news details |
|
|
| Double worry for Indian Army | | | Allabaksh
With terrorism showing no sign of abating, the need of the hour is to spread the message of reason and tolerance. The arrest of a serving Lieutenant Colonel in connection with a case of attack by 'terrorists' is a matter of double worry. It dents the image of the Indian Army, which has rightly prided itself on its discipline, professionalism and secularism. It indicates that the potentially very explosive and harmful mix of hate and revenge is percolating down to virtually all segments of a society including those who swear by secularism.
As has become the practice now in dealing with high-profile 'terror' related cases the media has played up the arrest of Lt-Col Purohit, complete with details of his 'confession' before the police interrogators. According to his alleged 'confession', which has no legal standing, he has accepted that he was involved in the blasts in Malegaon in Maharashtra and Modasa in Gujarat, which had together taken a toll of eight lives. He did that because he was overpowered by a desire to take 'revenge'.
He was instrumental in setting up, recruiting and training members for Abhinav Bharat, said to be a 'Hindu extremist' organisation and, finally, he is also supposed to have provided RDX and weapons for the two above mentioned blasts.
Whether all that is a fact or not will be established after his trial, which may well extend to several years. But many will be inclined to feel that at least some of the 'story' sounds plausible if he was really possessed by a strong sense of 'revenge'. In that case it should be a matter of worry for the Indian Army as to how an otherwise competent and good officer who got all his promotions on merit has deviated to a parallel but clandestine path? How could an officer supply RDX from army depots without anyone detecting it? That an officer in the Military Intelligence (Lt-Col Purohit) could find time to moonshine as a 'trainer' in another 'military' school would suggest the failure of the counter-intelligence. All certainly food for thought for the army top brass.
There are also matters that the civil society and the ruling classes should also ponder. Is it that the long sustained campaign of certain political and other 'organisations' has contributed to transforming not only officers and men in uniform but many other otherwise bright young men and women into bigoted communalists ready to take 'revenge'?
With terrorism showing no sign of abating, the need of the hour is to spread the message of reason and tolerance. But our politicians are competing with each other in doing just the opposite. Terrorism has become a subject of scoring brownie points or exploitation for consolidating vote banks.
Of course, it may not be entirely true to say that the Indian Army has been completely free of the virus of communalism and the idea of 'revenge'-just as it may still be premature to see the arrest of Lt Col Purohit as 'proof' that the Indian army is saddled with religious fanatics or people determined to take 'revenge'. If a survey was conducted today the majority of the men and women in the armed forces of India would still be found to be 'secular', bearing no hatred towards any religion or a group; they may feel strongly about certain things but 'revenge' is not on their minds.
Nonetheless, if conversations with some of the retired army personnel are anything to go by, the disease of hatred and communalism does seem to have seeped into the armed forces in some form at least. During the height of Khalistani movement many Sikh soldiers (jawans) had deserted the army, a unit based in Patna doing so more dramatically killing officers because he belonged to a different religion. Yet, as far as one knows the officer class of the Indian Army has always kept its cool even during volatile days and religious upheavals.
As for the jawans it is hard to imagine that they are able to take it all philosophically when they read or hear that their religious compatriots have been beaten or killed in riots. The ordinary soldier comes from a background where he has lived with all kinds of deprivations. It should not surprise if he carries traces of his anger or bitterness even after receiving rigorous physical training and lessons in patriotism and discipline.
By and large the officers are drawn from a comparatively privileged section and therefore there is a difference in the response of a soldier and that of an officer. The jawan, lately under increasing psychological stress, may be easily moved emotionally and may be inclined to react swiftly to a situation that he sees as adverse or undesirable. But an officer-and that too one holding the rank of a commanding officer-is not expected to be stung instantly and breach the code of discipline in responding to a particular situation that his community, cast or religious group might have faced. His responses are expected to be both sober and measured.
All officers of the Indian armed forces are trained in a 'secular' atmosphere. It has been a tradition in the Indian armed forces that politics and religion are not topics to be heard or discussed in the mess and the barracks. The military in India has only one purpose to serve: to defend the frontiers of the country. Other things like going after subversive elements within the country or fighting a natural disaster are their secondary jobs, while dabbling in politics of any nature is a strict no-no.
The Indian Army recruits its manpower from all communities; it is possible that some communities feel that they have not been adequately represented in the armed forces. There may be a feeling that the representation of some communities is disproportionately low. But this is a matter that the political executive has to grapple with.
Though many are inclined to dismiss it as a colonial hangover, the practice of keeping the men in uniform off politics and religion has stood the armed forces and the country well. If some men in uniform do have grievances on behalf of their community they are not expected to air them or take matters into their hands while in service, unless we want to see the Indian armed forces considerably weakened, and with it, the nation. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
