22052025-TT-01.qxd 5/21/2025 11:27 PM Page 1 13 CHANDIGARH | GURUGRAM | JALANDHAR | BATHINDA | VOL. 145 NO. 140 | 14 PAGES | ~6.00 | REGD. NO. CHD/0006/2024-2026 ESTABLISHED IN 1881  HIMACHAL PRADESH PRIMA FACIE CASE MADE OUT AGAINST SONIA, RAHUL IN HERALD CASE: ED NATION SEBI RAISES ALARM OVER SOCIAL MEDIA SCAMS BUSINESS CHINA EXPANDS FOOTPRINT WITH CPEC EXTENSION TO AFGHANISTAN WORLD thursday | 22 may 2025 /thetribunechd www.tribuneindia.com Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 21 India has sent a strong message of intent and capability by not just punishing Pakistan’s act of terror in Pahalgam with punitive missile strikes in the heart of Pakistan Punjab, but also by successfully calling its nuclear bluff. In an exclusive interview with The Tribune, Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar, General Officer Commanding-inChief of the Western Command, stated that India had demonstrated a shift in its strategic thinking since Operation Parakram in 2002 by striking hard and with precision both in Pakistan Punjab as well as on 11 airbases across the length and breadth of the neighbouring nation. “By carrying out strikes deep inside Pakistan, we demonstrated our resolve to strike with impunity at a time and place of our choosing. The message has gone home to the Pakistan leadership about the intent of the Indian leadership and the capability of the Indian Army,” said General Katiyar, who heads the Western Com- — Lt Gen Manoj Kumar Katiyar ‘OPERATION SINDOOR HAS DRAWN RED LINE FOR PAK’ FULL INTERVIEW: BACK PAGE mand, tasked with protecting India’s western frontier facing Pakistan. He was speaking at his office in Chandimandir. Significantly, he noted that India had called Pakistan’s nuclear bluff, which had loomed over the subcontinent since both countries went overtly nuclear in the summer of 1998. Pakistan believed it could carry out repeated terror strikes against India — in the J&K Assembly in 2000, in Parliament in 2001, in Mumbai in 2008, in Uri in 2016, in Pulwama in 2019, and in Pahalgam in 2025 — assuming India would not retaliate due to fear of international restraint over a potential nuclear flashpoint. With Operation Sindoor, India has called Pakistan’s nuclear bluff, General Katiyar asserted. Highlighting that this key achievement of Operation Sindoor serves as a message for both Pakistan and the world, General Katiyar emphasised that the operation had made clear the linkages between Pakistan’s military establishment and its terror groups. “Linkages between Pakistan’s ISI and continued on page 10 Masterminded Dantewada attack in which 76 CRPF jawans were martyred Animesh Singh Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 21 In a major success for the security forces in their operation against Maoists, 27 Naxals, including topmost leader Nambala Keshav Rao, aka Basavaraju, were killed on Wednesday in an encounter in the forests of Abhujmad in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. A jawan of the Chhattisgarh Police’s District Reserve Guard (DRG) was also killed while a few other personnel sustained injuries in the gun- ENGINEER WITH ~1.5-CR BOUNTY arh Jyoti Malhotra & Vijay Mohan isg By carrying out strikes deep inside Pak, we showed our resolve to strike with impunity at a time and place of our choosing. The message has gone home to the Pakistan leadership about the intent of our leadership and the capability of our Army. att ❝ THE TRIBUNE INTERVIEW Top Naxal commander among 27 shot in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar Chh ‘From threat to punishment, message to Pak loud and clear’ MAP NOT TO SCALE /thetribunechd SRINAGAR-BOUND FLIGHT CAUGHT IN HAILSTORM J&K PM LAUDS SECURITY FORCES Proud of our forces for this success. Our govt is committed to eliminating the BASTAR menace of Naxalism. Narendra Modi, PM ❝ fight that had begun several days ago, sources said. The killing of Rao, a CPI- Ruchika M Khanna Bid to rob Punjab of its water, alleges AAP Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 21 Amid the ongoing dispute between Punjab and Haryana over the allocation of water, the Centre has approved the deployment of a central force for the security of the Bhakra Dam Project. A total of 296 posts of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel have been created for induction into the CABINET MEET TOMORROW The Punjab Government has also conveyed a meeting of the state Cabinet on Friday. Sources said the issue of dam security would be discussed. Separately, a meeting of the technical committee of the BBMB has also been scheduled for Friday. security wing of the project. A letter to this effect has been sent to the Director Tribune News Service Satya Prakash New Delhi, May 21 Contending that ‘Waqf by user’ isn’t a fundamental right or an essential part of Islam and Waqf boards discharge secular functions, the Centre on Wednesday defended the inclusion of non-Muslims in boards before the Supreme Court. “Waqf is an Islamic concept. But it is not an essential part of Islam... Waqf is nothing but just charity in Islam… Charity is recognised in every religion. It is part of Christianity also, but the Supreme Court says it’s not an essential part. Hindus have a system of ‘daan’, Sikhs also have (charity). But it’s not an essential part of any religion,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a Bench of Chief Justice of India BR Gavai and Justice AG Masih. Mehta sought to emphasise that the functions of the Waqf Tribune News Service New Delhi, May 21 The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Ashoka University associate professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad even as it ordered an SIT probe led by an IGP-rank officer into his alleged social media comments on Operation Sindoor. “We direct the petitioner to be released on interim bail subject