Fake Encounters haunt the Army

Army forcing us to withdraw case against Gen Bikram Singh: NGO
Harinder Baweja, Hindustan Times
Srinagar, October 05, 2012
The army has been accused of putting pressure on the civil society in Kashmir to withdraw a PIL against its chief, General Bikram Singh.
YES Kashmir, an NGO, had approached the Jammu and Kashmir high court in October last year to raise the issue of an encounter that occurred in Janglat Mandi, Anantnag, in March 2001.
In the clash, Singh — then a brigadier posted in the Valley — suffered gunshot wounds while two army officials lost their lives.
According to the police, an alleged militant dressed as a beggar had approached Singh and opened fire. In the battle that ensued, the militant was killed.
The PIL, however, questions the police theory. A family had come forward in October 2011, claiming that it was their son Abdullah Bhat, an innocent bystander, who had been killed.
The timing of the PIL was questioned in military circles, with many seeing it as an attempt to narrow down Singh’s chances of becoming the army chief.
Soon after Singh took over as the chief of army staff, NGO head Khurshid Ahmed Mir approached the court once again and — in a sworn affidavit — claimed that the force was pressurising him.
Mir has now alleged in the affidavit that “officers of Sector–1 RR are pressurising me to help them withdraw the case by influencing relatives and the counsel for the petitioners… Since the case has turned out to be a high-profile one, I feel insecure in the hands of the army. They are repeatedly putting pressure on me, and can harm me and my family.”
The police had then closed the case, saying the beggar was actually Mateen Chacha — a Pakistan-trained Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist.
They are now refusing to produce a photograph of the ‘beggar’ or identify his grave, demands that the family has made through the PIL.
The board of officers inquiring into the funding of the controversial intelligence unit, constituted by former army chief Gen VK Singh, is now probing possible links between the ‘snoop unit’ and the NGO.
The inquiry notwithstanding, the petition can be embarrassing for the chief as well as the government, particularly if the court orders an investigation into the ‘fake encounter.’ The army declined to comment on the grounds that the inquiry was still on.
>Army forcing us to withdraw case against Gen Bikram Singh: NGO Comment: Fake Encounters and Gallantry Awards was a sure sign of Career Success for many Senior Officers. This short cut was fine tuned by AHQ from 1995 to 2007. When busted the reactions are for a cover up by all means... The AHQ CoI is waste of time. The Army is not designed for IS duties or Anti Insurgency ops. The designed role is only COMBAT- defensive and offensive.

New Chief and the Challenges

Saturday, May 26, 2012
Of Matters Military: New Chief and the Challenges
by Major General Mrinal Suman
Human memory may be short but institutional memory is eternal and highly sensitive to all issues that affect its health and standing. Therefore, institutional history is most unforgiving and never condones any act of transgression that brings disrepute to its character. Indian army as an institution is proud of its non-partisan disposition and well-evolved merit-based promotion system.
Devious tweaking of the system by a parochial Chief to ensure elevation of his protégé will always be remembered as a black episode in the history of the Indian army. In a hierarchy based organisation like the army, such transgressions have a complex cascading effect – the complete line of succession for higher ranks has been distorted. Many deserving officers have got left out.
End of May 2012 will see a change of guard at the apex of the Indian army. Assumption of the appointment by the Chief-designate will mark the triumph of parochialism over justice. Therefore, he will have to carry the burden of an acute guilt-complex. He knows that the environment is aware of the manipulations that facilitated his rise – the current incumbent has been deceitfully deprived of his full tenure and the careers of many brilliant officers who could have posed a challenge to his advancement were ruthlessly ruined.
To be trusted is the greatest compliment that a leader can earn. It flourishes on the credibility that a leader enjoys in his command. On the other hand, partisanship is an impropriety of the worst kind and erodes credibility of leaders and undermines their standing in the eyes of the led. Being a beneficiary of partisan dispensation, the new Chief will have to work hard to prove his impartial credentials. One wonders as to how he would muster moral courage to exhort troops to trust the organisation and have faith in the justness of the system. For a military leader, it is the most unenviable situation to be in.
Additionally, the new incumbent will be hard pressed to put up with many disconcerting situations. How will he face the outgoing Chief to accept the baton? Similarly, having usurped the appointment that should have rightfully gone to the Northern Army Commander, it will be tough for him to interact with him.
The present Chief will be going out on a moral high. Despite a massive slander campaign launched by the purchased media and some inimical elements, his reputation as an incorruptible leader and a professionally upright commander remains intact. Having faced the wrath of a corrupt, manipulated and prejudiced environment, he will be long remembered for his attempts at cleansing the system. The new Chief will have to contend with his predecessor’s unblemished reputation and live up to it.
Two serious cases are pending finalisation. A writ petition is pending in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court seeking an enquiry into his alleged involvement in a fake encounter that resulted in the death of an innocent person. He is also being accused of command failure during his tenure with the UN peacekeeping force in Congo and a court of enquiry is in progress. Conviction under either of the cases will make his position untenable.
Finally, one wonders if it has ever crossed the mind of the Chief-designate that it would have been far more honorable to retire as an upright Army Commander than to become the Chief through questionable means. History will never forget the conspiracy and the subterfuge that facilitated his elevation – turning the national motto ‘Satyamev Jayate’ on its head. It should never be forgotten that when history judges key players in retrospect, it is always unsparing and ruthless in exposing their misdemeanors.
New Chief and the Challenges
Major General Mrinal Suman
A highly qualified and experienced officer, General Suman commanded an Engineer Regiment in the Siachen Glacier area and was awarded the gold medal for being ‘the most outstanding engineer of the year’. He was the Task Force Commander at Pokharan and was responsible for designing and sinking shafts for the nuclear tests, for which he was duly honoured by the President of India. He superannuated in 2003. He heads Defence Technical Assessment and Advisory Service of CII and has also been directing their much acclaimed Defence Acquisition Management Courses, both in India and abroad. Being the first Technical Manager [Land Systems], he was closely associated with the evolution of the new defence procurement mechanism. Today, he is considered to be India’s foremost expert on myriad aspects of India’s defence procurement regime and offsets. He is a prolific writer and his articles are regularly published in a large number of journals. He is regularly invited to address various chambers, industrial delegations and seminars in India and abroad. He is often consulted by the policy makers. His views are also sought by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence.

Indian Army: Inflated Annual Confidential Reports creates sycophancy

Curbing Inflated ACRs
The curse of inflated ACRs is the bane of the Army. This need to be checked by simply following the laws of averages where in any organisation there are very few outstanding persons and equally few below average persons. The bulk is in the average category. The Air Force and the Navy follow a very sound ACR system in which the inflation of the ACRs is negligible as compared to the army. In these services due weightage is given to the technical acumen of an individual unlike in the army, where organisation of a non professional event, like a sports event or a dinner party, has an over riding bearing on one’s career prospects. If a person is a good flyer in Air Force or a good technician in the Navy he gets his due. On the other hand in the army a prestigious DSSC Wellington graduate (psc), is also judged for his event management skills which are of no professional consequence. A 9 pointer ACR should be as rare as a PVC or a PVSM. The bulk of the Indian army officers should find satisfaction in 5 or 6 pointer ACRs with bright ones getting an odd ‘7 pointer’. An ‘8 pointer’ should be personally judged by two levels up and if deemed otherwise by the RO or the SRO, it should negatively reflect on the poor judgment of the IO. This will not only reduce the rat race but will also show some logic in the reporting system. Further more for those persons who are actually outstanding, there will be lesser competitions from other officers who are actually average but graded higher than what they deserve. The ACR form should also have a column to indicate whether the Reporting Officer is a good judge of his command or not. Our ACR system is the root cause of all the ills in the army. Earlier it is corrected the better.
Brig Harwant Singh(Retd)
Read the full article
ACRs in the Army: click here

