Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale remembers the contributions of military historian S N Prasad, who turned 90 recently.
Citizens must remember that the job of the armed forces is to 'protect' democracy, NOT practice it. Neither is it the primary job of the Army chief or the defence minister to eradicate corruption. Their primary or the only job is to ensure that the armed forces of the republic are adequately armed and equipped to face the likely enemy and emerge victorious. Everything else is secondary and only in the nature of aim plus, says Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale
An open letter to Defence Minister A K Antony on the threat from China and the need for upgradation of our defence research and production by Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
A chief lodging a 'statutory complaint' sends a very wrong signal to the rank and file of the service. Does India need a spectacle like this? Even more dangerously, this also signals the breakdown of communication at the highest levels of the defence ministry, says Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd)
'The future does not look very promising for peace in Kashmir,' warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
With the death of the terrorist mastermind, the emergence of a nuclear-equipped splinter group from within the Pakistani establishment looks disturbingly plausible, says Colonel Anil Athale (retd)
Three years after the event the country is still waiting for the answer to these questions. But instead what it is served is harebrained theories, half truths and downright lies to rope in 'politically correct' suspects to throw dust into the eyes of the public, says Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd).
'In 2019, in Modi we have a leader who has not shied away from showcasing a robust and aggressive response to the Pulwama and Uri attacks,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd) on why AFSPA should not be repealed in parts of Jammu and Kashmir.
'A national government will help us to harness the totality of national resources to fight the war against the coronavirus most effectively,' state Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Don't be surprised if Imran invites Modi and other South Asian leaders for his swearing-in ceremony, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
It is time to free this great son India from the shackles of narrow regionalism, says Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
'One is not talking of an all-out war,' says Colonel Anil A A Athale (retd). 'What we must accept is a short, sharp, attack by the Chinese, more in the nature of a slap!'
While the United States deals with India as an Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean power, it deals with Pakistan and countries to the West as part of Middle East, says Col Anil Athale.
Giving economic aid to Kashmir is like giving TB medicine to a patient suffering from cancer and expecting it to work, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Abbottabad raid has raised many disturbing questions and the Indian armed forces must find answers to them, says Colonel Anil Athale (retd)
To the chorus of the usual suspect television news brigade in New Delhi, Pakistan seems to have launched a 'Peace Offensive' of sorts vis a vis India. After a delay of 15 years it now wants to reciprocate by granting the Most Favoured Nation status to India for trade. For the uninitiated, MFN is an obligation under the World Trade Organisation regime.
The closure of 1962 conflict and demarcation/freeze on border dispute would lay the foundations for a friendly and peaceful relations between the two great countries and be a guarantee for peace in the 'Asian Century', says Colonel (retd) Anil A Athale.
While these major changes are taking place in the US policies, India seems stuck in the old paradigm of wishing that somehow Pakistan will turn Gandhian someday, says Colonel Anil Athale (retd)
Colonel Anil Athale (retd) on the state of the judiciary in the country.
'In the Mahabharat, when faced by an enemy, Yudhishtir, the eldest Pandav, had quipped that 'When it comes to external enemies, we are 105, (100 Kauravs and 5 Pandavs)'.' 'It is time modern politicians heed this ancient wisdom,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Only then can we play our role in balancing China and deal with the menace of global terrorism. If these concessions are not forthcoming, then the Indo-US strategic partnership is as good as dead.'
The whole approach of the civil society activists is legalistic, with an unbounded faith in laws as cure for all. In India we have a plethora of laws but very little law and order. It is essential that any solution for corruption must involve political scientists, management experts, administrators in order to work out laws and institutions that work, says Colonel Anil Athale (retd)
India has neither the intent nor the capability to pose a major threat to Pakistan. But the bogey of an India threat is kept alive in Pakistan mainly to help the military to ensure it relevance and dominance of the country, says Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd)
Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd) on how the global war on terror has changed the geo-politics of the world and India's role in it.
The tremendous response, especially from the youth of the country to a 74-year-old Gandhian, has put paid to many political dreams. It is the leadership vacuum that Anna Hazare has filled, write Col Anil Athale
A powerful campaign has been launched against Hazare and the movement he led. 'Anti democratic', 'Fascist' are some of the adjectives hurled at him. There is a less than subtle attempt to paint him a Hindu fundamentalist, writes Colonel Anil Athale (retd)
A powerful campaign has been launched against Hazare and the movement he led. 'Anti democratic', 'Fascist' are some of the adjectives hurled at him. There is a less than subtle attempt to paint him a Hindu fundamentalist, writes Colonel Anil Athale (retd)
Community policing and strict control over the sale and distribution of explosives and detonators will go a long way in curbing the menace, says Colonel Anil Athale (retd)
Colonel Anil A Athale outlines the contours of the coming Sino-Indian conflict in East Asia. The first of a two-part series.
The main issue is the high risk that government took in a midnight swoop where things could have gone horribly wrong! Apart from illegality of use of force against sleeping citizens, the utter insanity of the decision making and panic syndrome is an issue of concern, says Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd) recalls how the Battle of Panipat, 250 years ago, changed the history of the Indian subcontinent for the next century and half.
The LeT terror campaign is backed by the power and resources of a state. To compare this with the acts of a crowd of motley Hindu extremists is like equating chalk with cheese, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
The strategic illiteracy on display in the arguments put forth on the Rafale deal before the Supreme Court is breathtaking, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Colonel Anil Athale (retd) lists a few military tactics that may help team India win the World Cup.
If we wish to deter a future attack like 26/11, we must publicly state our possible response in advance and implement it resolutely in case of attack, says (retd) Colonel Dr Anil Athale
The apparent Indian smugness and inability to see the gathering clouds on the security horizon is at the heart of our problems, warns Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
New Delhi's inaction on the grim situation in Manipur, whose people are facing untold hardship due to the economic blockade by Naga rebels, is shocking and can have disastrous consequences for India, warns Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd)
'If ever there was a case for the government to use its power to issue an ordnance and take pre-emptive action, this is it.'
'Sadly, we don't have a single political leader in any party who carries any kind of conviction in Kashmir.'
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