Orwellian Intentions – Goebbels Sibbal?

Posted on December 6, 2011 by sword

kapilsibal

Dear Rahul Gee,

I know that you don’t have a twitter account – at least not a public one. And I also know that you are extremely busy with the UP campaign right now. But despite you preoccupation, do take out the time to go through some of the tweets doing the rounds since Sibbal Gee performed his latest foot in mouth procedure. Just search for #IdiotKapilSibbal – top trending topic of the day.

The tweeple are a cynical lot, but generally the collective cynicism is not without substance. The general belief is that Sibbal Gee’s misplaced attempts at becoming a cyber Goebbels arises more from sycophantic reactions to you and Mummy Gee being talked ill of in cyberspace. Not to mention the bad cyberpress he himself has been getting. And to use the crutch of ‘religious sentiments’ for this is so transparent that it is laughable.

Rahul Gee, being a progressive leader of the 21st Century, do you want to be associated with this hare brained scheme of trying to censor the Internet? If not, why don’t you try and talk some sense into Sibbal Gee? Your word might succeed where other voices of reason seemed to have failed. In fact, I think coming from you he will agree in any case.

Please do explain to him that even if it was practically possible for the Internet companies, or the government, to monitor and censor the huge volume of user generated content on social media sites (and impertinent blogs like this one) – to order and enforce such a move in 2011would be seen as a step surpassing the excesses of the Emergency in 1975. And, as the online reaction today has amply demonstrated, it would be futile – nay, counterproductive.

I do agree that cyberspace provides the freedom to even those not responsible enough to handle it. And there is no dearth of those who abuse this freedom to slander, spew venom and generally make a nuisance of themselves. But the beauty of the system is that these elements get taken care of by equally lumpen ones with opposing views, without right minded people having to concern themselves or lose sleep over it. To give undue attention to such people is playing right into their hands. And that is what Sibbal Gee seems to be doing. Do you have any idea how many people would have searched for the very content that he is trying to proscribe when this news broke. Obscure pages and blogs which would have died a natural death unheeded have been pushed into prominence.

So, please tell Sibbal Gee that it is futile to try and dam a stream with his fingers. At best he will end up with very swollen digits.

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Why this Kolaveri Di – Please ask Harwinder Gee

Posted on November 25, 2011 by sword

Dear Rahul Gee,

You did not even need to call an all party meet. Listening to speaker after speaker speaking from either side of the parliamentary divide, it is obvious that the slapgate, or the slapping of Sharad Gee by Harwinder Gee has united politicians cutting across party lines. The last time we saw such camaraderie and solidarity amongst the usually squabbly parliamentarians was after the terrorist attack on parliament. Even then, I guess, it was a realization that their own neck was on the line that brought about the unity. So it is now. Each of our esteemed leader is probably dreading wondering when and where the next Harwinder will strike, and who will the victim be.

Interestingly, the name of Mahatma Gandhi has been invoked innumerable number of times since yesterday, on television sound bites and in parliament. There is great indignation amongst the political class – what has Gandhi Gee’s country come to? People slapping people, specially eminent people. I wonder why such people – the eminent ones – choose only to remember Gandhi Gee’s values selectively. What about his personal austerity and integrity? No one bemoans that they are not being able to live up to those standards. Forget about traveling by the lowest class on trains – even flying non-business class is infra dig (remember Cattle Class). Oh – and didn’t Gandhi Gee say something about the other cheek? Sharad Gee, you missed your chance of proving yourself to be a true adherent of the teachings of the father of the nation.

And Rahul Gee, you of all people should know that violence is sometimes unavoidable – like it was in Phulpur when an insolent young man dared to wave a black flag at your rally.

Can you blame Harwinder Gee if he says main karoon to saala character dheela hai?

Well – while the parliament debates and condemns the increasing tendency of people to vent their anger against the political class, they seem to be omitting to dwell on the most vital issue. What is the cause of that anger? Why is there such widespread approval of Harwinder’s action amongst the common people of the country?

Rahul Gee, please tell them. Instead of beating their chests and pontificating about non violence, they would do well to deliberate on what is causing this anger. In the words of the song that is a current rage (pun not intended) – Why this Kolaveri Di??

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A slap in the face – or elsewhere?

