Director IDSA spews Venom on the Military- Most unkind cut ever

Anil Dalal's a civilian response given below is to my posting in "JATLAND" about the IDSA Director's comments has more relevance than Military rebuffs.......
Brig Lakhsman Singh (veteran)

Sir,
I agree it is quite a ridiculous argument. Indian armed forces have always shown exemplary behavior in not seeking a political role for themselves and deferring to the democratically chosen leaders even if they are crap. The danger to Indian democracy comes more from the politicians who time and again show contempt for the rule of law and would go to any extent to seek power. The only time democracy went for a toss in India was during emergency in 1975-77, and that was because of a politician, Indira Gandhi. In fact, the armed forces showed remarkable restraint even in that period.

Even the rationale used by Mr. Sisodia is quite weak. If his "inversely proportional" logic has to be taken at face value, then is he arguing that a strong democratic state is based on weak armed forces? That is counter-intuitive, as if you don't have strong (and disciplined) armed forces, then you run into a danger of having local militias, strongmen, insurgents and what not. Indeed, the problems seen locally in many parts of India like Naxalism, private armies or insurgency are in part due to the weak state police. Moreover, he discounts the diverse nature of Indian army itself. Most armed dictatorships can be traced back to a strong ethnic bias and/or homogenous nature of the dominant force- Pakistan has Army controlled by Punjabis, Saddam had Baathists who were Sunni Muslims, etc. Indian armed forces have regional, ethnic as well as institutional diversity. Apart from Army, Navy and Air Force, where it would be difficult to argue which one is supreme, there are also lots of paramilitary forces like CRPF, BSF, ITBP, etc. And all these forces have ethinc/regional diversity in their ranks between and within themselves. It becomes very difficult for anyone to organize such a diverse force for an unconstitutional act like a coup. (of course making a leap of faith assumption that someone actually has that intention)
Anil Dalal

Dear Sir,
Please refer to the blog by Maj Gen (Retd) Satbir Singh, SM, Vice Chairman Indian ESM Movement, captioned above. (Background- given below)
Perhaps the Director IDSA was partially correct in that undue use of the Armed Forces in aid of civil powers does weaken the Democratic set up of a country. Beyond that, the connotation of the passage is totally unacceptable. General Satbir Singh has outlined some action plan to counter it. I would suggest an alternative starting plan. Why can't the politicians be confronted with this statement directly & asked to either agree or disagree with the IDSA Director? If they agree, AF would know where they stand. If not, AF should demand sacking the IDSA Director, as a message to the Babus. That way our plan of action to have OROP implemented would assume more clarity.
Regards
MB Ghosh (Veteran)

Background
Mr N.S. Sisodia an IAS Officer said that if Defence Forces are given more powers, they will seize power like Pakistan and Bangladesh. Such statements by bureaucrats of the status of Director IDSA are highly objectionable and to say the least are totally unfair to the most patriotic Defence Forces who have very strongly held the flag of democracy flying high in our country. The relevant part of the written script of the Director IDSA is as under:
“Heavy reliance on armed forces weakens civilian authority. Their frequent use enhances their power and influence in the polity. This enhanced power can become a threat to democracy as we have seen in the cases of Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries which have suffered military coups. The extent of democratic control is inversely proportionate to the democratic governments dependence on the armed forces.”

Tailpiece
What about corruption of IAS Officers which is daily news now? Who is involved in looting the wealth of the nation, benami transactions, hawala operations, hoarding illegal money in Swiss Bank accounts, FDI investments through back door, generation of black money? Only the IAS are using the Military like a spanner to set their mess in order! The Military is right now shod of honour and teeth. It cannot bite thanks to AV Singh- Upgrade to degrade command and control structure (fully implemented in all phases- in entirety). The IAS- ISDA Director and his folk and ilk can rest in peace! Bureaucrat's Maxim: "Truth shall never prevail in the Power Corridors of Bureaucracy". They should remain buried forever in the files like Henderson Brookes Report which depicts future outcome for India...repeat of 1962. Will the Nation learn lessons when the truth remains buried?

