Before we forget

In a faint sense, this is a continuation of my previous post. The RDB plot revolves essentially about a talented and responsible young services officer who lays down his life performing his duty but gets nothing but rebukes from the "representatives of the Indian people" (what he gets from the Indian people is obviously a different matter, an absolute reflection of the state of the world’s greatest democracy). Time and again, movies like Border, LOC and, now, RDB have reminded the public of the real life heroes who worship valour and prove to be worthy sons of the soil. I have always been a strong admirer of the defense establishment in our country due to its ability to stay immune to politics and treat the members of its family with the respect they deserve without any malaise or high handedness. But of late, even this highly revered organization has been mired in extremely embarrassing controversies that have clearly dented its shining armor of righteousness and transparency. The Anjali Gupta chapter is definitely a black chapter in the history of the IAF, irrespective of whether the premise is genuine or not. The pivotal issue raised in RDB is, of course, a serious indicator of malevolence.

But the issue that has drawn my attention quite strongly recently is the observation that the career graphs of officers who led the Indian soldiers to spectacular and heroic victories during the Kargil combat have flattened out as they have been bypassed by other officers who clearly are benefiting from the power politics of the defense establishment. Let us consider one such case, though there are many others of this nature.

“You have achieved a miracle”, General V.P.Malik, the then Army Chief had told the troops of the 70 Infantry Brigade on the first anniversary of the Kargil war. The 70 Infantry had valiantly fought one of the most difficult battles of the conflict in the Batalik sector in hostile conditions which were both natural and anthropogenic. Over 300 enemy soldiers had been killed and six POWs were captured alive. Brigadier Devinder Singh, who led the 70 Infantry, had been lavishly praised in the Heroes of War, the Indian Army’s official history of the war. The book stated that “the tactical HQ of the 70 Infantry Brigade was deployed well forward throughout Operation Vijay” and that “Singh himself operated ahead to keep abreast of the developments during each battle and to inspire his battalions to give in their best.” Six years on, the same Brigadier Devinder Singh has been passed over for promotion on the grounds that his conduct of operations was not good. Other officers who commanded different units to victory during the conflict have met similar fate while unexpected names have been promoted.

This disturbing chain of events may be deeply rooted in a two-pronged skullduggery high up in the defense establishment. One part of the cover up was related to the absolute failure of the defense top brass to gauge the magnitude of danger and potential flashpoints created by the enemy intrusion into Indian Territory despite repeated warnings by the ground commanders much in advance. The lethargy partly stemmed from the confidence of the defense as well as political bigwigs that Pokharan II had insulated India from any conventional attack. Thus, when the various posts were overpowered by enemy fire due to lack of preparedness and reinforcements, the officers commanding these posts were painted as villains who were incapable of performing their duty to cover up the official shortcoming. And when the Army started clawing back those positions, it was made to believe that troops had defeated the enemy fighting despite the failure of their commanders.

The second part of the scheme was to create heroes that could be presented to the public. Thus, officers commanding units to inconsequential victories were glorified while the critical and savage theatres of war were screened from the public eye. The culmination of these actions is the case of Devinder Singh and others.

The truth of the entire allegation has not been verified yet, and an interrogation is definitely required into the matter. But the fact that the rotten state of affairs has even engulfed our defense establishment is disturbing enough. When a soldier lays down his life fighting or achieves something great while in service, the least he expects in return is that his contribution is recognized by his country. The only thing that the family members of a dead soldier lament is that they didn’t have another son to serve the nation. Is this what they deserve in return? That brings me back to my original point. If a politician treats a soldier wrongly, he is doing what he does best. But if the defenders of the nation cannot defend the dignity of their heroes, we need to take a hard look at our conscience. Those who have watched the Anil Kapoor starrer Pukar would probably be able to gauge the agony of a soldier and his near and dear ones when he is wrongly court-martialed. General J.J.Singh is the first army Chief since Kargil who was not directly involved in the war. So it is expected that the General will show the right will and commitment to get to the truth regarding this cover up. We owe at least this much to the spirits that guard our nation and a people who don’t know how to respect their heroes don’t deserve to exist, if I were to have my way.

Kal parbaton pe kahin, barsi thi jab goliyaan,

Hum log the saath me, aur hausley the jawaan,

Ab tak chattanon pe hain, apne lahoo ke nishaan,

Saathi mubarak tumhe, ye jashn ho jeet ka,

Bas itna yaad rahe, ek saathi aur bhi tha……..