Bribe row: Army chief targeted for not toeing govt line, says Team Anna

Bribe row: Army chief targeted for not toeing govt line, says Team Anna
Published: Thursday, Mar 29, 2012, 18:22 IST
Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI
Team Anna on Thursday extended full support to Army Chief VK Singh, alleging that he was targeted for not "toeing" the government line on issues.
Activist Arvind Kejriwal alleged government has killed almost every institution by "planting its loyals".
"Those who refuse to toe govt line, like army chief and CAG, are targeted. We fully support army chief's struggle. We are proud of him," Kejriwal wrote on micro-blogging site 'Twitter'.
He said government appeared to be at war with the armed forces and the people of India.
Referring to the remarks against the army chief, he said, "Politicians, rather than discussing precarious security preparedness of India, are playing politics."
Another Team Anna member Kiran Bedi said it appeared that the Army Chief was surrounded by "senior officials with doubtful integrity".
"Had evidence but did not know how to fix it? Now he has! Laws of nature work when nothing else does. Trust in nature. Those riding on corruption and abuse of power will see their end sooner than later," she tweeted.
The comments came following Singh's remarks about him being offered a Rs14 crore bribe by a lobbyist to clear the sale of a tranche of 600 'substandard' Tatra trucks for the Army and his letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh giving a grim picture of the country's military preparedness.
Bribe row: Army chief targeted for not toeing govt line, says Team Anna

Gen VK Singh is a hero for fighting the Enemy Within
by Venky Vembu Mar 29, 2012
For sure, Gen VK Singh has gone rogue. But I say: more power to you, Gen Singh. Even if, as some have suggested, you are doing it only for megalomaniacal reasons — or out of a sense of pettiness. Even though I can’t quite understand why you waited until now to say these things, I’m just plain glad you are saying them at least now.

Any self-respecting civilian government or military force or civil society ought to be celebrating Gen VK Singh for being a true warrior and taking on the Enemy Within. The problems that he highlights are our collective problems. Those problems have turned us into a banana republic far more than anything Gen Singh has done in severing the cosy, comfortable, clubby relationship between the military and the civilian administration.

If what it takes to get us even talk about the colossal mess we are in is for him to shake the government and our civil society out of our stupor, more power to you, Gen Singh.
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