 |
Is this our Indian Army? |
This is something that has hit me hard. Is this the same Indian Army that I always had so much respect for? In whom we entrust so much in guarding the nation? Once an aspirant for joining the defense forces I feel let down. I know I am being too critical about it by blaming the whole army for the few who have earned the bad name for the Indain army. But its certainly not expected of them. I can understand if it’s a case of an individual, but when many of them, time and again get involved in such unethical actions… you can’t help yourself take a serious note on it.
Yesterday, Aaj Tak have been airing this another shameful incident.
The Episode
A Kashmiri research student Shafqat Makdum, was traveling without the train ticket (dosn’t half of India travel that way?). He had contacted the TC and got a seat for himself. The TC assured him a seat and gave him a temporary one. On the TC not returning for long, the Kashmiri youth went in his search and accidentally entered into a compartment reserved only for the army.
The armymen present there caught him and instead of investigating (to their likes) they started ill treating him just because he was a Kashmiri muslim, alleging him of being a terrorist. They forced him to remove off all his clothes and spoke in a filthy lingo. Then they started to beat him mercilessly with his own belt. He was bleeding, crying for help and to stop so that he can prove he was not a terrorist. He collapsed and was unconscious many a times through out but that didn’t stop them. After this went on for nearly 2 hours and the bashing lasted right from Jhansi to Gwalior on train, they checked his luggage to finally realise that he was a research student only. With a fear that he will complain they made him sit in their compartment all night. The next day he reported the incident at the Aaj-Tak’s office.
How ridiculous it is to be beaten up so brutally just because you are a Kashmiri muslim and to add to it, by those who are supposed to protect your land and people!
A few days back, in another incident, 3 cars full of Army men ran amok after forcibly entering a police station in Kolkata. Vandalising the police station, beating up policemen just because two of their colleagues were locked up on charges of molestation and it was the Army’s right to do the proceedings. This is a completely horrifying incident where the wrong doers are in a way protected be them even army men! More info>>
I was speaking to one of my friends over this and he was of a belief that we should understand their mental state, the compromises that they have do in life, the frustration they suffer out of this and the hard life that comes their way. A couple of months back you might have heard in news suicides and killings by army men out of frustration. Here are a couple of the news stories:
Jawan kills colleagues, commits suicide
Ok I can try to understand but certainly not justify such actions. No way! If they cannot really handle the pressure let them not be into it. We can’t take this or anything for that matter as an excuse! Incidents like these will quite clearly have a disastrous impact on any confidence building measures initiated in Kashmir and also hamper the faith of millions of Indians in the Indian Army! If this is what Army men who are trained in institutions supposed to have the highest discliplinary order can do, I doubt what kind of learning system the rest of the Indians should adopt.
This is what happens when there is pressure on you tocurb terrorism, every second offender seems to be ur victim/target.
The Army Jawans, shudnt be mis-utilising the ‘Army’ tag…
‘Unfortunate incident’.. thats what the politicians of this country will term as…what else they can do..lay off a lakh rupees as compensation….huh
but then,
v hav to sympathise with them for their work loads, and rather the Army shud recruit more so that they can work in shifts or take leave’s more often than now… Or have its own solution..
This is my take on it:
ARMY Vs. KOLKATA POLICE. HERE IS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED!!
http://www.ndtvblogs.com/views/viewcomments.asp?gl_guid=&q_blogid=8611&blogname=Setu&ref=1/9/2007%206:45:25%20AM
@ Setu Madhavan
Excellent article!!! Keep it up. I just edited your comment and gave a link to your blog post. Hehe… this one was the longest comment my blog ever received! Keep reading.
Firstly thats a wonderful article. Keep up the good work.
Yes such acts must be condemned. But these acts should not raise questions like “Is this our Indian Army??”
We trust these people with our lives; we can also trust them to choose the right people for the job and make them behave in a conduct befitting the army; so also punish miscreants like these.
Another point to be noted is the nature of the news now-a-days. If the same people would have saved someone’s life on the street..Do u think Aaj tak would have reported it??
Yes Tejasee I agree with you. I have already said that I have been a little over-critical in this post. But I can’t help being so.
As the responsibility on your shoulders increases, your actions have to be more gauged. The youth of this country look up to the Indian Army. I do. Cant really see the image of the Indian Army being tarnished this way. It may not be a case of taking the wrong people in, but the psychological discrepancies which engender further on. The Army certainly requires a reality check and so does our Indian media.
Aseem,
Thank you for the kind words, and for posting the link. I am not sure if the link works - you may like to check it please.
Also, whatever happened to Shafqat Maqdum’s attackers? Hopefully he made a formal complaint to the authorities.
Just curious to know what action was taken against the alleged perpetrators.
Thank you.
Setu Madhavan
[…] Aseem reacts to news reports on soldiers running amok. Posted by kuffir […]
hey nice post there but sitting here and commenting on wat hasppens thewre is indeed incredulous….Truth is stranger than fiction and trust the media to give u more of fiction and less of truth
I am with amit on this, and it’s not fair - the situation these jawans are in are incomprehensible. And it’s not just India, other countries face this problem. I guess such incidents will happen, all that can be done is minimize it and maybe have mass awareness among all soldiers that it’s not right to assault/humilate/harrass people.
To Amit an Rohit, Those into such actions, you cannot call them jawans. they are some psych and only defaming the name of the jawans. and Rohit you want to only minimise it? Remember this, you could be NEXT!
Outlook magazine throws light on something that I have been screaming from rooftops all along - that the indisciplined, drunk and corrupt Kolkata police are to blame for THIS specific incident. The Army guys got framed.
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20070112&fname=kolkatakorner&sid=1
(It is NOT a commentary on, or exoneration of, jawans in any other incident - I know they have been instances in the past where they have been guilty. I also know that the Military system of justice is brutally quick and, infact, has come for criticism by the Supreme Court for being too quick even when awarding Military personnel the death sentence. At least their system is more efficent than Indian civil police / judiciary system - most any system in the world would be!)
The cops and media took the entire country - this herd of 1 billion sheep - for a ride. Why blame the British when we have ‘SLAVE’ screaming from our foreheads? Blind followers, incapable of any independent, rational thought - is what we are.
As shown by this case it also includes such worthies as our PM and Raksha Mantri too who rushed within hours of the incident to mollify the cops and WB chief Minister without checking basic facts.
Aseem, thanks for having me here. I dont mean to be a petulant rablle-rouser here to bog your blog with incendiary words. Just had to get this off my chest :) Shall leave your blog alone for a while.
Setu Madhavan
@Setu Madhavan
Thanks for dropping back with more info. I have nothing against the Military system of justice and ofcourse not the Millitary! As I said, I have always been an aspirant for the defense forces.
But the present sorry state of the army depresses me. And you cant deny that. There are so many cases of suicides, murders and even sexual exploitation that go unheard or heard and forgotten for the pride of the army.
The question that hits me back is: If this is what Army men who are trained in institutions supposed to have the highest discliplinary order can do, What kind of learning system the rest of the Indians should adopt? I will be glad if anyone could answer this.
Hey Aseem,
Possibly you peple are discussing what media has OVER HYPED. I am not a kashmiri as I belong to the northern part of India precisely Delhi.I would like to share here my personal experience which may clearify your thinking towards Indian Army.I wanted urgently to travel some destination and as it was not planned travel so i did not get a reserved ticket and consequently forced to travel in to a General Bogie (Unreserved Bogie). When i didnt get enter in to unreserved bogie, then i entered in to a bogie which was reserved for Indian Army.I got berth and sat there, despite of Army warning “Its a Military Bogie so Civilians plz get down immediately, eventhough i didnt get down then one Army Man came to me and asked are you in army? I said “NO” then he said better you get down and after that i get down and those who still stayed in the bogie and didnt get down after several reminders they suffered a lot. So guys it is not matter of KASHMIRI ONLY, believe me it happens to others also and if you dont trust just try to take experience.
