LET THE VETERANS GIVE A VOICE TO THE CONCERNS OF THE FORCES – AKIN TO
THE CIVIL SOCIETY MOVEMENT AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT
The series of scams which have been put forth
in the public domain; courtesy the
active and alert media, is an encouraging indicator of democracy maturing in
the country and the growing middle class influencing and shaping public opinion, like never before. While,
social activism is and activists are, relentless in their single point pursuit
of battling the nuisance and bane of corruption in public life, the NGO India
against Corruption, under the stewardship of the soldier and veteran Anna
Hazare, has brought this issue under acute focus. Notwithstanding the
adamantine and obdurate polity, which continues to duck, obfuscate and
sidetrack the subject, as it obtains in the people’s perception: Anna Hazare
and his band of selfless followers continue to engage and badger the
government, on the matter of passing a worthy and potent Lok Pal Bill and enact
it as law. Moreover, the democratic process which goes into action every five
years, to elect the people’s representatives, weighs on the minds of the political
parties to carry out midcourse corrections to their policies, with the intent
to respond to public demands for better governance. Thus, with the continuous
apprehension of losing power, the government is slowly arm twisted into
obedience and dutiful action to address the concerned issues. Even with the
thought that the situation is not ideal and leaves a lot of room for
improvement, there is hope for the future, because the burgeoning middle class
stimulated by a resurgent and stable economy, is likely to enlarge its base and
make a significant impact on the outcome of the elections – hopefully for the
better.
While that is so, there is a need of something
on very similar lines to be done with regard to the armed forces in general and
the army in particular. The armed forces being a hierarchical and an autocratic
organization enjoy absolute authority and power for good reason, which is
unfortunately identified with rank alone; but when the same is overstepped and
misused, it goes into a virtual Ferris wheel like trajectory – without a
beginning and an end, impossible to stop, lest the power is cut/switched off. This
analogy applies to the forces, because herein authority flows from top
downwards, and while there are rules and regulations to cite and uphold by the
subordinates, in the face of any untoward/unlawful/venal/immoral happening, the
prudence and courage to abide by the same is generally absent. As it will tantamount
to a virtual ‘hara-kiri’ for one’s career growth and professional prosperity.
Let this be explained at greater length for easy understanding. When the senior
leadership of the forces becomes bereft of rectitude and probity in their
professional and private life and yet remain in authority over the
subordinates; whom they assess and judge for potential growth within the
organization and the ubiquitous system: who will then bite the bullet to stand
up against the wrong doers who shape and promote careers and fulfil ill gotten
ambition. There was a time when I was told and believed that, to cleanse and
purge the system, one will necessarily have to do it from within, but today I
stand corrected on my belief, in the wake of shameful wrong doing happening
unabated, despite any amount of clarion calls by the authorities to stand up
against what is morally and ethically undermining. This is not going to happen,
for the simple reason that the system is hierarchical and rank identifies with it.
Wrong survives better than right, in a material environment, which is governed
by the ends, than the means. The noticeable
acts of corruption and embezzlement are committed where authority is reposed
and the threshold for this is the rank of the commanding officer and its
equivalent. The power to initiate an annual confidential report also rests with
the same authority and the beginnings of most mischief starts from here.
Ever since I wrote on my URL
passionforcourage.blogspot.com about the NDA job scam, I have received many
mails and telephone calls, urging me to write more on similar inside stories to
which I may be privy to; with the purpose of getting into the seam of the
matter and exposing the issue without fear or favour. It is times that, we who
are on the outside, by the power of our honesty and intellectual integrity,
mobilize public opinion and help it to proliferate up to a critical level from
where it cannot be ignored and the organization is coerced into initiating systemic
changes. The social activists are replicated, albeit in a different profile, to
shake up and jostle the powers that be by engaging these through the veterans,
politicians, bureaucrats and civil society – with the one point aim of making
repairs to the institution which is getting hollow from within. Let the
sunshine disinfect all that is putrid and moth eaten within the system, without
a strain of hypocrisy to deny and justify all that is wrong and finger point at
others, for the problems which are our own creation than anybody else. The
demand of the time is to come out without any hesitation or else self effacing
reasoning to keep away from doing so, because the situation is unlikely to
improve, should we not support the junior leadership of the forces and the army
in particular, who have not as yet been bitten by the bug of corruption and
have not transited into becoming spineless noodles , to stand up against wrong
in the firm belief and full faith that, COURAGE, CHARACTER and COMPETENCE are
virtues, which adorn men of substance. Let the young leader of today; be
emblazoned with the passion, to live out a life in the forces and the army in
particular with dignity, gumption and honour than becoming a general or its
equivalent, who is mired in shame and disgrace. Let the guilty generals or
their equivalents be made public specimens of, and we may be on the road of
putting a stop to the spate of scams, which have besieged the brotherhood in
recent times. Extra ordinary situations demand extraordinary actions. The various
acts which are enshrined in the statute should be re examined, to calibrate the
degree of the punishment according to the rank and public ignominy for the
generals and their equivalents must be introduced.
Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal
+919410900051
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