I had read recently a good article from the blog post of Mr.rajee kushwaha a post- graduate in Defence Management from University Of Madras.I would like to share the excerpts of his article into two parts and its worth reading which is narrated with facts.
COMES THE HOUR; COMES THE MAN!-----
A recent revelation on attempts to bribe the Army chief and his resultant spat with the MOD has brought out a fact that something seriously was wrong within the army and its top brass. It is evident from the fact that a senior retired army officer has been accused of attempting to offer a bribe to the army chief. He was approached because it must have been a practice for sometime. Not withstanding the moral grandstanding of the army men, where not only they but even men in the street, considered them as "Holy Cow", it implies that some rot had set in the armed forces. General VK Singh has called it a CANCER in an interview to an Indian daily,'The Hindu' . Most veterans see him as a person who might become a martyr in his bid to rid the army of a powerful cartel of arms- dealers. He might lose but he would have done enough damage to the corrupt officers within the armed forces. They would never be comfortable in working for corrupt and dishonest.
PART ONE
WHAT IS THE DANGER TO THE NATION?
What better way to explain this danger than seeing it through the eyes of someone from a different field. Here is what, a very very senior retired IAS officer, who knows what is the truth , has to say:-
by MG Devasahayam, IAS (Retd),29 March 2012.
COMES THE HOUR; COMES THE MAN!-----
“Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya
Glanirva Bhavathi Bharatha,
Abhyuthanam Adharmaysya
Tadatmanam Srijami Aham’.
-Bhagavad Gita (Chapter IV-7)
“Whenever there is decay
of righteousness O! Bharatha
And a rise of unrighteousness
then I manifest Myself!”
Who is there to protect the righteousness now?You and me have to be awakened.Pls raise up and do visit http://freedomteam.in/blog/main
Glanirva Bhavathi Bharatha,
Abhyuthanam Adharmaysya
Tadatmanam Srijami Aham’.
-Bhagavad Gita (Chapter IV-7)
“Whenever there is decay
of righteousness O! Bharatha
And a rise of unrighteousness
then I manifest Myself!”
Who is there to protect the righteousness now?You and me have to be awakened.Pls raise up and do visit http://freedomteam.in/blog/main
Many reasons are offered on General VK's unprecedented act of openly admitting bribe offer. Whatever his intentions but he had revealed that rot had set in deep, which forced him to call it a cancer? Ironically, how cynical are the people who criticise him on the grounds that his motives and timings were questionable, while they were not concerned about the cancer that was eating up the Army---the last institute standing straight to defend Indian democracy and border integrity. General VK has also minced no words to hint out that it was the legacy handed over to him. His detractors and critics must wake up to the dangers posed to the nation by the malaise he has exposed with whatever motive. As true Indians FACE THE REALITY or GET READY TO PERISH.
I intend to explore this cancerous rot in two parts. In Part- I will explain the legacy of the rot and its manifestations alongwith dangerous repercussions to the nation. In Part-2 I will dwell upon how and when it started and where we stand today.
I intend to explore this cancerous rot in two parts. In Part- I will explain the legacy of the rot and its manifestations alongwith dangerous repercussions to the nation. In Part-2 I will dwell upon how and when it started and where we stand today.
PART ONE
WHAT IS THE DANGER TO THE NATION?
What better way to explain this danger than seeing it through the eyes of someone from a different field. Here is what, a very very senior retired IAS officer, who knows what is the truth , has to say:-
THE MoD MESS–THE REALITY
by MG Devasahayam, IAS (Retd),29 March 2012.
The open feud between the Ministry of Defence and the Chief of the Army Staff arose out of the contrived Date of Birth controversy. A corrupt cabal had conspired since 2006 to truncate Gen VK Singh’s tenure by digging out UPSC application form and trashing his School Certificate.
Yet, neither the DoB issue is over yet, as is being wrongly believed, nor is the tenure of General VK Singh going to end in the next two months as is being widely claimed. The fact is that Supreme Court has put the ball back in the court of MoD by ruling: “As a matter of fact, the question before us in the Writ Petition is not about the determination of actual date of birth of the petitioner, but it concerns the recognition of a particular date of birth of the petitioner by the respondent (Government of India) in the official service record.”
