One man with courage makes a majority

The Rot Within – Over The Years

It was, while I was an instructor in the Indian Military Academy (IMA), Dehra Dun in 1992 that, I got involved in a case of trumped up charges for indiscipline, slapped upon me by the establishment, which involved the unfortunate death of a Technical Graduate Gentleman Cadet Sujit Karmakar, during training. The army initiated Court Martial Proceedings (GCM) against me, which became time barred after three years of inquiry / investigation and the charges dropped as non maintainable under the Army Act (AA). I lived those years of isolation as a persona non grata in the army and immersed myself in positive reflection upon the present and future of an institution, which was unwilling to face the truth. A truth, which screamed from the traditional ramparts of uprightness in conduct, character driven leadership, living by the courage of ones convictions, rectitude and probity in official dealings etc; only to be not heard by its custodians and guardians, comprising the top rungs of the Army’s hierarchy. The cultural environment obtaining in the monolith had slowly but surely transformed into a miasma of despair, which could only get worse because there was no premium on truth. Hypocrisy, double standards, and a pretentious life style had overtaken the values of soldiering and leadership, in an insidious and tacit manner by chipping into the sustaining edifice of ‘officership’, the heart and soul of any military organization. The officer corps was definitively getting sucked into the enigma of making a choice between being good and successful, which had become mutually exclusive. In keeping with the shroud of institutionalized corruption that now embellished our political, bureaucratic, corporate, judicial and executive culture, the Armed Forces could not keep itself insulated from the gratifying influence of financial decadence.

Our society, which pedestalises success along with the lurking market forces of greed and filthy lucre, suitably lent itself to destruct whatever remains of character the officer had imbibed from the family, the portals of the hallowed institutions of leadership training and the military, which shaped the individual’s personality. The rot had seized the vitals of the Armed Forces, its officer cadre, and the down slide in professional integrity was an obvious consequence. Military motivation was no more a reality which existed in the rank and files, but was only confined to the pages of General Staff military publications for sanctimonious pedagogy. The noble trait of loyalty got redefined as sycophancy by the ‘climbers’, who had correctly gauged the prevalent mood within the organization as one of never swimming against the tide, even when the situation demanded of them a firm and righteous stand premised on principles than expediency.

Corruption which has become the bottom line of our mundane life and pervades every aspect of living, was put into stark relief by the President of the Union, when in his broadcast to the nation on the eve of the forty sixth Republic Day; he had to simultaneously rebuke people holding prominent public offices and call for mobilization of people’s power to fight these evils. The Armed Forces had tasted blood and was equally embroiled in deeds of overt and covert decadence, which was flourishing and prospering in the senior ranks of its hierarchy. The system was getting impacted by the adverse influence of corruption and spineless leadership, proliferating and percolating into its rank and file, making the environment murkier. Young officers transiting into offices of positional authority were getting bitten by the bug of this decadence and yielding to its pernicious influence. It became truly heart rending to watch officers mutate into loyal camp followers, only in the earnest hope of some day riding the band wagon of success, even when it is ill gotten. The decadence of moral values has made its presence so absolute, that none deny it even when most decry it. The contradictions within our functional ethos have made the understanding of leadership principles and traits so complex, that it stands on the threshold of absurdity, which can only get more retrograde if not arrested at all levels within the Forces.

General Vijay Kumar Singh has stirred the hornets nest, involving senior officers in various acts of corruption, graft, bribery and moral decay. The skeletons are slowly emerging from the cupboard, to the embarrassment of the Army and its institutions. We have the apex institution of the Army involved in scams and denigrating its status, only for personal gains and profit. The names of ex Chiefs who have spiraled into their offices by trading the stature and gravitas of the organization they once belonged to, has put the Army to shame and disrepute. The names which have already rolled out into the public domain are those of Generals (retired) Joginder Jaswant Singh and Deepak Kapoor, disgracing the office they once occupied and putting a big question mark on the system of evaluation and promotion obtaining in the Army. The court martial of Lt General (retd) Avdesh Prakash, arrest by the CBI of Maj Gen (retd) A R Kumar and TN Kaul and Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh named by the Chief in an FIR lodged with the CBI for offering him a bribe for clearing a tranche of about 600 sub standard high mobility TATRA trucks, does not do proud to the reputation of the Army. The rot which has besieged the Army in particular, is from within and has no one else to blame for. It will require many more to cleanse the System, which has been subjected to systemic decay over the years. The philosophy which must now become the corner stone of every young officer should be rooted in faith in one’s self and abilities, and the desire to live with the honor of one’s soul, which recognizes the merit of a good action.

“One man with courage makes a majority”.

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal, VSM

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