Misuse of Military Uniforms

Do you agree that unauthorized wearing and misuse of Army Uniform is a big evil and promotes militancy?
AWFUL MISUSE AND HUMILIATION OF ARMY UNIFORM
The relevant text of some of the press reports from across the country depicting the dastardly acts of militants clad in Army uniform, the likes of which have been shaking up Armed Forces.

Militants in Army uniforms mowed down 25 villagers in Champanan. The act was repeated in Thakrai and Sarban villages near Kishtwar. Dressed in olive green Army uniforms, the ultras killed innocent villagers in cold blood. On its part, the administration had given several assurances that the recurrence of such incidents would be checked.

Once again, the militants used combat uniforms to gain entry into the residential area of the Army family quarters when they struck, killing 30 people and injuring another 50. When they boarded the Himachal Roadways bus near Vijaypur town early in the morning, all passengers took them to be bonafide Army personnel carrying weapons. As such, there was no reason for the passengers to panic. Later, when the militants asked the driver to stop near the Kalu Chak Army camp, he obliged thinking they had reached their unit area and wanted to get down. It was seconds later when they opened fire that the other passengers realized the gravity of the situation, but by then it was too late. The incident has highlighted the government’s failure to check the open and uncontrolled sale of cloth used for making Army uniforms in the markets throughout the region. Though district magistrates (DMs) of various districts have, from time to time, sought to check the sale of this cloth, their orders have remained mere words which were never enforced. The then Chief Minister, Mr Farooq Abdullah readily admitted the government’s failure to check the open sale of cloth used for making Army uniforms though it has been misused by the militants time and again. However, he said that henceforth, the government would pass such orders as would be strictly enforced and seek to punish the errant shopkeepers. The then Governor Girish Chander Saxena said going by the number of incidents in which militants wearing Army uniforms had carried out different types of attacks, it was imperative to ban the open sale of uniform cloth. Asked how such ban orders would be implemented when the government had failed to do so in the past, senior civil and police officials said if the government showed the will, they had the wherewithal to enforce the orders.

Stepping up violence, heavily-armed militants in military uniform stormed an Army camp killing seven jawans and injuring six others at Akhnoor.

One Brigadier and seven jawans were killed, and 12 injured when three militants in Army uniforms attacked an Army camp in Tanda, about 40km north of Jammu on the road to Poonch. The militants alighted from a vehicle and began firing at the security guards at the 610 EME Battalion Camp. They managed to enter deep inside the camp hurling grenades and opening indiscriminate fire, disguising themselves as Army personnel. The attack came less than 12 hours after an attack by Army uniform clad militants in Banganga near Katra in which six devotees were killed. The site is on the way to the Vaishno Devi shrine.

Just when reports in the media suggested that things were looking up in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K,) came a major suicide attack by Army uniform clad militants on an Army camp at Sanjwan near the state’s winter capital, Jammu. The attack came on the final day of the then President A P J Abdul Kalam’s visit to the region. Militants, dressed in Army uniforms, cut their way through fencing to enter the Army camp and then made their way to a barrack and shot dead about 12 sleeping Army personnel. The two militants were killed in the encounter that followed. A little-known group, the al-Nasireen, has claimed responsibility for the attack. Indian intelligence agencies, however, believe that the attack was masterminded by the Lashkar-e-Toiba and was made easy by the local shopkeepers selling various items of Army uniform.

In our country, most of the Security Guards at Malls, Hotels and Restaurants, Corporate Houses, Factories and other public places attire themselves in uniform which comprises of a number of items of Army uniform, and wear it in such a shoddy manner that it brings an awful disrepute to the uniformed soldiers and truly disgraceful.

Photographs, appearing in the newspapers, of the camps and hideouts of various militant groups disclose the rampant misuse of Army uniform by their cadres.

School and college going children adorn themselves in combat trousers or combat vests, not realizing an iota of the sanctity attached to the fabric.

Commercial film makers do the maximum damage. A comedian will attire himself in an Army uniform and conduct himself in such a disgraceful manner which certainly makes his character quite comic, but at a huge cost.

The nation pays tribute to a soldier who gives the supreme sacrifice of his life for safeguarding its territorial integrity, by draping his mortal remains in the National Tricolour before being laid to rest. Then why is his uniform subjected to extreme indignity and humiliation – the uniform which is a matter of pride for him from the day he joins the Army, the uniform to which he gives the utmost regards all throughout his life and the uniform in which he fights, breathes his last and sleeps forever, for the tomorrow of the nation.

