AFTER FIFTY YEARS
THERE IS
"NO COUNTRY "
IT IS EITHER
"UPA RAJ RAJ "
OR
" NDA RAJ "
DEKH KIA HAL HO GIYA
BHARAT MATA
KE JAWAN KA
http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/time-to-mend-the-broken-civil-military-ties/142603.html
Posted at: Oct 7 2015 12:55AMBrijesh D. Jayal
Time To Mend the Broken Civil-Military Ties
The trust deficit between the government and the veterans is evident. Even after an announcement by the Defence Minister of acceptance of OROP, veterans are continuing their protest at Jantar Mantar. Civilians are now more aware of their problems.
THE present low point in the history of civil-military relations does not have its origins only in the unfulfilled promises made by successive administrations to deliver on the principle of “one rank one pension.” An uncaring political executive has, for four decades, systematically downgraded the armed forces both in pay and status.
The entire world now watches the spectacle of veterans of the largest democracy on the streets. Just when one thought that we had reached rock bottom in civil-military relations, there was the unholy sight of police attempting force to evict veterans.
To a society that is used to taking its armed forces for granted, a Parliament that takes little interest and a polity that has outsourced the task of handling the armed forces to the bureaucracy, this minor episode may be just an irritant. But to those for whom izzat is more precious than life, this one image has left a deep scar and may come to haunt the nation some day, unless wiser counsels prevail.
That this unholy spectacle has been allowed to fester for over three months has also seen the veteran leadership begin to appear louder, shriller and regrettably more inflexible. Viewers were being told that it is not about money but izzat, about wars fought and sacrifices made. To see distinguished veterans reduced to pleading to be treated with honour is deeply saddening, since honour can never be got by beseeching. The reality is that not many people really care and by sounding like budding netas, the veteran leadership is hurting its own cause and, by extension, of those serving. They need to pause and reflect.
If there is one silver lining to the entire OROP saga, it is that for the first time there is far greater awareness of the armed forces among civilians and many want to learn more. In a study of suicides in the US armed forces (a phenomenon seriously plaguing our own), authors Mastroianni and Scott make the point that civilian control over the military means that each member of society is ultimately responsible to what happens to its military members.
They conclude that “Not asking questions that may yield uncomfortable answers would amount to breaking faith with those who have sacrificed immeasurably more in our name”. So, today if many of our citizens are asking questions and seeking answers, it is a welcome change and we owe it to them to provide some uncomfortable answers.
A historical background will put the present context within the larger perspective of civil-military relations in the country. It was the towering personality of India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that set the stage for civil-military relations in India as they have evolved. Srinath Raghavan in a paper, “Soldiers, Statesman and Strategy,” states that these were shaped by Nehru's understanding of the pernicious effects of militarism in Europe and Japan.
The humiliation that the Indian armed forces suffered in the 1962 conflict with China was the result of political interference in matters of military domain, the high-handedness of the bureaucracy with no domain knowledge and co-opting ambitious senior commanders into a political game plan. Yet we learn from Neville Maxwell's book, India's China War that after this, Nehru in his letter to Bertrand Russell still refers to “The danger of the mentality spreading in India and the power of the Army increasing”. That even a national military humiliation did not move a statesman of Nehru's stature to appreciate the damage being caused to national security by a trust deficit being promoted in civil-military relations by a political executive fearful of an imaginary overbearing military, speaks of the deep-rooted schism that we see in civil-military relations today. In weeks preceding these unfortunate happenings, nations inimical to our security were not just watching, but drawing their own conclusions. China celebrated the 70th anniversary of its victory over Japan by holding an unprecedented military parade where their latest and most sophisticated weapon systems and arsenal of nuclear ballistic missile capability were on display.
This was aimed to convey a message to neighbours, the US and other world powers. Pakistan Defence Minister Khwaja Asif, on the other hand, perhaps enjoying the spectacle playing out in Jantar Mantar, could not resist the temptation of first provoking India and warning that the option of using nuclear weapons was always open to Pakistan and then following some weeks later saying that Pakistan was ready for a short or long conflict and will inflict heavy losses on India in such a situation.
The Pakistan army chief soon followed stating that Kashmir was their unfinished agenda. The civil society in general and the government of the day in particular need to ask why a vibrant democracy, with a thoroughly professional and apolitical military, has ended up with a completely broken civil-military relationship. To them, one can only suggest the setting up of a Blue Ribbon Commission to look at the entire spectrum of this challenging subject. We need to enable the largest democracy to set up its own unique model of harmonious civil-military relations.
The writer, a retired Air Marshal of the Indian Air Force, served as the AOC-in-C, Eastern Air Command.
IT IS TOO LATE NOW AIR MARSHAL
PLEASE POINT OUT A SINGLE RECONCILIATORY GESTURE MADE BY BUREAUCRACY
THEY DON'T HAVE TO
THEY DON'T NEED ARMED FORCES
ONE NEEDS TWO HANDS FOR HAND SHAKE
&
IN ORIENTAL SOCIETY ONE DOES'NT SHAKE HANDS WITH UNEQUALS
AIR MARSHAL
LIKE IT OR NOT
REALITY ON GROUND IS ARMED FORCES ARE CHILDREN OF A LESSER 'GOD'
GAUGE THE ANGER IN THE HEART OF A SOLDIER
बाबू तेरा हाल ऐसा करुंगा
के तू मौत मांगेगा , में तुजे मौत नाही दुंगातुजेह प्रिथवी पर हि जहानत दिखाऊ गा ,
में तुझे दस गोळी का गुलाम बना देखू गा
देख बाबू तेरहा हाल
[ http://safeshare.tv/w/zJMqpUHAel ]
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
BABU & SOLDIER
IS JUST LIKE A RAILWAY LINE.
BOTH ARE BONDED
BY
SLIPPERS TILL INFINITY
BUT
IT IS NAY TO IMPOSSIBLE
FOR
BOTH TO MERGE TOGETHER
SAYING IN ARMED FORCES
'EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY'
TODAY IT IS HIS
TOMORROW
IT WILL BE SOLDIERS
JAI HIND
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