Respect the soldier

The Army has closed ranks against the public humiliation of a senior officer by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda. That is only to be...

The Army has closed ranks against the public humiliation of a senior officer by former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda. That is only to be expected from a service whose very structure is built on the buddy8217; system of camaraderie and combat. The crisis over Lt. General S.S. Mehta, the deputy chief of army staff planning and systems, is the handiwork of Deve Gowda. So when the Army chief, his vice-chief and the six Army commanders gather in the Capital for a conference, it is only natural that they join hands against the former Prime Minister for berating a senior serving officer in Parliament. This concerted action with Gen. V.P. Malik writing to both the President, in his capacity as the Supreme Commander, and the defence minister should make the polity ponder over the damage it is doing to the armed forces. In the course of an extensive interview to this paper, Defence Minister George Fernandes has declared that 8220;Parliament and our polity in general have hardly dealt with any defence-related matters8221;. Itis not surprising, then, that when Deve Gowda suddenly became an expert in tank technology and tactics, the casualty would be the reputation of an officer widely regarded within the Army for his professional acumen.

The chronology of Deve Gowda8217;s new-born interest in tanks, and the T-90 in particular, is replete with question marks and afterthoughts. It is widely known in the ministry of defence MoD that on a visit to Moscow Deve Gowda had agreed in principle to purchase the T-72 modernised version. Barely six months later, and under another prime minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav visited Moscow and changed the priority, as recommended by the Army, to the T-90. Since then the negotiations have proceeded as per the norms, with the rider that the final selection will only be done after the completion of the trials scheduled to begin shortly. That is up to the Army to decide, as to what equipment it believes will best suit its threat analysis, and how best to spend the money allocated for it. Deve Gowda hasneither the demonstrated interest nor any known expertise in the subject. So when he claims to be smelling a rat in the whole affair, the Army smells a rat elsewhere.

The messy business of weapons purchases apart, what rankles the soldier is that Deve Gowda could stoop to the level of making personalised and insulting allegations against a serving lt. general. To label him in this manner is as unwarranted as it is dangerous for sane and equitable civil-military relations. The oft-repeated assertions in Parliament on maintaining the honour of the soldier mean nothing if the politician is allowed to rubbish the reputation and image of a serving officer in order to promote his own personal agenda. It is one thing to suggest that the Army rethink the T-90 but another to make allegations about the officer8217;s integrity, propriety and ability to select what he thinks is best for the service. Deve Gowda enjoys parliamentary privileges but what about the officer concerned? He will one day have to command a field armyand be responsible for the lives of thousands of men in his theatre. With what reputation will he face them? One that his record of service suggests, or one that has been imaginatively painted by Deve Gowda? He was humiliated in Parliament and the least that should be done now is to have the remarks expunged from the records of the House.