The sum of all mistakes…

It was a rainy afternoon and I was watching my favorite mega-serial on my not-so-favorite 21” very much old Keltron TV. My TV was confirming that it is a colour TV to me again by showing shades of colour in all the corners even when switched off!

With a mobile in my left hand (obviously kept near my ears) and a remote in my right I changed the channel during an Ad-Break (nowadays these TV channels are showing 50 minutes ads and 10 minute serial in an hour….). The English news channel which I was viewing showed a scrolling news item that really shocked me. A news reported that the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had arrested a serving military officer on the charges of terrorist activities and it took me by surprise.

As it is always obvious, Indian Army is an institution which is well known for its integrity, impartiality and discipline. After independence we had a set of wars with our neighbors and some natural disasters during which we had a glimpse of the extra-ordinary qualities of the Indian Army. Even in the recent Kargil operations our Indian Army showed very good fighting capabilities (I cannot describe the Kargil operations as a war). It is really justifiable to the motto of the Army “LAST RESORT AND FIRST RESPONDER” as stated by Gen. Deepak Kapur.

But it is a fact that the highest standards set in the Indian Army by people with the ranks of Gen. Thimmaiya, Field Marshall Sam Maneksha and others has been gradually dwindling or downgrading to alarming levels. It is an equally intriguing fact that the recruitment of officers in the forces is still very strict. The SSB interview conducted by the forces for recruiting officers in the forces is a gruelling process consisting of 5 days of serious scrutiny. Yet we see indiscipline gradually creeping in the forces.

We have a handful of officers with corruption charges relieved from service and fighting their cases in civilian courts. On the other hand we have women officers complaining sexual abuse by senior military officers and some even reached the extreme of committing suicide due to sexual harassment by superiors. Even a year ago we had a case of an officer captured by local people when he tried to rape a girl in Kashmir.
One cannot forget the sufferings inflicted on each other by the Indian Army and LTTE (obviously due to the mischief of R&AW) and the raping of local Srilankan Tamils by some jawans of the Indian Army which made the Srilankan Tamils to name the Indian Peacekeeping Force as “Indian Child Giving Force”.

Why go to the North and Eastern Srilanka ? Even a glimpse at the North East parts of India will give you an idea of the dubious rape record of the Army. One cannot forget the protest of Manipuri women in front of the Indian Army Regional Headquarters in North East by stripping themselves and holding a banner “INDIAN ARMY! RAPE US!”. Thangiyam Manorama’s ghost will daunt the Army for nights to come.

When a former Naval Officer casually strode inside the highly sensitive Naval War Room or the Directorate of Naval Operations least of them had an idea that he was there to copy some files from the computers on his pen drive, it is hard to believe that “That the files contained 20 years naval strategy against Israel” and now he might have sold it to the highest bidder or probably Mossad. Obviously the person mentioned above is Ravisankaran a former Naval Officer now being searched by the Interpol.

Almost four years ago, another man flew to the US via Nepal. But this time it was R&AW Deputy Director named Rabindra Singh. He gently escaped the net spread by the CBI and settled in US. Actually he is Maj. Rabindra Singh an Army depute and a CIA mole.

An year ago, our newspapers reported a new phenomenon called “Fake Encounters”. Even though the Police Force inside the country seize the credit for innovating this new phenomenon, it is the Army that took that innovation to new heights. We have had some officers charge sheeted for the fake encounters in Kashmir.

As a jewel in the crown or thorn in the flesh, whatever you call, came the recent break in the Malegaon blast case where the culprits were found to be retired and serving officers of the prestigious Indian Army. When Maj. R.C.Upadhyaya and Lt. Col. Purohit were arrested by the ATS with the permission of the Army it was a shocker to everyone. Recent reports that Lt. Col. Purohit sourced Army RDX for the blast is a terrible blow to the conscience of the Army. To make things even worse, there was also a news report that VHP cadres were combat-trained in the Bhosla Military School.

Corrupt officers , rapist jawans – ( of women in their own country and foreign country where assigned of peacekeeping duties), fake encounter specialists, terrorists – (activities including bomb blasts and training to non military cadres), stealing military secrets, moles etc. and the products of Indian Army goes on endlessly. I cannot avoid the fear that soon the Indian Army will have officers who are “the sum of all mistakes and indiscipline”.

What happened to the Army? What happened to the rich traditions and the highest level of impartiality and disciplinary standards imparted by officers like Timmy (Thimmaiya), Kariappa, Sam Manekshaw.
The sacrifice of huge number of officers like Capt. Vikram Bhatra, Maj. Saravanan, and other countless officers and jawans who braved adverse weather conditions and firepower to save the prestige of the country will go in vain, if the Army fails to introspect itself and re-look into its recruitment procedure.
The Army in-spite of all its screening and filtering in recruitment and highly standard SSB interview is still getting a handful of corrupts and womanizers as its officers.

It is the duty of this prestigious institution to ensure that it is getting honest and ethical soldiers as its officers. Else, it will be shrunk to the level of being labeled as “a bunch of corrupt and rogue men” instead of being run by “A FEW GOOD MEN”.