It is therefore imperative that the MoD has to first pass a legally speaking order ‘recognising’ Gen VK Singh’s real DoB as per law and Rules that hold School Certificate as paramount. This has not been done and the retirement orders of Gen VK Singh have not been served on him till now. Yet MoD has nominated and named his successor (for whose benefit the entire conspiracy and manipulation took place) to take over as COAS on 31 May 2012.
This action is untenable and the real cause of the mess that MoD has got into and only they are to be blamed. Instead they are trying to pass it on to Gen VK Singh by insinuating that he is now a ‘frustrated man’ and is trying to rake up the Tatra bribery issue and leaking out his letter on ‘defence preparedness’ to PM to seek revenge. Some MPs, including congenitally corrupt ones, have asked for Gen VK Singh’s summary dismissal and arrest without even holding an enquiry!
This way of portraying the serving chief of the Indian Army as an adversary just because he is fighting against corruption and injustice is wrought with serious danger and consequences. It is our Armed Forces who have defended and protected our democracy through their valour, sacrifice and total sense of patriotism, bereft of any political ambitions as in our neighbouring countries. It is largely because of them that India stands tall as a free and sovereign Republic. Among the armed forces, the Army is the largest and the most visible face. The chief of that force has a special status in the nation’s affairs and he cannot be distinguished from the Institution he heads. When an institution like the Army is impaled, it is the people who bleed.
The politico-bureaucratic power coterie that is trying to bulldoze the Army Chief is very distressing. If the serving Army Chief is treated this way and these corrupt cabals have their final say at least for two generations, no military commander will raise his head. And the message for military commanders will be that it isn’t merit, honesty or integrity that will get them promotions and tenures but pandering to the corrupt politico-bureaucratic cabal. The last bastion of professional meritocracy in India will crumble and the damage will be lasting.
This is an open war between the honest and the corrupt and cannot be countenanced in the interest of national security and integrity in governance. It is time people with conscience stood up and be counted.
DIMENSIONS OF THE ROT----THE LEGACY GENERAL VK SINGH GOT
I shall reproduce a write up from another colleague, who narrates an incident about the dimensions of the cancerous rot. Note how much is the infiltration of Arms dealers mafia into the army? It is now learnt that they had also orchestrated the DOB controversy by manipulating even with the MH Kirkee to show General VK's DOB as 1949. Their hold in the army is beyond one's imagination with pliable Generals and officers placed in all slots of decision making. Please also note how the voices of honesty and integrity are stiffled and silenced.
It is NOT that honest men were NOT there in the army but their breed is becoming extinct by a process of 'honesty cleansing', right from the ranks of Colonels and Brigadiers. You heard of the SUCCESSION PLAN of ARMY CHIEFS worked out in 2005. It is the part of that HONESTY CLEANSING process initiated by the Arms dealer-cartel. Promotions, postings, procurements, purchases----everything is manipulated. Such is the influence of cartel that VK called it cancer. Read this piece by Brigadier Nawab Heer retired:-
"--------I WILL SHARE A SMALL INCIDENT TO WHICH I AM WITNESS.IN 2004, WHEN I WAS SERVING IN AHQ, A COLLEGUE OF MINE, A BRIG (Brigadier), WAS POSTED IN MGO (Master General Ordanance) BR (Branch). HE WAS IN PROCUREMENT SECTION. VCOAS (Vice Chief of Army Staff) WAS CHAIRING THE CONF (Conference) IN MGO BR(Branch). THE CASE OF PURCHASE OF ADDL (additional) 3000 TATRAS WAS BEING DISCUSSED. ALL HEADS OF ARMS AND SERVICES WERE THERE. EVERYONE SUPPORTED REPEAT ORDER WITH VECTRAS FOR 1.10 CR A TATRA. BRIG(Brigadier) FRIEND WHO HAD JUST JOINED MGO AS DDG ( deputy director General) ASKED JUSTIFICATION WHEN ANOTHER FIRM WAS PROVIDING US 60 LAKHS A PIECE. VECTRAS HAD PROMISED TRANSFER OF TECH (technology). BUT NEVER DID. A NEW FIRM WAS READY FOR TFR (Transfer) OF TECH ( technology).STATE WAS SAVING A LOT. NO ONE SUPPORTED HIM.MGO TRIED TO GIVE HIM SHUT UP CALL. HE TOLD THAT HIS DISAGREEMENT MAY BE RECORDED.(The) BRIG WAS POSTED OUT OF MGO BR NEXT DAY TO SIDE LINED DTE (Directorate) .IT IS( an) OLD STORY. MOD AND AHQ IS THICK WITH MUD. (NO) HOPE ONE CHIEF CAN DO SOMETHING.----------------------------" Brigadier Nwab Heer (Veteran) ------ nawabheer@gmail.com
HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
How did it happen? Here is how it happened. Brigadier RS Chhikara (Veteran) writes, I quote:-
"----------- Over the past two decades or more, there has been palpable sense of concern at the way the nation’s civilian leadership has been conducting affairs of state security. There has been an even greater concern on how political and bureaucratic meddling had impacted the process of selection and appointments in higher echelons of military hierarchy. Senior officers started placing their personal career prospects above national or institutional interests. They would prefer to keep quiet rather than speak up for the service, lest the masters get upset. They would like to be seen as being more concerned about savings in defence spending overlooking non availability of essential armaments, housing and training infrastructure. They started kow- towing with the bureaucrats in matters of deployment in aid to civil authority at the expense of training for war. All this, to cover up serious political- bureaucratic mismanagement. Whenever there was a conflict of opinion, CYA ( Cover Your Ass) became the preferred option. Senior defense officers ceased to be professionals and became careerists.