We all as a nation need to take on the onerous responsibility of putting in concerted efforts to revive the respect and glory of the Army uniform. All the four estates of our democracy – the media, the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, along with the ever important support of the citizens, need to combine to take this noble step, which will have far reaching consequences towards creation of a better nation, a nation – we all will be proud of.

Misuse of uniform attire is an area of major concern. Not only is it degrading the image of the Army and the Armed Forces in general, it is also a huge security risk, as anyone can manage to buy a uniform from the market. There are some steps that the government and police should institute to curb this menace. Sale of uniforms and other military material should be permitted only from authorized shops in the military cantonments. A rule should be legislated that forbids any civilian from wearing military uniforms and abusing them by putting the camouflage pattern cloth innate subjects such as suitcase covers. Anyone acting in contravention should be strictly dealt with by the law.

IPC
Sec 171. It reads...
171. Wearing garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent. Whoever, not belonging to a certain class of public servants, wears any garb or carries any token resembling any garb or token used by that class of public servants, with the intention that it may be believed, or with the knowledge that it is likely to be believed, that he belongs to that class of public servants, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description, for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to two hundred rupees, or with both

For this section to hold, the Army (or any other agency) needs to prove that the Police have a fraudulent intention. The police can easily put up a counter claim that they are wearing Army style camoflouge pattern because it is required for their operational duties as well. Also the police officers are not asking for the regular "Army Uniform" type dress, which may give an impression that the officer is from the Army. Where as a camouflage pattern would just indicate that the wearer is from some armed unit (be it police, army etc.) They are asking for a type of dress which suits their operational needs. This section how ever is relevant to private security agencies (or criminal imposters), who are not a government establishment and also do not undertake any jobs which the police or other military organisations undertake.

Sec 140 reads...
Whoever, not being a soldier, 1[sailor or airman] in the Military, 2[Naval or Air] service of the 3[Government of India], wears any garb or carries any token resembling any garb or token used by such a soldier, 1[sailor or airman] with the intention that it may be believed that he is such a soldier

The army here again would have to prove that the camouflage pattern is exclusively for Army personnel only. I do understand that if it is the case of the golden rank insignias, army cap badges, medal ribbons etc. this legal provision would hold good. Also here the Army needs to prove (the government officials, or court) that the police have a intention to claim that they are army men.

IESM: Reply by Shree Jaswant Singh to Maj Gen SCN Jatar

From: Jaswant Singh
To: Sudhir Jatar
Sent: Monday, February 16, 2009 6:34 PM
Subject: Re: Diluting valour

Dear General,
Thank you for your email of February 15 which included an article on the devaluation of gallantry awards by the former VCOAS, Gen Vijay Oberoi.
You are right: there is a need for a much greater transparency and credible yardstick through which nominations to various awards are vetted and recommendations endorsed. That some of the awards in the recent past and those of the Republic Day this year reveal a dilution on account of political expediency can be gauged by the outcry raised by the veterans, some verbally and some in well crafted prose, as has been done by General Vijay Oberoi. I share his disappointment on the multiple criteria adopted in recognition of valour.
With good wishes,
Jaswant Singh

EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECH BY SHREE JASWANT SINGH, HON’ MEMBER RAJYA SABHA TO THE JOINT SESSION OF PARLIAMENT ON 17.02.2009...MKS-HMS/3.35/2R
SHRI JASWANT SINGH (CONTD.): … edited …
Sir, I will take the next point which relates to the Armed Forces. Raksha Senao ka jo masla hai,usme main 2-3 buniyadi bate aap se urz karooga.come to the question: why does a citizen enrol and does he agree to die? Of course, it is a complex question, and I will not attempt an answer to this complex question. This is an immensely complex question: why does a citizen agree to die? ", the factors that go amongst various others are the factors of morale, of izzat, of iqbal, of standing and the prestige of our Armed Forces, therefore, of the soldiers and sailors. Sir, there are some aspects which I have underscored; seemingly trivial, but, I think, they are profoundly important, wrongly important as it is, and much more important in consequence. Sir, the first question which the hon. Pranab Babu, again, in a Group of Ministers meeting was required, he chaired it, to address is the question of pay, pensions and emoluments. I will come to it in a minute.
The second question is of distinction, distinction and distinctiveness of uniforms, the rights and the duties of the respective security organisations of the country. Please do not confuse one with the other. The hon. Minister, Pranab Babu, handled responsibility as the Defence Minister of the country, with distinction and competence. And, no doubt, you realise, Sir, how to uniform a man, whether a General or a Field Marshal or Justice Inquiry or a Warrant Officer; izzat is of the greatest importance. The izzat that the individual gets is an account of the uniform which he wears; the uniform is of this Republic of India. If you belittle the uniform, you belittle, in a very rare sense, the Republic.
Phoz ki jo dress hai, hum dekhte hai ki yeh jo bahut badi- badi companiya hai, ishe humare distinguished friend vimal babu neb hi dekha hoga ki un companiyo ke darbano ko phoz ki dress me vahan khada kar dete hai, phir vahi medals lagate hai. Ish bare me kanoon banana chahiye.
Please do not permit the copying of military uniform by any other force, but the Military. aur usme choti choti bate aa jati hai. Phoz ka chahe rishala ho ya pultan ho, yeh choti-choti bate hai aur usme kimat dekar right equare kiya gaya hota hai. Sir, iske sath hi main yaha example nahi dena chahuga kyonki usme vakt lagega. Yeha jo down grading aapne ki hai of the Armed Forces, of their Officers, in the Warrant of Precedence, this is not acceptable. This is totally unacceptable. Please address it because this is a seemingly, quite seemingly, clearly an illogical and a destructive step that over the decades successive Governments of India have been continuing, and, perhaps, almost as if they have been deliberately doing it.
The next point, in addition to the point of Armed Forces, is about the ex-servicemen.
(Contd. by TMV/2S) -MKS-TMV-DS/2S/3.40

SHRI JASWANT SINGH (CONTD.): The ex-servicemen today number almost three million, if I am not mistaken. So, they are stung by the various anomalies that have been thrown up by the Sixth Pay Commission and their confusion has been compounded by a variety of interpretations that have been put out in the successive letters of the Controller of Defence Accounts. I have been, for several years, the victim of the vagaries of the Controller of Defence Accounts' rules. I won't go into those details. I can't simply understand how the pensions of a Lt. General, a Major General and a Brigadier are going to be exactly the same as that of a rank which is about half that service of a Lt. Colonel, except, perhaps, for a difference of a hundred rupees. On what ground? You chaired the Group of Ministers, but the discontentment remains. Precedence is very important. Pension is very important. On both you dent the standing of the Armed Forces and you expect them to deliver the best that they can. Sir, the question of one rank one pension has bedevilled the Armed Forces for a very long time. I was greatly troubled. I am greatly troubled and uniformed or officers and men who were once in uniform are compelled to take action of the kind that they have been compelled to take, either by returning their medals or by sitting in protest. Please take your own example. I didn't hear my friends. I may be wrong. But I don't think why a Member of Parliament, should get a pension, personally, because it is a very unpopular thought. I know it. I am also not at all of the view as to why we should get Rs 1 crore or Rs 2 crores for whatever we do. But there again I am a minority. So, I withdraw mine. But I don't understand, when we, as Members of Parliament, have given to ourselves what tantamounts to one rank one pension, how can you deny it to the ex-servicemen? Sir, suppose a senior colleague of mine retired from Parliament, say, in 1957 and didn't come back to the Parliament. The kind of pension that a Member of Parliament receives today, say, in 2009, is what you will give to a Member who left the Parliament in 1957. Between 1957 and 2009, there is a difference of almost half-a-century. So, you adjust the pension that you are giving to him, but you refuse to adjust it to the ex-servicemen who are out of service at the age of 38. There is a full life ahead of him with no employment or limited employment opportunities available. I have addressed this question in detail. Please don't throw it in my face—you are entitled to throw—that you also held this job and why you didn't do it. I was also a Member of a Commission appointed during late Mrs. Gandhi's days. I appeal to the Government to re-address itself to the complex question of one rank one pension and to immediately find as equitable an answer as you find for the Members of Parliament and not let the servicemen and the ex-servicemen suffer on account of differentials of precedence of pay, emoluments and pensions and of one rank and one pension. (Contd. by 2T/VK) VK/2T/3.45
SHRI JASWANT SINGH