Once the OS layer is opened to the State, it doesn't close, notes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Developing relations with the Taliban is needed, but plunging headlong into Afghanistan without due thought will be akin to the rooster entering a KFC outlet, warns Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
Pro-Khalistan slogans were on Friday raised by supporters and activists of radical Sikh outfits at the Akal Takht, the supreme temporal seat of Sikhs, while a peaceful bandh was observed around the Golden Temple and interior walled city on the 41st anniversary of Operation Bluestar.
Hundreds of Sikh youths, led by the Dal Khalsa, were carrying Khalistani flags and photographs of damaged Akal Takht.
Having control over both digital media and NGOs, it was easy for the US to topple the government and destabilise Nepal -- to undercut Chinese influence and pressure India, argues Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
B D Pande was Punjab's governor during Operation Bluestar. In this excerpt from his memoir, In the Service of Free India: Memoir of a Civil Servant, Pande reveals what really went on behind the scenes during those dark days in India's history.
'Why have we failed to address the issue of ensuring a requisite buffer zone in J&K, given that cross-border links of some J&K politicians are known?', asks Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Pro-Khalistan slogans were raised by supporters of radical Sikh outfits as well as that of Shiromani Akali Dal-Amritsar at the Golden Temple on the 38th anniversary of Operation Bluestar.
British minister Greg Barker on Friday said that Britain's involvement in Operational Bluestar in 1984 was minimal.
What was the aim of Operation Sindoor? Why was the operation halted so soon? asks Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
On the fateful morning, the then prime minister was shot at by her two Sikh bodyguards in revenge for Operation Bluestar, when the army had stormed the Golden Temple under orders from Gandhi. Bhargava, 54 at the time, recalls the decision to take Gandhi to the operating theatre even though there was no pulse.
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal exhorted the people to exercise restraint and observe the 32nd anniversary of Operation Bluestar peacefully.
Security forces in Amritsar and other areas of the state have been asked to remain on alert ahead of the 31st anniversary of Operation Bluestar on Saurday.
Foreign Secretary William Hague is set to inform parliament on Tuesday about Britain's alleged involvement in planning Operation Bluestar to flush out terrorists from the Golden Temple in 1984, with Sikh groups criticising the probe conducted by the government.
The 12-page report that Foreign Secretary William Hague tabled in the British Parliament sheds more light on the "limited support" that his country gave India
Congress candidate from Amritsar Amarinder Singh on Friday held Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal allegedly accountable for Operation Bluestar. At a press conference, he said, "It was Parkash Singh Badal who during the troubled period had instigated the innocent youth to disturb the peaceful situation of Punjab and later he met the then home minister urging him to go ahead with Operation Blue Star."
British Prime Minister David Cameron has asserted that there was "absolutely no" involvement of the Margaret Thatcher-led United Kingdom government in Operation Bluestar -- when the Indian Army conducted a raid on the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984 to flush out militants from the Golden Temple.
The Central Board of Film Certification revoked the clearance granted to the movie after it was felt that its content could adversely affect the law and order situation, its chief Pahlaj Nihalani said.
Terrorism and insurgency in J&K had subsided when India demolished East Pakistan -- for the simple reason that Pakistan understands power. We need to follow Chanakya's dictum of Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed for strategising against Pakistan, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd). The ground truth is that unless we are prepared to acknowledge our shortcomings, including massive intelligence failures, punish those responsible and take corrective actions, we will continue in the same vein, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
Recently declassified documents reveal that the Indian government wanted to invade the sacred precincts of the Golden Temple even if it hurt national interest, says senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has directed his cabinet secretary to establish the facts behind claims that Margaret Thatcher's government may have helped Indira Gandhi plan Operation Bluestar in 1984.
Margaret Thatcher in a personal note to Indira Gandhi extended Britain's full support in the aftermath of the 1984 Operation Bluestar to flush out Sikh militants holed up in the Golden Temple, a media report has said.
We need to equip the Indian Armed Forces, not 'commercial' as Trump wants, but 'operationally' looking at growing Chinese military capabilities, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
The float glorifying Indira Gandhi's assassination was part of a parade that was taken out in Brampton to mark the 40th anniversary of Operation Bluestar.
Amid the raging row over claims that Margaret Thatcher's government had aided India in the Operation Bluestar to flush out militants from the Golden Temple in 1984, Lt Gen (Retd) K S Brar, who led the offensive, on Tuesday said it was planned and executed by Indian military commanders.
The man, identified as Narain Singh, was overpowered by some people standing outside the Golden Temple.
'Our politicians solely depend on bureaucrats who are unaccountable and follow their own agenda.' 'Our politicians would dare not dream of establishing a DOGE,' argues Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
He was colourful. He was dramatic. He was The Master of His Craft. There never will be an editor as versatile as Pritish Nandy, notes Nikhil Lakshman.
China does not have to give up what it took in 2020, it will never give up its claim to Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh and other areas, and it has all the time now to plan its next surprise, points out Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
The country's only woman prime minister, who died on October 31, 1984, equally regretted her another controversial decision -- imposition of Emergency -- that had shaken the country, say her close aides.
As a consequence of prominence given to the brutality during those few days, a very important aspect of that episode got almost glossed over. This was the intervention by a very significant section of people who restored faith in humanity, and conveyed the message that only a small section of Indians, that too politically backed, were consumed by anti-Sikh majoritarianism. The overlooked facet of the events of 1984 was the story of significant sections of the city's populace, public figures and nondescript ones, stepping out hand-in-hand, to first stand with little but bravery in hands, in the way of attackers, and thereafter to provide immediate relief to those who lives were uprooted and who lost family members in the violence, recalls Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
20 years ago almost to the day an event occurred in Punjab that shook the Republic of India to its very foundations. rediff.com takes a fresh look at the events of June 1984 and the circumstances leading up to them.
Pakistan may want to undertake a 'false flag' operation in J&K to divert attention from the situation in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but infiltrating one SSG battalion into J&K and having two SSG battalions waiting to follow suit means war, which Pakistan cannot afford in its current economic crisis, notes Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Disengagement from the LAC will remain a chimera because China has given enough indications that the PLA will not move back any more. China has even deployed drones to monitor and deny any patrolling by Indian troops even in the buffer zones which are all in Indian Territory, explains Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
'With continued focus on votes, upcoming by-polls and purchasing politicians, the political hierarchy has little time for national defence.' 'They would do well to heed a veteran scholar, who says, "There will be war with China in the next few years. The next full scale war will have the involvement of Pakistan and terror elements, insurgents and intelligence assets operating inside India",' warns Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
'It is in the interest of China and Pakistan to give a bad name to the Indian Army and remove AFSPA 'completely' from the north east.' 'Hopefully, better sense will prevail and the ground realities of the army countering insurgency in the north east acknowledged,' asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Describing the event as "da ghallughara (holocaust) of 84", Jathedar Akal Takht Gyani Harpreet Singh stressed on maintaining unity among the Sikh community.
DRDO's failures over the decades have contributed significantly to India becoming the world's biggest weapons importer, points out Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
The Taliban government in Afghanistan is not going anywhere. That being the case, why is the hesitation to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Taliban? asks Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
'Will never support anything anti-India'
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