DO NOT STEAL VIJAY'S THUNDER-ARMY

VIJAY KUMAR IS AN APT AMBASSADOR FOR THE ARMY’S ‘MISSION OLYMPICS’

In a country which is bereft of a sports culture and having won an individual Gold medal in the Olympics after 112 years, since the advent of the modern Games; the current showing of Subedar Vijay Kumar in London by winning the Silver medal in 25 meters Rapid Fire Pistol, is not a mean achievement by any stretch of imagination. It is exceptional, to say the least. The young army junior commissioned officer, who has inched his way to the elusive Olympic medal, after his achievements in the Asian and Commonwealth Games, is indeed praiseworthy. Notwithstanding the fact that in a country of over 1.4 billion people, it takes a single or instead a few medals to make the nation go ballistic and create a frenzy of celebrations; speaks about the near drought which our sportspersons have earlier faced in the Olympics, before Chilly Rathore happened in Double Trap in Athens. He brought home the individual Silver medal to a joyous nation, which got something other than cricket to celebrate and cheer about. He instilled the belief in the sportspersons of the country that, winning an individual medal in the Olympics was very much possible, provided they were focussed and committed to it. That was indeed a watershed moment in the history of Indian sports and Beijing followed. London was bound to happen, because the belief of those who were on the threshold of achieving Olympics  glory, was too inspiring and motivating to be otherwise. They achieved what their heart and mind believed .

The Indian army has always been in the forefront of national sports, since long. This primarily because of the intrinsic nature of pedagogy in the armed forces, wherein, physical fitness sustains all other training. Recreational sports are a consequence of this state and the armed forces culture; and competitive sports become a natural fallout of this condition. Soon the desire to excel and perform at an elite level becomes a passion for achieving individual and organizational glory.   When the Sports Ministry and the sports administrators were unable to deliver on the aspirations of the sportspersons and the people; the army, like always in many other spheres of governance and administration came forward to provide an alternative to the existing system in the country, and launched an ambitious undertaking to win in the Olympics. The programme was aptly called ‘Mission Olympics’. With the army’s vision and mission statement to excel at international level of sports and win in the Olympics, respectively, no effort was left wanting to make it happen. It was just a matter of where and when? Athens - 2004 and London - 2012. Colonel Chilly Rathore and Subedar Vijay Kumar.

 Subedar Vijay Kumar is a product of the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU) in Mhow, Madhya Pradesh. The unit came up as part of ‘Mission Olympics’, to include infrastructure, equipment, weapons, ammunition, diet, training facilities, foreign coaches, competition exposure abroad and monetary incentives for winning performances. The army diverted funds from its own budget for capital and revenue expenses, to establish five such institutes of sports excellence in the country viz Army Sports institute, Pune for athletics, archery, boxing, weight lifting, wrestling and fencing: Army Rowing Node, Khadki, Army Yachting Node, Mumbai and Army Equestrian Node, Meerut. These institutes of sports excellence are just waiting to break into the Olympics arena and corner sporting glory in the forthcoming Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016. That Vijay has won at the London Games and fructified the army’s vision, which it had spelled out ten years back, is a great step forward for the future of sports in the country. Therefore, in this moment of Vijay’s individual glory, the army must come out of its rigidity and orthodoxy to grant him what the Sports Minister has urged the Ministry of Defence to consider and grant him, as a third out of turn promotion; in keeping with the policy which is in vogue for the civilian sportspersons employed with various government departments. A third out of turn promotion for him could either be to the rank of a Subedar Major, as he has already earned two out of turn promotions earlier and is a Subedar, or else to become a commissioned officer.

Vijay has brought sporting glory for the country and the army and made every Indian proud by his achievement. Therefore, it is only befitting of a grateful nation to recognize his contribution and seriously consider the options, which are available with the army to acknowledge his talent, industry, dedication and commitment- all sterling qualities which makes every soldier into a hero. He is, in the circumstances as they remain in our country an icon for the rural youth, which will be inspired by his upward social mobility in a class ridden and conscious society. The army cannot afford to think otherwise, should it want the catchment area of sports, which essentially hails from the rural and village background to become a part of its ‘Mission Olympics’. If the cricketing ‘God’ of India, Sachin, the legendary Kapil Dev and the charismatic Mahi Dhoni, can be made honorary officers  in the Air force and the Army respectively, then the case of Vijay must be a given. He is its own, unlike the other three achievers, who wear their ranks more as ambassadors for the two services than being a part of its rank and file. When Chilly Rathore won his Silver at Athens, the Army was saved the quandary of taking a decision in the matter of his out of turn promotion, since he is an officer and hence the next best which was decided for him was to decorate him with an Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, over and above the monetary incentives. I am quite certain that in these times of despondency with the senior leadership of the Army, owing to the frequent and periodic cases of corruption, Vijay will be a far better choice as an officer than all those who have brought the organization to disgrace and disrepute.

