The Civil – Military meltdown

By Col K N Das

All police indifferences and atrocities that have happened in recent past against the serving army officers and their friends and relatives have happened in BJP ruled states.

Sometimes back RSS chief had belittled our Armed Forces by stating that they could raise an army in three days! As if keeping a standing armed force was a waste of time and resources.

A serving admiral was dismissed and sent home by a BJP Govt without a notice.

BJP has already established some Sainik Schools and has an aim of increasing its numbers to hundred in total. Why should a political party run Sainik Schools?

May be they desire to fill NDA with their own recruits from these schools in time to come and have the armed forces under its wings like Chinese Communist Party has PLA in China, with Sangh Pracharak breathing down the necks of commanders at each level like a political commissars in communist countries.

Congress had accused BJP some time back of introducing RSS agendas in Sainik Schools. There may be some truth in it as there can be no smoke without fire!

One person had been brought from retirement and put in the highest post as if there wasn’t any fit enough person to fill that long vacant post in the system. Thus belittling the existing system of selection and promotion in the armed forces! Thus telling the system how worthless it was ! Days aren’t far off when some policeman will be placed there, provided he comes from a particular place and state!

Long time back a civil servant had written an article published on the edit page of a national news paper, advocating the feasibility and viability of appointment of civil servants in the posts of corps commander and above, as it is all strategy corps and above and not tactics, which ends at division level and could be left to little mortals in uniform to manage!

Govt tried to introduce lateral induction in to the beaurocracy and it was opposed by the civil servants lobby and they have succeeded in putting that on hold.

Congress wasn’t any better.

Nehru reduced Armed Forces’ ICO’s pay and left that of KCO’s pay intact and Indian the KCOs accepted it as they didn’t have to suffer a loss themselves! The rot is that old in higher echelon!

Congress government under Mrs Gandhi reduced armed forces pension from 75% to 50% and increased that of civil servants from 30% to 50% with promise of an OROP to the armed forces. It took 43 years for the OROP to see the day light. That too after long agitations and receiving good thrashing at hands of police at many places, including New Delhi! And certain higher ranks in the armed forces were given pension on civil servant rate/scale and they kept their mouth shut in bargain and left their subordinate suffer financial loss for long.

Armed Forces have very steep pyramidal heirarchial structure and promotions are far and few.

A NFU would have helped many who couldn’t make to the next rank. But it has been denied to the forces but given to the civil servants whose promotion prospects are much better and working condtion much easier.

The treatment mated to generals and their equivalents in corridors of power isn’t that what it used to be in the past and they are made to feel that they are there as mere appointees of civil authority and not of their own professional merit and competence. That they aren’t of any different stock, but of common clay like the rest of civil setup of a bit inferior clay by process of selection and training. They are kept out of the gambit of decision making committees.Politics over professionalism has started to shape things which it shouldn’t.

Some supercision in higher appointment, appointment of a retired person to the highest post over looking competent persons in service and dismissal of an admiral without a notice may pave ways for politicisation and sycophancy and killing professionalism in the armed forces. These may make politicians and civil servants life easy for a while but harm the forces and nation in long run.

May be these have trickled down the chain and are now reflected on the street.

Awe and aura of military is being cleansed for good and that of the civil replacing it. In times of break down of law and order when armed forces will be called to restore the situation, more brutal force may have to be used, which a mere flag march would have done before.

Military is neither a vote back nor it can manage the vote banks like civil servants for the political masters in a democratic set up.

In absence of democratic system in past, military was the sole vote bank for the ruling elites and hence enjoyed the good pay, perk and privileges. It was so valued that ruling elites joined the officer cadres almost in totality. But now its not even the officers’ children’s first choice!

There were few mutinies in the British Indian Army by the British officers over pay, perks and privileges, which are known as White Mutinies and they got their demands each time, as the existence of empire was dependent on their support alone.

A very high borne Viceroy had lost his ego’s battle against his C in C of much humble origin and resigned and sailed home in disgust and defeat.

It certainly can’t be like that now. Hence reason for new and viable approach is needed to tackle the problem in totality.

Civil Military Liaison Conferences are hosted by Military, where hospitality has over years been replaced by serviality. All these may have added to present episodes’ evolvement over a long period.

Orissa is thinly represented in forces and the state has thin presence of armed forces’ establishments there, if any, are but of recent origin. But in Rajasthan and MP with high representation in armed forces and existence of large numbers of age old military establishments in the states and yet the occurrences these of unfortunate episodes speak of erosion of military’s reputation.

When serving officers are looking so helpless, imagine the plight of ESM spread thinly all over the country.

Time has come to rethink the relationship with both civil and political setup.

Time has come to think beyond just beer drinking Get Together!

Time has come to talk beyond Cheers and Bottoms Up, when the safety of their own bottoms are not sure in the civil street!

At this rate military as an institution will be forced to sing in utter helplessness ” some time I feel like a motherless child”

That will be sad and bad for both Military and the Mother Land !