitive domains, according to an official readout.
Highlighting the transformative impact of emerging technologies, Singh stressed on the importance of ensuring integrated national preparedness across all spectrums of conflict, it said.
Singh's remarks at the conference came a day after the first anniversary of Operation Sindoor.
The defence minister appreciated the progress achieved in enhancing jointness, integration and technological adoption across the three services, the readout noted.
Singh said that jointness constitutes a pivotal dimension within the transformative changes sweeping across the global defence sector.
"Future wars will not be won solely through weaponry, but through innovative thinking and enhanced synergy," he said.
The defence minister exhorted the commanders to cultivate the "element of surprise" to remain unpredictable to the nation's adversaries and secure a strategic edge in any given situation.
He, however, urged them to remain vigilant of the element of surprise of the enemy and always stay two steps ahead.
Singh also reiterated the Narendra Modi government's commitment to enhancing the capabilities of the defence forces through state-of-the-art weapons and platforms. He added that special focus is being laid on research in niche domains.
During the conference, he released a documentary film on Operation Sindoor.
The film reaffirms the nation's and defence forces' commitment to operational preparedness and decisive national response capabilities.
Demonstrations of advanced systems and platforms developed for intelligence fusion, operational planning and information management were also showcased during the conference reflecting growing integration of cutting-edge technologies into joint operational structures, according to the defence ministry.
The discussions will contribute significantly towards shaping India's future military transformation and integrated operational preparedness, it said.
