Unquiet home front?

The national crisis in the wake of the avoidable Army Chief’s year of birth controversy, followed by confrontation between him and the ministry of defence in the Supreme Court, and subsequent events, particularly the recent press leak insinuating possibility of a military coup, need to be seen in the correct perspective.
As a young Major serving in a key appointment in Delhi in 1947, I witnessed the transformtion of a colonial apolitical Army to a national apolitical Army. Understandably as the head of a nascent democracy with neighbouring and other Third World countries where military coups had taken place, Nehru was apprehensive of the military. His fears were fuelled by the civilian bureaucracy and the civilian intelligence for their vested interests — the former for increasing its stranglehold over the military and the latter to become a power centre. The Army had won the hearts of the people through its contribution in Kashmir, Hyderabad and Goa, becoming the most popular arm of the government. Yet it was sorely neglected and getting increasingly marginalised. Its fighting capability was being compromised.
Gen. K.S. Thimayya was an iconic Army Chief with an international reputation. He had sharp differences with defence minister Krishna Menon. He informed Nehru of these differences and tendered his resignation. There was a furore in the country over his resignation. Nehru sent for Thimayya assuring him that he would suitably address the issues raised by him and even hinted that Krishna Menon could be shifted. He also told him that Ayub Khan, the military dictator of Pakistan, was on the following day transiting from East Pakistan to West Pakistan via Delhi. His resignation at that time would convey a wrong message harming the image of India. Thimayya promptly withdrew his resignation. After a while Nehru castigated him in Parliament. Thimayya chose not to clarify his position to the press nor seek vindication in a court of law. He remained in his office as a lame duck Chief for the rest of his tenure. The bureaucratic stranglehold over the Army got accentuated.
Lt. Gen. B.M. Kaul became the Quarter Master General at Army headquarters against the recommendation of Thimayya and later was thrust upon him as the Chief of the General Staff, the key staff appointment at Army headquarters. To my surprise he sent for me as his staff officer. I saw from close quarters his style of functioning, exploiting his proximity to Nehru, marginalising Thimayya and building a coterie of Army officers loyal to him. In those days it was widely being asked not after Nehru who, but after Nehru what. Kaul’s name was being mentioned as a possible successor to Nehru. I realised then and as now that he was the only General with political ambitions. The debacle in 1962 put an end to his career and ambitions.
Nehru died in 1964. It so happened that a brigade had moved from Ambala to Delhi coinciding with his death. The Intelligence Bureau was on red alert with its chief with a loaded pistol shadowing the Army Chief in the funeral procession. It was later found that an artillery brigade had been moved to Tughlakabad Ranges for annual firing. The coup phobia persisted during the Emergency when I was the chief of military intelligence. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated by some Army officers in Dacca on August 15, 1975. Along with civil intelligence, we were alerted to take suitable preventive action to prevent a repeat of what had happened in Dacca. I need not disclose the various measures taken. One day in the middle of the night I was woken up with news that an Army colonel had driven down Safdarjang and Akbar Roads a couple of times reconnoitering the Prime Minister’s house. It was later found out that a tipsy colonel coming out of Delhi Gymkhana Club had lost his way and had done so.
In 1983, I was moved from command of the Western Army as Vice-Chief of the Army to understudy the retiring Chief, with a view to taking over from him shortly. Indira Gandhi for her own reasons decided to supersede me. I immediately resigned without lodging a statutory complaint or seeking justice in court. There was much surprise and furore among Army officers and also in Parliament and media. Defence minister Venkataraman sent Ramamohan Rao, the defence PRO — later the Prime Minister’s PRO and now the chief editor of Asian News International — to ask me to meet the press. I unhesitatingly spoke to press correspondents saying, “I do not question the decision of the government. I accept it. I have chosen to fade away from the Army. Gen. Vaidya is a friend of mine and a competent General. The Indian Army will do well under his leadership.” Soon thereafter, I left Delhi for my home in Patna.
Gen. V.K. Singh, known for his personal integrity and crusade against corruption, took the unprecedented step first of filing a statutory complaint and later petitioning the Supreme Court on a personal issue of little consequence to the Army or the nation. This led to sharply divided opinion in the country both among civilians and serving and retired Army officers. Many in the former category supported him because of their utter disgust with the present government due to several mega-corruption scams and the latter due to simmering discontent for decades at the ministry of defence denying them their legitimate dues. After the Supreme Court judgment there has erupted a long murky “Night of Generals” opening a can of worms. The Army Chief was perfectly justified in writing to the Prime Minister about defence unpreparedness and delays in weapon acquisitions. It was unfortunate that he did so when a Brics summit of heads of government was taking place in Delhi and the letter was leaked by some rogue elements. He should have immediately come out reassuring the nation that despite the deficiencies, the Army was fully prepared to meet any threat. As for the bribe allegation he should have immediately taken disciplinary action against the retired officer and then informed the defence minister. A retired officer for the first two years is still bound by the Army Act. There was uproar in Parliament, with several MPs other than the BJP demanding his resignation. A truce was called with a long overdue direct discussion of sensitive issues between an honest but weak defence minister and an honest but an unnecessarily controversial Army Chief, with the civilian bureaucracy out of the loop. And now we have a basically absurd press leak insinuating military coup along with a bizarre public interest litigation in the Supreme Court urging a stay on the Army Chief designate’s new appointment. The Prime Minister has done well to support the Army Chief urging that the dignity of his high office should not be tarnished. The BJP, the main Opposition, has also done well to exercise restraint and not exploit the present crisis for political gains. The sooner the present dark days are given a burial and the several issues suitably resolved, the better.

The writer, a retired lieutenant-general, was Vice-Chief of Army Staff and has served as governor of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir