Opinion Naked force

Over 1,150 candidates took the test in Muzaffarpur.

In Muzaffarpur, the army apparently trusts no one except its own. In the interest of efficiency, over 1,150 candidates in search of a job in uniform were ordered to strip down to the bare essentials to save the authorities the bother of having to frisk them before a written examination. They were also seated in an open field, far enough apart to prevent surreptitious communications and policed by men in full uniform. Perhaps the authorities recalled that Bihar was once the land of education mafias, which ran colleges disbursing degrees for cash, sometimes from makeshift counters in markets. Perhaps they remembered last year’s outrage, when pictures of an examination centre in Muzaffarpur circulated, showing people hanging from the windows of an examination centre, passing notes to the candidates within.

But that was a civilian examination. The test in Muzaffarpur was for recruitment to the armed forces. Successful candidates will guard our borders and face insurgents, or manage support services for active personnel. All are destined for positions of trust, and can expect to serve with dignity. However, their worldview may have changed following their first contact with army life. Full contact, experienced in almost every part of the economically clothed body. But let them count their blessings, for there were no cavity searches for secreted notes.

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Has the army taken the government’s goal of transparency too literally? The forces are generally not transparent. For example, they prefer to deal with their criminals in their own courts martial, out of sight of civilians. And some of their finances aren’t open to scrutiny in the manner that civilian monies are. Perhaps this was only in the interest of efficiency. Because the idea of having to manually examine over a thousand men for concealed documents and devices isn’t an inviting prospect.