Posted on November 24, 2011 by sword

pawar-slap_350_022912085558

Dear Rahul Gee,

Please do convey my concern to Sharad Gee. Hope it didn’t hurt him  too much – on the face.But I do hope it did cause some sensation, if not hurt, elsewhere – say in the conscience – to him, and also to lots of others.

You know what should concern you Rahul Gee? Not the reckless madcap action by one passionate, possibly misguided person. What should concern you is the general reaction – the fact that the common man backs Harvinder for slapping Pawar, wants it repeated. The spontaneous reaction of the common man is an indicator of his (or that of the common woman of her) extreme dissatisfaction and anger with the state of affairs. Here is one of the comments by one such common person –

This is NOT an attack on Mr.Pawar but a slap on the Govt which has been testing the patience of common man for quite a long time.Mr.Pawar has not been able to deliver the goods properly..look at the SC ‘s comments on food grains,deaths of farmers even in his own state etc.Still no solutions have been found for the farmers’ deaths.Why does Dr.MMS is still keeping him as agri Minister..for his Govt to survive? Though not justifying this incident,Indian common is better when compared to people of some west asian countries. So this incidence is only beginning for Govt to wake up. Will it wake up?

Just before the political brethren of other political dispensations start rubbing their hands together and planning political mileage, here is another reaction that should make them pause and ponder –

GOOD JOB, HARVINDER, JUST REPEAT IT.. Slap another rat & cat.. Gulam,Lalu & Sonia..Hindusthan is with U…

It is also a slap in the face of the combined opposition – left and right. The common person has obviously little faith in your yatras, morchas and bandhs.

Rahul Gee, is it time to call an all party meet?

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Hacked by Hex (Pak Cyber Thuders)

Posted on November 24, 2011 by sword

Hacked by Hex (Pak Cyber Thuders)

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Actions speak louder than words

Posted on November 23, 2011 by sword

Dear Rahul Gee,

You say, “I am ready to give it in writing that I’ll change the face of the state if you vote the Congress to power. I want to see it as the most developed state,”

Wonderful sentiment. and great commitment. But the question that rises in my mind is – why wait for UP to elect your party to power? Your party already have state governments independently and in coalition in many states. Why not let your actions speak louder than words and showcase how these states have performed vis a vis states ruled by other parties? Won’t that sound more convincing – concrete proof of proven track record, rather than dreamy rosy promises of the future?

Actually, and unfortunately, the track record is not so encouraging. As per the statement made by Mr Ashwani Kumar, Minister of state for Planning, in the parliament – only five state have exceeded their growth targets in the 11th Plan – Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Punjab and – wait a minute – Uttar Pradesh! Interestingly, only one out of these five is ruled by your party. Manje all the other states where your party forms the government have not even met their growth targets in 11th Plan.

So on what basis are you making these tall promises to the people of UP? What magic will you perform once you come to power there?

Dear Rahul Gee, my unsolicited advice to you is that please live up to your image of being different – being a change agent. This is what excites people, attracts them toward you. But if you too resort to empty rhetoric and tall promises, the charm will soon wear off.

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ACR 360

Posted on November 5, 2011 by sword

180-or-360-Degrees

Improving the internal health of the Army was a key challenge identified for himself by the present chief when he assumed office two years back. How far has he been able to address the problem remains to be seen in the absence of any indications, either in open media, or through the grapevine. While it would be illuminating to learn the steps (if any) taken by the organisation towards meeting this challenge, here are some thoughts and unsolicited suggestions from an armchair theorist.

The fountainhead of most major ailments that afflict the internal health of the organisation is the pyramidical structure, resulting in a high wastage rate in selection of officers for higher ranks. This, in turn, unleashes an intense competition, almost a clawing struggle to climb to the top. The route to the top lies through nine-pointer ACRs, and that depends on the judgment of one’s immediate superiors in the chain of command – the IO, RO and SRO. The system therefore mandates that this trimutive needs to be kept propitiated for securing the passport to higher ranks.

On the other hand, the Initiating Officers are also faced with a dilemma. Since they have to continue working with the officer even after the writing of the report, they are extremely hesitant to be even mildly critical in their appraisals. The result is that in the absence of any tangible deliverables except in operations, you have an odd nine pointer, and everyone else gets an eight. In fact an eight point ACR is like a dining out speech – everyone gets one, and it doesn’t mean a thing. If someone gets even a seven, which is supposed to mean above / high average, it spells the end of any hopes of career advancement. It also means end of any niceties between the officer and the boss. Diplomatic Initiating Officers have therefore been known to give an eight point ACR to someone, and then requested the Reviewing Officer to ‘sort him out’.

