Military Digest | ‘Army is the servant of people…exists to defend democracy’: remembering General Cariappa’s legacy

Cariappa’s thoughts are increasingly relevant in today’s environment, where the Army is seen by many to be overstepping the dividing line between personal practices and institutional character.

In his Special Order of the Day after taking over, General Cariappa laid down his thoughts regarding how the Army of independent India should perform its role.

“Discipline, moral integrity, loyalty not only to our seniors but equally to our subordinates of all ranks, and sense of duty will be of the highest standards possible. Remember the Army, and everything in it, is the property of the taxpayer and we are the custodians of this property. We must all see that we look after this property—which is composed of men, animals, vehicles, food, clothing, accommodation,” he said.

His Special Order of the Day also included a Cadet’s Prayer as a guide to all ranks.

“O God, our Father, Thou searcher of men’s hearts, help us to draw near to Thee in sincerity and truth. May our religion be filled with gladness and may our worship of Thee be natural. Strengthen and increase our admiration for honest dealing and clean thinking, and suffer not our hatred of hypocrisy and pretence ever to diminish. Encourage us in our endeavour to live above the common level of life. Make us to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half truth when the whole can be won,” the prayer said.

Voluntary military training for civilians

One of the first decisions of General Cariappa after assuming office was to introduce voluntary classes for civilians to receive simple military training with a view to inculcating a sense of discipline among the people.

Under the scheme, a parade ground was selected, in consultation with the local police authorities, where civilian volunteers between the ages of 18 and 35 were to be permitted to congregate once a week. “They will be organised in small squads of 15 to 20 each. Each squad will be under the command of a Non-Commissioned Officer and a group of four such squads will be controlled by a Junior Commissioned Officer. Three group squads will be placed under an officer,” the proposal read.

Each squad was required to undergo 10 minutes of simple physical training and 20 minutes of squad training without rifles, when the squads would be made to march in military formations.

“There will also be a 20-minute talk on sanitation, hygiene and discipline, with 10 minutes of rest in between. Each individual will be required to attend six parades. The parades will be purely voluntary and the training will be on the basis of ‘no cost’ to the state; no money or refreshment of any kind will be admissible to the volunteers, who are free to wear any clothes they like,” the proposal said.

Gen Cariappa proposed that this kind of training be given in the cities, while the police may undertake to impart it in the villages.

To start with, the experiment was to be tried in the cities of Delhi, Lucknow, Jhansi, Jalandhar, Ambala, Amritsar, Calcutta, Nagpur, Madras, Bangalore, Coimbatore, Poona and Ahmedabad.

“It is hoped that the scheme, of which the people are expected to take the fullest advantage, will go a long way in making them more conscious of their civic responsibilities. Bodies of men made to march about, turn left or right, salute and halt on words of command given by an officer will naturally produce an instinctive habit in such ‘drilled’ people of strictly obeying orders. A free course of military drill, besides helping men to walk straight and talk straight, will incidentally help them also to think straight,” was what Gen Cariappa thought and proposed.

Gen Cariappa’s radical thoughts on drilling civilians did not meet the approval of the political establishment, and the proposal never really took off as intended.