Archive for April, 2014

They live on our land. They eat our bread. Our soldiers protect their freedom. The taste our salt. But, they sleep with the enemy. They are simply called NAMAK HARAAM.

Anchorperson and columnist of a large media group Hamid Mir, in his recent column titled ‘Pachtaway’ (repentances) has apprised the audience about details of ceremony held to honor friends of Bangladesh on 24th March 2013. He had gone to Dhaka to receive the award of his father Late Professor Waris Mir, who stood for freedom of speech and enjoyed respect in literary circles and in media.
Hamid Mir had every right to accept this award, but the way he commented negatively in his column has brought disgrace to Pakistan. Anticipating the reaction, Hamid Mir wrote: “Some people lacking intelligence may dub them as traitors, yet 13 Pakistanis decided to accept the award”. It is true that some people had genuinely felt that Awami League having a clear majority in the national assembly should have been given the right to form the government. And Professor Mir was one of them. But one would not know that if Professor Waris Mir were alive, whether he would have gone to Bangladesh to receive such award.
Some writers had opposed Bangladesh government for its decision to honor friends of Bangladesh and opined that only unconscionable Pakistanis would accept such award. In December 2012, when the names of ‘Friends of Bangladesh’ were announced, Sheikh Hasina had refused to attend D-8 conference in Pakistan unless Pakistan tendered apology for, what she said, genocide of Bengalis. Mst Asma Jahangir also received award on behalf of his late father Malik Ghulam Jilani, who was Vice President West Pakistan Awami League, it was understood that he was awarded. Otherwise also people know Asma Jahangir’s views about Pakistan and its military. Salima Hashmi, who received the award on behalf of his father late Faiz Ahmed Faiz by the Bangladesh government on 24th March 2013, said: “The Pakistan government should formally apologise to the people of Bangladesh for the atrocities committed by Pakistan occupation army during the War of Independence in 1971”. This is exactly the same language that Sh. Hasina Wajid speaks.
Late Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo was posthumously given ‘Bangladesh Liberation War Honour Award’, which was received by his son Mir Hasil Bizenjo. Tahira Jalib received the award declared for Habib Jalib. Begum Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan, Ahmed Salim, Dr. Iqbal Ahmed, Sindhi poet Inwar Pirzada and Qazi Faez Isa were also given awards for opposing military operation in then East Pakistan. One should differentiatebetween opposing the military action in the then East Pakistan and those receiving awards for being friends of Bangladesh.
If Bangladesh government is pro-India and continues Pakistan-bashing, then those who received awards are not sincere with Pakistan. They do not feel qualms in condemning and blaming Pakistan while turning a blind against the horrors of Mukti Bahini and India’s role; hence they are not patriots. Pakistan had formed Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission to investigate into the causes of the tragedy of disintegration of Pakistan, and the excesses perpetrated in then East Pakistan, of course by the rebels and the military that was trying to quell the rebellion.
Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission Report observed that formation of One-unit, principle of parity, unitary form of government and system of basic democracies were the reasons for alienating the people of smaller provinces that led to disintegration of Pakistan. Whereas the commission criticized the then military and politicos for their ineptness, it had debunked the propaganda by India that two to three million Bengalis had been killed by the Pakistan army. The Commission had put the figure of casualties at twenty six thousand including the killings of West Pakistanis, members of Pakistan’s security personnel and Biharis that were butchered by Mukti Bahini guerillas. Anyhow, former prime minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia is on record having said that figure of three million dead was highly exaggerated. Many books have been written calling the genocide of Bengalis farce; however those under the influence of India or writers with anti-Pakistani streak put the figure as high as 3 million.
It has to be mentioned that people have not forgotten the genocide of non-Bengalis during the civil war and afterwards at the hands of Bengali nationalists. However, Pakistan considered the matter settled, as Sheikh Mujib had made no demand for apology during his visit to Lahore to attend Islamic Summit or even after that. But Sheikh Hasina has shown complete obedience towards Indian masters, be it humiliating Pakistan or be it providing and unwavering support to India, which has deprived Bangladesh of its right over river Barak when India unilaterally decided to build a Tipaimukh dam on this site with huge reservoir. This means that River Barak, which flows into Bangladesh from the Indian state of Manipur, will go dry completely. India is also concentrating small rivers flowing from India to Bangladesh to make a mainstream in India to use water for its domestic needs; thus depriving Bangladeshi farmers of water by diverting its rivers. There was also dispute between India and Bangladesh on the matter of fencing the border by India.
Many writers hold the view that on 16th December 1971, Pakistan was dismembered as a result of international terrorism. India was, of course, on the forefront whereby the former USSR helped India in implementing the insidious plan to disintegrate Pakistan. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s so-called friends – America and the West – acted as silent spectators. A lot many books, theses and reviews have been written on the causes of fall of Dacca and disintegration of Pakistan. It was unfortunate that in 1971 the UN and the big powers did nothing to stop India to dismember independent country with recognized international boundaries. Anchorperson and columnist of a large media group Hamid Mir, in his recent column titled ‘Pachtaway’ (repentances) has apprised the audience about details of ceremony held to honor friends of Bangladesh on 24th March 2013. He had gone to Dhaka to receive the award of his father Late Professor Waris Mir, who stood for freedom of speech and enjoyed respect in literary circles and in media.