The zero error syndrome, the ruthless driving of subordinates, the relentless efforts to keep the boss happy at any costs – these are the spinoffs of this skewed system.

Thus, the key to restoring the internal health of the organization lies in improving the appraisal system. This realization has not escaped the policy makers, and over the years there have been attempts at change. But these have been restricted to minor tweaks, without any substantial changes in the basic system. There was the dark period, when ACRs were not shown to the ratee. That measure was found to be counterproductive, and was reversed after a while. Then there was the scrapping of ACRs for junior officers, but the Unit Assessment Cards that formed the replacement did not really serve to bring about any substantial difference.

What we need is the clichéd but never attained paradigm shift in the way appraisal is carried out. One thought is a 360 degree appraisal system. Increasingly being favoured by HR pundits across the corporate world, it involves an appraisal by peers and subordinates in addition to the traditional assessments by superiors.

The objections that immediately spring to mind are manifold, and are the ones that would be put forth by the lethargic proponents of status quo. Such a system is not suitable for a hierarchical organisation like the army. It would lead to popularity contests by senior officers to curry favours with juniors. It is too cumbersome to be implemented.

Obviously, the system needs to be studied and adapted for implementation in the army – but that does not mean that it cannot be done. Ironically, the organisation that would be required to carry out this exercise – the MS Branch – would be the most reluctant. It would imply a huge increase in their own workload, and besides it is too bold and imaginative a step to find favour with them. However, if the internal health of the army has to be resuscitated, old medicine in new bottles will not do. It’s time for alternate therapy.

360 degree appraisals is one such alternative – not necessarily the only, and not necessarily without side effects. But since, for reasons already stated, the MS Branch is not likely to look for drastic alternatives, it is imperative that these be thought about and debated in other available forums.  I would like to throw this debate open, and invite comments and suggestions.

Posted in Appraisal System, Blogitorial, COAS, Military, Reforms | Tagged , , , , | 18 Comments

The Jointmanship Chimera

Posted on October 17, 2011 by sword

6_239261213150954

According to F. Scott Fitzgerald, novelist and short story writer, “the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” Reports emanating from the recently concluded Joint Commander’s conference shows proof of such first rate intelligence. One report talked about moves for setting up theatre based commands, wherein all the war fighting and sustenance resources would function jointly under a single theatre commander. It is presumed that this refers to not only rehashing the combat and logistics elements of the army, but orchestration of joint services resources. The other report talked about the Defence Minister being irked by the inter service rivalry, particularly on the issue of army aviation.

Not being of ‘first rate intelligence’, the contradictions somehow did not gel with me. Appears to me to be attempts to run before we can walk. Theatre based commands are certainly a necessity in certain operational conditions, and are essential for coordinated operations in a modern battlefield. For such organizations to function, inter services cooperation is of essence. The question is, how can such cooperation be made integral to the organizational culture, wherein the decision makers rise above turf issues and focus on what is operationally necessary?

Jointmanship is a word that one first hears at DSSC (In NDA you actually practice it without even knowing what the hell it is – but by then you have not really been initiated into your service), and I presume a lot in subsequent courses. But it is practiced more on personal levels for booking accommodations, than on an organizational level. When it comes to the service HQs, the preservation of individual service turf takes precedence over jointmanship – whether it is for the sub-allocation of the defence budget, providing manpower for joint services organizations, or institutional imperatives like the appointment of CDS. Marching to the beats of different drummers, each service is busy in pushing its own agenda.

Setting up of HQ IDS and Joint Services Commands like the ANC have been milestones in moving towards desired level of inter services cooperation. To make such organizations more meaningful, it is necessary to inculcate a culture of jointness within the services too, as barely a handful of officers get exposed to such joint services organizations. It is also necessary to ensure inter-operability through compatible equipment, communications and procedures. Some suggested measures are:-

