POLITICAL CRUMBLING OF THE LAST BASTION by LT GEN P R SHANKAR (RETD)

                                      

The politicization of the last bastion of India is well and truly underway. The beeline of Armed Forces officers in joining a political party is just the latest milestone in this journey. More will follow. That will be to the detriment of national security, in the short run. Very definitely. In the long run. It is debatable since the nation is into uncharted oceans. At the outset I must state, that this is an apolitical analysis of a symptom for which I do not have answers.

There is a view that unless Service Officers join the political platform, there will be no redressal of the imbalances our Services and nation face. That is agreed to. However, for that to happen, induction of retired service personnel into politics must be across the political spectrum and not confined to one party alone. If it is only one party which is attracting Ex Servicemen, then there are a lot of questions and soul searching to do. The system will get even more imbalanced.  Another moot point is that how much of a political career or influence will a retired General have in the party he joins? In my estimate unless he has a previous political background/environment, he will be a wall flower. At best he will be given a gubernatorial or other post of decorative insignificance. If he thinks he is going to clean up the system, he must re-think. Most of them were incapable of even equipping the armed forces when in service due to their over simplicity. In the brutal world of politics, I wonder how they will survive rubbing shoulders with outright criminals.  The issue merits deeper examination.

They say when you want to subvert a system start at the top. That is what has been done to politicize the Armed Forces. And it started, very deliberately some time back. Appointments of senior officers were based on a very strict rule of seniority and residual service. By tradition and sensibility this was a citadel that was never violated.  It was the Indian Army which gave an opening.   A new factor of “suitability” was induced through “discretion” of the short-sighted Army hierarchy to appoint one SO in C to break the “seniority” rule. Accepted by the Government. A precedence was created. A politico- bureaucratic handle was also created to tweak “seniority” with “suitability”. At that time itself, I was apprehensive of the long-term impact and I did express it to some of my friends.  I was advised that discretion is the better part of valor. I kept quiet. Later, a new factor of “continuity” was brought in by the now politicized hierarchy to appoint a DG Arty. Accepted by the Government. Another precedence created. The handle now was to tweak the “residual service” clause with “continuity”.  A combination of “suitability” and “continuity” was now used with political discretion to appoint a COAS by superseding a senior. Of course, this was buttressed by a few earlier cases of supercession long back. Politicization of the top ranks and appointments is now becoming routine with an officer not being appointed as an Army Commander and an FOC in C who is knocking on legal doors at being superseded. One might argue that these officers were not suitable for the higher posts. However, from what appears in public domain, they were not even fit for the ranks and posts they are holding. From here on politicization in senior appointments will only grow. That is a dangerous trend. I have no issue or quarrel with the capabilities of either class of officers. The appointed officers were not inferior, or the superseded officers were not superior. At that level all are almost equal. I have known the entire lot from very young days, and each are as capable as the other. They are good guys and have done well. However, there is no evidence to suggest that those appointed officers are doing things better in the absence of others not having a chance to perform. Overall the system has been incrementally violated to its own detriment. The taste is bitter.

   

The next step in politicization is dangerous and is happening. It is in the realm of promotions. Hitherto fore, promotions were based on merit to a very large extent. That is being heavily and slyly undercut. I recently met a newly promoted officer who came to me for advice. I advised him to seek a posting to an operational area to get good experience so that he could be better equipped to handle challenges of higher ranks. He looked at me as if I am an outdated old fool. He astounded me by saying that with the spate of politically motivated supercessions in senior appointments it was better to be in Delhi to be visible not only to seniors but also to the bureaucratic and political hierarchy. That would ensure both promotion and appointment. His logic was that senior appointments were any way political. Accordingly, promotion can be ensured through politically pliant seniors. Getting into good appointments was only a political extension. This strikes at the root of the professional competency of the Armed Forces. We cannot have a leadership in the Armed forces which is incompetent and politicized.  It represents a danger to our nation far beyond the normal. Or, am I being out of sync with society?

The third step to politicization is what is now being played out in the public sphere. When senior officers at the end of illustrious careers join politics en-mass, it makes one wonder whether this was a move due to a deep-rooted political conviction and leaning or a new found desire at extending and enhancing their careers. If it was a deep-rooted conviction and leaning, then it is clearly political infiltration by a party to prove that it is the only nationalist one in town. That just complicates issues. For every officer who joins a party out of deep-rooted leanings there would be more who were and will remain supporters but not take the political plunge. We cannot have politics being played out in units and formations. We cannot have decisions being taken in South Block with the lure of a post retirement political plums.  That is a very dangerous kind of a situation and must be curbed institutionally by those in Service. The problem will be that, if people in service are political, are they willing to do so?  Of course, there is also an issue of political subservience while in service to the detriment of the Armed Forces as an Institution of the nation. We saw this being played out during the OROP agitation when veterans were being caned by Police. The muteness and ineptitude of the Army hierarchy when this national disgrace was happening will now be explained in Seychelles? That incident will remain the biggest blot in our service histories. It is unprecedented in any country under any circumstances. 

       

If joining a political party is to extend their careers or take the plunge to cleanse the system, it is ok to a certain extent. However, there are dangers in that too. As these political Generals achieve some power in the political system, they will tend to dispense favor to those juniors with whom they have served, their regimental buddies and so on. It is a largesse cum vote bank phenomenon. By doing so they will ignite aspirational behavior amongst servicemen. They were role models in service, and they will be different role models now. However, as time passes, these political servicemen will veer away from the reality of service and start compromising with the reality of politics. All the best to them. They must make a choice. They should decide whether they are serving the nation as defined by one political party or are retired Generals of Indian Armed Forces. They cannot be both. One is on a high pedestal and the other is not. Also, it will be wrong on their part to attend political events with their regimental insignia or ranks worn anywhere. That is politicization of the Armed Forces. An argument can be made against this line of thought, but I consider it as a moral issue, and I hold firm.

This brings me to a moot point. Why is this happening? It is happening to a large extent because Service officers and men, in service or outside it, feel that they are being left out of the national loop in policy and decision making. However, they are expected to execute, someone’s decision, without demur in an under prepared and ill-equipped manner. These decision makers have no face, no accountability and no responsibility. As time goes by, this will be a condition which will be less acceptable to the Serviceman. He can not change his constitutional position of being under civilian control. Hence, he is changing his societal role of being apolitical by embracing politics. If this trend and the dangers it represents is to be reversed, we need to channelize the force within the Servicemen to something more constructive by (a) giving him a role in decision making and (b) tapping the vast potential he has when he retires. In a nation which has criminals as its leaders and fraudsters as its businessmen we need a whole lot of honest tested and tried Indians in post-retirement public service for national benefit.

I have put across a dimension of issues involved in politicization of the Armed Forces. There could be many more and I will be only too happy to debate it out with those who have taken the political plunge, those who intend to do so and those like me who wish to remain apolitical. I also wish to state that there will be a set of nationalists who will feel that they are the only ones and will decry what I have put across. I wish to remind them, that nationalism has many hues and is not only in one color and that too their color. Also, after four decades in uniform, I will not need lectures on patriotism to my Country. There will also be barbs at me to say that I have political aspirations. My reply to them would be – I aspire for a better India which is great and nothing more. Part of that is to depoliticize the Armed forces. 

Finally, I cannot but comment that the recent mass induction of senior armed forces officers into a party appeared to me like a mass wedding of below poverty line couples. Notwithstanding that, I wish them all the best. May their wishes and dreams come true but not at the expense of all their former compatriots who are in uniform or outside.

JAI HIND