A New Chapter in Indian Sports

WILL  IT BE A GOODBYE TO SURESH KALMADI ?

The fiat by the ethics commission of the International Olympics Committee (IOC), to preclude the disgraced president of the Indian Olympics Association (IOA) Mr Suresh Kalmadi, Mr VK Verma and Mr Lalit Bhanot from participating and contesting in the elections for the office bearers of the IOA, which is due on 25 Nov 2012, till such time their names are cleared by the courts of the country; is a welcome step for the good of sports and sportspersons. Jacques Rogge, the chairman of the IOC has done a great service to India, by upholding the decision of its subcommittee. What the government of the country could not do, the IOC has done, in keeping with the code of conduct for its confederate members. A sigh of relief is long overdue from the past and present, illustrious sportspersons and sports administrators respectively, who always put sports and the country first; rather than their personal interests and greed to misuse the trust and faith reposed in them, by the accredited members comprising the National Sports Federations (NSFs) and the State Olympic Committees (SOCs).

The political arithmetic of the Congress Party has arm twisted it, to reinstate the fallen Chairman of the Organising Committee Delhi Commonwealth Games 2010, who was incarcerated in the Tihar jail for about 9 months, after his involvement in the scam in the Queen’s Baton Relay in London was established by the sleuths of the Central Bureau of Investigation. The matter is sub judice and the judgement of the designated court is awaited. However, had it not been for the IOC’s vehement stand in the matter, which assails its ethical principles; Suresh Kalmadi and his cohorts would have made the Nation eat crow and cocked a snook at the Sports Minister, Mr Ajay Maken by participating, contesting and winning the coveted posts for which the elections are due in the IOA. Such is the hold and clout of these die hard freeloaders, who have successfully masqueraded as sports aficionados and administrators for many years, at grave cost to the country and its sportspersons. I shudder at the gall of these men, who have plundered the country like many others to fatten their pockets, and thus ensuring their presence and authority in the apex forum of sports, to further prosper from the opportunities which come up at an international level.

It saddens me to see the ground swell of supporters from amongst the pseudo sports administrators, who tenant various offices in NSFs and SOCs, willing to back Suresh Kalmadi and Lalit Bhanot, should they contest elections, if not barred from doing so by the IOC. This is the culture which Mr Suresh Kalmadi has engendered and diligently nurtured among the sports administrator constituency, which is critical to his remaining in power as the head of the IOA. The political culture of the country is no different from what Kalmadi assiduously believes in and therefore he takes acceptability from the pages of his political peers and colleagues. I, as a professional sports administrator and manager, who has been a part of the Army’s and Armed Forces sports organization, have seen some of my own colleagues, literally grovel for Mr Kalmadi’s attention and grace to visit them, only with the single point aim of currying favours and seeking perks from his cauldron of assigning foreign tours, appointments in various adhoc committees/ offices, seven star hotel parties, air travel, limousine rides and travel, allowances and handsome salary et al, all at the tax payers cost. And all that was expected of these officers was implicit loyalty to the ‘Kalmadi’, even at a cost to their own parent organization, which were their employer and paymaster. Suresh, had learnt his tricks in politics, which he used to great advantage to ride the helm of Indian sports administration, for nearly 20 years.  I do hope and wish that those of my colleagues who waxed eloquent about the administrative brilliance and leadership of the ‘Kalmadi’, have now been confronted by the reality of their misconceptions about this man and are sorry for having succumbed to the ruse that, this trickster played upon their weak minds.

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal  

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THE SLUGGISH BUREAUCRACY

GOD SAVE THE ARMY FROM THE SOUTH BLOCK MANDARINS

As a director, in the directorate general of military training in 2002, in the erstwhile Army HQ and the present Integrated HQ of Defence (Army), dealing with policy, control, implementation and review/revision of all aspects dealing with the physical fitness and wellness of all cadets, gentlemen cadets, recruits, soldiers and officers of the Indian Army; it was my brief to upgrade, initiate and recommend modernisation in such aspects of training, equipment and clothing, including kit / PT shoes as was considered essential and in keeping with the demand of the times. The rampant cases of stress related injuries in the lower limbs of cadets and recruits, was adversely impinging upon the training time of such persons, owing to long periods of rest and recovery, which was necessitated as a part of the management of the injury. This had become a worst case scenario, which was spreading like wild fire in training establishments and demanded an appropriate response to the affliction that had gripped the trainees. The reasons for this were several, from relatively weak human resource at the time of induction, which was not adequately exposed to running/ load bearing fitness/ sports activities, hard running surfaces which abound these days in most training areas, poor quality of running / PT shoes, greater focus in the priority given to cardio vascular running activity in the construct and design of PT table cards etc. By the turn of the century, the situation had become alarming, in so far as loss of training time, owing to painful stress in the tibia and fibula bones of the legs was concerned, and it threw up a challenge for the Military Training Directorate in the Army HQ to arrest the situation from further deteriorating. We ordered surveys to be taken in the matter in all pre commission and recruit training establishments, with the intent to collate and study relevant data, and arrive at informed conclusions in the matter. All surveys, without exception, conclusively established the presence of stress related injury among trainees and the extent varied from 13% to 16%. The figures were a cause of serious concern for all involved in the process of training and preparing young men to become soldiers and take their rightful place at the next stage, of either their training or else the rank and file of their units.  Given the variables which contributed to the malady of stress related injury, the design and quality of the running / PT shoe in use was a major cause and was also that, which could be manipulated, to bring about relief to the afflicted individuals.