  • Strengthen existing inter-services structures such as NDA, DSSC, CDM, NDC in further nurturing better understanding of other services.
  • Create additional structures and institutions by combining functions wherever feasible, even at the marginal cost of single service interests. Some examples are:-
    • Combined services training institutions for similar activities and / or cross training of personnel in other service institutions. For example, communications / telecom subjects can be taught at a combined institution for all the three services. This could include combined courses for basic subjects followed by specific coverage of individual service requirements such as particular equipment or procedures. This should also work towards better interoperability between services.
    • Combining of logistics and maintenance functions wherever feasible. The medical services are already functioning in this manner to a limited extent. The supply, procurements, maintenance and transport services offer themselves to optimisation towards providing matching facilities on an inter-service basis. Such a pooling of resources would also have a spin off benefit of freeing up some manpower that can be deployed elsewhere.
  • Enhanced cross service postings on staff functions. A start has been made in selected branches in service HQs, which could be expanded to subordinate HQs also.
  • Enlarge the scope of existing practice of cross affiliation between units, ships and squadrons by cross attachments / postings, participation in training activities and ceremonials.

The list is by no means exhaustive, and the first rate intelligence can come up with many more measures to ensure joint services thinking amongst the rank and file. If these mean letting go of control over some of the resources so zealously guarded as of now, it should be done in the interest of creating structures and organizations that can withstand the test of future battlefields. Only then can we truly move towards theaterization in the true sense.

Posted in Blogitorial, Higher Defence Management, Military | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Gitanjali AF Version

Posted on September 16, 2011 by sword

My dear friends,

AF version of the original gitanjali has been penned by me as an outburst of the events occurring in the Armed Forces. I hope, it stimulates the peace loving mind to achieve ……………  The original Gitanjali by Tagore is appended below.

GITANJALI – AF version
—————————————–
Head Without Tear
Where the action is without tear and the salute is held high;
Where leadership is a tree;
Where the forces has not been broken up
Into fragments by narrow regimented walls;
Where orders come out from the depth of experience;
Where tireless training stretches its arms towards dedication;
Where the clear stream of capability
has not lost its way in the mandatory courses of staff duties and appointments;
Where the action is led forward by thee into ever-increasing honour —
Into that ARMY of pride, my chief, let my forces live.
————————————————————————————
Heart Without Fear
Where each activity is without fear and the rank is beaten down;
Where silence is free;
Where the ranks are broken up into fragments by thick regulations;
Where words come out from the noise of shallowness;
Where tireless scheming stretches its arms on the greens;
Where the science of warfare
has lost its way in pay and precedence;
Where the rank is led forward by glee into ever-enlarging meet and eat —
Into that shell of life, my chief, put my enemy best.
————————————————————————————

A salute for the Armed Forces
by
***

————————————————————————————

GITANJALI – Original
——————————–
Mind Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up
into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason
has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action —
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

By Rabindranath Tagore

—————————————————————————————

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What I would do if I were Kiran Bedi or Om Puri

Posted on September 3, 2011 by sword

Here is a excellent piece – not written by me, something I received on mail. But I do echo the sentiments. Details of the author / originator are given at the bottom.


Even though I have least interest in politics and social service, I somehow feel compelled to express what I am going to express below. If I were Om Puri or Kiran Bedi, I would have been so happy to be summoned for the breach of parliamentarians privileges. I would have made the following assertion while availing of the opportunity to defend my utterances.

Madam Speaker,

I have been called here to speak and explain why I said what I said about the members of this house. First of all I would like to thank you for having invited me to speak here and explain my position and thought process behind my utterances. In fact, I could not use the actual words that I intended to use to describe the special attributes of the members of this house. I actually wanted to call them chor, dacoit, gunda, badmash, lutera, byabhichari, ganda and ghrinit log  however I could not utter these words amongst the civilized members of the civil society. I do not feel any restriction in uttering these words here because in this community people feel more at home with these kinds of adjectives. I have my specific and definite reasons to think of these objectives when I think of the current day parliamentarians who are members of this house. When the founding fathers of the constitution drafted the provisions for the special privileges for the members of the central and state legislature,  they could not even imagine in their dreams that a day would come when members of this house would be in jail for being prime suspects in spectacular ghotalas while discharging their respective duties as the honourable ministers of the govt. of India or chairman of high powered committees. They could not perceive that a supposedly learned lawyer, (at least that is what he claims to be) in his role of a minister of govt of India would defend his predecessor saying that there was absolutely no ghotala in the deeds of his predecessor even while the predecessor would continue to be in jail and the CBI would be trying its best to get him pronounced guilty and convicted. The founding fathers could not imagine that a member of this house despite knowing the actual expenses that is incurred on running this house at the expenses of the tax payers of this country would take the debate in the house to such low levels that it might look like a platform of standing comedians rather than a platform for serious debate on issues of national interest. They could not imagine that a joker would some day say in the parliament “duniya mein aaye hain to kuchh kaam kijiye, janta/chanda ke paise se jalpan kijiye” and the members present in the house would encourage him in his act of comedy by thumping their desk.