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal

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Anna Dissolves the Team

‘IT IS THE MARK OF AN EDUCATED MIND TO ENTERTAIN A THOUGHT WITHOUT ACCEPTING IT’*

With the news about Anna Hazare’s announcement of disbanding the team, which was pivoting the movement for the passage of the Jan Lok Pal Bill in the Parliament to fight and rein in corruption in public life; the obvious has happened. The moot question which begs to be answered is the turn around, which brought about this declaration within days of the fast unto death being terminated, in the wake of a desire to plunge into politics and provide to the people a political alternative within the confines of the existing democratic system in the country. When Anna had suggested a political option, as a viable one, while sitting on fast at Jantar Mantar; it drew an instant response from me to engage with Anna and to dissuade him from doing so, not for any other reason but the futility of entering into a field of activity about which none from the Team had any idea about. Anna’s agitation against corruption was at best a civil society movement, which had found resonance with the urban population and as was seen in the 18 months of its existence, with Jantar Mantar in New Delhi as its hub. There is a discernible difference between a social upsurge on a people’s issue and undertaking a resolve to provide a political alternative at a national level on the same. Anna’s forte has essentially been to pick up social causes and issues in his resident state of Maharashtra and to carve out a viable resolution to people’s problems, which impact life and living. His success in his social experiments, in his own village of Ralegaon Siddhi in Maharashtra, became the frontrunner for his emergence at the national level as a leader of standing and stature around whom a national movement could be developed. His solution to prevent alcohol abuse among people, by tying them around a tree and thrashing them into obedience, was as politically incorrect as it can be in the present times of liberalisation and human rights, in the twenty first century. It is no surprise that Anna has not been able to provide a political alternative; which means a political party different from the 1100 or so already in existence in the country at the regional and national level, in his parent state of Maharashtra. Corruption continues to run rampant here and with the nexus of the heavy weights of politics and industry, who call the shot and influence most aspects of policy making and governance, Anna’s personal ideology is insignificant in the larger matrix of life and living. It is best confined to making incremental changes in the cultural and economic canvas of villages, which are willing to accept his brand of thought and innovation. Politics is not Anna’s beat; only because the system which draws strength from the people to sustain its ideals is an evolved form of government that has come upon us rather prematurely and too soon. Riddled with poverty, deprivation and hunger; where literacy and education are struggling to make their presence felt amongst the huge majority of the people, who are not as yet empowered to see the larger picture as it would unfurl itself, beyond caste, community, religion and the emotional strangle hold of the Nehru – Gandhi scions; politics in India is a far cry from what the Constitution envisaged it to be. Sixty two years of democracy has brought with it many gains, but it has also adversely impacted national character, to the detriment of its underlying essence and spirit. In such a barren field of politics, where money, muscle and an unholy nexus between morally bankrupt people is its hallmark; what chance will a man of Anna’s resounding moral and ethical stature have to make a mark?   

Anna retracting his steps from his earlier intention of going political, albeit by providing support to the chosen candidates desirous of contesting elections in the political mainstream  of the country; is a consequence of his considered reflection upon the feedback received from many well wishers  who were able to see beyond the immediate and prophecy a lost cause for him. The initial successes of people who were associated with public causes through various NGOs, emboldened them to chart deeper waters of national significance and attain visibility. Anna provided an ideal rallying point for their aspiration and equally drew him into a just cause of fighting corruption; a cause which was close to his heart while he was spearheading various agitations and movements in his home State. Anna as the fulcrum of this movement was an ideal situation to have for the activists, who buckled up rather prematurely from carrying on with the same and for no good reason, gave up the agitation at Jantar Mantar. The referendum which was not even .0000001 % representative of the total population of the country and the counsel of the 21 civil society luminaries, who advised against the continuation of the fast, was used as a clever ploy by the Team members to make a face saving exit from their commitment to pressurise the government to pass the Jan Lok Pal Bill in the monsoon session of the parliament. Such a volte face on a matter of an earlier undertaking of do or die seemed rather strange. The government’s jibe at the activists about having a political ambition and piggy backing on the shoulders of Anna to further their intent, has justified itself. We all are aware of the humongous effort involved in launching a political party/movement and the costs involved in doing the same. But here was a situation which was waiting to be exploited and had been carved out from the social movement under the stewardship of Anna Hazare. The social activist got duped into the suggestion without analysing and weighing the pros and cons of such an alternative. What was meant by a political alternative? Was it to be something which was different from the prevailing all party democracy system, which we have under the constitution? That is not what it turned out to be. Instead, it was just a ruse to launch another political party which would have selfless and principled people driven by extreme patriotism, rectitude and probity with a spirit of service and dedication. These are but platitudes which must surely be adorning the charter and manifestos of most political parties, who have brought the country to such a pass, that an alternative is being created. The yawning chasm between precept and practice could not have been more evident as it is in the case of our polity, where success by any means is the leitmotif of most dispensations.

