Good Luck to You Bikram, Should You Make It

A SANCTIMONIOUS CHIEF-----WHO DESTROYED AN INSTITUTION

Circa 2011, was a veritable annus horribilis for the Army and will go down in its glorious history as such. An inane matter of reconciling within the Army Headquarters  two separate dates of birth of an officer, was dragged into the public domain by non other than its own Chief of Army Staff. This has willy nilly brought  the Army and its  apex Institution under severe and unwanted scrutiny, quite gratuitously. As, the subject had divided public opinion on the matter, it was put to excessive discussion and debate on the ubiquitous electronic and print media. Military veterans, bureaucrats and correspondents in bringing forth their points of view, took positions based on their grasp of the narrative as it had unfurled over the year. From a Civil- Military confrontation to raillery of Politicians, Bureaucracy and a previous Chief of Army Staff who decided the line of succession for 2012 and yet another who used coercion to extract an ungainly commitment, it was all in bad taste. Nothing gainful has emerged from this public haranguing, except for the fact that it has brought out in the open the festering resentment which brews within the Army against its Own and the Political and Civil Services establishment. To a large majority of the informed people who have been privy to this theatre of the absurd, the Army has come out a cropper, because General VK Singh has demolished the status of the very Institution he represents. How one wishes that the General had shown more restraint and grace in his conduct and not behaved as a smitten middle rung officer, fighting the System for his perceived right.

Does, General VK Singh realize what he has done to the image of the next Chief who will succeed him. Should it be Lt Gen Bikram Singh, which in all probability it will be, then imagine the burden he will have upon himself to prove his  leadership credentials and not become a subject of furtive ridicule within the rank and file of his Army. The appointment of Bikram Singh, on the principle of seniority by the Cabinet Committee of Appointments (CCA), will suggest a communal undertone to it, orchestrated by an ex Chief belonging to the same community as that, of the new incumbent. This is most unfortunate. Also, in a Government dispensation wherein Civilian Supremacy over the Army is a given, one would hate to be in Bikram’s shoes, as he would have been largely defanged by the supposed largesse done to him by the Political Establishment. In such a situation, imagine what stand he will be able to take with the Bureaucracy or else the Parent Ministry on matters of critical and vital importance to the Army, which have been put in limbo by the Government. I doubt, if any. Therefore, General VK Singh  in taking his fight for his honor and integrity to the streets; on an innocuous issue such as the one he has, has done irreparable damage to the Institution of the Chief, from which it will require someone of the caliber and character of late Field Marshal Sam Maneckshaw to resurrect.

Good luck! to the next Chief of  Army Staff  to steer his Army from the murky waters in which his Institution has been bequeathed to him, by his holier than thou predecessor.

Brigadier S D Dangwal,VSM

E-102  Arborea Luxury Homes

Tarla Nagal

Dehra Dun-248001

9410900051      

The Army Has Been Caricatured

AN INSTITUTION DESTROYED BY GENERAL VIJAY KUMAR SINGH,CHIEF OF ARMY STAFF, INDIAN ARMY

The imbroglio involving General Vijay Kumar Singh and the Government is much beyond the facts as exist and cited by the former, relating to his Date of Birth. The issue when it first came up seriously within the Army Headquarters (AHQs) for resolution, as it would have corresponding consequences upon the service tenure and military position of the aggrieved officer, should have been fully settled in house and not brought into the public domain. Vijay Kumar Singh would have been well justified in ‘sticking it out’ with his just claim premised on facts as evidenced from all documents maintained in the officer’s service record, maintained with the Adjutant General’s Branch. Truth is its own evidence. The onus for settling the facetious dispute rested largely with the officer and not the AHQs. It was then that, the officer’s now tall claim of taking an issue with the Government to protect his Honor and Integrity, would have seemed genuine and convincing. Unfortunately, this claim now seems an inane and hollow moral grandstanding, which fails to settle with those who consider Truth as Non Negotiable, irrespective of the consequences thereof.

General Vijay K Singh has by agreeing upon his particular date of birth, as perceived by his superior and predecessor, precluded himself from subsequently and now contesting the matter on the same facts which existed even then. After having taken advantage of whatever suited him then, the pathetic plea of being coerced into agreeing upon that particular date of birth, is at the least ridiculous. This in law is termed as estoppel and makes sense of the Attorney General’s opinion in the entire controversy, as given to the Ministry of Defence.