Over time, they had recognized the wisdom of obfuscation, seeking political patronage, even backstabbing colleagues if there was a chance to garner a smile from the bureaucrat or politician. Inter service and inter departmental rivalries were encouraged by the masters and were enthusiastically lapped up. Healthy inter service and peer rivalry yielded to outright hostility. Individual service interest started overshadowing national interest. They forgot that a weaker Army or Air force will not contribute to victory of the other. They forgot that their spaces were not mutually exclusive. They also forgot that the defence forces needed to fight war as a composite mutually supporting force. Promoting interests of Artillery over Armoured corps or of fighter pilots over technical services can only be self defeating.
They were now used to playing games at each other’s cost leaving the political bureaucratic combine to promote their sectional interests at the cost of those of the forces or of the nation itself. They started to be seen as abdicating responsibility towards the nation’s defence and the soldier’ well being. Chiefs shied away from protecting post retirement interest of the soldier. They were told it was not their business and they fell silent. They forgot that a serving soldier today is an ex- serviceman of tomorrow and with today’s awareness levels he is not blind to these issues.
This phenomenon has been going on for over two decades. No wonder, senior officers were now looking at a flat in Adarsh, or a little bribe at Sukhna or a gubernatorial post on retirement. No wonder they left the matter of defence preparedness to politicians and bureaucrats. No wonder they allowed a soldier to be placed below a peon in governmental hierarchy. This is what has indeed effected the morale of the soldier, sailor and airman very adversely. ---------------"
Yet, neither the DoB issue is over yet, as is being wrongly believed, nor is the tenure of General VK Singh going to end in the next two months as is being widely claimed. The fact is that Supreme Court has put the ball back in the court of MoD by ruling: “As a matter of fact, the question before us in the Writ Petition is not about the determination of actual date of birth of the petitioner, but it concerns the recognition of a particular date of birth of the petitioner by the respondent (Government of India) in the official service record.”
It is therefore imperative that the MoD has to first pass a legally speaking order ‘recognising’ Gen VK Singh’s real DoB as per law and Rules that hold School Certificate as paramount. This has not been done and the retirement orders of Gen VK Singh have not been served on him till now. Yet MoD has nominated and named his successor (for whose benefit the entire conspiracy and manipulation took place) to take over as COAS on 31 May 2012.
This action is untenable and the real cause of the mess that MoD has got into and only they are to be blamed. Instead they are trying to pass it on to Gen VK Singh by insinuating that he is now a ‘frustrated man’ and is trying to rake up the Tatra bribery issue and leaking out his letter on ‘defence preparedness’ to PM to seek revenge. Some MPs, including congenitally corrupt ones, have asked for Gen VK Singh’s summary dismissal and arrest without even holding an enquiry!
This way of portraying the serving chief of the Indian Army as an adversary just because he is fighting against corruption and injustice is wrought with serious danger and consequences. It is our Armed Forces who have defended and protected our democracy through their valour, sacrifice and total sense of patriotism, bereft of any political ambitions as in our neighbouring countries. It is largely because of them that India stands tall as a free and sovereign Republic. Among the armed forces, the Army is the largest and the most visible face. The chief of that force has a special status in the nation’s affairs and he cannot be distinguished from the Institution he heads. When an institution like the Army is impaled, it is the people who bleed.
