As we know the Indian Army, it is a generally closed unit which keeps itself confined to cantonments when not on border or war duty. Other than that, it is used for civilian duties too sometimes, like quelling riots, putting down in-terrain insurgency, working overtime during natural disasters and saving lives as usual.
The credentials of the Indian Army were impeccable till the corruption charges stuck after the first of its kind sting operation unveiled some of its officers talking illegal shopping sprees and also women. All those years ago, it was a shocking revelation which almost shattered self-belief in many an Indian citizen.
Almost a decade and a half later, the Indian Army is chasing bad headlines. Sometimes it is about the Army chief’s age which has the Government on clash mode, sometimes it is about the defence deals which may or may not be needed and have been under the scanner for kickbacks etc, sometimes it is about a high ranking official offering bribe to none other than the Army chief himself and now there’s even talk of the unthinkable, that there might at some point in time have been a coup situation!
All the unsavoury controversy apart, and despite it, it sounds ridiculous to even suggest in jest that the Indian Army can ever be in a coup mode. One knows for sure that India’s Armed Forces are genetically disciplined and groomed to work within the framework of the Indian Constitution. It is not like the Pakistani Army which has always seen itself as a contender of political power and the master of all ceremonies, good, bad or ugly.
The Indian Army has been tutored to take instructions from their political masters and, under no circumstances, harbour any kind of individualistic ambitions. Among the Armies of the world, the Indian Army ranks high on counts of discipline and orderliness.
In this context, it is alarming to hear that so many issues other than war and peace are being discussed in defence quarters. The controversies, howsoever short, suggest that there is a churning happening in our Forces and that churning is no longer associated with the usuals like constant duty stress among its jawans and issues relating to this major problem.
The reason why any kind of coup is still in the zone of incredulity lies in the rough and tumble of the great Indian democracy. Our democracy is as big and all prevalent as it is deep-rooted in popular psyche. The Indian population will never allow the Army to take over Parliament. They are much removed from the volatility or should we say the vulnerabilities of the Pakistani population which has been under constant instability ever since Independence.
But having ruled out any such move by any section of our Armed Forces, we need to still tread with care and treat our soldiers with the care and respect they deserve for fighting our cause for the past 65 years. They have come back in coffins, they have pulled you out of the earthquake debris, they have escorted you out of trouble spots, they have airdropped from nowhere to not let you sink in floods and they have often instilled confidence in areas where riots have made life brittle.
The Indian soldier works 24X7 be it war or peace. He is far removed from the machinations of governance or, for that matter, the politics that plays out in its administrative blocks in Delhi. So, it is unfortunate that our defence strain is being tarnished by all kinds of happenings that are being activated by a small section within the Armed Forces. And, to add to that, the Government too is not doing much to withdraw the Army from national headlines and leave it to do what it is basically meant to — defend the nation.
The Government could have done well to have maturely handled the Army chief’s age issue but it did not, taking the battle all the way to court when just a little bit of talking sanely could have well done the deed for them without much of a trouble.
And now that the bribery cat is out of the bag, and it now suggests that AK Antony, known for his honesty and integrity as Defence Minister, was in the know of it for a long time, leaves no scope for even a fig leaf around the growing view that unholy happenings and elements have long infiltrated our defence services and the threat is hardly from outside.
Corruption has been a long standing bane with Indian polity something which has acquired the status of a necessary evil over the years. So, to honestly think that the Defence Forces would be untouched by it would be living in a fool’s bullet-proof paradise. The need here, then, would be for the Government to take all measures to not involve or tempt the Defence Forces with deals and bargains which taint the system.
But for the Government to actually cleanse what is setting into our Forces would need a self-belief and commitment to cleanliness which no genre of politics, as of now, sports. It is a long haul then that will put the house in order and this service begins at home — and home is the underbelly of our governance, the underbelly of our vote politics, the underbelly of our public chicanery and the underbelly of a financially greedy (read upwardly mobile) strain of life.
Till then, one can only pray that the discipline that has long been ingrained in our Defence Forces, the commitment that puts them apart from civilian tumult, the honestly that they are taught to practice comes to their rescue. Fervently hope that this happens because it is heart-breaking to hear about the Indian Army in any kind of bad way. It’s an icon we need for inspirational survival and that’s the way it needs to be.
Source: The Sunday Pioneer, 8 April, 2012
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