Response to Shekhar Gupta's "Our Harmed Forces"

Dear Mr Shekhar Gupta, you are right. But there are lots of “buts”...
Reference extracted
Quote — talk either grand strategy, modernisation, or unveil a vision for the military? You could go right back to the mid-’80s and may discover that the last time you heard such genuinely military talk was when General Sundarji took over and, by a happy coincidence we had already, in Admiral Tahiliani, a visionary chief of the navy. The air force then had many combat veterans of the 1965-71 vintage at top levels and together the three forces inducted new weapon systems, wrote new doctrines and built confidence, morale and, above all, the sense of dash, adventure and excitement that attracts the finest young people to join the forces. Unquote
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There is no last man standing. Except in the days of OP Malhotra, Pereira, & Latif, when they traveled in same Ambassador Car, the days of Amar, Akbar, Anthony. Cherish it.

Only Sundarji came close to this. I was Navy Advisor in Islamabad , when this gem of General visited there in 1993. Gen Asif Nawaz, a polished Pak Chief, broke the protocol, picked up Sundarji from Wagah, and flew him in Army house in Pindi for a dinner and introduction to his waiting generals. Please read the value of Sundarji here. Sundarji attended public functions in Marriott, Track-II process, in high commissioner Mr. Lambah's residence, the entire Pak ex 2,3,4 stars wanted to see, touch him. General Mirza Aslam Beg was also there. No body argued with Sundarji, he was heard. One way traffic. They wanted to see The Chanakya, the most unpredictable mercurial leader from India , a real game changer. I remember faces of those around the general.

Also when we spoke out recently, I had heard Pardeep Naik, PC Barbora, Deepak Kapoor : the liners looked mediocre. If General Kler could be cashiered for DCB 40 years ago, why not an encore by the Army Chief ? This is what Shankar Roychowdhury opined too. Go clean, fast deep surgery.

There was no need of these orations as they do not match the stature & occasion. As some of our peers are 3 stars today, is there any one who can crack the whip ? So finally it is us, we the real people, real names, real associates, as we grew, we became the system, ossified.

It fills with remorse, that a few who had a moderate, articulate, cerebral assertion & looked at national security and their legitimate place & voice, are living quietly in Dehradun, the nation has overlooked them. They are needed sunshine for the nation, ie Arun Prakash. It is for this reason Faggy Mehta fought in a manner, which was of desperation & not his style. He cannot be faulted. And why soldiers should not ask for the parity in pay, when MPs can revise the same for themselves, with less than 30% of the quorum in the parliament ?

Till today I remember Viraat, 1985-86, flying operations, Rajiv Gandhi was arriving to see the fire power demo, Chakra had been inducted, we had all 3 chiefs, Tahiliyani, La Fontaine, & Sundarji, Arun Singh on board.

Rajiv was ferried in to carrier, flown in a Sea King, where the squadron cdr, being a Sikh, a fine, genial gentleman, was overlooked and the privilege was passed on to the deputy. He was with me in the flyco, very quiet, very somber. Whom we will blame for this? Media? Raksha Mantriji? Yes the blame is with us.

My fear is, if the soldierly chiefs like Vijay Singh Shekhawat & Madhvendra Singh could not win, if Vishnu Bhagwat was murdered in office, there is little other soldiers can do. We are not taught to kill the enemy within. We are groomed to look for external threats. When in 1984, for Republic Day Parade, from AF Hakimpet, FLt Ahluwalia, a sikh and self (a navy pilot) , were asked to go to Hindon, to provide air cover in case there is an outage on Rajpath, I am sure both of us would chosen court martial, jail, rather than fire our 20 mm canons and create immense collateral damage that is not a part of our psyche.

Indian Military Leadership. It is above doubts and discussion. In Sri Lanka, Kashmir, our causality ratio of officers and Jawans is approx 1:8. As I stood before the War Memorial in Abbotabad, and PMA Kakul, I could see the same for Pak army as 1:25. Once in awhile an officer’s name will appear in the list. When silently this was pointed out to the British and German defense attaché’, they nodded the affirmation.

I want to know: Is this the power of democracy? Is there a difference between political and bureaucratic control? Are 60 years enough to grasp this? Do the politicians know their job so that they can handle the bureaucrats? British MPs still have not learnt their job yet in 200 years. Watch "Yes Minster".
Vice Admiral Anil Chopra

Our Harmed Forces by Shekhar Gupta of IE