The Government's inexplicable delay in deciding on naming the next Army chief had adversely affected India's apolitical Army, triggering groupism and casteism, as well as activating lobbies
The Army can resume breathing normally following the unneccessary tension caused by the political contestation on appointing the next Chief of Army Staff. Good sense has prevailed and lieutenant General Dalbir Singh Suhag, who has encountered hundreds of snakes but only a few ladders, has ultimately been appointed India’s 25th Chief of Army Staff. The first British Chief was, General Robert lockhart who was sacked and replaced by Gen Roy Bucher. Gen KM Cariappa was the first Indian COAS appointed in 1949.
Considerable confusion was created over the announcement of the next COAS by the incumbent Government due to the apparent public rift in the Election Commission and dithering by Union Defence Minister AK Antony. Finally a decision was taken by the Election Commission last Monday reiterating that the case is not covered by the Model Code of Conduct.
The ball was back in Mr Antony’s court, where it had been for weeks now. The Government, by making the formal announcement, has done an ‘Arun Prakash’ — when the NDA, two days before demitting office in 2004, announced the Chief of Naval Staff.
The Election Commission momentarily chickened, considering that its Principal Secretary Ajay Kumar, in a March 27 letter to the Defence Secretary, had written: “The Model Code of Conduct is not applicable to any matter pertaining directly to the Defence forces be it recruitment, promotion, defence purchases... and all service matters and consequently no reference need to sent to the Commission pertaining to the Model Code of Conduct in these matters. These instructions will be applicable for all future elections.”
But why was Mr Antony over-cautiousIJ An unnamed South Block source said Mr Antony wanted to compliment his legendary probity with strict pursuit of the procedural rule book. He ordered and received a fresh round of regulation clearances including from the Central Bureau of Investigation with respect to Gen Suhag and, to be sure, he also sought permission from the Election Commission despite the 27 March circular. The source added that Mr Antony was under pressure from what he called ‘shadow of the past’ which was compelling him to leave the COAS appointment to the next Government. He was also under pressure from his own party, angry over his prevarication to name the COAS. And then came Mr Subramaniam Swamy. Caught in a pincer, he bought time by going to the Election Commission.
The shadow of the past was manifest in the psy-war waged by Mr Swamy and Gen VK Singh, Gen Suhag’s bete noire. last Monday, Mr Swami was heard bragging on television that he had stopped the Government from appointing the COAS by approaching President Pranab Mukherjee, who according to him, sent the complaint to the Election Commission. While Mr Swamy and Gen Singh have politicised the appointment of COAS, Gen Singh’s intention was deeper: The orchestration of Gen Suhag’s supersession so that his relative, lt Gen Ashok Singh, the next senior-most officer could become COAS.
My last column explained in meticulous detail that the seniority principle has been sacrosanct and scrupulously observed for more than a 100 years since 1905, bar once in the politically motivated supersession of lt Gen SK Sinha by the Congress Government. For the fiddling and tinkering done with the promotion system, credit goes to the Congress. The BJP came close to claiming this dubious distinction as well by trying to interfere in Gen Suhag’s appointment.
lest readers have forgotten, Gen VK Singh and lt Gen Ashok Singh were the only two officers privy to the unusually suspicious movement of Special Forces — commandoes and mechanised columns — converging on New Delhi in what the Indian Express hinted carried the whiff of the ‘C’ word. Subsequently, Director General of Military Operations lt Gen Ashok Choudhary admitted he was unaware of the troop movements and that they ought not to have taken place synchronised with Gen Singh taking the Government to court; and former Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne stated that the exercises for which troops were ostensibly moved were to be held a month later. Defending the Armed Forces, Mr Antony said last month in reference to these curious manoeuvres that “they will never stage a coup d'état”. No Defence Minister has ever had to state the obvious.
In this newspaper, last week a columnist argued against the necessity of making the selection and announcement two to three months in advance of the incumbent demitting office. Rather naively, he cited the case of Gen Shankar Roychaudhury who became COAS upon the death of Gen BC Joshi. What more need be said on this except that only god can forewarn the Ministry of Defence about such a mishap. Gen Roychaudhury had not lead an Army Command but only a Training Command; still his seniority trumped all other considerations. Air Vice Marshal Arjan Singh’s appointment as Chief of Air Staff was made on May 11, 1964, a clear two and half months ahead of August 1, 1964, when he took over. Gen Suhag’s appointment will replicate this.
Unfortunately in the heat of the most intense, violent and longest fought election campaign, the Election Commission and Mr Antony appeared to have temporarily developed cold feet. The inexplicable delay by the Government in deciding on naming the next COAS has adversely affected our apolitical Army, triggering groupism and casteism, as well as activating lobbies. This is undermining military discipline.
This is the first time that the appointment of a service Chief was politicised and became the subject of public debate and presidential and Election Commission interventions. Credit for this goes to Gen VK Singh who has been dubbed ‘the most controversial COAS in the history of the Indian Army’. The other person to blame is Mr Swamy, who is the master of Public Interest litigations (although he hasn’t won even one), and has been severely misguided by Gen Singh. Clearly, they sought to alter the line of succession.
Mr Antony has finally shown some spunk in this last act of grit and defiance of the political opposition, thereby curtailing the extraordinarily infructuous debate over a routine appointment, politicised by individuals inimical to the institutional integrity of the Army.
The new Government would have been committing harakiri by superseding lt Gen Suhag and appointing lt Gen Ashok Singh as the new COAS. And if the new Government even remotely considers remotely appointing Gen VK Singh, likely MP from Ghaziabad, as the Defence Minister, it will be the recipe for you know what.