Valleys and Valour

                                                                         ISBN:9781649517050                                                   THE STORY IS BORN The urge to see beyond the horizon lies within and triggers the impulse to go still deeper within.   The Oxford dictionary defines mad as insane, frenzied, wildly foolish, wildly excited or infatuated, angry, wildly light hearted, with great energy or enthusiasm. Crazy too is defined as insane or mad, foolish, extremely enthusiastic, made up of irregular pieces. And then it struck me, almost forty plus years later of happily leading my way of life of the mad breed of men. You have to be crazy living atop a pile of kerosene filled jerry cans, placed above ammunition stacks, at heights above 20,000 feet... You have to be mad driving a 40 tons tracked monster, in the dead of a pitched dark night, with all headlights off... You have to be mad to take off with all available aircrafts on base, immediately after an air crash, without

  SYNOPSIS ELEPHANT ON THE HIGH HIMALAYAS RESURRECTING BHARAT TO FACEOFF CHINA   by Veteran Col RS Sidhu “Measures undertaken by a nation to overcome its strategic weaknesses are themselves the most lucrative and natural targets for the opponent.”   The book provides a very unique insight into the changing discourse between Bharat the new India, and China, and is laid out in three parts dealing with broad setting of historical context, the current standoff, and future portends. The book starts with An Episode from the Realm of Conjecture, a short fictional story of Bharat that is India conceiving and launching a short and sharp proactive operation to neutralise the threat of two front war from China and Pakistan.   PART I – THE CONTEXT   “The Battles of the Mind are more difficult to win and have longer lasting impact than the physical war.”   Chapter I traces the roots of the current dilemma being faced by Bharat the new India in handling a confrontationist Chi

                                        VIGNETTES FROM THE MECHANISED INFANTRY THE KARAKORAM FILES – 1   THE EASTERN KARAKORAMS A Romantic Introduction! The fierce beauty and captivation for the ice wilds of the Karakoram mountains is best personified by two proverbs of the region “ The land is so barren and the passes so high that only the best of friends and the fiercest of enemies would want to visit us .” “ Whatever the hardships, whatever the names, let me O God, return thither again .” That the inhabitants of the Karakoram mountains, which finds mention as Krishnagiri (dark mountain) in the Puranas, were equally fierce and wild is best deduced from the following excerpt from ‘ The Gilgit Game ’ by John Keay “... the Yaghis of the Gilgit Valley were awesomely ferocious. In Hunza captured enemy soldiers were used as human fireworks and in Yasin the natives were said to pluck out their hearts and eat them raw. Other tribes were supposed to be Devil Worshippers who of

                                           VIGNETTES FROM THE MECHANISED INFANTRY REGIMENTAL FILES – 1   MECHANISED INFANTRY IN ‘OPERATION PAWAN’ IN SRI LANKA Backdrop The first interesting facet of Sri Lanka demography is that the dominant Sinhala ethnic group comprising just fewer than 75% of the population, and the largest ethnic minority the Tamils comprising 18% of the population, have both migrated from India over the centuries. Around 5% of the current Tamil population was initially brought in by the British colonialists in the 19 th century to work as indentured labour on the plantations, and is deemed to be stateless. The second feature is the Buddhist religion professed by the majority Sinhala and Hinduism practiced by the minority Tamils have also originated from India. Nevertheless, the Sinhala have over time developed their own culture and proud identity, whereas the Tamils have continued to maintain affinity with their ethnic counterparts in South India. Out

  INDIA’S STAND ON UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL (UNHRC) 46/L1, 2021 RESOLUTION “PROMOTING RECONCILIATION, ACCOUNTABILITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN SRI LANKA”   The 23 March 2021 resolution “Promoting Reconciliation, Accountability and Human Rights in Sri Lanka” in the 47 member UNHRC was adopted after 22 States voted for the resolution, 11 states voted against, and 14 States abstained from voting. European Union countries were prominent supporters of the resolution, while Russia, China, Bangladesh and Pakistan were the key dissenters. India, Japan and Nepal were the leading countries who abstained from voting on the resolution. Despite abstaining from the vote, India’s nuanced statement during the discussion on the resolution showcases her expectation for Sri Lanka to meet its commitment to the 13 th Amendment of Sri Lanka’s constitution devolving powers to the Provincial Assemblies, while voicing India’s   support for stability and territorial integrity of Sri Lanka. India’s stand pur