I WANT TO ASK A QUESTION TO ALL OF YOU, IF ANYONE SIT ON YOUR RESERVED BERTH AND DESPITE OF SEVERAL REMINDERS AND REQUEST WHAT YOU PEOPLE DO? So it is always easy to BLAME OTHERS.
So I find you people have misquoted Indian Army behaviour, many examples are enough to show that Indian Army are great and disciplined as compared to any other country and hope we all should respect their contribution towards the country and such incidence cannot vanish their credibility.
Gaurav ~ So what do you want to do about it ? Stricten the training ? Make them more disciplined ? It’s easy to point fingers at the Indian Army jawans when they do something bad, but how many times have they been applauded for their amazing work. It’s NOT just the Indian army, even peace keeping units deployed by the U.N have succumbed to harrassing the people.
You cannot even begin to understand the stress these soldiers are going through. Atleast I cant. And,
“…some psych and only defaming the name of the jawans..”
Now that’s not fair is it ? They have gone through the same training and have been selected to represent the Indian army. One bad act and you label them as ‘psych’ ? That’s not very encouraging for aspirants who want to become future Jawans now is it ?
Yes perhaps the phsycological conditions and states should be studied regurlarly to make sure that soldiers are not suffering from intensive stress. But then the Jawans don’t make these decisions do they ? Such undertakings should be implemented by the Indian Govt.
And please don’t pay attention to Indian Media. The inability of their correspondents to speak a single language correctly, makes me doubt their competence.
Whooops! I didn’t read this :
“…Remember this, you could be NEXT!”
Well ofcourse I could be next. Even you could be next. This is the fear thousands and thousands of people live in all over the world! But it’s not because of untrained soldiers and mentally incapable soldiers. This is because of our collective inability as human beings to live peacefully. The soldiers, in doing their job - see things, see their comrades die .. and I don’t care how strong you’re mind is, it will get affected…
And if you’re seeking perfection, if you want a army that does it’s job without errors and stress related incidents than I am sorry, but human beings cant do that for you! Humans are always going to be susceptible to stress.
Well am happy that the discussion has taken the right end. My whole motive of writing this blog was never to harm the image of the Indian Army. But then you have to accept a few drawbacks that come your way down the line… take a note of them and improve upon. All the very best to our Indian Army! :)
Well written Aseem. Reminds me off the very famous placard.
“Indian Army Raped Us!”
Well, Our’s is one of the best army in the world, but a few black spots like this destroys all.
Writer’s Building (that houses offices of Senior Bureaucrats of West Bengal Government) is NOT happy at all with the way the Police handled the situation!
In fact, after the babus staked their credibility and escalated the issue to PMO / PM level overnight, the kolkata babus were stunned, even grudgingly respectful of the cogent, articulate and thorough legal arguments presented by the Military authorities punching irrefutable holes in the police version and approach.
Apparently the PMO is very unhappy that the IAS / IPS lobby in Kolkata prematurely escalated the incident to the bureaucrats within the PMO and got the PM to react in support of the Kolkata cops even when the cops, as it turns out, were in the wrong.
It was not for nothing that the Chief Secretary (Home Secretary too) of West Bengal appeared so much more conciliatory, even admiring of the Army authorities the very next morning (”I should give the Army credit where it is due. It is best if they investigate. They are already moving much “faster” (the obvious comparison being with the Pandus). We have high regard for the Army”…etc.)
If the pandus were out-pandu’ed by the Army jawans the night before in the ‘laat ghoosa’ department, then the babus were out-babu’ed by Army Officers the morning after in the babu’cracy, intelligence gathering and legal departments. The Army came through the (Kolkata bureaucrats - Army Authorities) meeting as the better prepared, informed and professional party. The Babus immediately agreed that the Army should drive the investigation going forward.
The grandiose statements by the Police chief ( “My men did not confront the Army only to avoid a bloodbath otherwise we are more than capable to handle such people”, “I will move the courts to arrest these officers and put them back in custody and I will see this to its end”, “My officers will not go to the Army to depose we will get the Army Officers to depose for our investigation” ) in between his lobbying efforts to become Chief of CAB (Cricket association of Bengal) when this issue was still hanging fire, did not endear him to the babus who were themselves working overtime to contain the situation. It is rumoured within Writer’s Building that as soon as the Babus succeed in sweeping this incident under the carpet, and out of public imagination, the Kolkata Police chief would be eased out of his position - possibly as the CAB chief itself.