ACR- Stab in the Back?
1. He has done his job well and has produced results. Has done various courses including the prestigious ones on competitive basis. Has held various important appointments. Has, may be, an award or a decoration.
2. His superiors find nothing wrong with him, indeed, find him good and recommend him for his next promotion.
3. One day he is told that he is not suitable for promotion. And this has been decided by a bunch that doesn’t know him, has never seen him, find nothing wrong with him and yet he bites the dust. Hasn’t he been stabbed in the back? (He is, of course, an officer of the Indian Army!)
To Be Objective or Not To Be
1. What you write in an ACR must be objective and never subjective. Very sound advice! All those who write ACRs know this. They also know that if one is to get his promotion (that is the “objective” in other words), he must be given a 8 point if not a 9 point report. Only then he has a fair chance. Anything less, he is doomed.
2. If you want to punish one, give him 7 points. He has to be recommended for promotion, as that is the rule. But he will never make it, and knows it. He can’t complain as he is above average and can’t support a claim for a better grading. He can neither smile nor weep.
3. Isn’t the IO being really ‘objective’ when he gives 8 or 9 points? Well, mustn’t he ensure that he attains his objective? So, why all this fuss about a large number of officers getting 8 and 9 points? Hasn’t the situation been made to order?
Col BN Ratha(Retd)
04 Jun 10

Moderator Comment
Armies in which promotions depend on personal prejudices, rather than dispassionate assessments of professional capability, will see poor quality leadership rise to the top. "There are many senior military officers who surround themselves with career opportunists. This is in part because they invariably begin to believe the sycophants who gather around him." How can such senior officers as IO, RO and SRO write a fair objective ACR of their juniors?

The ACRs and Medical Reports do not generally represent the true picture of the Officer especially from rank of Brigs to Lt Gens as all are branded "High Profile" (9 pointer). The Medical Standards need to be made more stringent to knock out the flab. Very few Generals can pass the mandatory physical standards as no tests are conducted for their physical fitness assessment. Fifty percent or so of the Generals are medically unfit but due to their superior rank and sphere of influence they retain SHAPE One category till retirement and most of them aspire to serve and retire in and around Delhi having developed local interests, as per statistics.

General problem in Army

If the land scam was not trouble enough for Army Chief Gen Deepak Kapoor, it seems he is facing problems from among the top brass itself. At the heart of the matter is a crucial promotion board that will decide which officers would make it to the highest rank of Lt Gen. Besides the fact that the member secretary of the board is Lt Gen Avadhesh Prakash, who is under the scanner in the land scam case, it is learnt that as many as three army commanders have sent their objections to the board in writing. The argument being that the board should be held after the January 26 gallantry awards are announced as that may alter career profiles. However with the board expected to kick off on December 7, it seems sparks will fly when the top brass meets.
General problem in Army
Is upgradation of ranks leading to degradation of Command and Control?
Ajai Vikram Singh Committee Recomendations Implemented

Confusion Confounded Dreamer's Club

Date: 07 Jan 2008
Promotions in Army
Arun Sinha's Dream:
In the other central govt job promotion is firm and fair as they have been able to manage their cadre. Why Army is not able to manage its cadre? There is a large percentage of offrs weeded out at Lt Col and thereby their utilisation is not at all there. If you see in other central govt like IPS after 15 yrs everyone is DIG. It gives very poor impression about army.
It is also pertinent to mention that promotion in army is based on ACR which is earned by doing dignified slavery to IO and RO. If somebody talks about rules and regulations and moral value, he is fixed in ACR thereby he loses promotions. Today actually army is flourishing on ceremonial values mixed with corruption called privileges in army parlance. If you oppose it you are fixed.
Its high time army wakes up and do something about its cadres.

Chief's Response:
AWHO is a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act XXI of 1860 and provides dwelling units on self financing scheme to serving /retired army personnel and their widows on "No profit No Loss" basis. Most of the work of AWHO is already outsourced to architects and contractors. The number of dwelling units built by AWHO at any time depends on availability of land and demand at a particular station. AWHO indeed is a facilitator, an enabler and user friendly. Check it out for yourself by logging on to www.awhosena.org. As suggested to provide 30,000 dwelling units per year, the cost would be roughly Rs 10,000 crores per year of projects, which is a figure even the big builders/developers/MES cannot handle.

My Dream muddled with Arun Sinha's Dream. Please visit:
Interact with Chief: Dreamers Club
Comments
AWHO is a vast organisation catering for housing to benefit a few. We do not get to know who are allotted houses year wise from its inception till date, from the website. What is the organisation cost? The audited accounts are not easily discernible in the web pages. The Society Act clearly emphasises the organisational costs should not exceed 15%. Are society act norms kept up to its true spirit?