The treatment meted out to peacefully agitating Army veterans at Jantar Mantar is symptomatic of a growing civil-military divide. Such incidents impact the morale of serving soldiers
Whatever may be the merits/demerits of the ongoing agitation by a group of veterans at the Jantar Mantar in lutyen’s Delhi, the treatment meted out to them at the hands of the Delhi police on October 30 will be recorded as a dark day of Indian democracy. The Armed Forces are the last bastion of the nation and have been mandated by the Constitution to not only safe guard the nation but the Constitution as well. Armed Forces’ veterans form a pool of trained and disciplined manpower, are engrained with nationalism, which needs to be treated as an asset rather than a burden.
The Armed Forces form an important pillar of national strength and its members willingly forego many fundamental rights, basic necessities of a dignified life in order to safeguard the nation’s frontiers. Members of the Armed Forces take an oath of allegiance to the Constitution which no other Government servant does, indicating that they are a class apart. They are called Commissioned Officers and their parchment of Commission is signed by the President as their Supreme Commander. The Constitution also mandates them to carry their ranks with them even after retirement. The Constitution also recognises the uniqueness of the Armed Forces and its members, both serving and retired.
Alas, the organs of the Government do not recognise the same. Otherwise, how could the Delhi police treat the veterans, ladies and veer naris in the manner they did in front of live camerasIJ The same police is the first to disappear whenever a serious law and order problem occurs and at the drop of the hat, the Army is called in to rescue them and handle adversity. But against the peaceful veterans, the police came out with vengeance, at whose behest is the question agitating the mind of those who saw a sheer display of arrogance, rudeness, disrespect and brutalityIJ
The veterans have dedicated the best years of their life for the service of the nation and expect nothing but respect and dignity when they return home having risked their life almost on daily basis when in service. Their courage, discipline, sense of sacrifice and love for the nation needs to be imbibed in every citizen if we desire to become a super power. At the same time, ill-treatment to them can have long-term implications on national security.
One should not lose sight of history. What happened in the US after the World Wars is a matter of study regarding the treatment to veterans by a nation, however mighty it may be. Bonus Army was the name given to a group of World War I veterans, who marched on Washington, DC, during the summer of 1932, demanding immediate payment of cash bonuses promised to them by Congress eight years earlier vide World War Adjusted Compensation Act 1924. The then US President, Calvin Coolidge, vetoed the Bill providing for bonuses stating, “Patriotism, bought and paid for, is not patriotism.”
Congress, however, overruled the veto. The bonuses were to be paid in 1945 on the respective birthdays of the veterans. On June 15, 1932, the lower house passed a Bill to move up the payment date of veteran’s bonuses which was defeated by the Senate. Veterans protested peacefully but the police reacted violently, resulting in the death of two veterans. Meanwhile, more veterans had moved in with their families and were staying in well-laid out camps around Washington DC. On July 28, 1932, President Herbert Hoover ordered the US Army to clear the bonus Army camps and disperse the protestors. The US Army crackdown resulted in injuries to 55 veterans and 135 were arrested. In the 1932 election, Hoover was defeated by a landslide vote by Roosevelt. Hoover’s militaristic treatment of the veterans had contributed to his defeat. Sacrifices of the veterans in 1932 contributed towards the enactment of the GI Bill-1944, which has since assisted thousands of veterans, who make the often difficult transition to civilian life and in a small way pay back the debt owed to those who risk their lives for their country. There are many similarities in the bonus Army episode and the ongoing struggle of the veterans. History knows no borders and often repeats itself!
In this era of electronic and social media which has penetrated all frontiers, news travels instantly to the farthest corners. Police action against veterans can lead to alienation of a large segment of disciplined and patriotic people. It will definitely adversely impact the morale of serving soldiers. It is not only that today’s serving soldier is tomorrow’s veteran but today’s veterans are also fathers, grandfathers, uncles and other relatives of the serving soldiers.
The blood of those who would have watched the high-handedness of the police or read about it must be boiling but the discipline engrained in them prevents them from reacting. But can it be taken for grantedIJ Any amount of money spent towards modernisation of the Armed Forces cannot compensate for the morale of the man behind the gun. It is ultimate and the nation has watched the grit, determination and high morale of the Indian Army soldier on the barren and daunting heights of Kargil. Can the nation afford to have the morale of its soldiers in their bootsIJ Imagine the impact it would have on national security. Will any young man, who would have watched the police’s brutality against the senior retired officers, ladies and veer naris, be ever motivated to join the Armed ForcesIJ The answer again is obvious.
The Armed Forces will soon become a home for those who had no other option left for employment or a Government job. Will it then remain the last bastion as envisaged in the ConstitutionIJ Input directly contributes to the output and if the Armed Forces fail the nation in future, will the responsibility for their downslide be owned by the political leadership or the bureaucracyIJ
Civilian control of the Armed Forces does not imply control by those in civvies. In the garb of civilian control, the bureaucracy in India is trying to control the Armed Forces by negating their uniqueness as enshrined in the Constitution. In fact, the Jantar Mantar is the manifestation of growing civil-military divide in our country which every successive Government has contributed towards its widening rather than bridging the gap. The state of affairs is not only saddening but alarming. The bureaucracy is hell bent to downgrade the status and financial equivalence of the Armed Forces which becomes obvious with every Pay Commission report ever since the third Pay Commission.
The Armed Forces form 30 per cent of the Government’s work force, yet they are not represented in any Pay Commission. This only displays the disdain with which every successive Government has treated them. Serving soldiers and veterans are only demanding their due and not looking for any extra ordinary largesse, they are fighting for izzat and status that has been continuously eroded by babudom in Delhi.
The warrant of precedence is tweaked to suit convenience of the babus. A Major General was equated to a joint secretary with 30 years’ service. The 30-year clause has been conveniently removed and, today, a joint secretary with 18 years of service equates himself with a Major General. Nowhere in the world is the police allowed to wear the badges of ranks of the Army except in our country to achieve a false sense of equivalence. The most ridiculous is an attempt to equate the ranks with the AFHQ services cadre which was raised as a subordinate support cadre to assist the Armed Forces officers so that the availability of serving officers in active units is not affected. How can commissioned officers be equated with any other service, let alone a subordinate serviceIJ
It goes to the credit of the present Government to grant One Rank One Pension which previous Governments denied. There was certain dissatisfaction in some quarters and the Government accepted that certain anomalies exist. The Justice Reddy Commission was appointed in 2016 which submitted its report in November that year. Alas, the contents of the report are yet to be made public. The neglect is hurting the veterans, eroding the credibility of the Government and adding to the widening civil-military rift. Ministry of Defence, which is supposedly the custodian of the interests of the Armed Forces, is the most distrusted organ of the State as far as the serving soldiers and veterans are concerned. The distrust is not ill-founded but is backed with substantial acts of omission and commission. The Government needs to act post-haste to stop this trend and act as per various reports submitted concerning the revamping of MOD and integration of Armed Forces HQ with it. It would be appropriate to sum up with this couplet, ‘Gunah Karke Saza Se Darte Hain, Zahar Pee k Dawa Se Darte Hain, Dushmano ke Sitam Ka Khauf Nahi, Hum Toh Apnon Ki Bewafai Se Darte Hain.’
(The writer is a Jammu-based political commentator, columnist, security and strategic analyst. He can be contacted at anil5457@gmail.com)