The explosion of social media has altered the environment in which the young of today grow up, best explained by paraphrasing Karl Marx — “social media is the new opium of the masses”. In the West, several studies have been commissioned to understand how social media is being used by serving military personnel and the implications of this online activity on their political orientation. There is, however, hardly any study on how the present-day social media-influenced recruit entering service is different from his counterpart of two decades earlier. In India, there is no authoritative study in the open domain which has delved on these issues. Two recent events suggest the urgency of conducting such a study. First, the alleged action (no rebuttal till date) of some personnel in Kashmir having reportedly crossed the high benchmark of discipline that Indian armed forces are known for. Second, an Army directive that points to the likely suspension of pension of veterans who pass remarks in social media that tarnish the Army’s image.
It is a toxic environment out there — noxious in more ways than one. There is the pull of consumerism and an inexorable appeal to move up the fast lane, the lure of being in the limelight (thanks to social media), a redrawing of thresholds of political and social mores, values and ethics and, more worryingly, the trend of polarisation of thought along cultural, ethnic, linguistic and religious lines. Social media is replete with videos of the schisms percolating down, even to the school level. It is from this cauldron that the armed forces draw their manpower — both officers and enlisted soldiers. To think, or hope, that the young recruits would not be affected would be negligence.
The first challenge is to detoxify the mass that enters at the training institution level and drill in the fact that in the armed forces, all Indians are seen as just Indians. Organised and structured training regimens that are already in place should be re-examined minutely. While theory would form the foundation of any such endeavour it would be the actions of the junior leadership, both discernible and subtle, that would be the most effective training props. The shortened training period of the enlisted Agniveers becomes a new challenge in this respect. It could be argued that the Agniveers will continue getting trained in an operational unit. However, the four-year engagement period, in which he prepares for war as well as exit from service is hardly a conducive environment for assimilating the mores of his service.
The frontline of a fighting force comprises a soldier, sailor and airman. They are usually seen as disciplined followers who do not reason but just follow orders. They certainly follow instructions but the modern recruit is an educated and thinking individual. This is an attribute that the senior leadership needs to tap to advantage, since in contemporary conflict, the actions of the jawan at the frontline trenches may have a strategic effect on the overall conduct of a military operation or even a nation’s policies. In 1999, General Charles Krulak of the US Marine Corps came up with the concept of the Strategic Corporal. He envisioned his marines to be simultaneously engaged in three types of conflicts — humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping operations and mid-level intensity conflict. And, with television coverage being all-pervasive, he cautioned that every action, including in frontline trenches, would be accessed by the media — thereby lending every action of a soldier an element of strategic import. The spread of social media, in recent times, would only amplify the effect. There is, thus, a non-military intangible effect of a young officer’s or a corporal’s actions, even though far removed from mainstream politics, that must be understood by the training establishments and impressed upon the young recruits.
It may be argued that an odd incident is an aberration. Those advancing this argument should remember that Caesar’s wife must always be above suspicion. Introspection is, therefore, necessary to understand where the system was found wanting. One is sanguine, nay sure, that the senior leadership is harping on the “Indianness” of our military to the young service members. The young recruits entering service now must be disabused of the prevalent social cacophony so that they sincerely and truly believe in the oneness of our society, irrespective of religion, caste or creed.
The writer is Former Additional Director General, Centre for Air Power Studies
