DEFENCES ARE DOWN-But Antony is an honourable man.” But has it helped the country?

Defences are down Mar 12, 2014 ... Nirmala SitharamanWhen issues related to A.K. Antony are raised, there is a rush of people reminding us about his ‘squeaky clean image’. But has his image been built at the cost of the image of the defence forces? .The Indian armed forces never had it so bad ever before. The morale of the forces has taken a beating as there have been one too many avoidable controversies. With the occurrence of naval accidents and scams, trust between the defence forces and the elected civilian government has hit rock bottom. This has adversely impacted acquiring resources in terms of equipment. And the forces’ overall preparedness has apparently reached an unacceptable low. Open public discourse on the nitty-gritty of the Indian armed forces — a force which is held in great honour and respect by the people of India — is indeed shocking. Experts, and amateurs like this writer, ask: Where does the buck stop? And this even as the present defence minister, A.K. Antony, is credited with being the “longest continuously serving defence minister”. He has been serving since October 2006. Before him, Babu Jagjivan Ram had served twice as defence minister cumulatively for 6.8 years. Earlier, V.K. Krishna Menon had completed 4.7 years. It is reported that Mr Antony is extremely mindful of his image — some in the media refer to him as “St. Antony”. All versions of his publicly available curriculum vitae refer to “his intolerance towards corruption in public life.” But then who is to be mindful of the image of the armed forces, known for their valour and which, notwithstanding the pressure Pakistan brought on us through US Task Force 74 of the US’ Seventh Fleet in the Bay of Bengal, made Pakistan surrender in 1971? Whenever law and order situation crumbles in any part of the country, it is the Army which, by a simple flag march, restores confidence and faith in the law-abiding citizen whilst, simultaneously, containing the outlaws. However, when issues related to Mr Antony are raised, there is a rush of people reminding us about his “squeaky clean image”. But has his image been built at the cost of the image of the defence forces? Or, even, the image of the country itself? Is his image a handy smokescreen behind which certain incidents and happenings remain hidden? In an interview with a leading news daily in March 2012, the then Army Chief, Gen. V.K. Singh, had said that he had informed Mr Antony about a shocking case of bribes running into several crores and that a bribe was being offered to him as well. Mr Antony issued a rebuttal, stating that he had asked Gen. Singh for a written complaint which the latter did not give. What came of that, if at all an investigation was held, is anybody’s guess. A list of the various controversies during Mr Antony’s tenure is sufficient for us to ask a few questions. The age row of Gen. Singh, the purchase of substandard and outrageously priced Tatra trucks, kickbacks in the purchase of AgustaWestland helicopters, shortage of India-made batteries in submarine INS SinduRatna leading to the death of two sailors, the accident in submarine Sindurakshak, two dead in the naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam, the report of the Army allegedly marching towards Delhi to attempt a coup which spooked the Government of India, the Sukhna land scam, and the Adarsh Housing society scam. Repeated Chinese incursions, with the Chinese troops sometimes camping in Indian territories, have left a string of unanswered questions. Have we driven them out of our territory completely? The defence ministry failed to coordinate its strategies with the external affairs ministry to talk with Pakistan to restore the honour of our dead soldiers, whom they had dishonoured by severing their heads and gouging their eyes out in violation of the Geneva Convention. On March 13, 2013, the CBI registered FIRs against 13 people, including former Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi and some members of his family. The Indian media went to town highlighting the fact that the Italians had arrested the CEO of Finmeccanica and that the chargesheets in the case stated that `40 million as kickbacks were paid to people in India for obtaining the contracts. Italy’s Prime Minister, Mario Monti, said: “There is a problem with the governance of Finmeccanica at the moment and we will face up to it.” In January 2014, the Government of India cancelled the `3,600 crore deal. Who received the kickbacks is yet to be revealed, though the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Arun Jaitley, put it succinctly: “The middleman gets the commission; bribes go to the decision-makers.” Ordering inquiries may partly reveal the truth. But canceling the order each and every time a scandal erupts is bound to have an adverse impact on the armed forces which has a long list of delayed purchases. The defence forces need highly specialised equipment, and failure to obtain them in good time can cripple their capability. The avoidable death of the Navymen due to lack of timely procurement of India-made batteries pushed a sensitive Naval Chief Adm. D.K. Joshi to resign. “It’s a very ominous situation to be in. The Indian Navy is going through a blighted phase,” observed C. Uday Bhaskar, a fellow at Delhi’s National Maritime Foundation. The BBC reported in April 2012 that efforts to modernise the Indian Army suffered due to “a lack of planning and acrimony between the military and the defence ministry”. There is also the issue of manpower shortage in the defence forces today. The time-tested trust between the civilan government and the defence forces is now under stress. Scandals, inquiries, lack of sophisticated arms and training make just the cocktail potential recruits would avoid. In all this, the role of the defence minister raises several questions. Why is it that we have not heard from Mr Antony at all — on the steps taken to instill confidence and trust in the people of our country that our territories are being protected, and on our soldiers who were tortured by the Pakistani Army? It may not be an exaggeration to say decision-making has suffered. When corruption was rampant, Mr Antony chose to look the other way. With apologies to William Shakespeare for tweaking his line from Julius Caesar “…But Antony is an honourable man.” But has it helped the country? The writer is spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The views expressed in this column are her own