The politico-bureaucratic power coterie that is trying to bulldoze the Army Chief is very distressing. If the serving Army Chief is treated this way and these corrupt cabals have their final say at least for two generations, no military commander will raise his head. And the message for military commanders will be that it isn’t merit, honesty or integrity that will get them promotions and tenures but pandering to the corrupt politico-bureaucratic cabal. The last bastion of professional meritocracy in India will crumble and the damage will be lasting.
This is an open war between the honest and the corrupt and cannot be countenanced in the interest of national security and integrity in governance. It is time people with conscience stood up and be counted.
DIMENSIONS OF THE ROT----THE LEGACY GENERAL VK SINGH GOT
I shall reproduce a write up from another colleague, who narrates an incident about the dimensions of the cancerous rot. Note how much is the infiltration of Arms dealers mafia into the army? It is now learnt that they had also orchestrated the DOB controversy by manipulating even with the MH Kirkee to show General VK's DOB as 1949. Their hold in the army is beyond one's imagination with pliable Generals and officers placed in all slots of decision making. Please also note how the voices of honesty and integrity are stiffled and silenced.
It is NOT that honest men were NOT there in the army but their breed is becoming extinct by a process of 'honesty cleansing', right from the ranks of Colonels and Brigadiers. You heard of the SUCCESSION PLAN of ARMY CHIEFS worked out in 2005. It is the part of that HONESTY CLEANSING process initiated by the Arms dealer-cartel. Promotions, postings, procurements, purchases----everything is manipulated. Such is the influence of cartel that VK called it cancer. Read this piece by Brigadier Nawab Heer retired:-
"--------I WILL SHARE A SMALL INCIDENT TO WHICH I AM WITNESS.IN 2004, WHEN I WAS SERVING IN AHQ, A COLLEGUE OF MINE, A BRIG (Brigadier), WAS POSTED IN MGO (Master General Ordanance) BR (Branch). HE WAS IN PROCUREMENT SECTION. VCOAS (Vice Chief of Army Staff) WAS CHAIRING THE CONF (Conference) IN MGO BR(Branch). THE CASE OF PURCHASE OF ADDL (additional) 3000 TATRAS WAS BEING DISCUSSED. ALL HEADS OF ARMS AND SERVICES WERE THERE. EVERYONE SUPPORTED REPEAT ORDER WITH VECTRAS FOR 1.10 CR A TATRA. BRIG(Brigadier) FRIEND WHO HAD JUST JOINED MGO AS DDG ( deputy director General) ASKED JUSTIFICATION WHEN ANOTHER FIRM WAS PROVIDING US 60 LAKHS A PIECE. VECTRAS HAD PROMISED TRANSFER OF TECH (technology). BUT NEVER DID. A NEW FIRM WAS READY FOR TFR (Transfer) OF TECH ( technology).STATE WAS SAVING A LOT. NO ONE SUPPORTED HIM.MGO TRIED TO GIVE HIM SHUT UP CALL. HE TOLD THAT HIS DISAGREEMENT MAY BE RECORDED.(The) BRIG WAS POSTED OUT OF MGO BR NEXT DAY TO SIDE LINED DTE (Directorate) .IT IS( an) OLD STORY. MOD AND AHQ IS THICK WITH MUD. (NO) HOPE ONE CHIEF CAN DO SOMETHING.----------------------------" Brigadier Nwab Heer (Veteran) ------ nawabheer@gmail.com
HOW DID IT HAPPEN?
How did it happen? Here is how it happened. Brigadier RS Chhikara (Veteran) writes, I quote:-
"----------- Over the past two decades or more, there has been palpable sense of concern at the way the nation’s civilian leadership has been conducting affairs of state security. There has been an even greater concern on how political and bureaucratic meddling had impacted the process of selection and appointments in higher echelons of military hierarchy. Senior officers started placing their personal career prospects above national or institutional interests. They would prefer to keep quiet rather than speak up for the service, lest the masters get upset. They would like to be seen as being more concerned about savings in defence spending overlooking non availability of essential armaments, housing and training infrastructure. They started kow- towing with the bureaucrats in matters of deployment in aid to civil authority at the expense of training for war. All this, to cover up serious political- bureaucratic mismanagement. Whenever there was a conflict of opinion, CYA ( Cover Your Ass) became the preferred option. Senior defense officers ceased to be professionals and became careerists.