Hamid Mir had every right to accept this award, but the way he commented negatively in his column has brought disgrace to Pakistan. Anticipating the reaction, Hamid Mir wrote: “Some people lacking intelligence may dub them as traitors, yet 13 Pakistanis decided to accept the award”. It is true that some people had genuinely felt that Awami League having a clear majority in the national assembly should have been given the right to form the government. And Professor Mir was one of them. But one would not know that if Professor Waris Mir were alive, whether he would have gone to Bangladesh to receive such award.
Some writers had opposed Bangladesh government for its decision to honor friends of Bangladesh and opined that only unconscionable Pakistanis would accept such award. In December 2012, when the names of ‘Friends of Bangladesh’ were announced, Sheikh Hasina had refused to attend D-8 conference in Pakistan unless Pakistan tendered apology for, what she said, genocide of Bengalis. Mst Asma Jahangir also received award on behalf of his late father Malik Ghulam Jilani, who was Vice President West Pakistan Awami League, it was understood that he was awarded. Otherwise also people know Asma Jahangir’s views about Pakistan and its military. Salima Hashmi, who received the award on behalf of his father late Faiz Ahmed Faiz by the Bangladesh government on 24th March 2013, said: “The Pakistan government should formally apologise to the people of Bangladesh for the atrocities committed by Pakistan occupation army during the War of Independence in 1971”. This is exactly the same language that Sh. Hasina Wajid speaks.
Late Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo was posthumously given ‘Bangladesh Liberation War Honour Award’, which was received by his son Mir Hasil Bizenjo. Tahira Jalib received the award declared for Habib Jalib. Begum Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan, Ahmed Salim, Dr. Iqbal Ahmed, Sindhi poet Inwar Pirzada and Qazi Faez Isa were also given awards for opposing military operation in then East Pakistan. One should differentiate between opposing the military action in the then East Pakistan and those receiving awards for being friends of Bangladesh.
If Bangladesh government is pro-India and continues Pakistan-bashing, then those who received awards are not sincere with Pakistan. They do not feel qualms in condemning and blaming Pakistan while turning a blind against the horrors of Mukti Bahini and India’s role; hence they are not patriots. Pakistan had formed Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission to investigate into the causes of the tragedy of disintegration of Pakistan, and the excesses perpetrated in then East Pakistan, of course by the rebels and the military that was trying to quell the rebellion.
Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission Report observed that formation of One-unit, principle of parity, unitary form of government and system of basic democracies were the reasons for alienating the people of smaller provinces that led to disintegration of Pakistan. Whereas the commission criticized the then military and politicos for their ineptness, it had debunked the propaganda by India that two to three million Bengalis had been killed by the Pakistan army. The Commission had put the figure of casualties at twenty six thousand including the killings of West Pakistanis, members of Pakistan’s security personnel and Biharis that were butchered by Mukti Bahini guerillas. Anyhow, former prime minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia is on record having said that figure of three million dead was highly exaggerated. Many books have been written calling the genocide of Bengalis farce; however those under the influence of India or writers with anti-Pakistani streak put the figure as high as 3 million.
It has to be mentioned that people have not forgotten the genocide of non-Bengalis during the civil war and afterwards at the hands of Bengali nationalists. However, Pakistan considered the matter settled, as Sheikh Mujib had made no demand for apology during his visit to Lahore to attend Islamic Summit or even after that. But Sheikh Hasina has shown complete obedience towards Indian masters, be it humiliating Pakistan or be it providing and unwavering support to India, which has deprived Bangladesh of its right over river Barak when India unilaterally decided to build a Tipaimukh dam on this site with huge reservoir. This means that River Barak, which flows into Bangladesh from the Indian state of Manipur, will go dry completely. India is also concentrating small rivers flowing from India to Bangladesh to make a mainstream in India to use water for its domestic needs; thus depriving Bangladeshi farmers of water by diverting its rivers. There was also dispute between India and Bangladesh on the matter of fencing the border by India.
Many writers hold the view that on 16th December 1971, Pakistan was dismembered as a result of international terrorism. India was, of course, on the forefront whereby the former USSR helped India in implementing the insidious plan to disintegrate Pakistan. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s so-called friends – America and the West – acted as silent spectators. A lot many books, theses and reviews have been written on the causes of fall of Dacca and disintegration of Pakistan. It was unfortunate that in 1971 the UN and the big powers did nothing to stop India to dismember independent country with recognized international boundaries. Anchorperson and columnist of a large media group Hamid Mir, in his recent column titled ‘Pachtaway’ (repentances) has apprised the audience about details of ceremony held to honor friends of Bangladesh on 24th March 2013. He had gone to Dhaka to receive the award of his father Late Professor Waris Mir, who stood for freedom of speech and enjoyed respect in literary circles and in media.
