[Reader-list] On 'critical' Public discourse on Defense in India.

[Taha Mehmood]

dear All

This is not to discount the vibrant and critical pubic discourse
raging across all over India which reflects the concern felt by
thousands of peace loving Indians on the most urgent and grave issue
of militarization of South Asia and which is perhaps best evidenced by
periodic publication of hundreds of thousands of booklets, leaflets
and pamphlets, but to humbly suggest that insofar as small sections of
electronic press is concerned which are in the business of news
production, the view around defense seems to be some what different.

The news story pasted below was produced by such a small production
house, which incidentally goes by a localized name and calls itself
new delhi televison. It appears as if certain section of electronic
media, which are of course not the only sources of public discourse,
sometimes like to present a favorable view of defense sector which is
at times laced with subtle emotions like- Love.

Please read the story for more. Maybe one could keep in mind that this
year the defense budget was increased by 34% in the name of security
even as more that a lakh of farmers have committed suicide because of
grave governmental neglect which has resulted in an insecure and
volatile market. Whose security does the government is more concerned
about is anyone's guess? Meanwhile the budget or rather the proposed
budget for UIDAI is 1.5 lakh crore rupees which is a little more than
the defense budget.

Warm regards

Taha

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/why_indian_army_loves_bofors_gun.php

Why the Army loves the Bofors gun

The Bofors gun continues to give India "an edge" over the adversary on
the Line of Control (LoC) and has helped the country to win "artillery
duels" till the time the ceasefire came into effect in 2003, Indian
Army officers say.

"With a range of over 35 kilo metres in the high-altitude terrain, the
gun helped us to win artillery duels with Pakistani Army on the LoC
till the 2003 ceasefire between the two countries. During that period,
after unprovoked shelling by them, we would retaliate with our Bofors
howitzers and quietened them up," a senior artillery officer from the
Kargil-based 'Forever in Operations' Division said in Kargil.

The FH77 Bofors guns, he said, were better than the medium artillery
guns available with the Pakistani Army.

"Superiority of our gun, which can fire three rounds in 12 seconds,
has been proved during the 1999 war and they also know that their guns
are of no match to our medium guns. After Kargil, the guns proved
their mettle during Operation Parakram in 2001 also where they would
fire 80-90 rounds every day causing immense damage to enemy posts and
morale," the officers added.

During the Kargil war, the gun was extensively used by the Army to
dislodge Pakistani Army regulars and militants from Indian peaks after
they had intruded into Indian territory in the winters when both the
sides vacated their respective posts at high altitude areas.

The guns today, the officers said, have been deployed at altitudes
ranging between 10-13,000 feet and were helping the Indian troops to
achieve "total dominance" over the adversary in the region.

"With the Bofors guns now being deployed at such high altitudes and
its extended range here, we can strike deep with in the enemy
territory. The Bofors can easily take on targets in Pakistan occupied
Kashmir (PoK) towns such as Skardu and others," they said.

Asked about the deployment of the guns at such high altitudes, the
officers said that the auxiliary power unit in the Bofors guns made it
easy for reaching such heights.

"The guns have a Mercedes Benz engine in them and they are able to
move short distances on their own. This capability helped us during
the war also as guns would move from their location after firing a
salvo to other positions in order to avoid enemy counter fire," they
said.