Over time, they had recognized the wisdom of obfuscation, seeking political patronage, even backstabbing colleagues if there was a chance to garner a smile from the bureaucrat or politician. Inter service and inter departmental rivalries were encouraged by the masters and were enthusiastically lapped up. Healthy inter service and peer rivalry yielded to outright hostility. Individual service interest started overshadowing national interest. They forgot that a weaker Army or Air force will not contribute to victory of the other. They forgot that their spaces were not mutually exclusive. They also forgot that the defence forces needed to fight war as a composite mutually supporting force. Promoting interests of Artillery over Armoured corps or of fighter pilots over technical services can only be self defeating.
They were now used to playing games at each other’s cost leaving the political bureaucratic combine to promote their sectional interests at the cost of those of the forces or of the nation itself. They started to be seen as abdicating responsibility towards the nation’s defence and the soldier’ well being. Chiefs shied away from protecting post retirement interest of the soldier. They were told it was not their business and they fell silent. They forgot that a serving soldier today is an ex- serviceman of tomorrow and with today’s awareness levels he is not blind to these issues.
This phenomenon has been going on for over two decades. No wonder, senior officers were now looking at a flat in Adarsh, or a little bribe at Sukhna or a gubernatorial post on retirement. No wonder they left the matter of defence preparedness to politicians and bureaucrats. No wonder they allowed a soldier to be placed below a peon in governmental hierarchy. This is what has indeed effected the morale of the soldier, sailor and airman very adversely. ---------------"
................................................................................Continued in Part-II
I do not agree in entirety , part of the problem lies in the mis-trust between the Services and the MoD.Do we really need the MoD??A Navy Chief resigns. An earlier Naval Chief is sacked , the COAS just escapes being sacked .Top secret Air Force documents are leaked from the MoD.The Army Chiefs letter to the Defence Minister/MoD is found printed in leading papers and magazines.We have a Defence Secretary who is suspicious of the Military and along with South Block Babu’s and the ‘Highest Authority’ wants to know the details of the coup in offing. We have a MoD which has nothing to do with the Armed Forces of the Country except to be-little the Service HQ’s and its Chiefs. I would like to add two things here.First lets see where the fault lines lie. Why is all this happening?? Without adding any comments, the famous case of Gen Billy Mitchel comes to my mind. You judge wherein lies the rot.The statement of Gen Billy Mitchel is reproduced here- “I have been asked from all parts of the country to give my opinion about the reasons for the frightful aeronautical accidents and loss of life, equipment and treasure that has occurred during the last few days.This statement therefore is given out publicly by me after mature deliberation and after a sufficient time has elapsed since the terrible accident to our naval aircraft, to find out something about what happened, my opinion is as follows:These accidents are the direct result of the incompetency, criminal negligence and almost treasonable administration of the national defense by the Navy and War Departments.The bodies of my former companions of the air molder under the soil in America and Asia, Europe and Africa, many, yes, a great many, sent there directly by official stupidity.” And this is what the Navy Department had said of Gen Billy Mitchel , prior to his Court Martial for taking on the War Department ( They call it it the MoD in India)—- “It is recommended and requested that Brigadier General William Mitchell be relieved of duty as Assistant Chief of the Air Service. He has given serious offense to the Navy Department by his public utterances and publicity. He has enhanced his own prestige at the expense of and to the detriment of the prestige of his immediate commanding officer. This publicity, if not carried on by him personally, is at least known to him and subject to his control”.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is what Gen (Sir) John Hackett , erstwhile CIGS British Army once said—- ’’Much has been made of the moral decline in our society. Are your values hermetically sealed in a vacuum, or do you share them with your community? If a strong nation and a strong military requires people of integrity, then where will those people come from if we don’t help build them? “When a country looks at its fighting forces it is looking in a mirror: if the mirror is a true one the face that it sees will be its own.” Thank God there is hope , for we still have men of Honour in our Country.You are answerable to not only your superiors but your compatriots and also your sub-ordinates , who judge you every day and decide whether or not you deserve a salute and whether they will follow you in battle. Most of all, the one profession where your Character and Morals are judged every day , every minute— is the Military. National character , Pride , Honesty and Probity: they count here. And where are the Babu’s and the Ministers hiding now?? Now coming on to the next part.This nonsense of the previous COAS , being involved in some sort of coup attempt--- --- Further reading on--http://tonysarao.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/of-media-mice-and-the-retards-of-raisina-hill/