HARSHA KAKAR - The armed forces are being systematically demoralised by the central government
If the defence minister can make a statement that he was not aware of the downgrading and the circulars issued by his ministry, then it clearly indicates his lack of control over his own staff....
Never in the history of India have so many anti-military announcements been made by various branches of the government in such a short amount of time. It is not possible for bureaucrats to issue such policy letters without having the confidence of their respective ministers..
The question I leave to readers is whether those behind this systematic degradation are truly nationalists or enemies of the state.
Warning Chandragupta, Chanakya had said, “The day the soldier has to demand his dues will be a sad day for Magadha for then, on that day, you will have lost all moral sanction to be king.” Sadly in India, under the present government, this has become the norm. The One Rank One Pension agitation, which lasted months, led to a half-baked release, with the appointment of the Justice Reddy commission to suggest anomalies, if any. The commission submitted its report on October 26, but the government will take ages before it announces any changes. This delay and the inaction of the government has compelled the veteran community to relaunch its agitation. It also led Subedar Ram Kishan Grewal, in sheer frustration, to commit suicide on Wednesday. Senior pensioners (like Grewal) are amongst the most affected and unlikely to gain any benefits from their hard-fought agitation.
Never in the history of India have so many anti-military announcements been made by various branches of the government in such a short amount of time. It is not possible for bureaucrats to issue such policy letters without having the confidence of their respective ministers..
The question I leave to readers is whether those behind this systematic degradation are truly nationalists or enemies of the state.
Warning Chandragupta, Chanakya had said, “The day the soldier has to demand his dues will be a sad day for Magadha for then, on that day, you will have lost all moral sanction to be king.” Sadly in India, under the present government, this has become the norm. The One Rank One Pension agitation, which lasted months, led to a half-baked release, with the appointment of the Justice Reddy commission to suggest anomalies, if any. The commission submitted its report on October 26, but the government will take ages before it announces any changes. This delay and the inaction of the government has compelled the veteran community to relaunch its agitation. It also led Subedar Ram Kishan Grewal, in sheer frustration, to commit suicide on Wednesday. Senior pensioners (like Grewal) are amongst the most affected and unlikely to gain any benefits from their hard-fought agitation.
Similarly, post the
announcement of the seventh pay commission, the military had to officially
refuse to implement it, having considered it to be
demeaning. It demoralised a force that has rarely questioned government
decisions. This was truly a ‘sad day for India’. Amongst all government
services, the military is the only one left to implement the pay commission.
Justice Mathur and his team ensured that the most revered organisation in the
nation is not worth being granted equal dues and only fit to be
downgraded. These discrepancies have been getting compounded with each pay
commission and though they have been referred to the anomalies commission, no
inputs have been forthcoming. The government announcing the special release of
a month’s salary as granted by the seventh pay commission as a Diwali gift was
a publicity stunt. This was the hard-earned money of the soldier, not
government largesse.
Even more demeaning
was a government notification, post the surgical strike, reducing the disability
pension of the military and making it lower than that of people
in other services. Given the ensuing hue and cry, this decision has also been
referred to the anomalies commission. As if this was not enough, the defence
ministry issued a notification on October 18, further reducing the military’s
stature within the ministry. With outrage being expressed across social media,
a clarification was issued claiming no error had been committed as it
quoted earlier policy instructions and failing to mention the group of
ministers report of 2009, which had set the precedence and was
accepted and implemented by the government. The defence minister has announced
a three-member commission to study the same. In the meanwhile, the prime
minister, keeping the election scenario in mind, asked the nation to wish military
personnel on Diwali.
The seventh pay
commission changed the way the military and its veterans view the bureaucracy
and political leadership, and vice-versa. The commission equated the military
with the Central Armed Police Forces on an illogical thought that all those who
enter government service through the common CAT exam should remain at par,
others be damned, as if only an exam has value, nothing else. Poor analysis,
coming from a supposedly eminent group meant to consider the future of all
government services. What caused greater hurt was the government ignoring the
military in the panel of secretaries and also accepting its downgrading
without a murmur. This compelled the military and its strong veteran community,
as well as its countless well-wishers, to wonder who runs the government – the
bureaucrats or political leaders – and whether its systematic downgrading is
part of a deliberate plan.
If the defence
minister can make a statement that he was not aware of the downgrading and the
circulars issued by his ministry, then it clearly indicates his lack of control
over his own staff. His earlier insistence on the military to accept the pay
commission and his public statement that the disability disagreement was a
non-issue shows the lack of desire on the government’s part to resolve problems
faced by the military. All these actions are being conducted when the nation
faces its toughest crises in years – increasing militancy and heightened
tension with Pakistan. The government and the nation should have been behind
the military to support them as they try to thwart enemy designs. However, the
opposite was happening.
The past sequence of
events indicates a systematic downgrading of the military. Never in the history
of India have so many anti-military announcements been made by various branches
of the government in such a short amount of time. It is not possible for
bureaucrats to issue such policy letters without having the confidence of their
respective ministers. Therefore, it makes the military feel that it is being
systematically targeted according to a laid-out plan. The reasons could be
many.
The first is that the military is gaining prominence within the country
and receiving accolades from all quarters for its sacrifice and strong actions
in defending the borders, which have made the public feel proud to call
themselves Indians. No other government service has ever received such
accolades. Further, it is known that the military can never let the country
down, irrespective of the treatment meted out to it. Thirdly, the military was
always timid and accepted government decisions, without so much as a whimper.
However, this time it reacted and did so forcefully. Finally, the veteran
community has been very vocal for the first time, criticising the government
whenever it attempts to hurt military morale.
The question I leave
to readers is whether those behind this systematic degradation are truly
nationalists or enemies of the state. Yes, in the present context, the military
has a right to be paranoid and needs to be permanently on guard, as it faces
more enemies within (aiming to hurt where it can the most – its ego and status)
than from the outside. While the military can face external enemies and
win, its chances of winning its internal battles appear to be even more compounded,
with a strong anti-military lobby within the establishment, unless its
veterans, well-wishers and the media continue to provide it whole-hearted
support.
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Aug 17, 2015 ... Former
Service Chiefs' Letter to PM on OROP and the police action
on protesting veterans.
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