Civil-military
relations are today at an all-time low and although the decades-long continuity
of the bureaucratic hand is obvious in the current NDA-2 dispensation, there is
also evidence of the political leadership humiliating the military. Let us begin
with the CBI’s arrest of Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi, India’s former Air
Chief, in connection with the Agusta Westland helicopter purchase deal. It
raises some questions not only about the functioning of the political
leadership and the bureaucrat-police network, but also about hidden motivations
and unintended compromise of national security due to its effect on the morale
of India’s military.
Questions
arise as to why ACM Tyagi was arrested when others involved were not. Was it
done deliberately to humiliate him and thereby India’s military? Was this the
handiwork of bureaucrats and/or the police? Who among the political hierarchy
authorised his arrest?
These
questions are not about whether or not ACM Tyagi is guilty of receiving bribes
or any other offence. That matter will be settled by the courts after examining
all evidence. But when evidence is still being collected, when ACM Tyagi is
cooperating with the CBI in collection of evidence, and there is no prima facie
case against him, his arrest raises the question: Why was ACM Tyagi singled out
for humiliation?
Humiliating
the Military
Let
us recall that during the NDA-1 rule under PM Vajpayee, Defence Minister George
Fernandes summarily dismissed Navy Chief Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat from service.
It is clear that the government wanted to show its power over the military by
summarily dismissing a Defence Service Chief, because the proper and sensible
thing to do was to summon Admiral Bhagwat and ask him to resign. Dismissing him
in a peremptory manner was an act of cowardice. The most generous view one can
take is that the government (politician-bureaucrat) had no clue as to the
repercussions that public humiliation of a serving Defence Chief would have on
the morale of the Indian Navy and the sister services. Or was the summary
dismissal by design? What was the purpose served by humiliating Admiral Bhagwat
and the military as a whole?
Now
that ACM Tyagi and the military have been humiliated by the NDA-2 Government,
in retrospect Admiral Bhagwat’s dismissal appears to fall in place, especially
because in between the Bhagwat and Tyagi incidents, there have been incidents
in the NDA-2 tenure which appear to have been directed at humiliating the
military and adversely affecting the soldiers’ morale, and thereby compromising
national security. To name a few in random sequence:
- Sending police to manhandle peacefully agitating Veterans at Jantar Mantar;
- Stating that OROP would be given to military Veterans by taking it from dues to poor farmers;
- Notwithstanding reservations of the Defence Services Chiefs, peremptorily directing the three Service Chiefs to implement the 7CPC award without delay;
- Keeping the military without access to the 7CPC Anomalies Committee which was secretly arranged for civilians;
- Raising the salaries of the CRPF above that of soldiers;
- Downgradation of military ranks vis-a-vis civilian officials;
- Granting NFU to IPS but not to the military;
- The issue of pay parity with IAS/IPS;
- Lower hazard allowance than IAS/IPS;
- Stating that the Army did not know its own capability to carry out the post-Uri surgical strike until it was told so;
- Reducing disability pension immediately following the post-Uri surgical strike;
- The military commander being pushed aside by a bureaucrat at the 2016 Red Fort Independence Day function; and
- Insulting military war memorials and guard of honour by a functionary deliberately dressing inappropriately or casually.
These
and more are apart from the Department of Ex-Servicemen’s Welfare appealing as
a matter of policy against every judicial decision given in favour of
individual Veterans.
Meddling
with military leadership
The
recent unprecedented step of “deep selection” of Lt Gen Bipin Rawat as the Army
Chief-designate by superceding two senior officers, even though this is within
the discretionary powers of the Cabinet, has caused disquiet among soldiers and
Veterans. The reason for disquiet is that the government appears not to
understand that Lt Gen Rawat is not superior in merit to his two seniors whom
he has superceded, and if his experience in counter-insurgency is the criterion
for his selection, it glosses over the fact that the Army is deployed in
counter-insurgency only because of the decades-long failure of the
bureaucracy-police in its primary role of internal security. If however deep
selection was a political decision, this could seriously compromise the Army
(the military in general) remaining as India’s last bastion of secular
practice, and encourage sycophancy among officers to the permanent detriment of
military professionalism.
It
is necessary to note that previous governments, including NDA-1 and the
Congress regimes preceding and including UPA-1 and UPA-2, had undoubtedly given
the military a raw deal, particularly with regard to successive Central Pay
Commissions and the OROP demand. Gen Vaidya was appointed the Army Chief by
superceding Lt Gen Sinha, and Army Chief Gen Rodrigues was publicly castigated
for his “bandicoots” remark. Even though the political leadership was primarily
responsible, the hand of the bureaucracy was clear to every serving and retired
soldier.
The
precipitous dip in civil-military relations is because the bureaucrat-police
machinations are increasingly blatant, and rather than taking control of the
military and releasing it from the Babu-stranglehold, some top political
leaders are thoughtlessly causing humiliation. Questions are being asked as to
who will bring this to the notice of the National Security Council. One Veteran
even suggested a slogan on the lines: “Babu hatao, Fauji bachao”, so
that civilian control of the military is actually with the Union Cabinet.
Considering
that the NSA is a police officer with enormous clout at the topmost level,
upgrading of the status of the police over the military while simultaneously
humiliating the military is extremely dangerous for the security and safety of
India.
Major
General S.G. Vombatkere, VSM, retired as the Additional DG Discipline and
Vigilance in the Army HQ AG’s Branch. He is a member of the National Alliance
of People’s Movements (NAPM) and People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL).
With over 520 published papers in national and international journals and
seminars, his area of interest is strategic and development-related issues. He
can be contacted at e-mail: sg9kere[at]live.com