Hamid Mir had every right to accept this award, but the way he commented negatively in his column has brought disgrace to Pakistan. Anticipating the reaction, Hamid Mir wrote: “Some people lacking intelligence may dub them as traitors, yet 13 Pakistanis decided to accept the award”. It is true that some people had genuinely felt that Awami League having a clear majority in the national assembly should have been given the right to form the government. And Professor Mir was one of them. But one would not know that if Professor Waris Mir were alive, whether he would have gone to Bangladesh to receive such award.
Some writers had opposed Bangladesh government for its decision to honor friends of Bangladesh and opined that only unconscionable Pakistanis would accept such award. In December 2012, when the names of ‘Friends of Bangladesh’ were announced, Sheikh Hasina had refused to attend D-8 conference in Pakistan unless Pakistan tendered apology for, what she said, genocide of Bengalis. Mst Asma Jahangir also received award on behalf of his late father Malik Ghulam Jilani, who was Vice President West Pakistan Awami League, it was understood that he was awarded. Otherwise also people know Asma Jahangir’s views about Pakistan and its military. Salima Hashmi, who received the award on behalf of his father late Faiz Ahmed Faiz by the Bangladesh government on 24th March 2013, said: “The Pakistan government should formally apologise to the people of Bangladesh for the atrocities committed by Pakistan occupation army during the War of Independence in 1971”. This is exactly the same language that Sh. Hasina Wajid speaks.
Late Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo was posthumously given ‘Bangladesh Liberation War Honour Award’, which was received by his son Mir Hasil Bizenjo. Tahira Jalib received the award declared for Habib Jalib. Begum Tahira Mazhar Ali Khan, Ahmed Salim, Dr. Iqbal Ahmed, Sindhi poet Inwar Pirzada and Qazi Faez Isa were also given awards for opposing military operation in then East Pakistan. One should differentiate between opposing the military action in the then East Pakistan and those receiving awards for being friends of Bangladesh.
If Bangladesh government is pro-India and continues Pakistan-bashing, then those who received awards are not sincere with Pakistan. They do not feel qualms in condemning and blaming Pakistan while turning a blind against the horrors of Mukti Bahini and India’s role; hence they are not patriots. Pakistan had formed Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission to investigate into the causes of the tragedy of disintegration of Pakistan, and the excesses perpetrated in then East Pakistan, of course by the rebels and the military that was trying to quell the rebellion.
Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission Report observed that formation of One-unit, principle of parity, unitary form of government and system of basic democracies were the reasons for alienating the people of smaller provinces that led to disintegration of Pakistan. Whereas the commission criticized the then military and politicos for their ineptness, it had debunked the propaganda by India that two to three million Bengalis had been killed by the Pakistan army. The Commission had put the figure of casualties at twenty six thousand including the killings of West Pakistanis, members of Pakistan’s security personnel and Biharis that were butchered by Mukti Bahini guerillas. Anyhow, former prime minister of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia is on record having said that figure of three million dead was highly exaggerated. Many books have been written calling the genocide of Bengalis farce; however those under the influence of India or writers with anti-Pakistani streak put the figure as high as 3 million.
It has to be mentioned that people have not forgotten the genocide of non-Bengalis during the civil war and afterwards at the hands of Bengali nationalists. However, Pakistan considered the matter settled, as Sheikh Mujib had made no demand for apology during his visit to Lahore to attend Islamic Summit or even after that. But Sheikh Hasina has shown complete obedience towards Indian masters, be it humiliating Pakistan or be it providing and unwavering support to India, which has deprived Bangladesh of its right over river Barak when India unilaterally decided to build a Tipaimukh dam on this site with huge reservoir. This means that River Barak, which flows into Bangladesh from the Indian state of Manipur, will go dry completely. India is also concentrating small rivers flowing from India to Bangladesh to make a mainstream in India to use water for its domestic needs; thus depriving Bangladeshi farmers of water by diverting its rivers. There was also dispute between India and Bangladesh on the matter of fencing the border by India.
Many writers hold the view that on 16th December 1971, Pakistan was dismembered as a result of international terrorism. India was, of course, on the forefront whereby the former USSR helped India in implementing the insidious plan to disintegrate Pakistan. Unfortunately, Pakistan’s so-called friends – America and the West – acted as silent spectators. A lot many books, theses and reviews have been written on the causes of fall of Dacca and disintegration of Pakistan. It was unfortunate that in 1971 the UN and the big powers did nothing to stop India to dismember independent country with recognized international boundaries.
After the break-up of Pakistan, India declared that two-nation theory had sunk in the Bay of Bengal. But eidetic reality was that Bangladesh became an independent country with Muslim identity, and in general Bangladeshis are not willing to accept India’s hegemony. Bangladesh had also refused to send its troops to Afghanistan, which seems to be the result of the fact that Bangladeshis guard their freedom very jealously, despite Sheikh Hasina’s appeasement policy towards India.