SCPC: Armed Forces Status, Pay and Pension downgradation is a continous process

By Kuldip Nayar, February 11, 2009
I do not know who in the establishment is to blame for the mess made in the case of salaries and pensions of the armed forces. Of course, the IAS officers have processed the demand and they are the twice-born service which sees to it that they remain at the top. They knit a net of procedures and precedents so skillfully that others give up in exasperation. But why do political masters play into their hands? There must be an equation between the two that ministers allow the IAS setup to maul or mutilate any proposal if it decides to do so. In this case, their action is horrifying.

When ordinary soldiers and officers with the rank of Lt General come to return their medals won for bravery in the field, they prove that have reached a point where they have abandoned the hope of getting justice in a normal way. It is time that the nation realizes that something has been done drastically wrong because the armed forces do not go beyond the domain of discipline. Something has happened which has pushed them into the domain of despair.

Still the establishment has not been able to belittle the dignity with which the hundreds of men from the armed forces surrendered the medals of their individual bravery. At the Jantar Mantar, they assembled to express their protest. All that they wanted was: one rank, one pension. From the ordinary soldier to the Lt General, this was their common demand. It was a fair demand which surprisingly the government had spurned.

The other Sunday, the Sabbath day, as many as 200 of retired men from the army packed their medals in transparent plastic bags, with their names written on them and put them in three cardboard boxes. They were forwarded to the President of India. Their effort was to meet President Pratibha Patil but she was away to Mumbai. They were not satisfied after meeting the deputy secretary. They do want to meet the President who, after all, gives away the medals for extraordinary courage and bravery.

I do not think that there is anything wrong in the demand of one rank, one pension. A Lt. General who retired in January 2005 gets a pension of Rs 27,700. The same rank officer retiring one year later has Rs 37,700 as pension, which is Rs 10,000 more. In the case of Brigadier, there is similar anomaly, a difference of Rs. 5,000, between those who retired early and the ones who did later.

I believe that the Congress Party’s election manifesto in 2004 acknowledged the demand for ‘one rank, one pension’. Former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee promised to remove the anomalies. Still over the years, the disparity has grown. One officer contends that the gap has grown by 82 per cent. The matter came up before the Parliament’s Standing Committee when I was retiring from the Rajya Sabha in 2003. I am told that the committee recommended one rank, one pension. Still the government refused to act. On the one hand, we say the country is safe in the hands of defence forces and on the other we treat them miserly.

My query from official quarters reveals that the government is afraid to implement the demand because it may trigger similar claim from other public sector employees. This is not a fair comparison. The job of the armed forces is full of hazards and exposes them to dangers all the time. Those sitting in secure, cushy seats in heated rooms cannot even imagine what the front means, whether at peace time or during the war. I do not want to introduce the emotional argument like the defence of motherland. Yet the fact remains that those in the armed forces give their life to make us live in peace. To deny them their due should not be even thinkable.

I take this opportunity to point out serious disparities within the defence services. Some 85 per cent are from the category which comprises of Persons Below Officer Ranks (PBOR). They are the most neglected lot because they have preferred not to raise their voice. Rations are free to officers and jawans. But there is a disparity in the quantum of rations. For example, an officer gets 260 gm meat while a soldier gets only 110 gm. The government can at least end such disparity even if it cannot dare to touch others.

The government has no defence when grievances over salaries, pensions and their placement in the protocol hierarchy have been piling up for years. Instead of improving their lot, it or, for that matter, the IAS officers have been downgrading them, emolument-wise and status-wise. The last Pay Commission’s recommendations were the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back and hence the return of medals.
IAS knit a net of procedures and precedents so skillfully that others give up in exasperation

Kargil Diwas: Report from the States

Some more pictures of activities at Panchkula on July 26 are sent for perusal of members.
Regards,
Brig Kiran Krishan, SM (Retd)
Coordinator, IESM, Panchkula

From: Brig V A Subramanyam
Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:33 PM
Subject: Observance of Vijay Diwas - Besant Nagar, Chennai
A report on the Meeting: click me

Kargil Day at Tirunelveli
click me

Kargil Day: Medical Relief Camp for ESM- Photos