That the Army’s court has already begun its work and started witness depositions, while the cops are yet to even send a written report to the Army, tells something about either party’s professionalism and discipline. The Army authorities, unmindful of the Neta / Babu / Pandu / Patrakar shenanigans, have made it very clear that they are determined to move full speed ahead with their investigation. Notwithstanding the go-slow wont-cooperate mode of the police, the Army approached the judiciary in quick time and the magistrate ordered the cops to depose before the Army court - inside the Army base - instead of the other way around!
Despite allround pressure on the cops to honour the summons from the Army court the constables are mortified about visiting the Army cantonment / court and had been delaying it under one pretext or the other. Finally, the 2 offending cops - the same very 2 guys that also bore the biggest brunt of the Madras regiment fury - appeared before the Army court two days ago. Apparently the babus have engaged in a lot of behind the scenes diplomacy with the Army authorities (the Army is furious at the lies planted in the media, and the inability of the cops to corroborate their stories - eve teasing / drunkenness of Army personnel - with any credible witnesses, FIRs or crime scene reports) to let issue die down. The Army has assured timely punitive measures to its offending personnel for any proven offences - including eve teasing, vandalism - provided witness depositions are made available. With the ‘eve teased’ woman having vanished without a trace, and not a single attendee at the new Years bash at the hotel corroborating the eve teasing story the cops are truly embarrased. Further atleast 3 neutral witnesses have come forward disputing the police version of the vandalism story! The only recourse therefore available to the cops to keep the lid from being blown of their misdeeds and subsequent coverup was to not depose themselves in the Army court - thereby keeping the court in perpetual limbo. From their end the Army also filed FIRs against the police for illegally arresting and manhandling Army officers in clear violation of the Army Act passed by Parliament - and made their intentions clear of taking the issue up with the highest court of the land, if required, to prosecute justice and punish the guilty policemen.
Their initial posturing in the media notwithstanding, both the bureaucrats and police realized just how strong a legal ground the Army is in. Further the cogent arguments made by the Judge Advocate General of the Army to the Magistrate in Kolkata convinced the Babus and police more than ever before that the Army authorities can more than match them in brains just as they did with ‘laat ghoosa’ the other day. Indications are that the bureaucrats are trying the best to let the Army authorities let bygones be bygones, and to kindly let the cops off the hook (drop the FIRs against the constables), and for public consumption just give a verbal administrative ‘dispeasure’ to the Armymen that thrashed the guilty cops. The babus ofcourse would get the media to stay off the case so the honor and dignity of Kolkata cops’, and more importantly of Netas (PM, Raksha Mantri and External Affairs Mantri that needlessly spoke in support of the pandu chowkidars) can be redeemed.
Credit must be given to the babus for the damage control mode they kickstarted after realizing that the Army guys - in characteristic fashion - had their act together with lightning speed, while the pandus took everyone - including Netas - for a ride with their stories, not to speak of unprofessionalism (Police officer was missing from Police station during the incident leaving Pandus chowkidaars to freely distribute ‘laat ghoosa’ to handle situations, frivolous charges against the Army Officers, absolutely no clue about laws that clearly govern handling situations involving Military personnel, needless manhandling of the Army Officers and mocking at them in custody (”Bolta hain Army Major hain”, or something to that effect in Bengali, as told by neutral witnesses present at the police station at the time).
The print / electronic media (except ‘Outlook’) has suddenly gone silent about this issue - with no follow up investigative report about the woman, hotel, police, or the case itself. This is an “out of sight out of public mind” formula devised by patrakar-babu combine so that after the initial news cycles - (”Indisciplined Army hit innocent lachar pandus”) that got the ‘favorable’ police version out - the issue falls out of public domain and imagination. A carefully thought out, and so far successful, exit strategy for the cops - as aam junta’s attention is diverted to Nithari murders and ULFA. This way, the Police ‘high handedness’ and ‘gross negligence’ that actually caused the incident to spin out of control does not come into public knowledge - and if / when it does the news is stale.
