Your editorial was unexpected and way off the mark. It is based on misinformation and shows poor understanding of the military functioning. You have castigated Admiral Mehta wrongly for the letter and failed to write who is responsible for the 6th CPC mess (despite warnings) and why the Naval Chief wrote this letter to his command.
The letter has nothing to do with mild mannered Defence Minister A K Antony. And where is the defiance? Do you believe the Government would have appointed the Ministers' Committee if the Service Chiefs had not raised this issue so strongly in the interest of the welfare and morale of their subordinates? Your views will contribute further to the resentment amongst serving and retired armed forces personnel.
Yours sincerely,
V P Malik
General (Retd)
Former Chief of Army Staff
Dear Sir,
Reference your editorial on Admiral Sureesh Mehta's letter on 30 September 2008.
It is so easy for anyone in this country to chide service chiefs – politicians, bureaucrats, judiciary and the scribes. They all form the four pillars of Indian democracy. But they forget that India's armed forces are the bedrock on which stand those four pillars.
Had the so called 'institutional mechanisms', referred to in your editorial Uncalled for Defiance, been in place and functional the service chiefs would not have been pushed into acting in so uncharacteristic a manner. They and two million ex servicemen have been crying hoarse about injustice perpetuated on soldiers, for some decades now. Had 'institutional mechanisms' been in place:
Instead of 'institutional mechanisms' (an all IAS Secretary's Committee) working towards removing anomalies, it compounded the issue further by creating new anomalies, of the most dishonourable variety. This very act of the 'secretaries', though fully anticipated by all soldiers - serving and retired - pushed them to act in the larger interest of their service; it is their duty to ensure safety and welfare of the men they command. The only other alternative left to them was to resign before implementation and execution of a seemingly wrong government diktat. It is time that politicians did their job, i.e. provide leadership.
Institutionalised mechanisms are not meant replace leadership. The widest perception in the country is that Indian bureaucracy has only one agenda– perpetuating bureaucratic power; after all politicians come and go. Indian bureaucrat is seen as out of Indian politician's control. Political leadership is seen as having subordinated itself to bureaucratic manipulation and mechanisms. This is the stark ground reality and needs urgent correction, for the sake of the nation and not just the armed forces.
There is a definite need for our politicians, bureaucrats, judiciary and scribes to study and understand military ethics and what goes into serving in the military. Then and then only they might realize the difference between acting in the larger interest of the service and willful defiance of orders. After all Hitler's order to exterminate Jews too had the government stamp but generals and soldiers who executed that order, forgetting military ethics, were tried as criminals against humanity. Admiral Sureesh Mehta has committed no offence. The Admiral has acted as per ethic- dictates of the military. If the government, in its wisdom, imposes punishment on this eminent soldier sailor, then so be it. After all there is always a price to pay for upholding truth and duty. That is what soldiering is all about.
Maj Gen (Retd) K Khorana
Uncalled for defiance: Admiral Mehta’s conduct inexcusable
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