Aware as we all were (are), of the bureaucratic red tape and mental clutter, which is a pronounced feature of the staff at all levels in the army as also the ministry of defence, our directorate took a conscious decision to issue a directive to all pre commission training establishments to immediately allow use of white coloured branded Reebok / Addidas / Power shoes in place of the white rubber soled canvas PT shoes, which is a part of the ordnance issue personal kit items. These of course were to be purchased at cost to the individual cadet / gentleman cadet. For the recruits and the soldiers, we worked on a statement of case, giving the data which had been collated from various training institutions /establishments regarding the pathetic condition of the fleet shoes in use and its adverse affect on the lower limbs of the personnel, wearing and using it. Our recommendations were premised on a general staff qualitative requirement (GSQR), giving the exact details of the design of the shoe, which should replace the existing one. The design included features such as the tread, toe box, toe cushioning, saddle, arch support, midsole, outer sole, heel wedge, heel counter and the collar, which would all enable comfort, sturdiness and ability to last for about 2000 to 3000 kms of running use. We visited the Reebok factory in Sonepat (Haryana), and confirmed our recommendations as also the design. Thereafter, we interacted with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and forwarded the statement of case, duly approved by the general staff in the Army HQ, to their equipment laboratory in Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) for doing the needful. However, after about six months of being in limbo on the matter, a letter was received from the designated laboratory in Kanpur, asking us to pursue the matter with the equipment procurement cell of the ordnance branch, in Army HQ. The cell, in a manner typical of what we understand red tape as, wrote back to say that it was the prerogative of the ordnance branch to procure the subject item and in their collective wisdom, thought it best to ask Bata shoe company to provide the item for use in the Army. But, before the item could be introduced in bulk, it was necessary to hold trials among a substantial population of troops and a decision arrived at only after a report was compiled, which suggested that the item was acceptable and should be introduced. This, was a time taking process and my posting out from my appointment in Army HQ, overtook events and it was for those who followed me in office, to take the matter to its logical conclusion.

The story in the Times of India, dated 27 Sept 2012, about the Army running around for sneakers for at least a decade, brought back memories about our effort to equip the soldiers with appropriate shoes, commensurate to their training requirement and propelled me to dig deep into the cobwebs of my mind; wondering about the bureaucratic delays that stymie procurement and purchase for the Army. If this is the state of affairs in the up gradation of an innocuous item of personal kit of a soldier, wherein it takes a decade to finalise its introduction into the Army; and which is still being debated and questioned, and is likely to get dumped in favour of another pattern of shoe, which the Air Force has shortlisted for use by its air warriors – then God save the Armed Forces from the breed of South Block mandarins who decide on, what the military should and should not have?

Brigadier (retd) S D Dangwal

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Indiscipline in the Indian Army

