Published on The Asian Age (http://www.asianage.com)
By editor
Created 23 May 2014 - 00:00
The credo and tradition of the Indian Army was rubbished by Gen. V.K. Singh after he took over as Army Chief. He went to the Supreme Court against the government over a totally personal and selfish issue.
The credo and tradition of the Indian Army was rubbished by Gen. V.K. Singh after he took over as Army Chief. He went to the Supreme Court against the government over a totally personal and selfish issue.
The nation faces grave external and internal security threats which were being managed by adopting a policy of appeasement and projecting India as a soft state.
These have to be managed from a position of military strength without saber-rattling and extending an olive branch of peace. Our Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi has made a good beginning by inviting Pakistan and other Saarc neighbours to his swearing-in function.
The threats from Pakistan and China, including their acting in cohort and the strategy required to deal with them, were discussed in a previous article. The internal threat posed by Maoist terrorism was also discussed. We need to now discuss the organisation at the apex level to manage these threats.
Unlike all democracies, the higher defence organisation in India isolates the military from the process of decision-making. Bureaucrats in defence ministry have all the authority, but are not accountable. In 1962, Jawaharlal Nehru’s orders to throw the Chinese out of the Himalayas was communicated to the Army Chief by a joint secretary. This showed that he was not in the loop when such a major decision was taken to go to war. The rest is history. The Public Accounts Committee in 1958 recommended integrated functioning and so did Administrative Reforms Commission in 1967. These were put in cold storage. Meaningless sops have been doled out from time to time. On March 25, 1955, Nehru announced in Parliament that as in other democracies the three Cs-in-C will be designated Chiefs of Staff. Their designations were changed but they have continued to function as Cs-in-C, heads of attached offices subordinate to the ministry. The Kargil Review Committee recommended both a CDS and a fully integrated defence ministry. This was approved by the GoM of the National Democratic Alliance regime. It was left to the successive government to take the final call. These proposals we scuttled. A headless Integrated Defence Staff and a meaningless Integrated Service Headquarters was established, like introducing Chiefs of Staff in 1955. The Naresh Chandra Committee has recommended a permanent full-time Chairman Chiefs of Staff instead of a rotating part-time incumbent and an additional four-star rank, as also deputation of one-star rank military officers to the ministry. Such cosmetic sops serve little purpose. The crying need is for a proper CDS and a fully integrated system as in other democracies.
Lately over the years, Maoist terrorism has spread far and wide. A Red Corridor comprising eight states has been established, where the writ of the government does not run. The common man not supporting the Maoists and development activities in the “Liberated Zone” are held hostage. We need a suitable strategy to regain control of these areas by establishing permanent air maintained posts regaining control and making them safe for the local people and provide for development. These safe areas should be expanded gradually. Sending long-range patrols from outside to dominate areas will not suffice.
Maoists have launched a war against the nation. This is not a law and order problem. The chief ministers of affected states on the plea of autonomy of states seem to be fighting private uncoordinated wars in their states, while the Maoists are carrying out coordinated operations across inter-state boundaries. Our professional leadership at all levels with few exceptions is very poor and performance of paramilitary forces leaves much to be desired. The National Investigation Agency and NCTS set up on US pattern are not allowed the necessary freedom of action. Without giving our much stretched Army responsibility for counter Maoist operations, we need to use Army expertise inducting a few selected serving or retired Army personnel to boost leadership of the paramilitary. We should make Army training facilities available to them. A National Security Board should be established under the Prime Minister, and chief ministers of Maoist-affected states as members. A National Internal Security Adviser from the Army or police selected for his expertise and experience should be in attendance. Other officials as required should be co-opted. Regional Internal Security Boards for two or more affected states comprising chief ministers with a rotating chairman and Regional Internal Security Adviser in attendance should also be set up. These boards should formulate policies for both operations and development, as also monitor their implementation.
The Indian Army is the only apolitical Army in Asia, Africa and Latin America. It should not be politicised. The credo of its officer corps, has been country first, Army next and self last. Gen. Rajendra Sinhji set up a fine example of character, discipline and sacrifice in 1949. The government decided to appoint him as the first Indian as Army Chief superseding Gen. Cariappa. When Rajendra Sinhji heard of this, he met Nehru and told him that he would resign if appointed Army Chief. Cariappa was senior to him and a competent General who had been successfully conducting operations in Kashmir for a year. Rajendra Sinhji was the younger brother of the Jam Saheb of Nawanagar who as Chancellor of Chamber of Princes was close to Sardar Patel, having worked with him for integrating the Princely States to the Indian Union. People would say that he got that appointment for political reason. This may lead to politicisation of the Army. Nehru saw the point. Cariappa was appointed Army Chief.
The credo and tradition of the Indian Army was rubbished by Gen. V.K. Singh after he took over as Army Chief. He went to the Supreme Court against the government over a totally personal and selfish issue. His date of birth as claimed by him may have been correct but he himself contributed to the confusion. Initially, he gave a wrong date of birth, failed to get it amended in time, and gave written certificates thrice accepting the wrong date. No Chief in any country of the world had ever acted so unbecomingly. The Supreme Court rightly rejected his plea. There were other unfortunate actions taken by him which only tarnished the image of the Army. After retirement he made allegations against the Supreme Court judges for which he had to render an unconditional apology in court. Similarly, his bizarre allegation regarding intelligence funds for bribing political leaders in Kashmir was strongly contradicted by all his living predecessors. He was summoned to appear before the Kashmir state legislature.
On retirement, after hobnobbing with Anna Hazare, Baba Ramdev and even the Aam Aadmi Party, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party and got a ticket to fight the election from Ghaziabad. His remarkable performance in getting a majority of over 5 lakh votes, next only to Mr Modi, is no doubt very creditable. No other Army officer in India has after retirement, done so well in elections. We should wish him good luck in his political career. However, he must not pursue his personal vendettas against the Army Chief-designate or continue his desperate efforts to have his samdhi appointed Army Chief.
Mr Modi has numerous challenges to overcome. I have tried to outline some of the grave security challenges that he faces. With his proven record of governance and remarkable dedication to the nation, one can be sanguine that he will rise to the occasion.
The writer, a retired lieutenant-general, was Vice-Chief of Army Staff and has served as governor of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir
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