Adarsh Society Scam is peanuts compared to CWG Scam

Civil Society- Please Spare another thought for India
The Adarsh Society Scam has indeed highlighted the fact that all is not well with the top hierarchy of the Indian Armed Forces. We have seen it from within, building up over the last three decades or more. Defence services officers have traditionally been brought up on an all-pervading ethos of honour and forthrightness. They have proven to be democratic and apolitical; in fact, as haters of politicians and politics. Then why is this cancer of political sycophancy and self-interest above service, spreading?

As an insider, let me suggest that these values or lack of them have been induced from outside. Any student of human psychology will know that honourable behaviour is encouraged by according honour in a demonstrated fashion. If you fail to honour someone deserving of it, he will gradually loose the motivation to be honourable. The principle applies at both individual and establishment levels. Look what has happened. The defence forces have been systematically, deliberately and consistently degraded since India became a republic, both in terms of social standing and economic well-being. The General or the Colonel is, today, a small man, barely at par with a Joint Secretary or Joint Director, on paper and much below in practice. Where is the incentive for him to feed the stomach and ego on the adrenalin of honour, uprightness and forthrightness? These values no longer help him rise to General Rank. Yesman-ship, to conniving bureaucrats and politicians, do. These two ruling elite classes have snatched his sense of pride and honour. You belittle a man and then blame him for not remaining great. Nature ensures that you reap as you sow. Thank God that the rot is not very widespread or deep. Middle and Junior level officers and soldiers have still not been subsumed. Black sheep need to be identified and dealt with.

Another and perhaps a more important point to be noted is that inspite of everything, the armed forces, largely and parts of higher judiciary, today, remain the only institutions that give hope to democracy and probity. Polity, Bureaucracy and police have already bitten dust in unanimous public opinion. Our Media and press have little credibility and do not inspire any degree of confidence as far as their nationalistic credentials are concerned. Can India afford to also take the defence forces and Judiciary down along with the executive, legislative and the media - wings of state? There is reason to be wary of the ongoing campaign, howsoever couched in phrases of righteousness, democratic rights and governance concerns. One wonders what the real agenda of Times Now and others in their league could be. If Arnabs had their way, they would like plans for the defence of India to be put to public scrutiny through their channels. We need to watch out for the possibility of India being thus de stabilized. The result could well be catastrophic.
Awareness and Concern on the part of Civil Society was never as important as it is today.
Brig R S Chhikara, Veteran

Adarsh Housing Scam - The Distortions
It is a canard to say that war widows have been cheated by the top brass of the Army and the sister services in the Adarsh Housing scam. Neither their rights nor their welfare have been affected by the scamsters, in the way it is being played up by the media and interested parties.

From the very beginning the scam envisaged that in the "name" of war widows a society would be floated on prime defence land in Colaba to rake in hundreds of crores by the scamsters and those roped in later. To protect themselves the enterprising prime movers, i.e., the then Sub Area Commander, the DEO and a few others, with the blessing of the M&G Area Commander initiated the scam. To cover themselves over the years the Maharashtra government at the level of Chief Minister and others were brought in as well, as were the two Army chiefs and a Navy chief; and many other high ranking officers and officials, both civil and military. A 31-storey building ensured that there was enough to accomodate dozens of people who could have let the cat out of the bag or objected or exposed the scam. Pure greed which is now the norm in the money-making society that rules India took over and caution was thrown to the winds because at the Centre and the State(s) everybody was looting with impunity. Hundreds and thousands of crores at a time, billions if you look at the CWG scam. So a few crores each was peanuts compared to what the very highest level operatives in the Centre and States were doing.

The point being highlighting is that war widows were NEVER going to be a part of it. A few flats may have gone their way as a token. Therefore, the cry that war widows have been done out of their benefits is essentially incorrect. It has distorted the picture in the public mind and brought a bad name to the Army. The media MUST realise that welfare schemes being run by the Army and the formations are "very much intact" and the Army, at "all" levels goes out of its way, down to "every" unit commander and junior officer, to do "everything" within 'their' power to help the families of their fallen comrades. This was 'always' the case and 'continues' to be so. Nobody need tell the Army what their duty is to the war widows, because it is being discharged most diligently by practically all formations and units. Again there may be the odd black sheep, there always is. Such a one is the exception and not the rule. Hence it is not as if food has been taken out of the mouths of babes.

This clarification is very important because the way the media has gone about it has created a wrong impression in the minds of the public, the ex-servicemen and the rank and file. Nothing could be further from the truth. The distortion, if allowed to continue will create schism between the officers and their men. Even the higher level army officers caught in the scam have done their best for their men and war widows when they were unit and formation commanders. The scam at the top is an altogether different affair that CANNOT be condoned, but the misrepresentation has to be checked.

Similarly, the Army Chief has given a public assurance that the guilty will be brought to book, those that is, that can be dealt with by the Army. Evidently, the process of establishing guilt cannot be short-circuited because the courts will throw the case out if due diligence has not been carried out and the case becomes weak due to indecent haste. Six to eight months is the normal time frame for final action. In some cases, where the evidence is watertight justice can be meted out in about 100 days.

What the media must ensure is that following the example set by the Army Chief, it behoves the government at the highest levels to ensure that CWG and other scamsters are also brought to book at the 'highest levels' with equal sincerity and despatch. Evidently, this is a very tall order. It is not going to happen. The bottom feeders will be prosecuted, the 'top' feeders at the very apex of the food chain, who have siphoned off billions of dollars over the years and have actually battened and fattened on India's poor are again going to escape, their loot safely deposited in assets overseas that cannot be traced. These 'topmost' feeders in the food chain have corrupted and rendered ineffective every investigative agency, thereby ensuring that they can never be brought to book; and in the process comprehensively undermining national security.

The frenzy and exuberance shown by the media in pursuing the guilty in the Adarsh housing scam - a very laudable exercise indeed - must be redoubled for the bigger CWG scam that brought shame to the entire nation and witnessed corruption on a scale not conceivable earlier. They must not let up till the guilty at the very top are made to pay the price for the national disgrace and the loot. In Japan even prime ministers have gone to prison on account of corruption. In Washington the topmost guilty perons have not been spared by the courts. In The Netherlands, Prince Bernhard, the Dutch Queen's consort was accused of accepting 5 million dollars in the Lockheed scandal. He was a very respected figure in his country and Honorary Colonel in the armed forces who presided over national level military functions. After the scandal became public he was stripped of his army uniform and never gain allowed to preside over armed forces functions. In India the CWG case is a test case, which the whole nation is watching. The media cannot afford to slack off or be side-tracked.
vinod saighal (Maj Gen Vinod Saighal)
Convenor MRGG & Trustee NNFI
New Delhi

Adarsh scam sullying Army image, says Rajeev Chandrasekhar, MP
Greetings.
Worried at the attempts to sully the fair name of the Indian Army and Defence Personnel in the Adarsh Flats scam, Mr. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Member of Parliament, has written to Defence Minister Mr. A. K. Antony statiing that the wrong acts of few should not be allowed to sully the image of the Armed Forces and take the focus away from the service and sacrifices of the Armed Forces personnel.

Mr. Chandrasekhar urged the Defence Minister to immediately order a high level probe to enquire and determine the truth about the involvement of Officers from the Armed Forces and take stringent action against the guilty.

I am providing the link to Mr. Chandrasekhar’s letter for your information and reading: Letter to RM- Adarsh Scam
Warm Regards,
V.Anand
Principal- Public Affairs,
Office of Rajeev Chandrasekhar,
Member of Parliament