Journalism of Courage
The present saga has its origin when General Joginder Jaswant Singh assumed command of the Indian Army as Chief of Army Staff on February 2,2005.
A Maratha Light Infantry officer,General J J Singh was the first ever Sikh to rise to the top spot in the Army.
The background in which this needs to be appreciated is [that,in the preceding months,as General N C Vijs tenure at the helm was coming to an end,there had been a fair amount of langar talk in the Army that General J J Singh would be superseded by General Shamsher Mehta,an Armoured Corps officer. Though the Government of India by and large always followed the seniority principle in selecting service chiefs (the only exception being General A S Vaidya who had been elevated over Lt General S K Sinha in 1983) there had been enough uncertainty resulting in the Shri Gurudwara Prabhandak Committee (SGPC) issuing a strongly worded statement,which was published in a few newspapers,in favour of General J J Singh taking over as the first ever Sikh chief. The said statement came in for heavy criticism and nothing more was heard of it again,but by General J J Singhs own admission,there would have been a bloodbath on the streets if he had been superseded.
The petitioners assume that the SGPCs statement probably had little or no bearing on the appointment committee which at that time was headed by the present Prime Minister,Dr Manmohan Singh. Yet the fact remains that for the first time in independent India,communal cards were played at the highest level in the Army…
Op Moses
For the line of succession to succeed,Gen J J Singh tweaked the events to clear the way for his immediate choice after Gen V K Singh. At that point of time,Lt General Bikram Singh was nowhere in the list of contenders,and there were other officers ahead of him,but [they were required to be eliminated by General J J Singh himself with a bit of deft maneuvering.
A list was prepared,nicknamed Op Moses,which implied that the chief would pave the path for Lt Gen Bikram Singh to become the Chief of Army Staff in 2012. Like a family tree in reverse,Op Moses listed potential threats that needed to be neutralised… In the overall scheme of things it was imperative that Gen V K Singh becomes the chief,but only till 2012,so that Lt Gen Bikram Singh succeeds him…
SGPC
Whether the SGPC was in the loop is open to conjecture,but the seeds were sown for someone else to carry the can forward. Gen J J Singh handed over the baton to Gen Deepak Kapoor and within three months took over as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh…
Congo Mission
[Lt Gen Bikram Singh had headed a group of personnel during their yearlong posting on a UN peacekeeping mission in Congo in 2008. Against the existing UN order to ensure that troops are not deployed in penny packets in small numbers,as a deputy force commander he disobeyed the order and deployed troops far and wide,thereby losing control. This was noticed and indicated by senior UN commanders. The Vice Chief of Army Staff was sent to Congo to address the issue and the redeployment was carried out as per UN directions. The court of inquiry on the involvement Sikh troops in sexual escapades with local women was suppressed and the matter was laid to rest by then Maj General Bikram Singh by giving rations,provisions and money to the affected [women. This issue was raised by the UN since a lot of illegitimate children with Indian features have been born to local women through illicit relations with Indian peacekeepers under Maj General Bikram Singh.
The petitioners
M G Devasahayam
Soldier-cum-administrator who served both in the Army (1964-68) and then as an IAS officer
Maj Gen A K Verma
Retired veteran of 1971 war,has written two books on war and the Army
N Gopalaswami
Former IAS officer,Chief Election Commissioner from 2006 to 2009; has had an administrative career spanning 43 years
Lt Gen Onkar Singh Lohchab
Retired officer with MSc in defence studies; was Director General Military Intelligence
Lt Gen P C Katoch
MSc in defence studies,retired in 2009 as Armys Director General,Information Systems
Sam Rajappa
Journalist with over five decades experience in various publications as well as BBC
In the court
G E Vahanvati
Attorney General
This Army has gone through a lot in the recent past,does it have to go through more? The SGPC has been brought in… the Sikh element is brought in…
Justice H L Gokhale
Very unfortunate.
Rohinton Nariman
Solicitor General
The petition is based on malafide,based on communal elements…
Vahanvati
The record of 40 years service is placed on record. Is it disputed here that he is senior-most? You bring in SGPC and langar talk.
Justice R M Lodha
No,no,that we will not permit.
