Monday, September 12,2016
CHANDIGARH: On Sunday, September 11, 2016, some news papers had
prominently reported the decision of the three Service Chiefs not to accept the
unjust award of the Seventh Pay Commission, as it pertains to the military.
Others ignored this important news, either on account of a gag order or perhaps
not to annoy the government, as the news does show how badly the
politico-bureaucratic combine has treated the military!
This news reflects two important points. Firstly, it shows the government in very bad light indeed, and is actually a slur on the ability of the political leadership not to understand the extent of angst in all ranks of our military.
Secondly, it shows the resolve of the Chiefs
to fight a highly unjust award, planned, written and implemented by the bureaucracy
by taking a nod from the political leadership.
I want to congratulate the Chiefs for their
principled stand, which they have taken for the good of all ranks of their
commands. I doff my hat to you Sirs!
The Indian Military has been at the receiving
end of unjust and even illegal decisions that our political leaders have thrust
on the military, at the behest of the bureaucracy. There are many reasons for
this state of affairs, but it will suffice to say that due to their naivety in
the intricacies of governance, they have become marionettes to whatever the
bureaucrats tell them. Sometimes I wonder whether ours is a democracy or a
bureaucracy ruled oligarchy!
Besides the above, the bulk of current Members of Parliament (MP’s) are semi-literate, who have been elected only on account of money and muscle power and selling dreams to the gullible in the name of caste, creed and religion; as well as the much publicised ‘Jumlas’, which many in the current government have stated a number of times.
Besides the above, the bulk of current Members of Parliament (MP’s) are semi-literate, who have been elected only on account of money and muscle power and selling dreams to the gullible in the name of caste, creed and religion; as well as the much publicised ‘Jumlas’, which many in the current government have stated a number of times.
If memory serves me right, it was the
venerable Finance Minister who uttered the word first; and then the party
president followed on more than one occasion! In addition, with more talk and
less implementation in most areas of governance, this government has already
earned the sobriquet: “Jumla Sarkar”!
The result is all round ignorance of the bulk
of MP’s in their ability to govern and falling back on the bureaucrats to make
decisions on their behalf. Our Prime Minister, of course never tires of telling
the nation in his speeches, which he delivers with gusto and panache, about how
he will clean up the Augean Stables of the bureaucracy, but we are still to see
any action or implementation in this regard.
The bureaucrats being clever, if not wily,
have been taking the elected representatives of the people, who constitute the
decision-making ‘Executive’ in accordance with our Constitution, for a right
royal ride! The pity is that barring a few political leaders who understand the
nuances of governance, the rest are mediocre, if not worse. These leaders
belong to all political parties and the abrogation of their powers to the
bureaucracy has steadily increased over the years and decades. A great pity
indeed, especially for a nation that prides itself in its knowledge in all
facets of life, not just governance for centuries.
The time has come for the nation to reflect
on the treatment meted out to the most dynamic institution of the country – the
Indian Military. The niche carved by the military’s selfless service has been
an enduring example to the nation – always dependable, standing rock-like in
the service of the nation and the people, and religiously adhering to the
Chedwodian motto “The safety, honour and welfare of your country come first,
always and every time …”.
While the bulk of the citizens have a great
deal of love and respect for their military, the policies of various successive
governments towards the military have ranged from ambivalence to downright
antagonism. Has it served the nation well and how does the nation view it? Has
it received the support of the various governments that have ruled the nation
during the last 70 years and the people who had elected them? Have the
aspirations of the Indian Military been met by successive governments?
The nation needs to and must know how the
manipulating bureaucrats have tried their best not just to downgrade the
military in all spheres but have made it hollow and indeed impotent! Strong
words no doubt, but the time has come to say them openly.
Let me spell out how it has happened, for
which the start point is our Independence in 1947.
Following Independence in 1947,
organisational changes strengthened ‘civilian’ (meaning ‘political’) control
over the military, which was fully accepted by the military hierarchy. This has
continued for the last 70 years, even though there were many occasions when any
other military would have revolted.
However, the ethos of the Indian Military;
its training and discipline; its culture of loyalty; and above all its leadership,
at the senior levels especially and also at other subordinate levels, acted
with maturity and balance, averting ugly situations.
It is a great pity, however, that the
government in power at that time and also later governments, egged on by the
self-serving bureaucracy, misinterpreted their sacrifices as a sign of docility
and weakness, not appreciating that it was all done in the national interest.
At Independence, the Indian Military had firmly believed that the new dispensation would be as fair as the last one, if not better, and the ‘System’ would take care of their concerns and aspirations, without their kowtowing to the new political leadership. Sadly, the bureaucracy did just the opposite and ingratiated themselves with the new leaders. Even then they were not satisfied, for their thirst for power and the filthy lucre was unending and continues to be so.
