Former service chiefs and veterans write to President to stop politicisation of the armed forces, give a conscience call
A murky row may have arisen over a letter written by more than 150 armed forces veterans, including former service chiefs, to the President, seeking an end to the “politicisation” of their institution in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Three chiefs may have disowned it, saying they would remain fiercely apolitical and not be part of something that could even remotely be seen as challenging their neutrality as instruments of the State. The Rashtrapati Bhavan may have denied receiving it. Efforts may be on to play down the embarrassment it has caused to the Modi government or its “vote influencer” quotient. But no matter the number of signatories, the letter’s spirit is still more than unprecedented. For it is a noble self-defence by an apolitical and secular institution that inspires true national pride and shows why adopted militarism can never substitute the original, honourable kind. Why bravado and bravery are two different things. It is a conscience call to the entire nation to judge the narrative of the Balakot airstrikes for what it is worth, a defence of our borders and eliminating real threats as they emerge rather than an exclusivist manoeuvre that suits the government of the day. It represents the courage of the men in uniform, standing up for what is right and do so with tremendous grace and without confrontation, staying within the ambit of the Constitution. It is about respecting principles, of speaking up for the serving men and women of the forces, who are bound by the oath of silence to not question the Executive. And finally, it is about upholding the overarching idea of democracy, the veterans standing like the last of the Mohicans, assuring that the forces neither wanted political space nor could be appropriated for political purposes. Or even remotely allow that misadventure. But best of all the old soldiers upheld the value of choice — they were aware of the political reality, knew their relevance in it as a constituency but would choose to stay out of it.
The letter, titled ‘From A Group of Veterans To Our Supreme Commander’, which the President is by Constitution, specifically refers to the “completely unacceptable practice of political leaders taking credit for military operations like cross-border strikes, and even going so far as to claim the Armed Forces to be Modiji ki Sena.” It also referred to the use of military uniforms and photos of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman during campaigning. And while they acknowledged the Election Commission for swiftly addressing the complaints, they also rued that it did not have “substantive change of behaviour and practice on the ground.” Just the other day, Prime Minister Modi himself urged the youth to vote for the airstrikes. And most poll speeches happen to be liberally peppered with words like “Pakistan,” “national security,” “strikes against the enemy” and “soldiers.” One wonders if the heft of the signatories, which include former Army chiefs Shankar Roychowdhury and Deepak Kapoor and four former Navy chiefs — Laxminarayan Ramdas, Vishnu Bhagwat, Arun Prakash and Suresh Mehta — will matter at all. Or whether the President, who acts on the advice of the Executive, will indeed take note. As for stopping loaded speeches, that’s a tall order despite the Model Code of Conduct. Leaders, knowing full well that they will be reprimanded and censured for violations, still go for an aggressive pitch to attain virality in news cycles and social media. For nothing can curb the speech as it is being made. A fine or warning is a small price to pay in retrospect. But such tactics have clearly affected the morale of our forces, disillusioned them even, that the democracy they so earnestly safeguard has given politicians who use them at their own sweet will for propaganda. And they do least in terms of defence policies. True, the Modi government did treat Army veterans as a constituency and pushed a milder version of the One Rank One Pension (OROP) scheme. But this has not matched the low priority accorded to them compared to civil and police services. Defence budgets continue to be pathetic, there is a gaping need for operational reforms, critical infrastructure and equipment. The least the government could do is to keep the forces out of its rightful propaganda to show why it stood out in the last 70 years. Post-Balakot, it did look that brilliance came from the political leadership and not soldiers. Just because they follow civilian control doesn’t mean that they will allow misuse of their code for somebody else’s agenda. The old generals reminded us that.