I am sorry if I have hurt the feelings of people like Pranab Mukherjee or Sushma Swaraj however I would be a hypocrite if I call the people like Lalu Yadav, Kalmadi, Sheila, A Raja, Kanimojhi, Pappu Yadav, Mulayam Singh, Amar singh, Shibu Soren and many others honourable members. They are of course members of this house however I definitely do not consider them as honourable. These people are thieves and dacoits and people like Kapil Sibal are the idiots who are partners of these people in crime. People like these may have obtained the piece of papers from universities tiled degrees and certificates however these pieces of papers do not make them educated. They remain uneducated despite being in possession of these kind of pieces of paper. People like Manish Tiwari remain nothing more than the graduates of Thooke Chate classes irrespective of how highly educated they may claim to be. The lady who runs the govt with a remote has gone to some remote place and the country is not aware of where she is in the name of privacy. The people whom she represent have a right to know where their representative is which has been shamelessly denied by the largest party in this house in the name of privacy. If privacy is so important to these people, they should have refrained from entering the public life.   I firmly believe that calling these people “ganwaar” is no exaggeration. I, of course, apologise to the village people if they feel hurt by being equated with the members of legislature. The general value system of the people from our villages is so high and ideal that despite the presence of people like the members in the most of the legislature, India continues to be identified with its moral and ethical character.

I sincerely feel that such lot of parliamentarians need to be called many more names than whatever I have called them in public and therefore I am grateful to you madam speaker for having given me the opportunity to clearly express what I think of the majority lot of the members in this house and for that matter members in most other legislature in the country. I have been granted the freedom of expression to express honestly what I think of these so called people’s representative and would be happy to bear the consequences. You may have the brute power to force my body to be confined within the four walls of jails  or you may even hang me to death however you can not suppress my spirit which feels that most of the members in this house enter the electoral arena only to fill their own pockets and have never ever been interested in any actual public or social service or statesmanship. I strongly feel that most of the people in this country echo my feelings. In case you do not agree with this belief then the only way to ascertain the truth would be to carry out a national survey asking the people of India whether they actually consider the majority of the members of this parliament  chor or not. I am absolutely certain that majority of the respondent of this survey, if it is ever commissioned and carried out, would say that most of the members of this house are chor. I, hereby, give an undertaking that I would be happy to serve a life term in prison  if the outcome of any of this  kind of survey would happens to be different than what I have predicted.

In such a scenario, I feel I have uttered what most of the Indians think of the majority of the current day members of parliament and therefore I assert that I have not committed any crime. I would be happy to bear the consequences of my utterances if the parliament of this country stoops down to such a level that it is not ready to hear and bear the actual perception in the minds of the people of this country about what they think of its members.

I request that this be circulated so that it reaches the parliamentarians and they bring a privilege motion against me as well. I would like to add that I am not a patriot as I believe that any artificial distinction between the human beings in the name of religion, caste, language, country or any other man made attribute which makes them feel that they belong to a particular and specific group is perpetrated by the vested interests in the general language and ignorant idiots in my own understanding. I have been taught since my infancy that I am an Indian and therefore I am not a Pakistani or Chinese or Bangladeshi or American. I have been taught that I as an Indian is different than being a Pakistani and since we are different my values as an Indian is better than the values of  a Pakistani, Chinese or American. Since all the different groups with specific identity consider themselves better than the rest others, this leads to a conflict between Indians and Pakistani or hindus and muslims or speakers of Hindi and Tamil or black and white. This concept of “I am I and you are you and therefore I and you are different and since we are different I am better than you” is the root cause of all the evil encountered by the humanity in its true spiritual development and in this sense I am not able to call myself a patriot because I can not hate my brother from across an artificial and imaginary line drawn on the surface of mother earth. I am not able to identify myself with any particular caste or religion in the way I have been taught about these concepts since my childhood and yet I would like to call myself a religious person and a Brahmin. As per my definition, a Brahmin is the one who has awakened to the absolute truth and as per this definition Kabir, Raidas, Nanak, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, Socrates, Gurdjieff, Lao Tzu, Confucius, Ved Vyas, Patanjali, Osho, Krishnamurti, Raman, Telang Swami   are all Brahmins and so I am I and many others. When I call myself religious, I do not mean to say that I am “Hindu” in the sense the word is being used by the politicians these days. Being hindu for me does not mean being the one who goes to a temple and worships idols or listens to Ram Katha or Shrimad Bhagwat or Geeta . For me the word hindu means the religious way of life that has evolved since the Indus valley civilization and which has been clearly visible in the way of life practiced by Buddha, Mahavir, Kabir, Nanak, Mother Teresa, Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti, Nizamuddin Auliya and many others who have carried their body in this part of the globe.

