The Indian Army must speak!

The Indian Army must speak!

(RSN Singh is a former  intelligence officer who later served in the Research and Analysis Wing, or R&AW}.

The Indian Army is a cohesive, secular and dedicated organization. In fact, it is dedicated to the fault. Most army personnel are innocent and sensitive. It is these personnel who were in the forefront in Kargil, and it is these personnel who have saved Kashmir and the northeast for India. It is these personnel that the nation relies on for any eventuality or mess created by other organizations.More than managers, the officers who lead these men are leaders. They are effective because they lead by example. For the men they command, they are like Gods.

A great nation must have a great army not only in terms of fighting prowess but for its institutional credibility and aggregate character. The character of any army is the aggregate character of its personnel who constitute it. On this score, the Indian Army is at the highest end of the scale. It is for this reason that the Indian Army is still revered and loved institution.

No army can function without the love of its people.

The same very respect and love of Indians for the Indian Army is now being, advertently and inadvertently, subverted by the media. It is not difficult to distinguish between the advertent and inadvertent reporting in this regard.

Does praising a chief minister at a military function for certain qualities constitute a blasphemy? Is not the chief minister of a state a constitutional authority? Are Army Officers expected to weigh or limit their apolitical comments based on the preferences of a particular political segment or a section of the media?

The media by questioning the comments of the General has made an entirely innocuous and courteous gesture a political controversy. It is no coincidence that most of the English newspapers in the country have carried this insignificant piece of news in almost similar tenor.

On another occasion, a television journalist while interviewing the Army Chief, mischievously and completely out of context, dropped the name of Lt Col Purohit and his culpability in the Samjhauta blasts. The Army Chief in his innocence and on the spur of the moment said that Purohit was an 'aberration'. The sense of triumph on the interviewer could then be easily discerned. Probably, the agenda of the journalist was to establish the imaginary inroads that the phenomenon of so-called 'Hindu Terror' had made into the Army. The fact of the matter is that Lt Col Purohit's involvement in any terror activity is far from proved and the matter is still subjudice. Intriguingly, there are three sets of confessional statements with regard to Samjhauta blasts and the name of Lt Col Purohit figures in only one. The journalist also knows very well that if Purohit is found guilty on any account, the Army and its legal system will come down heavily, much more heavily than any Civil Court in the country.

The journalist, thus, in keeping with the agenda of vested interests cleverly sought to question the very secular credentials of the Indian Army. It is the same vested interests who are publishing leaks of investigations including those from the Military Intelligence on a daily basis and that too on their front pages.

It is a well-known fact that the legal procedures and provisions in the army are such that the rank and the standing of the officer is hardly any insulation. It was evident in the first major sting operation in this country. Allegedly, the sting operation was done at the behest of vested players to bring down the then government. The Army Officers became a tool in that process. It was an abominable to see the lecherous way in which the journalists tried to lure the officers. The government stayed. It was only the Army Officers who were punished. All the other culprits prospered and some of them continue to do so. The journalists too have prospered. One Army Officer in the finest tradition of the armed forces owned up his guilt, though the degree was ridiculous by today's standards prevailing in the country. The media did not have the character to appreciate this act.

The Sukhna scam to begin with was projected as 'unauthorized sale of defence land' for ulterior motives. It took some days for the media to understand the case and later halfhearted clarifications were made that the issue under question was granting of NOC for a project involving a civil piece of land. There was no trail or proof or even direct allegation of exchange of money. The damage by then had been done.

The media did not find it suitable to compliment the Army about being intolerant and sensitive about the act of impropriety. The whole case was drummed for at least for two weeks. The guilty have been punished after most swift dispensation of justice.

Compare the media enthusiasm about the crores of Rupees appropriated by the IAS couple. Has the media accepted the growing level of corruption in the bureaucracy and politics, as fate accompli? Do they feel that unless there is a scam of the magnitude of 2G Spectrum, there is no news value? Do they fear of legal and financial reprisal in exposing corrupt deeds of some very powerful people? Do they therefore find the Army as the most convenient prey?

This constant badgering of the Army by the media has begun to take its toll. Seeds of suspicion have been sowed in the public mind about corruption being growing phenomenon in the Army. Most of them is through exaggerated stories. Some are fabricated at the behest of inimical and anti-national elements thriving in India.

The only way the army can tackle them is by being transparent, bold and more interactive with the media. The senior army officers must defend the honour and reputation of their subordinates in prompt and cogent manner, if they are being unfairly tarnished. Leaders in the army cannot and should not continue with an image that has been sullied.

In an organization of the size of Indian Army, there will be shortcomings and unsavory incidents. The Indian Army therefore must continue to be introspective, but as an institution, it has nothing to be apologetic about.

RSN Singh is a former  intelligence officer who later served in the Research and Analysis Wing, or R&AW. The author of two books: Asian Strategic and Military Perspective and Military Factor in Pakistan, he is also Associate Editor, Indian Defence Review.