Traitors Gallery of Pakistan

No Comments

Air War at the Top of the World

Posted by admin in Pakistan-A Nation of Hope on April 19th, 2014

However, Pakistan maintained the initiative for most of the Kargil War. Both the nature of the challenge the IAF faced in the Himalayan heights and the targeting requirements that ensued from it dictated a suboptimal use of India’s air weapon.

Air War at the Top of the World

By Ben Lambeth

India and Pakistan’s mid-1999 war is almost forgotten in the West, but was the highest-elevation conflict ever.

The Kargil War between India and Pakistan, waged in the disputed and mountainous Kashmir region in mid-1999, rates as the highest-elevation conflict in air war history. The clash lasted 74 days and cost more than 1,000 killed and wounded on each side. Though a blank to most Westerners, the Indian Air Force (IAF) experience was a milestone, providing insights into uses of airpower in extremely demanding combat settings.

The Western profile of this war is low, receding to the vanishing point. It was pushed off the front pages by NATO’s higher profile air war over Serbia, fought at the same time. Still, it bears closer examination.

The seeds of war were planted in March 1999, when units of the Pakistani Army’s Northern Light Infantry (NLI) crossed the so-called line of control (LOC) into India’s portion of contested Kashmir in the Himalayas. From this new vantage point, Pakistani troops overlooked the Indian town of Kargil.

The LOC that separates the Indian- and Pakistani-held portions of Kashmir bisects some of the world’s highest and most forbidding terrain. Because of dangerous weather, the Indian Army, in harsh winter months, routinely vacated inhospitable forward outposts that it normally manned.

Too Much Jawboning

When the Indians withdrew in the late winter months of 1999, however, Pakistan mounted an infiltration that sought to make the most of this opportunity.


An Indian Air Force Mirage 2000H on patrol over the Himalayas. (Indian Air Force photo)

As many as 1,000 troops of the NLI, moving by foot and helicopter, crossed the line. It was a stealthy success; the NLI troops managed to unobtrusively establish a new forward line six miles deep into Indian-controlled territory. On May 3, they were finally spotted by local shepherds.

Then, in the first week of May 1999, the Indian Army units that had formerly manned the outposts began returning to their stations. It was at that point that they came face-to-face with the fact that NLI troops had moved in and were prepared to fight.

At first, embarrassed Indian Army leaders were bound and determined to turn back the Pakistan incursion all by themselves. Thus commenced several exchanges of fire. However, there was no change in the situation on the ground.

Checked for days by Pakistani forces, Indian Army leaders on May 11 finally approached the IAF for help. The Indian Army wanted the IAF to provide close air support with its armed helicopters. The IAF responded that the high terrain over which the requested support was to be provided lay well above the effective operating envelope of its attack helicopters and that the use of fixed wing fighters would be required if the Army really needed assistance.

The Army for days persisted in demanding use of attack helicopters alone. The IAF no less adamantly declined to accede to that demand.

Because of this back and forth jawboning, some later complained the IAF had refused to cooperate and, in the end, was forced into the campaign against its will.

In fact, the IAF at the early date of May 10 had begun conducting reconnaissance missions over the Kargil heights. It also at that time forward deployed IAF combat aircraft in numbers sufficient to support any likely tasking, established a rudimentary air defense control arrangement, and began practicing air-to-ground weapon deliveries at Himalayan elevations.

On May 12, as interservice deliberations to establish an agreed campaign plan continued, an IAF helicopter was fired upon near the most forward based of the NLI positions. That hostile act was enough to prompt the IAF to place Western Air Command on alert and establish quick-reaction aircraft launch facilities at the IAF’s most northern operating locations.

The next day, IAF Jaguar fighter aircraft launched on a tactical reconnaissance mission to gather target information. At the same time, the IAF established a direction center for the tactical control of combat aircraft; it was located at Leh, the IAF’s highest-elevation airfield.

Concurrently, Canberra PR57 and MiG-25R reconnaissance aircraft were pressed into service, and electronic intelligence missions started in the vicinity of the NLI intrusion.


An Mi-17 helicopter, like the one pictured here, was shot down on the war’s third day by a Pakistani shoulder-fired Stinger surface-to-air missile. The Indian Air Force was reluctant to introduce the helicopters to the fight, and insisted fixed wing aircraft would better serve the Army. (Photo via Bharat-Rakshak.com/Indian Air Force)

The IAF sent a Canberra to conduct reconnaissance of the area overlooking Kargil. It descended to 22,000 feet and entered a racetrack pattern that put the aircraft as low as 4,000 feet above the ridgelines. The Canberra was hit in its right engine by a Chinese-made Anza infrared surface-to-air missile. The Indian pilot brought the airplane in for a safe emergency landing.

On May 14, the IAF activated its air operations center for Kashmir and mobilized its fighter units in that sector for an all-out air counteroffensive. Such activities attested to the IAF’s clear expectation that it would engage the intruders to the fullest once its final role was settled upon.

After much back and forth between the IAF and Indian Army over the character and extent of air support IAF would provide, the Army finally acceded to the IAF’s insistence on using fixed wing fighters. This cleared the way for the air force to enter the fight.

