With 'Jai Jawan Jai Kisan' theme, 4th Military Literature Festival starts

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, December 17

The fourth edition of the Military Literature Festival (MLF) will kick-start on Friday with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh delivering the inaugural speech virtually.

Prominent speakers like Governor of Punjab, VP Singh Badnore, former Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, NN Vohra, Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh and General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lt Gen RP Singh will also address the event.

Formally launching the festival, here, on Thursday, Lt Gen TS Shergill (retd), Senior Advisor to the Punjab Chief Minister said, that the theme of the festival this year is "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" as both are motivational figures for the society.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the festival is conducted virtually.

Lt Gen Shergill said, that the panel discussions and other events can be streamed live through popular social media platforms for a global audience.

Already, a few events held as a prelude to the festival has witnessed over 16 lakh views online.

A total of 12-panel discussions by experts will be held over the three-day event. This is focused on contemporary strategic and geo-political topics.

The opening day would focus on issues like Sabre Rattling in Ladakh, Chinese Air Power Capabilities and the Deep States in India and Pakistan.

A separate session on "Jai Jawan Jai Kisan" would be organised to discuss the current issues—related to the solider and the farmer— which will include the prominent political leaders from the region.

Other topics like Emerging Indo-Pacific Naval Alliance, Self Reliance Towards Defence Preparedness and Military Leadership would be part of the discussions. This is in addition to the discussion on books and highlights on the newly inducted Rafale Fighter Aircraft, Siachen operations and legacy of the Gurkha soldier.

The Headquarters Western Command would present a curtain-raiser on the 1971 Indo-Pak war.

Former service chiefs, Gen VP Malik, Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, Admiral Arun Prakash, Admiral Sunil Lanba and Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne, Members of Parliament Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tiwari, Rakesh Sinha, Mahua Moitra and Rajeev Chandrashekhar, Ram Madhav, Lt Gen DS Hoods, Lt Gen SS Mehta, Vivek Katju, Kanwal Sibal, Shyam Saran, Dr C Rajamohan, Gul Panag, Mona Ambegaonkar, David Scott, Dr Christine Fair and Andrew Erikson are among the few speakers at the event.

The literature festival is an annual affair conducted by the Punjab Government and the Western Command to honour and commemorate the legendary, brave, and sacrifices of the Indian soldiers.

This is also to bring a common platform for experts to deliberate on the contemporary military, security, and geo-political issues.