Binoo K John.
The ongoing standoff between the army chief, General VK Singh, and the government has become so messy that in national interest it is best to let the army chief go. No army chief in any country will be allowed to fight a case against his own government or refuse to heed the decision taken by the ministry on any matter.
There are various other reasons why an army chief, who has over the last one year shown many signs of taking a position contrary to that of the civilian authority, should be asked to go.
General VK Singh had two birth dates registered with the army and, after due process, the defence ministry has taken 10 May 1950 as his birth date, thus making it incumbent upon him to retire this May. Once a government takes such a decision, an army chief has to accept it. It is the supremacy of the civilian government that is at stake here.
After this decision was taken, Gen Singh, who till then was trying to get his tenure extended, switched tactics like a politician and started saying through leaks in the media that it was not a question of tenure but “personal honour”.
This stance, in turn, brings to the fore many such issues which exist in a constitutional twilight zone and hence can have no formal remedy. The following questions arise:
* Where is the question of personal honour when the sovereign state or government has taken a decision which he has no option but to obey?
* Whose ‘so-called honour’ is at stake here? What about the honour, sanctity and sovereign status of a duly-elected government which reflects the will of the people in a democratic system? The honour of the army has never been at stake here.
In the cat and mouse game that Gen Singh has been engaging in during the last one year, he has crossed all boundaries of accepted behaviour, worst of all by regularly leaking stories to the press and letting one particular defence correspondent see all the documents.
If Gen Singh had any notion of sensible behaviour expected of people in high positions, he should have let the national government and civilian authority’s decision to gain precedence over his so-called honour. He could have accepted the decision, maybe under protest. The general could have, after retirement, presented facts and documents to the public, if at all, for his “honour”.
Gen Singh is guilty of showing disrespect to his own government in many instances while this issue was being decided on by the government. He has even threatened to go to the Supreme Court and approached Pranab Mukherjee (who is higher in rank in the cabinet to the defence minister, and hence this was in open defiance of his own minister), who advised him against taking the matter to court.
Now, in a story again planted on Tuesday in sections of the media, Singh claims that he is being treated like the chief of the Pak army. Such outrageous leaks and statements alone are enough for the government to ask the army chief to go because there is every indication that he is getting ready to fight dirty. Under no circumstance can any government allow that.
In such cases, the example to follow is the US, where President Obama summoned and sacked General Stanley McChrystal, who was US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, for making comments against civilian authority and army strategy in a magazine interview.
In the US, unlike here, the president comes out in the open and speaks his mind. Pictures of him during the sacking meet with McChrystal were published to show that it is the civilian authority which calls the shots.
Obama justified his sacking decision: “I don’t make this decision based on any difference of policy with General McChrystal…But war is bigger than any one man or woman, whether a private a general or a president… By going public, the general eroded the trust that is necessary to work together …” Obama rightly said.
The US president acted swiftly and decisively. Even the opposition accepted his decision because it concerned the army. A Republican senator then said Obama did the right thing because McChrystal had damaged the military by showing disrespect.
Using the same two arguments which Obama used, namely, supremacy of the civilian authority and the erosion of trust, the government must, without delay, remove the general. Otherwise, between now and May, the waters would be muddied so terribly that the fallout will cause permanent damage.
The relationship between the army and the government, and, in this case, the defence minister, will be eroded and that cannot be allowed to happen just to sustain or vindicate the “so-called “personal honour” of one man who had two dates of births registered with the army for so long.
-via Firstpost.
Court-martial his father also. A boy of 14 would not fudge his age to get into NDA without active support from the father, who himself was a military officer. This man has simply run riot. Rather than being a soldier avowing discipline, integrity, honour of self and honour of the country, he has become a seasoned politician simply to promote his personal interests, to the neglect of the much bigger national interests. Further inquiry may also be warranted about how the various military institutions were complicit in this matter of deliberate fudging of age.
He has made mockery. Why has he accepted date of birth earlier & now he is contesting the same. He has gone back from his word. It is unbecoming conduct of an officer. He is fighting with own govt which is never heard of in any country. He has taken a plot in special category & now wants a corner plot on pretext of mother ill health[ which has been rejected by haryana govt.he is interested in own welfare not of nation
How can a person like him even become lt col. Court martial him, bring him ti sub rank before he does further national harm & waste time of mod & govt
Army has been put into shame due to his act
He should serve till the time permitted by the government and retire honourably as no army chief when not in harmonius relations, in reality or outwardly, with the government of the day can do any good to the army or the country.Any other action presently or post retirement is detrimental to nation.Amplificatio/clarification on this will take a very long writing.Suffice is to say is he is not an ordinary individual or a politician.Any action by him on this count(date of birth issue) even after his retirement will draw controversy and who so ever may be the winner– country will be the loser.We, soldiers, do not hesitate from sacrifices for the collective cause of the nation be it a peace time or war. Let this image be further strengthened though already some damage has occurred.I am not personally known to him or in a capacity to advise him for a future course of action but feel that he is capable to take up the collective concerns of retired and serving soldiers in his retired life.This will give him more honour & higher stature.Col UdaiSingh(retd)
It is quite unfortunate. We all know the type of politicians & the ‘just able to survive’ type of present govt, we have. So no point in assuming that these are supreme. Let the Supreme Court decide, as it is the only credible pillar of democracy standing. Let us hope for an early resolution. Jai Hind.
Mr Binoo John has made a case against General Singh. In what way, by lodging a complaint to rectify his date of birth, Gen Singh has challenged the supermacy of the civilian government is not understandable. Every citizen in a democratic country has the right to lodge a complaint and go to the court. There is nothing wrong if Gen Singh goes to the Court. Since this issue has become messy, the best way to sort it out is by due process of law in the court.
I would humbly submit that if the Chief is lying about his date of Birth, then the Govt should have the courage to bring him before a Court Marshal. If not they should restore his honor and leave the soldiers to get on with the job they are honor bound to do.
Gen VK Singh will resign , prematurely in a day or two, join hands with BJP and he will be seen campaigning for BJP in the coming 5 election bound states. And in his support Sri Sri 420 will come openly, as he is the man engaged by the Saffron Brigade to saffronise Armed Forces for the past 10 years.