That the reality of the situation has sunk into Anna and he has taken the decision to dissolve the Team which was purpose specific, is a case of better late than never. Anna had been drawn into the killing field of politics by the intransigence on the part of the government to engage with the Team and by the veiled and covert intent of those who wanted to fulfil their political ambitions, by using the movement as a launch pad for their designs. The case of general (retd) V K Singh, who made a grand public appearance and shared the dais with Anna and his Team, is a testimony to this conjecture. There must be many others too who nurtured such a desire by riding on Anna’s credentials and prospering under his shadow. Therefore, while Anna may have been slow to grasp the motivation of the people who were eager to succumb to the suggestion of the civil society luminaries, it is good that he has finally been able to see through the game plan of those who harboured larger political ambitions, by leap frogging on the movement. I am very happy that Anna has dissolved the Team, because otherwise a gentleman and a simpleton would have been tricked into doing something about which he has no clue or else idea about. Anna it is a matter of extreme pride for those of us who know that, it is better to lose the whole world than to lose oneself. This is the lesson which gets driven by your decision, for which the media is at a loss to understand.  

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal

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*Aristotle.  

The need to tread carefully in uncharted waters

BE WARY OF OPPORTUNISTS – ANNA HAZARE

General (retd) V K Singh’s speech to the public from the same dais on which, Anna Hazare and his Team members were seated after nine days of fasting, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, came as a very big disappointment for the cause and spirit of the people’s movement against corruption in public life. That, Anna a social activist and a leader of international and national repute was carried away by the perceived credentials of the general, as an upright, honest and courageous officer; is an apt testimony to the simplicity and naivety of the veteran soldier who dedicated his life for the country in a selfless commitment of servant hood – the epitome of leadership. Great social and public servants, all over the world and without exceptions, have often been compromised and mislead when they permitted fledgling upstarts, who were too eager to exploit the opportunity on offer and parachute into and land upon the ploughed grounds of social movements, that took years to prepare by the sweat, toil, privation, perseverance, sacrifices and beliefs of selfless people and their followers. That, the instant case of the retired general and former chief of the Indian army, making a public appearance and addressing the masses who had gathered at Jantar Mantar, to await the announcement from the self professed Gandhian and social activist Anna Hazare, is a case in point of the movement becoming tarnished and compromised in the near future.

General (retd) V K Singh, spoke to the assembled gathering with the assertions, theatricals and nuances of a military leader who is addressing his hierarchical organization and captive ears, in an assemblage to resolve welfare and mundane issues which obtain in an army unit or else formation. This is commonly termed in the army’s parlance as a ‘Sainik Sammelan’. The occasion at Jantar Mantar was a very serious and a watershed moment in the history of the country and the nation, wherein the people were to be enabled to take a climactic decision in their fight against corruption and misgovernance in the country. The movement was transforming from a social upsurge of anger against venality in public life, into something more substantial and enduring, by providing a political alternative in the mainstream of Indian polity. It was no light matter by any stretch of imagination and could not be trifled by acceding the platform to a retired public servant, who had enjoyed the pay, allowances, perks and privileges of service life for 42 years of his military career; and had now after retirement decided to go against the very same government and system which nourished him. Inspired by selflessness?

It must be understood and appreciated by the people of this country that, General (retd) V K Singh has a defamation suit against him, pending in the Metropolitan court of New Delhi and there is a likelihood of various other matters involving him as an officer and the former chief, which are waiting to spill into the public domain. The off the air interceptor matter, alleging the tapping of the telephones of the Raksha Mantri and the Defence Secretary, by the expertise of his chosen officer ‘Honey Bakshi’ heading the Technical Support Directorate (TSD) in the Military Intelligence Branch of the Integrated HQ of MoD (Army). Then, there is a string of allegations, which are made by an officer who has shown exceptional courage by publishing a book ‘General Salute’, containing the charges with documented evidence. The officer has also brought these failings about the former chief to the notice of the Raksha Mantri and has requested suitable action in accordance with the provisos of the rules and acts which continue to apply to all service personnel, without exceptions. The matter must surely be under consideration in the MoD, and in the light of the public speech made by the former chief at Jantar Mantar the other day; a file must surely be under preparation for the perusal and suitable action of the PMO. Keeping in mind the evidence as published in the book ‘ General Salute’, it is unlikely that it will not draw the attention of the government; which must surely be extremely peeved and disturbed by his ranting from a public platform, in support of the movement headed by the government’s greatest critic and bête noire, Anna Hazare.

