“War has a grammar of its own, but its logic is not peculiar to itself.” Clausewitz The recent advance of Sunni extremist group, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known as Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in northern and western Iraq took many by surprise. In a few days, ISIS fighters…
June 05 is the thirty year anniversary of the Indian army operation to clear militants from the Sikh religion’s holiest temple in Amritsar. This was the culmination of chain of events that were simmering for several years. In late 1970s, conflict between the center and Punjab, internal power struggle among Sikh political elite, poor economic…
The Pashtun Question is a timely arrival in view of the winding down of U.S. and NATO mission in Afghanistan. Abubakar Siddique is well qualified to tackle the Pashtun question. He is a Pashtun from the tribal territory of South Waziristan and spent his early childhood there. He is an anthropologist by training and in…
14th Ferozepore Sikhs was raised in 1846 after First Anglo-Sikh War from demobilized soldiers of Sikh army. It was raised by Captain G. Tebbs and recruits came mainly from cis-Sutlej area. The Regiment recruited local Sikhs and Punjabi Muslims and initially Oudh Rajputs from other regiments were posted to the regiment. In 1852, Tebbs died…
In 1947 India and Pakistan emerged as new independent states and the Indian army was divided. There were no senior native officers and both countries decided to keep British officers at senior posts while native officers were given accelerated promotions to prepare them for senior positions. In India, General Robert Lockhart (commissioned in 51st Sikh,…
The British Indian army consisted of Indian soldiers and British officers. Indians served as non-commissioned officers called Native Officers and later Viceroy Commissioned Officers (VCOs). The debate about opening the officer rank to Indians lingered over few decades in India and England and the issue was finally settled after the First World War when it…
A young teenager wrote in his diary; “I’ll not be a common man. I will stir the smooth sands of monotony”. His name was Peter O’Toole and by 1962, he surely was not a common man just like the character of T.E. Lawrence that he played. O’Toole died on December 14, 2013. He is known…
No conflict is static and it changes with the time. It evolves with changing policies, interests, capabilities and competing interests of key players. All these factors influence a conflict and Af-Pak theatre is no different. The announcement of major U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 influenced the decisions of many regional…
In 2008, after the election of President Barack Obama, new administration re-visited the neglected Afghan theatre. After incremental escalations and surge, President Obama announced withdrawal of majority of U.S. troops by the end of 2014. This set in motion gradual withdrawal of U.S. troops and equipment starting in 2010-11. From 100’000 troops the numbers are…
King’s Counsel by Jack O’Connell is a fascinating account of important events of Middle East by someone who was involved in different capacities. This book was published in 2011 after Jack’s death. A brief biography of author is important to understand his role. Jack earned well rounded qualifications in different fields before joining Central Intelligence…
