How the Modi Government has Reduced India to a 5th Rate Power. Unpardonable historical sin

The Unpardonable historical sin

 Recently at the Singapore Club an interesting discussion emanated in the bar. A veteran RAF officer settled in Singapore mentioned to me that he was surprised at the approach of successive Indian government who never realised that a nation’s prestige and ability to throw its weight around the world depended on the army. He wanted to know, whether the Indian political leadership whether Congress or BJP were aware of this fact.

I was non- plussed for an answer, but the venerable soldier continued. He said the British ruled India on their military might through the Indian army and when they realised that the army was no longer loyal to them as earlier, they left in a hurry. The important point is that control of India pivoted around the army. Bose had realized this. It’s another matter that he sided with the Axis powers and lost.

A look at history will bear this out. The downfall of the Mauryan Empire started with the pacifist policies of Asoka. Many historians do not consider him “great” as he laid the foundation of military neglect which had disastrous consequences leading to the breakup of his empire and subsequent subjugation of India by the Muslims for 900 years.

After 1947 one hoped things would change but a man was foisted on the Indian people -  Jawaharlal Nehru who had no concept of military power and its role and allowed the finest fighting machine in India go to seed. The army had its perks and privileges withdrawn and a poorly equipped army lost a border war with China.  Nehru later realised his mistake, but the deed was done as India surrendered the leadership of Asia to China.

Over the next 50 years nothing much has changed. We have a man called Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister. Let’s us accept the fact that this man has no vision of history or greatness of a nation. Otherwise he would not have allowed veterans to fast for 68 days for a legitimate demand.  The man is callous and naïve. When you add these two qualities together, a frightful image emerges of a man who has no vision except his personal grandeur. But so sad, this man does not realize that his personal grandeur in the world polity of nations rests on India military. Look at the USA. It is respected all over the world for its ability to strike surgical operations’ and not on chanting Ram Rajya( which the BJP is to intent on doing).

The veterans and the serving soldiers have an umbilical cord and what happens to the ex-servicemen is a matter of concern to the rank and file of the army. By treating the veterans with disdain and trying to back track on the approved definition of OROP, Modi has lit the fire of discontent in the army itself. Does Modi still think that he will get away by talking glibly? Dies this man realize the immense danger he has unleashed to damage the army morale for all time to come.

 China and Pakistan are happy and this was articulated by a Chinese origin army officer  in the club. He said what India needs is a Cromwell, who can line up and dissolve parliament. Unfortunately we have men like general Dalbir Singh Suhag who wear a hat and look tough, but failed to act for the benefit of the soldiers who helped him become the Chief. Why did not this bloody man not resign? I have no answer as the agitation goes on.

The damage is done by Modi and the present Chief and I wonder how if at all the old morale, dignity  and loyalty of the soldier can be restored. I am reminded of the Humpty Dumpty poem and it is applicable to Modi . " Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great Fall and all the Kings horses and all the Kings men could not put Humpty Dumpty together again"

Why Everybody is Secretive about One Rank One Pension

OROP we are told is approved, in other words its a cut and dried affair. Maybe it is, but there seems to be an aura of mystery about it. As the saying goes" The proof of the pudding is in its eating" and till it comes out in black and white the retired soldier can only speculate as to what he will get. There are some suggestive leaks all around, but they don't amount to much.

The fact is OROP and what exactly is approved or likely to be approved is a secret. Almost like it is the Order of Battle. One fails to understand why all concerned cannot publish the tables and likely form of approvals.Yes, something recommended may not be approved, but that is part of the game.

Again I will state,that there is many a slip between the cup and lip and there no guarantee that what is expected will be approved. This is where openness comes in and this cloak of secrecy must be discarded. Only once the official government letter is out and tables published can one conclude the real benefit.

The armed forces are agitating for 3 decades and it required a political will of Narendra Modi to get it approved. Otherwise the issue would have been ongoing for another 30 years, simply because in India the men in uniform have no clout. So all we can do is to keep the fingers crossed.

Narendra Modi First Prime Minister to Acknowledge Indian Military Contribution

The Indian army right from the days of Nehru was given short shrift by Nehru and other Congress politicians. These politicians not only denigrated the Indian armed forces but never acknowledged that the Indian army was a factor in Indian polity. Nehru required a kick from the Chinese to realize that he was wrong and by that time the sands of time had run out for him and he died a broken man in body and spirit. His reputation was in tatters as he realized that he was at best a loser.

However the neglect of the armed forces continued and right up to the time of the stooge ManMohan Singh, there was no change in thinking. Indian leaders going abroad studiously avoided visiting any memorial to the Indian army outside and even at home they never wanted a war memorial. Manmohan Singh will go down in history as one of the most incompetent prime ministers, a man who behaved as if he was Man Friday of the Gandhi family. His character can be gauged from the fact that he joined the very party that had engineered the massacre of Sikhs in Delhi in 1984 and he was a Sikh himself. To expect this man to acknowledge the Indian military is like asking for the moon.

The record of 67 years was set right by Narendra Modi. This man is the first Indian who acknowledged the army as a national institution. His visit to the war graves memorial at Nouveau Chateau in France , the first by an Indian Prime Minister is something to be cherished. Here is a acknowledgment that the army is part of the Indian nation, something the Congress leaders never did. he has also praised the record of the Indian army in the First World war. Indians led by the Congress party had forgotten and never been told that victory over the Ottoman empire was entirely by units of eeh Indian army. Field marshal Allenby has himself acknowledged it.

