dailyO
Variety

DailyOh! Death of Tenzin Nyima in Ladakh fighting China, and India’s top-secret unit

Advertisement
Vandana
VandanaSep 04, 2020 | 19:01

DailyOh! Death of Tenzin Nyima in Ladakh fighting China, and India’s top-secret unit

Why ethnic Tibetans are part of the unit set up in 1962 that no one knows about.

When a secret is super secret, it is classified. This isn’t the kind of secret that one can let out with a whispered rider, “Kisiko batana mat.” The death of Tibetan soldier Tenzin Nyima in Ladakh has however brought to the fore a top secret – Establishment 22, not twenty two, but two-two – Establishment Two-Two.

untitled-1690x388_090420041344.jpg
A coffin containing the body of Tenzin Nyima, a Tibetan official from India's Special Frontier Force, at his residence in Leh. (Photo: Reuters)

Advertisement

The establishment, also known as Special Frontier Force (SFF), was raised in 1962. Currently, the unit is based out of Chakrata in Uttarakhand and is mandated to engage in covert operations behind enemy lines in the Himalayan mountainous terrain. SFF comprises ethnic Tibetans. One of its earliest soldiers was Radug Ngawang. Ngawang is known to be among the handful of bodyguards who accompanied the Dalai Lama when he escaped from Tibet and came to India in 1959.

The operations of Establishment 22 are so secret that they are classified. It is said even the Indian Army may not know what SFF is up to. This doesn’t mean SFF decides on its own. SFF reports directly to the Prime Minister of India. The direct link is still not absolutely direct because the link is established via the Directorate General of Security in the Cabinet Secretariat. The gallantry of SFF soldiers isn’t publicly recognised because of the secretive nature of their operations. Nehru had raised the force on his birthday to fight the Chinese in the tough terrains of Himalayan mountains. Tenzin Nyima’s life laid down defending Indian territory in what is believed to be the toughest global war terrains is deserving of the highest respect.

Advertisement

Army chief Gen MM Naravane, who we told you is in Ladakh, to take stock of the situation, has said the situation is tense but jawans are highly motivated and prepared. No matter what the preparations, war has its costs. The only way to avoid incurring the costs is to engage in talks. To engage in talks, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh is set to meet his Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe in Russia. The meeting is apparently happening on Wei’s request in Moscow where the two are attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

But where did Rhea Chakraborty’s brother Showik Chakraborty meet alleged drug dealer Basit Parihar? At Bandra in Mumbai, which no matter what anyone says, is Indian territory with all its chawls and malls.

Showik played football in Bandra and Basit visited the place. Soon Basit was visiting Showik’s place as well. The visits reveal nothing, but WhatsApp chats everything. The two were talking about drugs through WhatsApp. What about end-to-end encryption? It fell prey to encryption’s loose ends.

Advertisement

basit_090420041118.jpg
Basit Parihar allegedly supplied drugs to Showik Chakraborty. (Photo: India Today)

The Narcotics Control Bureau today raided the houses of Showik and Sushant’s house manager Samuel Miranda. Was there a tip-off of drugs at the home? No. The raids are part of the procedure. After a two-hour search at his house, Samuel was detained by the NCB sleuths.

So, is Samuel Miranda in big trouble? Only as big as detention can bring. Law enforcement agencies can detain people when they are suspects, but not formally accused of a crime. How can one be formally accused? When there is an FIR against the person. Once there is an FIR, a person can be arrested. You can accuse people of this and that but not ‘formally accuse’ them till there is concrete evidence to call them accused. To prove them guilty is the next level. People are detained while going for rallies and then released. Whether that happens for Miranda will depend on what other evidence NCB can trace. That is for NCB to trace. What we can trace is the origin of detain.

Detain, the Word Of The Day, comes from Latin word detinere - ‘de’, away or aside; plus ‘tenere’, to hold. To hold aside is to detain. Like police hold aside protesters.

According to the Oxford dictionary, you are detained if you are kept in an official place such as a police station, a prison or a hospital, and prevented them from leaving.

It isn’t just the Hindi film industry that has taken a hit, but Kannada actress Ragini Dwivedi too has been detained in the Sandalwood drug racket. Ragini’s house was also raided before she was taken to the Bengaluru Central Crime Branch for interrogation.

The men who have neither been detained nor arrested are those who raped and murdered a three-year-old in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri. The child’s body was found from sugarcane fields. Within three weeks, this is the third such incident reported from the same district. What action has the administration taken? Promised to take action.

Just because the administration doesn’t act doesn’t mean administration should not be elected. Administration in Bihar will be elected before November 29. This has been said by the Election Commission of India, which has also said that the bypolls to one parliamentary and 64 Assembly constituencies in Bihar will be held along with the Assembly elections.

From Bihar, let’s fly to the US, where Donald Trump, who faces a reelection, has asked people to vote twice. Twitter which is monitoring Trump’s tweets closely has flagged the tweet.

Why and when does Twitter flag tweets? When it feels that the tweet has violated norms but must remain on its platform ‘in public interest’.

twitter_090420041239.jpg

twitter-1_090420041255.jpg

Heat has risen in the US because elections are just about two months away. The elections will decide whether Trump returns to power or Joe Biden gets his first shot at it.  

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court of India has decided that the JEE and NEET exams will be held on schedule. The exams, mind you, are already being held on schedule. The SC spoke dismissing a petition by some non-BJP states seeking a postponement.

SC has dismissed the petition and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut has dismissed Kangana Ranaut – as 'mental'. Ranaut in a tweet said that Mumbai now feels like Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) to her because Raut is openly threatening her. Raut has urged people to let Kangana go to POK because she is a “mental case”. In response, Ranaut has announced she will be landing in Mumbai, which she believes is POK, on September 9.

Who needs movies to release in cinema halls when all the entertainment is available outside of it? If this isn't your sense of entertainment, then Indian Premier League begins from September 19. What's new about this news? Harbhajan Singh has conveyed to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) that he wouldn't be playing this season.

So that's one more in the series of bad news for CSK which is battling cases of corona and the pulling out of Suresh Raina.

CSK may just turn it all into good news when the game begins. For Indian cricket lovers, the good news is cricket is beginning.

On that note of a good beginning, we will call it a day today.   

Be back on Monday.

Last updated: September 04, 2020 | 19:18
IN THIS STORY
Please log in
I agree with DailyO's privacy policy