to furnishing of bail bonds to the satisfaction of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Sonepat. There shall be only one set of bail bonds for both FIRs,” a Bench Justice Surya Kant and Justice N Kotiswar Singh ordered. The Bench refused to stay the probe against him, saying, “We are satisfied that no case for staying investigation is made out. However, to understand the complexity NOT A MURDERER, TERRORIST: SC RELIEF FOR PUJA KHEDKAR Noting that she was not a murderer, drug lord or terrorist, the SC granted anticipatory bail to former IAS probationer Puja Khedkar, accused of cheating and wrongly availing OBC and disability quota benefits in the Civil Services examination. BACK PAGE and for proper appreciation of the language used in his post, we direct the Haryana DGP to constitute an SIT within 24 hours comprising three IPS officers who do not belong to Haryana or Delhi. The SIT shall be continued on page 10 Defends inclusion of non-Muslims in boards SC NO TO PLEA FOR FIR AGAINST JUSTICE VARMA The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to hear a plea seeking an FIR against former Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma in connection with the alleged discovery of cash from this official residence in the capital. board — managing Waqf properties and ensuring that accounts were properly audited — were purely secular activities and inclusion of a maximum of two non-Muslim members would not change its character. “Waqf board is not touching upon any religious activity of any of the Waqf,” said Mehta, who would resume his arguments on Thursday. “Unless it’s shown that Waqf is an essential part of continued on page 10 ‘Heart Lamp’ lights up India with Booker Kannada writer Banu Mushtaq, translator Deepa Bhasthi script history MANDIRA NAYAR SPECIAL TO THE TRIBUNE T HIS moment feels like a thousand fireflies lighting a single sky — brief, brilliant and utterly collective,” said Banu Mushtaq in her acceptance speech for the International Booker Prize for “Heart Lamp”. With it, she has placed Kannada, a language she describes as a legacy of cosmic wonder and earthly wisdom, firmly on the literary map. But it has offered the world a new literary star — a firebrand Muslim writer from a conservative Hassan. Her win does feel like a burst of light in the sky. The win is special in many other Banu Mushtaq, author of ‘Heart Lamp’, with the trophy in London. AP/PTI ways. It is rare for a short-story collection to win. It is also the first time that an Indian translator, Deepa Bhasthi, has won for translation after the award changed its format in 2016. But more importantly, “Heart Lamp” is a collection that celebrates the quiet resilience of ordinary women. Fierce, feminist, a firebrand as she is often described, Maoist general secretary, has come as a shot in the arm for the security forces as they had New Delhi, May 21 India on Wednesday expelled a Pakistani official working at the Pakistan High Commission here on Wednesday. This comes a week after another Pakistani official was asked to leave India within 24 hours on May 13. The official communique from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said, “The Government of India has declared a Pakistani official, working at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, persona non grata for indulging in activities not in keeping with his official status in India. The official has been asked to leave India within 24 hours.” — TNS Centre to deploy CISF at Bhakra amid Punjab-Haryana tussle SC grants interim bail Waqf not fundamental to Ashoka varsity prof right: Govt to top court Orders IGP-led SIT probe against him Rao carried a bounty of ~1.5 crore and was wanted for several deadly attacks on security forces across multiple states. He had studied engineering before being drawn into student activism in the 1980s. recently busted a long-time base of the Naxalites located in Koreguttalu Hills of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh (bordering Telangana). Thirtyone Naxals were killed and a huge cache of arms, ammunitions and explosives recovered. Four factories where weapons were being manufactured were also unearthed under the three-week-long offensive named Operation Black Forest. Keshav Rao carried a bounty of Rs 1.5 crore and was wanted in connection with continued on page 10 Another Pakistan official expelled, 2nd in eight days Banu has defined her life by defiance. Her choice of language too was sparked by rebellion. Her mother tongue is Urdu. “They said Muslim girls won’t learn Kannada,” she said in an interview with The Tribune when she was shortlisted. “They gave me six months to learn or they would ask me to leave. I made history,” she said. In a time of rising divisiveness, Banu’s win is a poignant reminder of the strength of India’s pluralism. “In a world that often tries to divide us, literature remains one of the last sacred spaces where we can live inside each other’s continued on page 10 edit: feminine flame c m y b (Security and Consultancy) of the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB). The Board has been told to make a security deposit of Rs 8,58,69,600 in favour of the CISF for these 296 personnel. The CISF has also directed the BBMB to complete all pre-induction formalities, including arranging accommodation, transport, communication equipment and security gadgets, for the personnel. AAP spokesperson Neel Garg said the move appeared to be a conspiracy to rob Punjab of its river waters. “The Centre has ordered the deployment of the CISF at the dam ignoring the fact that Punjab bears 60 per cent of the cost of operations of the BBMB, including security. Is this move meant to protect the dams or rob Punjab of its rights?” he questioned. Currently, the Punjab Police handle the security of the Nangal Dam, while the continued on page 10