Modi has also formulated plans for a war memorial and his approval of One Rank One Pension is a feather in his cap. He is the one leader who has given respect to the man in uniform. Its sad that Nehru and his ilk thought otherwise. History will dam them, but 67 years of neglect is something that cannot be forgotten.  Nehru allowed his distrust of the army to override state policy. The result? Indian lost 2/3 of Kashmir and Aksai Chin and  failed to confront China. One wonders, what Nehru had in mind. Even leaders after Nehru continued a policy of not caring for the soldier.

The Biggest Stake Holder in Unity of India the Army treated Scurvily by Modi and BJP

India is a diverse nation with ethnic races and diverse regions and cultures. This nation was made into a cohesive entity by the British who brought far flung areas like Naga Land into the state of India. How did the British make India into a nation? In this they used the Indian Army officered mostly by the English as  their main  instrument. After the British left India in 1947, the leadership under Nehru and others should have consolidated the Republic But for a strange phobia of the army, the leadership began a policy of neglect of the armed forces. Perks and privileges were denied and latest weaponry not arranged.

The army was allowed to go to seed. During this time insurrections came to the fore in many parts of India and Hindu-Muslim riots began with great frequency.  The army was called in to handle these movements , some of which called for secession from India. Right from 1955, when Mr Phizo raised the banner of revolt in Nagaland, the army was called in to stop the secessionist movements. Such movements however continued to spread and the result was that almost 40% of India is gripped by groups who want either to secede from India or change the basis of the constitution. It is the army which has become the biggest stake holder in the unity of India as politicians have played a dangerous game and many actions like article 370 of the constitution and inner line permits in the North East have contributed to these balkanizaton tendencies in India. 

The political leadership has not recognized this fact and right from the time of Nehru and now Narendra Modi  the governments are in a denial mode as far as the army is concerned.. Perks and privileges are regularly watered down and a long pending demand of One Rank One Pension(OROP) not honored, despite two parliaments and two different political parties ( Congress and BJP) having accepted it as a national necessity.

Nehru was known as a man who was allergic to the armed forces and he paid a terrible price for him and India. It was expected  that with the arrival of the BJP and Narendra Modi, things would change and the old policy of denial of rights to the army would change, especially when Narendra Modi became prime minister. This man went and even addressed troops that OROP is approved and sanctioned. Unfortunately the reality is different as the Narendra Modi government has under pressure from its own top leadership and the bureaucracy decided that the promises made to the army be watered down or not accepted. A nefarious scheme bordering on evil is launched and the  honor and dignity of the army and its retired personnel given short shrift.OROP is not approved and some insidious proposals to water down the proposal floated.

The BJP government is no better than previous regimes and Narendra Modi is perhaps another Nehru. The failure to recognize the army as an instrument of national prestige and the biggest stake holder in the unity of India  will have dire consequences.Such antics do not do justice to the army which unfortunately also has a weak leadership, that is non-assertive.

What of the future? the failure to accede to genuine demands like OROP won't be good for India. In the long run it can have disastrous consequences. Another sad part of this story is the role of soldier politicians like Colonel Rathore and general VK Singh who have been towing the official BJP line. One wonders how they feel in not getting legitimate demands honored by the political leadership, presently headed by Narendra Modi.

India is at the cross roads and the future course of the nation can be in peril. Nehru paid a terrible price and one wonders whether Modi will have to answer also. One hopes that a change in the political thinking takes place and old soldiers and army be thought off , not as  a necessarily evil, but a exponent of the glory of india. narendra Modi will have to answer this question to future historians.

Devious Plan by Modi Government to Divide the Armed Forces and not Sanction OROP

The BJP government led by Narendra Modi does not seem to have learn't any lessons from history and the conduct of Pandit Nehru. In one stroke Pandit Nehru reduced the finest fighting machine in Asia to a toothless tiger, resulting in a massive defeat at the hands of China. India never recovered from that blow and since then has played second fiddle to china in all matters. Nehru's greatest blunder was lowering the morale of the armed forces mainly as he down graded the perks and privileges of the army and never gave it the weaponry it needed. He seemed to be unaware of Mao's dictum that"power comes out of the barrel of a gun".

He paid a heavy price and had his international reputation in tatters as he died a broken man. Only if he had made the army an instrument of power and not relied on civil servants to down grade the finest fighting machine in Asia. Nareendra Modi as Prime Minister seems to be suffering from the same mental block. It is a pity that he appears again to be led by notions that negate the army as an instrument of power. An example is the non-sanction of a promise made by him from the rooftops. I mm referring to his call that OROP( One Rank One Pension) would be sanctioned. Now he is sulking behind the skirts of the finance Minister Mr Jaitley and the Defense Minister Mr Parrikar. These worthies have diluted the concept of the OROP. Worse they have devised a nefarious plan to sanction some money for the other ranks leaving the officer fraternity out of the OROP.

The attempt is to divide the armed forces by creating a vertical split between theD officers and the other ranks. One cannot think of a more sinister scheme than this. Perhaps one can even label it as evil. Major General Satbir Singh the Chairman of the Ex Servicemen Association has written a forthright letter to the 3 service chiefs. He has pointed out the dangers of implementing this scheme and asked the Service Chiefs to meet Modi and other political leaders of the BJP to get this nefarious scheme nipped in the bud. Modi and party do no realize the danger this divide will bring with it. At one stroke a vertical split will be created and the efficacy of the armed forces will suffer.You cannot have a divide in the army which is a cohesive fighting force. It is surprising the Narendra Modi is not aware about such trivial things. He is again playing with fire and there is every chance that he will lead a great nation down an abyss. Perhaps Modi does not understand the politics of power and military might in the comity of nations. the present dispensation treats the military no better than a necessary evil, giving the distinction to India of being the only country in the world where soldiers and veterans have to fight prolonged battles in civil courts to get their dues. Is Modi listening ?