Storm over letter to GOI

I have read the article forwarded by Admiral Stanley OLeary as well as his comments. I think whatever is stated is true and cannot be contested. This article mentions that a letter written by veterans to the President needs to be supported. I will, however, like to digress a little as comparisons are drawn with Russia, USA, and China. I don't think we measure up to these countries as they are global powers and we are not.

When we don't make any weaponry of any sophisticated value and rely only on imports, is not the sign of world power. We are of course the largest importer of arms. Historically no nation becomes a world power by just importing arms. This difference is important as the armed forces do not have the same clout as in Russia and China. I have been to Russia and have observed that the Russian officer is better in terms of perks and amenities compared to the civil service, that is because Russian influence in global affairs depends on the Russian armed force. I suppose the same with China but I am not sure.

The Indian top brass is squarely responsible for all the shortcomings likeNFU etc which are not sanctioned. The Chiefs have been pussy footed to present anything to the government and its a long tradition. Remember the COAS General Thapar accepted an order signed by a Jt secretary - MOD. Its all part of history as such the COAS who is really the only chief who has clout has always said: "yes sir". If NFU has not come it is again because of the top general staff. Many have told me that the Chiefs are not happy with NFU, parity with civil services be dammed. Similarly for reasons best known to them the Chiefs have put no pressure for OROP to be sanctioned.

Talking of great powers like Russia, China, USA is not relevant to our situation We can just look around us. Burma ( 30% seat in NA reserved for the military) and Thailand and now Indonesia the armed forces call the shots. Pakistan is our brethern having inherited the same British Indian army and it is THE STATE. If the armed forces in India are sidelined it is because the top brass feels that it's correct. I don't think there is any conviction of the COAS to press any point, but being an appointee by Mr. Modi and having superseded 2 senior generals I think he is beholden to the GOI, so nothing can be expected. But he is not the first and right from the time of the first Cin C this is going on. Maybe it has something to do with the Hindu ethos and Frank Moraes who wrote of the " meek and mild Hindu". But so are Buddhists, yet the army in Burma and Thailand is the real ruler.

My personal take is that nothing is going to happen. One thing is clear blaming the civil services is not correct because we ourselves want to play second fiddle to them.

Coming to the letter it's all hogwash, just to embarrass the Mood government. Throw it in the dustbin

Racial Divide: Remembering the time when 13 Black soldiers were Hanged in USA in 1917

In 1917, the US entered the First World War on the side of the Allies against the Central Powers led by Kaiser Wilhelm’s Germany. In the same year, a platoon of black soldiers was sent to guard a depot in the deep south. To the White Supremacists, seeing black soldiers strutting about carrying rifles and guns was like a red rag to a bull. They were incensed and the police began to take it out on the local blacks. One of the soldiers who was witness to the beating of a black woman intervened and was beaten-up and arrested.

This enraged the black soldiers, who came in a group with the specific intent of killing the policemen responsible. It led to a fire-fight and 15 whites and four blacks were killed.

The incident was treated as a mutiny and 63 blacks were court-martialed. After a trial lasting 22 days, where the laws of evidence were studiously ignored and 63 defendants were represented by just one lawyer, 13 were sentenced to be hanged. There was no appeal or review and all 13 were summarily executed. The incident showed the hostility between blacks and white supremacists, 

Washington reacts

The hangings led to a hue and cry all over the USA and the President was approached. The secretary of defense was disturbed that due process of law was not followed and passed a strict order, that henceforth there would be no hangings without reference to Washington. It was also realized, that an appellate review of military courts judgments was essential

Racial Divide

The racial divide so evident at that time has not gone away.  and one wonders what is the position now, but who will shed a tear for 13 black soldiers hanged summarily. Not something to be proud of.

Democracy and India

The question is easy but the answer is something many will not like. Democracy, as it exists in India, is slightly chaotic and the result is that the country from outside does not look cohesive. Matters are compounded by Pandit Nehru's creation of states on linguist basis sowing seeds of separatism.
Now look at our ancient history, India unlike the Greek states had no tradition of democracy. The king ruled by divine right and one can say people were Happy.  The empires of Kanishka and Chandragupta are a testimony to this.

