No serving military personnel can have truck with a political party, leave alone a radical group. Therefore, the alleged involvement of a serving military officer of the rank of a Lt Col in the Malegaon bomb blasts and possibly association with a radical organisation, have not only sent shock waves within the military, but in the entire country, as well. Both as a rule and tradition the Indian military has always operated above and beyond the political and communal boundaries. Therefore, this incident is too serious to be overlooked. Military will have to carry out detailed investigations to determine if the concerned radical group or any other communal element has made any inroads into the rank and file. Commanders must remain alert and be on the lookout for signs of disaffection against any community amongst their officers and troops. They must act with the greatest promptitude and vigour to firmly put down any such tendency or inclination.
Yet the military cannot remain completely isolated and unaffected by the goings on in the country. Though terrorists have no religion, for they kill people of all faiths, including women and children, yet the media has been painting only a particular community in black colours. Often the investigating agencies to cover their own failures and to show quick results pin the blame on the community whom the public already perceives as the culprit. This creates heightened feeling of distrust and hatred against that community. In such conditions military personnel cannot remain completely isolated and not get influenced by prevailing feelings of animosity against the targeted community.
To protect military officers and troops from the virus of communal contagion and the dangerous fallout from this disease, good leadership and firm handling is necessary. Any signs of communal, regional or community bias surfacing amongst the troops and officers must be put down with a heavy hand. Loyalty, commitment and involvement of officers and troops with the national cause and country’s well being must transcend caste, regional and religious barriers. During periods of civil disorder officers and troops operate without any regard to the religion of the miscreants.
It would be relevant to recall just three incidents in the military, which relate to the manner of handling of such cases After Operation Blue Star, mutiny by few Sikh soldiers, incidents in Punjab and the killing of the PM coupled with the manner of coverage of these events by the media had led to a feeling of animosity towards the Sikhs. In this some of the military officers and troops too developed communal bias against Sikh troops.
At Kota two Sikh jawans and their wives were severely beaten by troops of another unit for no valid reason, what-so-ever One of the men had to be placed on dangerously ill list (D I list) while the other on the seriously ill list (S I list). This led to the court martial of the concerned officer (OC advance party) , dismissal of the Subedar Major (an Arjuna award winner) two other JCOs and three ORs. When some Principal Staff Officers at Army HQ recommended disbandment of ‘ class units’ (with the Sikh units in mind), general Sunderji would not hear of it and firmly put an end to this move...
The third incident relates to a senior officer (a Maj Gen) inflicted with communal virus On noticing that the guard at the army commander’s residence was from a Sikh unit, he ordered that it be replaced immediately. So a new guard was posted. The abrupt removal of guard escaped the army commander’s notice.
A few days later the Subedar Major of the battalion whose guard had been prematurely replaced arrived at the flag staff house to meet the army commander. He told the army commander that he had come to meet him without the knowledge of his commanding officer. He sought the reason for the removal of guard from his unit so abruptly: within few days of its duty at the flag staff house! He wanted to know if the army commander had lost faith in the troops of his battalion.
The army commander expressed concern at this abrupt change of guard It was without his knowledge and that he had failed to notice the change. He told the Subedar Major, that he did not want to prematurely replace the guard presently on duty, but once it’s tenure of duty of one month was over it would be replaced by the guard from his battalion. He thanked the Subedar Major for bringing this occurrence to his notice.
Then the army commander (a Coorgi officer) enquired as to who had ordered the removal of the previous guard and the reasons for the same. The concerned Maj Gen, presumably gave his reasons for the change. Those reasons made the army commander put an end to this officer’s otherwise promising career. There is no room for complacency in dealing firmly with such matters in the military.
The Indian military is the very epitome of national integration It’s strength lies in its cohesiveness, the quality of its officers and their ability to build on this unity and pan India character. Military is the country’s ultimate instrument to defend its survival. If it fails then there is nothing but Nadir Shah.
Lt Gen Harwant Singh (Retd)
Acknowledgement: We thank Gen Harwant for sending us the transcript. Good lessons of military traditions to be inculcated in our young officers.
SCPC Debate: The holy warrant of precedenceWhy is the State unconscionably shoving its boots on the face of the military? What explains its downhill journey in the warrant of precedence?
Lately, in an article, retired Lt Gen Harwant Singh cited why the defence officers were being hard-bone-by. The bureaucracy, taking advantage of political corruption, kept the pot stirred by raising the odds of a military coup, and worked up this fear to emasculate the status of the top echelon, at the cost of the nation's overall strategic disadvantage.
A committee of secretaries revises the warrant of precedence periodically. Gen Harwant Singh writes that as the chief of defence staff in 1981, Gen O P Malhotra raised the issue of downgrading of service officers in the warrant of precedence (this has direct bearing on the pay).
In response, the committee of secretaries recorded, "Military officers were placed unduly high in the old warrant of precedence, presumably as it was considered essential for officers of an army of occupation to be given special status and authority. Mind you, it is not Mirwaiz Umar Farooq but the bureaucrats that called the Indian Army as an army of occupation!
Of course, Gen Malhotra riposted that the pliant colonial bureaucracy (civil servants and police) was the tool of oppression wielded by the Raj to quell the freedom movement, not the army. In fact, the strike of naval ratings in Bombay on February 18, 1946, that spread to major cities was what signalled to the British that it was time to pack their bags and decamp.
Gen Harwant Singh rightly concluded that it was highly malicious for anyone to decry the Indian Army as an army of occupation.
Once the political class colluded with the bureaucracy, there was no stopping the descent down the warrant of precedence. Perhaps the mandarins still see the military as an army of occupation, which should explain why they are pulling out all the stops to belittle it. Hence their effort to further throttle the services through the SCPC.
Heed the cry of the armed forcesTailpiece: Henderson- Brooks report will spill the beans and belie if there is any truth to brand Indian Armed Forces an as "Occupation Force". The report after 40 years is still classified SECRET. The bureaucrats do (not) want the citizens to know the truth about the onslaught inflicted on the Indian Armed Forces?