My take on the entire matter of this uncalled for controversy, involving not only an individual but also an institution and the government served by this very institution, is that of distaste and aversion. At a point in time when the Indian Army was disgraced by a series of scams involving its one, two, three and four star general officers, who had misused their office and authority to obtain financial, material and positional advantage; Vijay Kumar Singh as its new Chief of Army Staff had promised the Army and the Nation to clean the Augean Stables, which had sullied the reputation of  the former, over the years. This declaration was extremely well received by the rank and file and hope was infused into the hearts of soldiers, who valued character, courage and competence over all else. Emboldened by this turn of things in the Army, I wrote to the Chief of Army Staff and sent him my book PASSION FOR COURAGE-A WINNER’S CREED, as the underlying theme of the book is character driven leadership. I saw a window of opportunity to reinforce the sentiment and restore belief in young and middle rung officers in the merit of abiding by the dictates of one’s conscience and not jettisoning the principle of truth in the discharge of one’s duty. I think General VK Singh missed the point which I have made in my book and which is “An officer, who is true to his calling must forever remain wary of being inveigled into succumbing to the temptation of self justification, on matters of a misplaced sense of rectitude, probity, uprightness and pragmatism”.

The General Officer’s competence and integrity as perceived by the public at large is not a matter into which I will delve into or even doubt, but surely will not desist from writing about what is understood by me as honor and integrity, values which the officer is being manipulative about in his public moral grandstanding. for the nation’s consumption. When the General was a young officer in 2^nd Rajput Regiment, he had once overstayed leave granted to him. The matter, in accordance with rules on the subject was correctly reported to all concerned in the channel of command and reporting. As VK Singh enjoyed some political patronage then and was able to prevail through the offices of someone influential and important in the set up, a most absurd situation developed. The Officiating Commanding Officer (Late) Major Dharam Pal Kukreti, who had reported the matter through an official correspondence was first asked and later pressurized to withdraw the said correspondence. The officer refused to do so, on grounds of principles and integrity. The implication for asking for the correspondence to be withdrawn was to desist from taking any disciplinary action against the defaulter as provided for within the provisos of the Army Act. Vijay Kumar Singh then was liable to be dealt with and punished for the lapse, by the then Brigade Commander. In view of the personality involved at the highest level to orchestrate this relief for the officer, the system developed cold feet and somehow diffused the situation in favor of the defaulter. An absurd closure to a prima facie case of overstaying leave granted to an officer. The matter did not end here. The gutsy and upright Officiating Commanding Officer, (Late) Major Dharam Pal Kukreti who refused to budge from his position, was isolated and singled out for exercising his lawful prerogative and pushed in a series of events, which followed from this incident, into an extreme position of fearing for his life at the hands of an insensitive and moth eaten SYSTEM. The insanity prevailed to such an extent that our own troops were formed up to attack the Company Post where (Late) Major Dharam Pal Kukreti along with his loyal and trusted soldiers had located himself, for reasons of his personal safety and security. The matter was brought to a closure when (Late) Major Dharam Pal Kukreti surrendered to the Chief of Staff of his Corps Headquarter and was proceeded against under the Army Act. The officer was later cashiered from service, without any pension benefits.

The reason why I have narrated this episode here is because, General VK Singh was fully privy to and seized of what the meaning of one’s HONOR and INTEGRITY is. Having seen it with his own eyes from a ringside view, when (Late) Major Dharam Pal Kukreti never caring for the depth of the whirlpool he was plunging himself into, only because his conscience demanded it. General, I for one thought that you will fully comprehend the meaning  of one’s HONOUR and INTEGRITY in totality and not selectively, as you conveniently make it out to be in your civil writ petition submitted to the Supreme Court of India. It does not go down well with me and most who have understood the issue in its essence. Whether the Honorable Court decides in your favor or not is inconsequential to me as a Military Veteran, because in bringing this whole matter into the public domain you have discredited the Army and destroyed the Institution of the Chief of Army Staff. It seems to me that somewhere poetic justice will have caught up with you, deep within your own soul. You could have learnt your lesson well under the tutelage of your brother officer and Officiating Commanding Officer, (Late) Major Dharam Pal Kukreti, that HONOR and INTEGRITY are not hollow words to be bandied about for the gallery, but much deeper in meaning and import, which are NON NEGOTIABLE. I am afraid in your case these are being used rather expediently than otherwise. I wish you well but with a sense of immense personal grief at the ARMY’S LOSS.

Brigadier Sarvesh Dangwal, VSM

E102-Arborea

Tarla Nagal

PO Kulhan

Dehra Dun-248001

09410900051 

It is not Army versus Government

An Article Of Faith

The ongoing controversy regarding the date of birth of Gen V K Singh and his public grandstanding to make it into a matter of his honor and integrity, is more an exercise in expedient opportunism, which lacks grace and propriety. A Chief of an Army cannot be in conflict with the stated position of the Government, as represented by the decision of the Raksha Mantri in the matter.

The Law Ministry and the Attorney General who have comprehensively examined the matter at length and arrived at an opinion based on precedent and merits of the case, recommended status quo in the matter. The Chief should respect and honor the decision by showing personal and professional maturity and not adopt an obdurate posture primarily meant for the gallery.

It pains my heart to say that many a retired senior officers who have gone public in the matter and taken a position contrary to that of the Government, have failed to understand and appreciate the Constitutional Obligation which sustains the sovereignity of our democracy. The Chief has for no reason made an issue of the matter and made himself vulnerable to being sacked. I wonder if the Government will have the gumption to do so?

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal, VSM