It was followed by 900 years of Muslim rule and 200 years of British rule. The majority of the population( Hindus) had no rights and there was no democracy. A modicum of democracy was only introduced by the Raj in 1935. With no tradition of democracy and only used to autocracy and rule by the powerful, India as a whole is really unsuited for democracy. The result is we have a massive insurrection ongoing in entire Central India and fissiparous fights in East and North- Kashmir. Even Sikhs outside India are talking a lot of nonsense of a Sikh state. So I really feel India should have gone in for a presidential system and not a democracy like in the UK.
England had a long history of limiting the power of the king. They had the Magna Carta while in India it was autocracy all the way. It was not bad but then this is a fact. In fact, come to think of it the 200 years of the Raj were the most tranquil in the history of India. This was the period when the Hindus were given their rights and after 900 years got rid of the obnoxious effects of Muslim rule like Jizzia and conversion. So maybe democracy like in the UK is unsuited to India but now the clock cannot be put back.

Fantasy Love

 Love is a fantasy,
to hold a woman in your arms and dream, Is it possible?
As a seller of dreams, I should know.
Yes, so very true.
God bless all.

BJP and Tamilnadu

This a simple yet enigmatic answer. On the face of It BJP has made some inroads in urban areas but it's hold on agrarian society remains almost zero. Generally one can say that all BJP has in Tamil Nadu are some small enclaves and the masses are not enthused with BJP. There are many reasons for it. One of them is that BJP is viewed as a higher caste party bent on imposing Hindi language and North Indian culture. This is anathema to Tamil masses. The BJP philosophy also appears alien to Tamils. There is also no emotional cord with Ram temple though Tamils are predominantly Hindus. The BJP has the image of a party trying to dominate south with Aryan ethos. This is not acceptable to Tamils. BJP while decades back championed imposition of Hindi and this not forgotten by people. The average Tamil has little love for BJP and on its own the party cannot win a single seat in state or loksabha.

1 View

The dilemma of the Indian military

There is a lot of talk of importing aircraft. As is well known India is the worlds largest importer of weaponry as we do not make any sophisticated war machinery like planes, guns, etc on our own. This is the clue as to why India can never be a world power. No nation without a military-industrial sustainability complex can be a world power only by importing war machines. 

This is very sad as we lost the battle to greatness because of a faulty priority by our first PM. In 1948 China did not even manufacture a bicycle but now they have produced a 5th generation fighter and launched a man in space. It’s about time people realized the reality of Indian military might, which is pretty hollow as we don’t manufacture anything of precision and have to rely on imports -the tap of which can be turned off any time.

One can remember that in the 1965 war the armies of both India and Pakistan ground to a halt as they were fighting with imported weaponry and the western powers turned off the tap of supply of further ammunition. The million dollar question is how does a country continue to fight when 99% of its sophisticated war machinery is imported. The blame for this is squarely on the political leadership that lacked a strategic horizon and the desire to dominate the world.

One can well realize the Indiahelplessnesses as even after the first demand in 2004 for the Rafale, 15 years down the line not a single plane has landed in India. What if we had built our own industry? A pipe dream?

Pakistan is a rogue nation but it thrives

I recently read a wonderful article proving Pakistan is a rogue nation. But the matter does not end by saying that Pakistan is a rogue nation. After all, rogues exist and they have to be dealt with. The 3 biggest rogues of the 20th century Hitler, Tojo and Mussolini were dealt with by the western powers, but nobody seems bothered about the rogue nation next to us-Pakistan. it has the formidable backing of China and I have a lurking feeling that when the chips are down the USA will also help Pak from disintegration.

Unfortunately, India has not built up the military-economic industry axis and thus is a lame tiger depending for all its military requirements on IMPORTS. It's not a good thought that India is the world's biggest importer of arms, because we make next to nothing of any sophisticated weaponry. So we can't even chastise Pakistan and show the world how a rogue nation is dealt with. Remember Saddam?

My blood boils when I think of the time Raja Kanishka and Chandragupta ruled on their military might all over North India and central Asia. The Hindus got power after 1 thousand years but there are many questions.