 

With Best Regards

Mithilesh Kumar Jha
212, Janaki Apartments,
Plot No 7, Sector-22
Dwarka, New Delhi – 110 075
Cell +91-9818935615

Residence +91-11-28051231

Posted in Common man, Corruption, National Issues, Politics, Ponderings, Values | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Individual Vs Institution

Posted on August 30, 2011 by sword

in^cas

One pitfall of achieving high office is that you cease to be an individual. Like it or not, you become an institution. Every move you make, every action of yours is weighed and viewed accordingly. To quote Spiderman comics – “with great power comes great responsibility”.  History is not known to treat very kindly those who choose to exercise the power while failing to discharge the responsibility to the hilt. Unquestionably, that responsibility includes maintaining the sanctity and dignity of the office according the power.

Undoubtedly, the correct date of birth of the Chief of Army Staff is the one being quoted by him in his Statutory Complaint. But let us look at other facts – as reported by the press.

Firstly – the Chief’s year of birth as recorded in his NDA form is 1950, and as per his matriculation certificate is 1951. As per the rule position, any discrepancy must be corrected within 2 years of it coming to notice. In this case, from the time the matriculation certificate would have been received. Apparently the complaint also appends a letter from UPSC that his date of birth needed to be reconciled. If this reconciliation was done within the stipulated timeframe, all that needs to be produced is the correspondence to that effect to settle the argument. In the absence of this correspondence, one is led to believe that timely reconciliation did not take place. Any subsequent request for reconciliation is not tenable under the rules. If the rules are unfair, they need to be changed. But while they are in force, they need to be respected and implemented. Incidentally, if an identical Non-Statutory Complaint from any officer lands on the Chief’s desk, he would have no option but to decide in accordance with the rules. Why does he expect to be treated differently then? Is it because of the power (that came with the responsibility, remember)?

Secondly, an undertaking was given by the Chief, at the time of his appointment as Army Commander, that he agreed to 1950 as his year of birth. He has appended correspondence to his complaint indicating that the then Chief had threatened action against him unless he gave that undertaking. Why wasn’t a Statutory Complaint put up at that point of time? Was it expediency? In lesser mortals such situational expediency would be termed as opportunism.

Thirdly, why did a group of MPs find it fit to approach the Prime Minister with a memorandum supporting the Chief’s cause? Mercifully, the Prime Minister advised them to allow the Army to remain an apolitical organization, and refused to accept it.

Unfortunately, all these happenings point towards a tendency of the individual occupying the office taking precedence over the institution of the office.

The unprecedented Statutory Complaint by the Chief is being termed by a section of the media as open defiance. Well, at one level it is a refreshing change for the Army Chief to take a principled stand vis a vis the government. The sad part is that the stand is for an individual issue rather than an organizational one. Not that there is a dearth of issues where taking cudgels would have far reaching benefits to the entire organization. The systematic down gradation of Armed Forces in the warrant of precedence, the pay disparities vis a vis other Group A services, the delays in procurement of equipment, the shortage of married accommodation, to name a few.

But what if the government decides to take umbrage to the defiance, even if they are driven in a legal corner? What if they are compelled to agree to the later year of birth, but are loath to disturb the order of succession? What if the extension in service comes without extension in office? What if the government posts the Chief as ‘Additional Officer’ and elevates the next in line to office? Wouldn’t fruits of victory be ashes in the mouth?

The institution just might have the last word against the individual.

Posted in Blogitorial, COAS, Military, Values | Tagged , , | 5 Comments