In a key May 25 meeting chaired by Indian Prime Minister Atal B. Vajpayee, the Indian Army Chief outlined the seriousness of the situation and the need for the IAF to step in without further delay. At that, the Prime Minister said: “OK, get started tomorrow at dawn.”

The Air Chief agreed that the IAF would attack only those Pakistani targets that were dug in on India’s side of the line of control. However, he requested permission for his aircraft, in the course of its operations, to fly across the LOC. Vajpayee said no; there would be no crossing of the LOC.

With that rule of engagement firmly stipulated by the civilian leadership, the die was finally cast for full-scale IAF involvement. The stage was set for Operation Vijay (Hindi for “victory”), as the joint campaign was code-named.

Kinetic air operations began at 6:30 a.m. on May 26, three weeks after the infiltration into Indian-controlled territory was detected. The opening salvo comprised six attacks by MiG-21s, MiG-23s, and MiG-27s against NLI targets. It was the first time IAF pilots had dropped bombs in anger since its Vampire fighters destroyed Pakistani bunkers in the same Kargil area 28 years earlier, in the 1971 Indo-Pakistani War.

Pakistan chose to keep its F-16s out of the fight.

Deadly Lessons Learned Quickly

Nearly all targets attacked were on or near Himalayan ridgelines at elevations ranging from 16,000 to 18,000 feet. The stark backdrop of rocks and snow complicated target acquisition, already made difficult by the small size of the NLI positions in a vast and undifferentiated snow background. That unique terrain feature, as seen from a cockpit, inspired the code name given to the IAF’s campaign—Operation Safed Sagar, or “White Sea.”


*Pakistani Army members look over the wreckage of an Indian MiG-21 shot down over Kashmir. (Photo via Bharat-Rakshak.com/Indian Air Force)*

In the second day of air operations, the IAF lost two fighters. One, a MiG-27, suffered engine failure while coming off a target. After two unsuccessful attempts at an airstart, the pilot ejected, only to be captured. He was repatriated on June 3.

The second, a MiG-21, sustained an infrared SAM hit while its pilot was flying over the terrain at low level, assisting in the search for the downed MiG-27 pilot. Its pilot also ejected, but he was not as lucky as the first pilot. He was captured, then reportedly brutalized and executed.

On the third day of operations, an armed Mi-17 helicopter, introduced to the fight reluctantly by the IAF to placate India’s Army leaders, was downed by a shoulder-fired SAM while providing low-level fire support. The crash killed all four crew members.

In conducting these early attacks, IAF officers quickly relearned what the Israelis had learned at great cost during the October 1973 War, when Egyptian and Syrian SAMs and anti-aircraft artillery had downed nearly a third of the Israeli Air Force’s fighter inventory (102 aircraft in all) before Israel managed to pull out a victory in the war’s latter stages.

Badly bloodied, the Indian Air Force called a halt to further use of armed helicopters and directed that future fighter attacks would be conducted from above the lethal envelopes of enemy man-portable SAMs. Afterward, not a single Indian fixed wing aircraft was lost to enemy fire.

Whenever ground attack operations were under way, Western Air Command put MiG-29s on combat air patrol stations to keep the Pakistani Air Force (PAF) out of the fray. Pakistan’s F-16As typically maintained their CAP stations at a safe distance, 10 to 20 miles away from the line of control.


The Indian Army used heavy Bofors howitzers in the high-altitude fight. (Photo by Sharad Saxena/The India Today Group/Getty Images)

By the time air operations reached full swing, the IAF had forward deployed some 60 of its best fighters to support the campaign. As they awaited tasking, committed squadrons initiated special training aimed at better acclimating their pilots to night attacks under moonlit conditions. Such combat operations over high mountainous terrain at night had never before been attempted by the IAF.

Because of the rudimentary bomb sights on their MiG-21, MiG-23, and MiG-27 aircraft, IAF pilots typically achieved only limited effectiveness when attempting to provide close air support.

Accordingly, India’s Air Chief decided on May 30, just four days into the campaign, to enlist Mirage 2000H fighters capable of delivering laser guided bombs. By June 12, the Mirages were ready to commence precision strike operations.

On June 17, the clash reached a turning point. A strike package of Mirage 2000Hs destroyed the NLI’s main logistics camp with unguided 1,000-pound bombs delivered in high-angle dive attacks using the aircrafts’ computer-assisted weapon aiming capability.

The war reached a second milestone on June 24, when an element of Mirage 2000Hs, in the IAF’s first-ever combat use of LGBs, destroyed the NLI’s command bunkers on Tiger Hill with two 1,000-pound Paveway II LGBs. In these attacks, the target was acquired through the Litening pod’s electro-optical imaging sensor at about nine miles out, with weapons release occurring at a slant range of about five miles and the aircraft then turning away while continuing to mark the target with a laser spot.

