The armed forces veterans here are of the view that the recent accusation of the Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag that former Chief and present Union Minister, General V K Singh (Rtd), tried to block his promotion, is most unfortunate and would affect the morale of armed forces.
In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court (SC) , General Suhag had said that the Discipline and Vigilance (DV) ban imposed on him in the year 2012 was illegal and was done with a malicious intent to block his promotion.
General Suhag said that the DV order was passed even after a court of inquiry (COI) failed to find any evidence regarding failure of command and control in an operation in Assam.The said operation was conducted on the intervening night of December 20- 21 in Jorhat in Assam by the 3 Corps and intelligence of surveillance unit.
When contacted, Major General Chander Nandwani (Rtd) accepted that the image of armed forces has got tarnished and the incidence should have been avoided. It is a normal practice that the senior most army commander is appointed as the Chief.
The President of Uttarakhand Ex services league, Brigadier R S Rawat (Rtd) said that the whole episode is unfortunate. He said, “The Army Chief commands a strong force of about 14 lakh personnel and for them the chief is a role model. This incidence portrays the Chief as complainant not one to drive inspiration.’’. He added that there were incidences in past when a very deserving officer was not promoted but he never sulked in public. Brigadier Rawat gave the example of lt General P S Bhagat a recipient of Victoria Cross, who was widely believed to succeed Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw as Army Chief but the then government denied him the chance. He said that though lt Gen Bhagat was not appointed as Chief of Army Staff (COAS), he never uttered a single word.
The Colonel P l Parashar (Rtd), also sounded concerned and said that the armed forces of the country are known for their discipline and strength of character and every armed force personnel should do his best to preserve these traits. The veterans were of the view that the court has to take a decision on the issue but it has shown the army in poor light.
It is alleged that the then COAS, General V K Singh tried to prevent the promotion of present CAOS who then was a corps commander. The army follows a strict line of succession for promotion on the top post. In his affidavit, Gen Suhag had said the administrative action against him was “biased, arbitrary and had malicious intent. He filed this affidavit in response to charge leveled by lt Gen Ravi Dastane (Rtd) that Gen Suhag was unduly favoured during selection as COAS.