Over the years and decades, on account of the naivety of the political leaders, the bureaucrats have made themselves indispensable to the political leaders. Without going into any detailed explanations, it is quite obvious that the elected representatives of the people have steadily abrogated their responsibilities to the bureaucrats.
At Independence, the Indian Military had firmly believed that the new dispensation would be as fair as the last one, if not better, and the ‘System’ would take care of their concerns and aspirations, without their kowtowing to the new political leadership. Sadly, the bureaucracy did just the opposite and ingratiated themselves with the new leaders. Even then they were not satisfied, for their thirst for power and the filthy lucre was unending and continues to be so.
Over the years and decades, on account of the naivety of the political leaders, the bureaucrats have made themselves indispensable to the political leaders. Without going into any detailed explanations, it is quite obvious that the elected representatives of the people have steadily abrogated their responsibilities to the bureaucrats.
In the Fifth and Sixth Pay Commissions, their
greed had reached new heights and the military, though extremely angry, again
controlled itself and accepted the downgrading, though there was an obvious
fall in morale. Again, instead of taking cognizance of it, as also the loyalty
and incredible sacrifices of the armed forces and meeting their concerns, the
various governments, including the present one, continued delaying the
‘anomalies’ on one pretext or the other.
With this background, it is no wonder that
the three Chiefs have taken a very wise decision not to implement the heavily
skewed dispensation between the military on the one hand and every other branch
of government employees, from IAS, IFS, IPS and the so-called other Allied
Class I Services to the other. The three Chiefs’ need to be congratulated for
taking a principled stand against an unjust award, and doing so in such a
mature and balanced manner.
It is the paramount duty of all military commanders to get the best for their commands and now the Chief’s have done so. I have no doubt that they would now be offered blandishments of all types, like more committees; ministerial interventions and even subtle threats, not to mention the usual ‘how much the nation needs you’ kind of words! They must desist and not fall for such ploys.
It is the paramount duty of all military commanders to get the best for their commands and now the Chief’s have done so. I have no doubt that they would now be offered blandishments of all types, like more committees; ministerial interventions and even subtle threats, not to mention the usual ‘how much the nation needs you’ kind of words! They must desist and not fall for such ploys.
The Indian Army has been engaged in active
operations on a sustained basis, since Independence, with only short periods of
peace. These challenges have helped the Army to earn a formidable reputation of
a force that delivers, usually against heavy odds. It will continue to fight
the nation’s wars and conflicts, giving its best, but the nation must also
support it to the maximum extent, meet its aspirations and restore its “izzat”,
besides alleviating its concerns and misgivings.
Let me end by once again drawing the attention
of our political leaders to the oft-quoted words of Chanakya; “The day a
soldier has to demand his dues, is truly a sad day in the history of the
nation”.
(The writer is a former Vice Chief of Army Staff)
(The writer is a former Vice Chief of Army Staff)
(Source- Via Gp e-mail from A Sundar Rajan Vet)
http://www.thecitizen.in/
http://www.thecitizen.in/
dear ex vice chief of the army,
ReplyDeleteplease advise them to put the resignation papers before parrikar and pass on the matter to all army commander to lay down their offices, that is the only way to handle this injustice
let modi, rajnath and parikkar guard the border
you all three chiefs are cowards first the country that we are looking after next the welfare of men serving under you third comes your comforts and welfare
Respected GEN OBEROI SAHIB THE GOVT is collection of deaf and dumb if not blind.many time earlier,your quotation of CHANNALYAs have never been heared too.now the option with chiefs is either to surrender or to resigns .first option shall not be in the dictionary of the GEN/CHIEFS .may be subject to discreditably,second one surely a journey towards goodwill of million.
ReplyDeleteAm proud for stand taken by chiefs
ReplyDeleteHow I wish that wonderful article should have been put in the "Print media" so that mosst citizen know, how badly the military is treated & also the warning signals coming from the patriots Lt Gen. Hope better sense will prevail at the powers that be & the matter settled amicably. HFO BL Kalra
ReplyDeletehail, former vice Chief of staf, Sir, we the ex-servicemen and the servicemen are proud of you for having told the Govt. that is captive in the hands of Bureaucrats or are the ones who listen to only those who can strike work and since that is not the way we the Defence personnel have been they do gtake us for granted. It is Modi this Govt.'s head who spent his first Diwali on Siachin lauding the soldiers there and everywhere else that 125 crores of citizen go to sleep in peace because you keep vigil. Veterans were sitting on Dharna then perhaps more than a year which is stones throw away distance from PM's house he did not go there. We have a General the former Chief of Staff (Retd) a minister in Modi Govt. has kept mum and proved his disloyalty to the solders who with their lives gave the name that hea had earned. Let us take this occasion of rejecting the 7th Pay commission by the three Chiefs and call upon Gen. VK Singh(Rtd) to resign as a mark of protest from Modi Govt. We feel proud of you and we for once in lives feel not let down.
ReplyDelete