IS IT THE CHIEF’S BOGEY? INDISCIPLINE IN UNITS, OWING TO SHORTAGE OF OFFICERS

The two recent incidents of indiscipline amongst soldiers in 226 Field Regiment and 16 Cavalry, eked out a statement from the Chief of the Indian Army, General Bikram Singh, which was reported in the print media some days back; “that the shortfall of about 10,000 officers in the authorised strength of the cadre, is a causative and contributory factor for the same”. Hence, the incidents are not aberrations but instead a precursor to more such happenings, as the deficiency of officers is unlikely to be made up in the near and distant future, owing to a cultural, social and economic shift in the priorities, which the youth has identified with and is inspired by. It is understandable to an extent that, deficiencies in the junior officer leadership which torment and afflict unit administration and functioning could be a burden to carry for the Commanding Officer. Who must train his command to evolve systems and methodologies to mitigate the adverse consequences of such a situation? But it defies my rationale and commonsense that it could become a major cause of breakdown in officer – man relationship, culminating in gross insubordination, manhandling, indifference towards the men, fisticuffs galore between officers and men- threatening to  break into a mutiny and engendering a suicide, resulting in loss of a valued life of a soldier. The deficiency argument does not go down as a cogent reason for the aforementioned acts of brazen indiscipline in homogeneous units, such as the ones where these incidents occurred. There is something much more beyond the simplistic explanation of the Chief, which sounds more expedient than analytical in the given circumstances. And is more for the ears of the political leadership, with the one point agenda of leading them to believe that, the terms and conditions of service in the army must be made more attractive for the youth, to be entrapped into and making a choice of a career in the organization, should we want to avoid such occurrences in the future. By doing so, General Bikram  Singh has played his cards well. One, involve the government by raising the bogey of indiscipline linked to officer deficiency and hence induce it to making up the deficiency of officers, by such means as are within the ambit of its control and authority. And, two, shrugging off any institutional blame whatsoever for any breakdown of discipline, bordering on mutiny in units in the future, as the onus of culpability will rest equally with the government; which was sounded about the situation precipitating into a worst case scenario, emanating from the stated deficiency.

To me, it seems more a matter of marginalization of soldierly values, which have spiralled and gripped the officer ship of the army in the wake of the ubiquitous materialism that abounds in the contemporary environment. While the material and fiscal environment is a progressive feature of a nation’s evolution in its history, it is rather unfortunate that we have been bereft of individual and national character in our surge towards prosperity, development and growth. Progress and development is a mutually inclusive algorithm, which factors both material and human growth indices. The political leadership of our country has to a large extent obliquely impacted this reality, which now asserts its presence as a wheel within a wheel phenomenon. Of, money begetting power and resultantly more power and more money. Similarly, the army has in the aftermath of the up gradation in its ranks and diminishing status vis a vis the civil authority, succumbed to the temptation of ‘killing the hen which lays the golden egg’. The analogy is explained in drawing a parallel between the officer who has been inveigled into pushing his privileges beyond what attends upon him by custom, seniority and duty and milking the resources of his command and authority; human, material and intangible; to its limits and not sustained by grace and a humane attitude, ringing in the destruction of the edifice that upholds esprit de corps. The bond between the officer and the soldier is severed permanently and the proverbial ‘hen’ is butchered by the greed of those officers, who are morally and ethically challenged. The absence of character in their personal and official conduct, disgracefully lends itself to exponentially proliferate unbecoming behaviour of their spouses as also themselves in an empowered rank and file, which is aware and informed about its rights and duties.  The few who bring disgrace upon their units by their deeds of infamy and disrepute are enough to sully the pride and reputation of the army, which is ever under the watchful and prying eyes of the vigilant and keen media; given its penchant for sensationalising every bit and piece of news, more so that, coming from the barracks of the military and its hallowed offices. But, it is not a case of shooting the messenger and apportioning blame upon the media for all that gets reported. Instead, it is a clarion call for the army to get its act together and look deep within its own soul and come up with honest answers to the disturbing questions, which beg the attention of its hierarchy.

Regimentation, the sine qua non of soldiering and man management, has most unfortunately been relegated to the background, with dire consequences for the emotional and moral health of its junior leadership. The cohesiveness among officers and the men has taken a very bad beating, in the existing rat race, which has engulfed the army. The grass root learning at the fundamental level and collective grooming, which adorned the careers of many a good officer, is more an exception than a rule and has seriously impinged upon character driven leadership.  There are many exceptions to this assumption, of poor military values among officers, but even the aberrations are threatening to occur with a frightening consistency; assailing the canons of leadership which sustains the pillars of the army’s ethos and culture. It is not for me to reiterate, that the bogey of officer deficiency which has been calibrated to a higher pitch and another level by the Chief, as the most pertinent cause of palpable indiscipline in the army, is a myth and a ploy that circumvents the core issue of absence of character driven leadership amongst its officers.  By this, General Bikram Singh has cleverly ducked the responsibility to reconstruct the human resource of the army; it’s most valuable and prized asset and take upon his shoulders the onus to revitalize the spirit of the soldier, which seems to be disenchanted by its officer ship. Resurrect the inherent dignity and esteem of the officer, by making meaningful work as his sheet anchor and decry the form for the sake of the essential. When worthwhile work is valued and acknowledged, it will throw up its own forces, which spirals into a military culture steeped in values and principles. Traditions owe their genesis to such thinking and legends are born from such a reality. May the army be in the news for the right reasons and its selfless service to an indebted nation; although most of the political leadership which represents the people is not deserving of such sacrifices, owing to its egocentric proclivities in most matters of governance and political expediency.

BRIGADIER (retd) SD DANGWAL

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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

+919410900051 

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