On June 29, the Indian Army captured two vital posts on the high ridgelines. On July 2, it launched a massive attack. It finally recaptured the important NLI outpost on Tiger Hill on July 4, after an exhausting 11-hour battle in which the attackers climbed fixed ropes at night and in freezing rain to scale vertical mountain faces 1,000 feet high.

By July 26, Indian forces had reclaimed a majority of their seized outposts and driven NLI occupiers back to their own side of the LOC.

The IAF’s contribution to Operation Vijay lasted two months. IAF fighters had flown more than 1,700 sorties, including about 40 at night during the campaign’s last weeks. In the final tally, the Indian Army suffered 527 troops killed in action and 1,363 soldiers wounded. The NLI losses were not announced, but they were at least equal to India’s.


In March 1999, units of the Pakistani Army’s Northern Light Infantry crossed the so-called line of control into India’s portion of contested Kashmir in the Himalayas. (Staff map by Zaur Eylanbekov)

The Indian Army and IAF were both key players in a joint campaign; it would be hard to select one as the pivotal force. From a simple weight-of-effort perspective, artillery was the main source of fire support. The Army fired more than 250,000 rounds. One assessment said that this sustained laydown of fire was the most intense seen anywhere since World War II.

In contrast to this “profligacy in the use of artillery in a carpet-bombing mode,” as the campaign’s air component commander later called it, the IAF dropped only around 500 bombs. Most were effective against their assigned targets.

Close air support was a source of frustration for the IAF. The small and well-concealed NLI positions in the Himalayas were nothing like conventional targets that fighters typically engage in supporting friendly ground operations.

The IAF’s CAS efforts were hampered by numerous constraints on their freedom of action. New Delhi’s refusal to countenance crossings of the LOC was a limiting factor. Fighters were forced to use tactics featuring ingress and egress headings that were not optimal or, in many cases, even safe.

Man-portable SAMs used by Pakistan had a slant range sufficient to require the IAF’s pilots to remain 6,000 to 8,000 feet above the ridgelines to remain safely outside their threat envelopes. This degraded weapon delivery accuracies.

At such extreme elevations, the IAF’s munitions did not perform as they did at lower release altitudes. The reduced air temperature and density altered drag indices and other performance parameters that had never before been calculated for such conditions. Weapons did not guide as predicted. IAF pilots had to adapt through real-time improvisation.

The stark terrain folds tended to obscure the enemy from aerial observation and to mask the effects of bomb detonations, rendering even near misses all but ineffective. They further served to canalize aerial approaches to targets, dictating ingress and egress headings and, in the process, rendering IAF fighters more predictable and susceptible to ground fire.

NLI positions in deep ravines were often immune to effective attacks by pilots attempting dive deliveries when their LOC-driven roll-in points were not tactically ideal.

The IAF rode a steep learning curve as pilots adapted to unfamiliar conditions. MiG-21 pilots lacking sophisticated onboard avionics suites resorted to the use of stopwatches and Global Positioning System receivers to conduct night interdiction bombing.

Another example: The IAF took to choosing weapon impact points that would create avalanches over NLI supply lines.

The IAF pioneered what has since come to be called nontraditional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance. It was the first to use electro-optical and infrared imaging targeting pods for high-resolution aerial reconnaissance.

The Kargil Experience

The IAF expended only two LGBs because it had so few in stock and because few targets merited use of such an important and costly munition. Still, even this limited use dramatically altered the campaign’s dynamics.

After the successful LGB attacks, targeting pod imagery showed enemy troops abandoning their positions at the very sound of approaching fighters. Troop diaries later recovered by Indian Army units attested to the demoralization caused by the IAF’s attacks, especially when precision munitions were introduced.


Indian airmen arm a MiG-27 with heavy general-purpose bombs. (Photo via Ben Lambeth)

Much of the IAF’s improved combat effectiveness over time resulted from replacing classic manual dive bombing by MiG-23s and MiG-27s with more accurate GPS-aided level bombing from safer altitudes. Once the Mirage 2000H was introduced, the accuracy of unguided bomb deliveries increased even further, thanks to the aircraft’s much-improved onboard avionics suite.

A major joint-arena shortcoming highlighted by the Kargil experience was the total absence of candid communication between the Indian Army and IAF immediately following the initial detection of the NLI incursion. That failure was a remarkable foreshadowing of US Central Command’s similarly flawed Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan three years later, in which the land component likewise sought to go it alone at first, with the air component having been brought in just in time to help ensure a satisfactory outcome in the end.

Once the Indian Army and IAF resolved their disagreements, harmony prevailed.

In the going-in front-line fighter balance, India enjoyed a marked 750-to-350 advantage over Pakistan. Pakistan’s fleet of some 30 F-16s was greatly outclassed by the IAF’s 145 high-performance aircraft (MiG-29s, Mirage 2000Hs, and Su-30s). That asymmetry may well have been decisive in keeping the PAF out of the fight.

The IAF’s combat experience showed that innovation and adaptability under the stress of confining rules of engagement is a hallmark of modern airmanship. It attested to the fact that professionalism in campaign planning, presentation of forces, and accommodating to new and unique tactical challenges is scarcely a monopoly of more familiar Western air arms.