It therefore becomes very convenient and easy for the government to listen to its spin doctors, who will now go in an overdrive to discredit the movement and its leaders, by picking up and targeting the stalwarts, who are seen preening about against the government, on a vital issue of corruption. This will be cannon fodder for the government. Isolate and denigrate the pseudo leaders who have belied the trust of the Gandhian and nay outsourced him, in a veiled attempt to further their political aspirations and ambitions. When the integrity of the leaders, who mobilise the crowds by appealing to their emotional feelings and making hackneyed speeches; which provoke their sentiments and sensibilities, is destroyed by unearthing their moral and ethical misdemeanours, the movement will take a severe beating. The moral high ground, which Anna was till today able to maintain on the strength of his character and integrity, will slowly start slipping from his grasp. It was the honesty and simplicity of this man, which became the force multiplier to evolve and enlarge the movement. And now we have a very strong probability of this sine qua non of the movement getting appreciably marginalised, by the presence of people like general (retd) V K Singh associated with it.

I had in my earlier writings, cautioned Anna and his team to be extremely wary of such like people, who would make the movement into a plank for furthering their personal goals and thus causing chinks to become visible in the movement per se, and lose out on the slogan of fighting corruption. There can surely be no double speak in matters of rectitude and probity, should that be the single point agenda to initiate a movement against corruption and challenge the constitutional propriety of a legitimately elected government.  It is my personal opinion that, general (retd) V K Singh was quick to seize an opportunity, which arose in the prevailing circumstances and cashed on Anna’s simplicity and honesty of heart to steal the thunder from all others who have been involved with the movement. It must go to V K Singh’s credit that, he was able to find a sympathetic and credulous constituency with the people now, as he did with the brotherhood of the military earlier in his age row and other controversies, which marked a new low in the history of the army when he was the chief earlier.

The movement is passing through a very difficult and embryonic phase of its existence, ever since it was transformed into a political alternative and will require the founders to tread very carefully on a ground, which is totally unknown and new to them. The government and the larger world of politics is waiting for the movement to take shape and it is then that it will come out with all guns blazing against the leadership and the chosen representatives, who are mired in similar deeds of misconduct and venality, as they are standing up against.  Anna ,it is my sincere appeal to you to not get carried away by posturing and grandstanding, neither by oratory and theatricals and nor by emotions and feelings in deciding about your representatives; because the murky waters of politics which you have now decided to wade through are very turbulent below the calm surface of constitutional propriety. Once the leaders of the movement get discredited, then it will lose its credibility and disaster will soon follow. Do not get carried away by reputations alone, because politics, while it may be a refuge for scoundrels; your philosophy and ideology  does not lend itself to this belief and hence must be vigilant to protect your turf from opportunists, who only want to outsource your name and public standing for motivated gains.

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal

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You Could Lead Us This Far Only

                         ANNA DRAWN INTO THE KILLING FIELD OF POLITICS

The news bout team Anna’s declaration, in response to a request by leading luminaries from civil society and a referendum, obtained through SMS, that the fast which commenced at Jantar Mantar on 25^th July will be called off on 3^rd Aug at 5 PM, is met with a mixed reaction from the people. Also, the core group has declared their decision to take their fight against corruption for which the movement was conceived and started last year in 2011, by joining politics and taking the subject issue to the people in 2014 general elections. In the absence of the government’s desire to engage with Team Anna and abstain from showing any sensitivity towards the people’s movement, which mobilised civil society like never before against venality in public life; the core group of the movement was shoved into a corner to reconsider and redraft their strategy: as joining politics remained the only possible alternative to influence the political system. It is extremely unfortunate that, the movement which had the potential and future to become a public uprising against corruption, and spread across the length and breadth of the country has been aborted, by the government’s stratagem. A government steeped in corruption and poor governance, has come out trumps from this development, much to the relief of the political class in the country, irrespective of the party and ideology to which they collectively subscribe to.

