The Morale and Indian Military is at a Low Ebb 57

MODI IS MISSING THE BUS OF KNOWING WHAT IS THE ROLE OF MILITARY POWER

Narendra Modi appears to be doing all the right things on the world stage. He is now on his second  visit to the USA and has also interacted with the American president for a record 3 times. But I have a feeling that he is missing the wood for the trees. He like Nehru is unaware that economic power and world standing in the comity of nations depends a lot on military projection of power. One has only to see how China is forging ahead by positioning an aircraft carrier off the coast of Syria along with Russia. It is also building airfields on small islands in the China sea as well as letting their submarines roam in the Indian Ocean. It is in a strategic partnership with Pakistan and Russia as well. The crucial factor is morale, which appears to be high of the Chinese army. Morale is the single factor that propels an army forward, be it the US armed forces or Russia.

In contrast the Indian leadership from the time of Nehru is playing with the morale of the armed forces and as things stand, my information from sources is that morale of the Indian army and other services is ebbing. The one single factor that has affected this morale is non approval of One Rank One Pension in the concept as agreed by 2 parliaments and the Koshiari Commission appointed by parliament. This has led to an agitation, which is still going on. It is sad that the ex servicemen have to resort to this agitation to secure a legitimate demand.  Can one think of any nation in the world where such an agitation by ex soldiers  goes on for months and the government sits like the Sphinx ?

I hope readers will understand that morale is a quality that is ingrained in a fighting man. Also bear in mind that serving soldiers have a umbilical cord with the retired personnel and when they see their peers agitating its bound to affect the fighting man.  You cannot have an army  or air force fighting at its peak efficacy when their seniors are sitting and asking for what is already accepted. 

The governmnet under pressure from the RSS did sanction OROP, but it was a hollow action and the essence of what OROP needed to be approved was negated. One cannot understand how anyone can not understand that morale is very very important and by not sanctiong OROP and allowing the agitation to go on for almost 90 days does no credit to Modi. I wonder if he realises the damage that this agitation is inflicting not only on the armed forces but on india's standing in the world as a military power.

I have just returned froma conference in Chicage and I am pained to inform the readers that most men in uniform in the USA were aghast as to how a government  cannot grant a legitimate demand. The effect outside is bad and our enemies like China and Paksitan will be rubbing their hands with glee. Modi has committed a cardinal blunder and like Nehru may have to pay a terribl price. You cannot build a castle on sand and economic progress sans military power which is related to morale has no meaning.

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 and the BJP have let down the Armed Forces

Narendra Modi started his election campaign by addressing ex ex-servicemen rally from Rewari in Haryana in 2014( beginning). He announced to gathering that once he and the BJP is voted to power, he will make sure that OROP will be sanctioned for the officers and men of the Indian armed forces. What is OROP? It means One Rank One Pension and is a long-standing demand of the services. It also means that all soldiers will draw the same pension at any given point. This was essential as soldiers who have retired 2 or 3 decades back are drawing just about 30-40% of the pension drawn by a newly retired serviceman.

Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janta Party made a big show of this and also included sanction of OROP in their election manifesto. It appeared that after 3 decades of the demand having surfaced, the ex-soldiers would at last get their due. But alas it has not happened! The BJP having won the election thought it fit to forget about the election promise. Narendra Modi is a past master at manipulation and he announced the sanction of OROP was 'dear' to his heart and he would not rest till it was sanctioned. yet, the same Modi failed to instruct his Finance and Defence Minister to go ahead to issue the government letter for OROP. Both the Finance Minister ( Jaitley) and the Defence Minister ( Parrikar) have in interviews said that OROP is 'complicated' and there is 'lack of clarity' on it and as such there is a need to refer it to a tribunal. This shows the thinking of the BJP top brass which is conditioned by age-old practices in vogue from the time of Nehru to keep the armed forces down and not give them their due. The downgradation of the armed forces commenced from the time of Nehru and Narendra Modi is following exactly that policy.

The fact is that the political leadership has not realized that adage that a nation's respect is dependent on its military power and by such petty acts as not granting OROP, they are seriously undermining the morale of the armed forces. Does the political leadership realize that the ONLY unifying force in the country is the Army? Just withdraw the army from Kashmir or the North East and see what happens.There will be wide spread secession from the union. The BJP is indulging in self-defeating policies and one must accept that Jaitley who all along was just a agitationist has really no concept of world power. The BJP and Modi are playing with fire by not giving the soldier his due. The bell tolls for a nation that is ungrateful to its soldiers both retired and serving and I am sure Modi will hear it before he is out of office.