The experience demonstrated yet again that effective use of air-delivered firepower can generate success in a conflict that might otherwise have persisted indefinitely with less conclusive results.

Ben Lambeth is a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He is the author of The Transformation of American Air Power (2000), which won the Air Force Association’s Gil Robb Wilson Award for Arts and Letters in 2001. His most recent article for Air Force Magazine was “Behind Israel’s 2006 War with Hezbollah,” in September 2011.

Reference:http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2012/September%202012/0912kargil.aspx

Kargil Victory Pakistan's Initiative, Musharraf's Success, Nawaz Sharif's Cowardice

No Comments

A STEALTH ENEMY OF PAKISTAN BELOW THE RADAR: Israel helped India in 1971 war, reveals book

Posted by admin in Pakistan-A Nation of Hope on April 19th, 2014

Israel,the Stealth Enemy of Pakistan helped India in 1971 war, reveals book

Saikat Datta ,

Hindustan Times

India may not have had diplomatic ties with Israel but New Delhi quietly sought and got arms from Tel Aviv as it prepared to go to war with Pakistan in 1971, a book has revealed.

The book, 1971, by scholar Srinath Raghavan offers fresh insights into the 14-day war that led to the creation of Bangladesh.

Raghavan accessed the PN Haksar papers maintained at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi. These papers document startling aspects of a war that is probably India’s finest military moment but has not been documented adequately. A diplomat, Haksar was also an adviser to the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Raghavan’s research reveals that India’s ambassador to France DN Chatterjee began the process to get Israeli arms with a note to the external affairs ministry on July 6, 1971, saying assistance from Israel for “propaganda, finance and even procurement of armament and oil” would be “invaluable”.

Gandhi immediately accepted the proposal and through the country’s external intelligence agency R&AW began the process to get the arms through the tiny principality of Liechtenstein.

India didn’t have diplomatic ties with Israel at that time, having voted against its creation in 1948, and consistently supported the Arabs in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Israel was in middle of an arms shortage but prime minister Golda Meir stepped in to divert arms meant for Iran to India. She sent a note addressed to Gandhi in Hebrew through Shlomo Zabuldowicz, the director of the firm handling the secret transfers, with a request for diplomatic ties in return for arms. The diplomatic ties, however, could only be established in 1992 when Narasimha Rao was the Indian PM.

Another note — from then R&AW chief RN Kao on August 4, 1971 to Haksar — also finds mention in Raghavan’s book. The note detailed how the arms would be airlifted with a batch of Israeli instructors. The arms would eventually land up with the Indian Army and the Mukti Bahini, the guerilla force of Bengalis who would force the Pakistanis to surrender.

Other revelations in the book include a secret agreement between Iran and Pakistan to give air cover to Karachi in case of an Indian attack. But the Shah of Iran reneged on the agreement, fearing retaliation from the Soviet Union.

Interestingly, while Gandhi was worried about Chinese intervention, the then charge de affairs of the Indian embassy, Brajesh Mishra, who would go on to be the national security adviser in the Vajpayee government, sent an authoritative assessment that China would stay out of the war.

Finally, the US move to send in the seventh fleet to “intimidate” India proved counter-productive. As soon as the American ships arrived, India decided to step up the offensive and para-dropped troops in Tangail to make a dash for Dhaka. As the capital fell, India forced a surrender before any international power could intervene.

REFERENCE

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/israel-helped-india-in-1971-war-reveals-book/article1-1146011.aspx

Contingency Plan For Israel, India-Israel Axis, Israel, The Hidden Enemy

No Comments

US, Indian, Israeli, Control of News Media in Pakistan

Posted by admin in Pakistan-A Nation of Hope on April 19th, 2014

US, Indian, Israeli, Control of News Media in Pakistan

Pakistan had a single TV Station and some private channels.In 2002-03 (?), persuading authorities that a free press would be necessary for a democracy to function, foreign ownership of news media was allowed.The Independent Media Corporation was set up and the Jung/News Group was allowed to set up Geo TV. This later added the Channels, Express News, Samaa TV, AAG, and other channels.

Ownership of this media group includes Anil Ambani of India, an American group, and a part ownership of the Shakilur Rehman family.

