Dragging in the Armed Forces is irresponsible
There should never have been any politics over the appointment of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS). Unfortunately, politics began soon after the Union Government announced lt General Bipin Rawat as the new Army chief. A bunch of leaders from various opposition parties questioned the Government's decision to bypass the seniority principle and select lt Gen Rawat. The senior leadership of these parties should have nipped the criticism in the bud, because it is improper to drag Army appointments into politics. When the leaderships did not act, it emboldened the critics, with at least one of them, having allegiance to the Congress, going to the extent of suggesting that a claimant had been ignored to the post because he belonged to the minority community.
Fortunately though, there have been a few sane voices from within the Opposition camp that have called for an end to the nonsense and underlined that the Government had every right to make a choice it deemed fit in the given circumstance. And yet, the entire episode has left a bitter taste in the mouth. It's true that lt Gen Rawat did not head the seniority list; there were two others senior to him. But while seniority is one of the factors that guide such appointments, it is not the only or even an overriding factor. Had seniority alone been the criterion, why would there be the convention to forward a list of four to five names for the Government's considerationIJ Certain Opposition leaders have been demanding answers from the Government as to what drawbacks the two other seniors had, which prevented them from becoming the next COAS. They want Prime Minister Narendra Modi to explain to the people! In the first place, none from the Government has raised a question mark on the competence of the two others who did not make despite being senior to lt Gen Rawat.
The Government took a considered call, given the prevailing situation, to rest the responsibility on lt Gen Rawat. The COAS-designate has enormous experience as an Infantry officer, of counter-terrorism and of the conditions along the line of Control. Most of the Kashmir operations are Infantry-based, and lt Gen Rawat has commanded a brigade and a division in Kashmir Valley during his illustrious career. He has a hand-on understanding of the volatile western border. Given that a large part of the Indian Army's present challenges are located in Kashmir, the Government must have felt the need to have at the helm, an officer who knew the issue like the back of his hand. There cannot be any dispute with the Government's commendation of lt Gen Rawat's “general dynamism” and merit.
In any case, the Congress has no moral authority to question the Government on supersession. Its regime had appointed lt Gen AS Vaidya as the COAS although he was junior to lt Gen SK Sinha. The latter had been brought in as Vice Chief of Army Staff and there was general belief that he would be the next COAS. The Congress Government's defence then was that lt Gen Vaidya had more combat experience, though the fact was that it was uncomfortable with lt Gen Sinha's plainspeak. Besides, judges in the Supreme Court were superseded during Indira Gandhi tenure as Prime Minister, but there was not a squeak from the Congress.