Notwithstanding the views of various panellists, who were seen debating and discussing the issue on prime time news channels; from the ‘veiled intentions of the Team to join politics, the futility of coercing the government from the outside on a matter of constitutional propriety of legislating and enacting a law and making a beginning towards bringing about a political transformation in the politics of the country’, is a matter of opinion. Wearing out the movement by ignoring it was a calculated move on the part of the government’s spin doctors to isolate and frustrate it, and which it has. By a pincer hold of law and constitutional authority, which the government was able to apply on the leadership of the fasting activists, it brought them around into taking a decision of its choice and thus has succeeded in drawing them into its killing field. It is in this ground of their choosing and strength that the spirit and conscience of the movement will be defeated and destroyed in detail and interred in the dustbin of the country’s unflattering political history. It was in this moment and opportunity, which got created by the initial determination of a tall leader, social activist and a Gandhian to boot, Anna Hazare, that there existed a window to enlarge the movement by sustaining its duration through the ploy of chain fasts by the Team leadership and subsequently the people who would have been sucked into its soul, only because of the government’s reprehensible apathy for a public cause and concern. The tide of public opinion and the wave of media coverage would have made this movement into the uprisings, which the world had recently witnessed in the leadership change in Egypt and Libya. To upstage the government with its own strategy of ‘wearing out the movement’ would have been a befitting riposte, by prolonging the movement and bringing the government to negotiate and talk with the representatives of the Team. This is where the Gandhian in Anna lost the plot; and at the first signs of firmness on the part of the government to cock a snook at the movement and its supporters, the Team buckled under pressure and yielded the gains it had made ever since the movement was conceived and enacted.

The movement against corruption and the demand for a potent and worthy Jan Lok Pal Bill has taken a beating and it is unlikely that the chord which it had struck with the people or the 300 million middle class, who were identified with it, will regain the ground which it has now lost to the polity and the government. It is characteristic of Indians to explain lack of determination and aggressiveness in their intent by making peace and harmony an alibi for inaction and just retribution. The haughty arrogance of the Union Law Minister, to say that ‘even I am fasting as it is Ramzan’ reflects very poorly on the mindset and attitude of the government and its ministers to lampoon the selflessness on the part of the fasting activists for a national and people’s cause. It is unlikely that, in the years to come there will be a social and public leader of the stature and capacity of Anna Hazare to selflessly steer the people and join with the government on matters of public interest and concerns. The momentum which had been built over the past nine days to bring the government to a deserving response of the movement’s demands, has been lost and surrendered most regretfully to the former’s ruse of empty posturing of not engaging with the activists. The political future of team Anna is loaded with problems, which go beyond its capacity and organization: and the one chance which had emerged in the dark firmament of the country’s abhorable situation, which engulfs its polity and social environment has been gifted away to the scheming minds and condescending outlook of the people’s representatives.

When I had appealed to Anna through my writing ‘Save the Nation’, it was essentially to pre-empt him from falling into a trap of giving substance to his earlier view, on making this into a political adventure. This will be a mistake which he will regret his lifetime and it will just be a matter of time when splinter groups from this Team will be gobbled up by the larger regional and national political parties. The present political system which we have in our country has been derailed and subverted by the institutionalisation of corruption in public life; and therefore it will be extremely difficult nay improbable that, there will be any takers from among the Team members who will venture into politics. Anna and his Team have no idea what it takes to win an election, at any level of contest. The congregations at Jantar Mantar and Ramlila Maidan on a single point agenda of fighting corruption and pushing the passage of the Jan Lok Pal Bill in the parliament, is hardly representative of political hustings held during the pre election campaigning. Anna’s political party, if it does get formed will just be one more to the already existing pantheon of so many others, which only confuses the voter with its numerous symbols/signs. How I wish Anna had taken a leaf from the Freedom Struggle and dwelt upon the doings of other patriots, who made the British government to hear the voice of the people, by causing an explosion in the then Assembly Hall. When a government becomes immune to the sufferings of the people and rejoices in its ability to control the political space in the people’s domain by its deviousness; and the inherent failings of our social realities, it implies supremacy premised on numbers rather than a moral acceptance. This, quite akin to the positional authority as against the personal authority, in a hierarchical system.   

An opportunity to bring about the much desired revolution in the country, to free the people from the existing political system, has literally gone a begging. This chance is unlikely to come about again in the next 30 to 40 years, by when the country would have been fully consumed by the compulsions of coalition politics and corruption becomes our bedfellow. Then also, we Indians would require a fully accomplished Gandhi or Bhagat Singh like leader to take us out from his quagmire of venality and perverseness. Anna could bring us only this far.

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal

+919410900051