GEO was allowed to conduct transmission of Pakistani news from Dubai and UAE.GEO personnel were trained in the US.Mir Shakilur Rehman’s son, Mir Ibrahim Rehman, was awarded the Robert F. Kennedy award for public service at Harvard University. He is the first Muslim and only the second person from South Asia to receive this coveted award. The award was given for his work in getting Pakistan an independent judiciary and for working for peace between Pakistan and India—The Aman ki Asha programme. His Paper covered the idea of changing the public narrative. The question is which public was Mir Ibrahim serving? American, Israeli or Pakistani?Geo TV serves Indian agendas not those of Pakistan. The fact that GEO conceals its ownership and secretly takes funding and direction from India is enough evidence of treason. The Chief Justice was given the Medal of Honour by Harvard. Harvard must have a weird understanding of law and justice. Would they tolerate the criminality, the treason with which he has helped to destroy the system of justice and law in Pakistan? Why does no chief justice in America act the way he does?These are the Mir Jaffars of Pakistan ánd they should be called by their name.Quaid-e-Azam, Eidhi, no one else in Pakistan has been recognised by this university.The Press and Information Department has knowledge of this of foreign ownership but this knowledge is kept secret from the public. PEMRA has knowledge of foreign ownership but it is kept secret. Members of parliament have knowledge of this but do not debate it.Secret operations are being conducted by external powers to wage war and sabotage in Pakistan, and their functioning is kept top secret. In spite of public confusion and concerns at the anti Pakistan bias and propaganda, the knowledge that this is Indian/US/Israeli owned media is kept hidden by members of Parliament, by ISI, by IB, by Media and the people who brought this into being. The last government as well as the current government, that was the opposition then, have knowledge of this. There is a war going on against Pakistan but our government and media and our lawyers and judiciary have given it their full support.Members of the media including key presenters, earn fabulous sums of money to carry out this treason. They know that every word, image, attitude, and stance is directed from abroad. No presenter is allowed to take a personal position on any piece of news.

NEW YORK TIMES, A ZIONIST FAMILY OWNED NEWSPAPER ARE PARTNERS

EXPRESS NEW IN PAKISTAN

The International Herald Tribune (IHT) is the international edition of The New York Times, and the Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune is in partnership with the IHT. They announce this partnership on the front page. We are given a copy of the IHT daily with The Express Tribune but people foolishly ask no questions! How can a newspaper of the quality of International Herald Tribune make, print and distribute the paper for Rs 19.00 all over Pakistan?All those who are involved in this secret war against the integrity and existence of Pakistan are traitors and should be tried for treason.

The Murder of Karachi’s Citizens and Destruction of the City

Thousands of innocent people have been killed, maimed and robbed in the last 5 years in Karachi.The media calls it mafia, turf wars, bhatta wars.Target killings, bomb blasts, fires, have taken place every day killing innocent people.No steps have been taken to take suo motto notice, investigate, to arrest, to try, to punish the people or parties who are doing this. Newspapers report the deaths then forget about it as if it was a matter of course, or deaths by malaria.The people of Karachi have been given no security. All police and security is given to government and party functionaries. Traffic jams are created daily on busy streets in order to rob passengers in stalled vehicles. There is no police, no security force, no Army or Rangers to keep peace in Karachi.Musharraf is being tried for not providing security to Benazir Bhutto. Why is the Government not held responsible for the killing of innocent people in Karachi, and for not providing security to its citizens?Why are members of the political parties, MQM, ANP, PPP, not arrested for removing police from Karachi, for denying security and facilitating the murderers?Arrest the top leadership of these party mafias and stop the killing.Why has the Chief Justice and Asma Jehangir not taken notice of what has happened in Karachi, when they are so concerned about the missing persons of Baluchistan? Thousands are missing in Karachi but no questions are asked. The Chief Justice makes the ISI the enemy, and targets their personnel and humiliates them, and has brought the army into disrepute in the world. Whose agent is he? Who will give him security from the very Indians who pay him?

Targeting the Army and ISI.

In the last 6-8 years, the propaganda war and the media war has targeted the Pakistan Army and especially ISI and security agencies. The image of the Army is constantly under attack by the media, by paid politicians, by lawyers, by the so called civil society. In the last so many years, the words “CIA, Mossad, RAW” and other agencies have not appeared in our media coverage except for the one time when Raymond Davis was exposed. No questions are asked. Why were Visas given in thousands to US, Indian and Afghan nationals to create turmoil in Pakistan, FATA and Baluchistan? Why is ISI being targeted and not RAW? Not Mossad? Not CIA?Why is this not discussed or questioned?

Reference:

No Comments

Not Found

Archive for April, 2014

INDIAN BACKDOOR ANTI-PAKISTAN ACTIVITIES IN AFGHANISTAN: India to pay Russia for arms, ammo it sells to Afghanistan

India to pay Russia for arms, ammo it sells to Afghanistan

TRAITORS GALLERY OF PAKISTAN

TRAITORS GALLERY OF PAKISTAN

TRAITORS GALLERY OF PAKISTAN: MIR JAFFERS OF PAKISTAN HONORED IN BANGLADESH:

HAMID MIR, ASMA JEHANGIR, MIR HASIL BIZENJO,SALIMA HASHMI, ANWER PIRZADA, FAEZ ISA,IQBAL AHMED, TAHIRA JALIB & NAJAM SETHI

Air War at the Top of the World

Air War at the Top of the World

A STEALTH ENEMY OF PAKISTAN BELOW THE RADAR: Israel helped India in 1971 war, reveals book

Israel,the Stealth Enemy of Pakistan helped India in 1971 war, reveals book

US, Indian, Israeli, Control of News Media in Pakistan

US, Indian, Israeli, Control of News Media in Pakistan