Good babus are supposed to sacrifice themselves if required to keep the H&D (honor and dignity) of Netas intact. Babus now have to figure out a way to untangle the pugdis and lungis of Netas that got all knotted up by the fury of the blows from Madras Regiment that landed resoundingly on the heads of Kolkata pandus.
For the sake of our beloved Netas I wish the babus all the best in this nobel endeavor.
Setu Madhavan.
“With great power comes great responsibility” - ( sorry for being a movie buff :P )
“With great power comes great responsibility”
Well said, Anonymous. And your point is?
Setu Madhavan
Really Punk? Then who will protect the country ? A piddling punk like you?
Army is the countrie’s most disciplined organization;all the soldiers will never be so cruel. army is here to safeguard the nation.
Can someone give updates on latest of this army peoples misbehave story. What is progress on investigation? Have ‘innocent’ police that got beatings by ‘corruption’ army people, file cases against the army in court or not? I am sure our great political leaders, and efficient bureaucracies will make sure corrupt army people are punished and made example . How daresarmy people touch our efficient police - even if, hotel eve teasing incident not happened, no problem. Army is still guilty convict. I can not accept our brave police illtreat by corrupt army people. why Indian media is keeping quite and not making example of army peoples. This is democracy. we are not pakistan for army people to think they are superpower. please I want latest news of this story. Please anyone kindly tell me when army guys are put in jail for misbehaviour with Indian police and Indian ladies. To me it is not matter at all even if lady was not misbehaved. If police man says army is drunk and misbehaviour is taking place that is correct. Punishment has to be severe and full speed. Punishment delay is deny punishment . No excuse. So what if ladys is not coming forward. If police lodge case against army people then why you want woman to prove case against armypeople. indias court and judiciry not in army control like Musharraf. We are not pakistan. this is free country. Punish army if guilty. Punish army if not guilty. Indian court will teach lessons to army peoples to improve manners with public. So please I want latest news. proud Indian.
This article in ‘Telegraph’ has some information on this story….
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070308/asp/bengal/story_7488514.asp
(Great job, moderator, on highlighting the indiscipline in the indian army trained in ‘institutions’. Maybe it is time we closed the IMA (Indian Military Academy), NDA (Nation Defence Academy), OTA (Officers Training Academy), DSSC (Defence Services Staff College), NDC (National Defence College) etc. and instead send the defence officers to IPS academy and IAS academy. This way we can raise the standards of discipline of the army and bring it at par with bureaucrats and police.
Keep up the good work, Moderator.)
In absence of ‘victim’, army abuzz about ‘tease’ case burial
SUJAN DUTTA AND KINSUK BASU
New Delhi/Calcutta, March 7: Bureaucrats in Bengal are urging the army authorities to bury the probe into the alleged New Year Eve attack on Park Street police station by soldiers in uniform after witnesses trashed the police version before a court of inquiry.
The Calcutta police case against the army personnel was built around the charge of “eve-teasing”, but army officers handling the investigation have not yet come upon the “Eve”.
According to accounts being circulated in army headquarters in Delhi, the bureaucrats are embarrassed that they bought the police version and are urging the army authorities “to let bygones be bygones”.
In Calcutta, police officers probing the case say things are not quite the way army headquarters might like to believe and that the woman’s unavailability does not negate the unruly behaviour of the officers and the jawans.
“It’s not about trading charges. The incident did happen and a case has been initiated against the army officials who went on the rampage,” says Gyanwant Singh, the city detective department chief who is overseeing the probe.
“We even have witnesses who have corroborated their part of the incident. It would be unfair to jump to any sweeping conclusions.”
According to the police, the armed jawans of the Salt Lake-stationed Madras Regiment stormed the police station after one of their officers, Major Chandra Pratap Singh, was detained for misbehaving with a woman at a five-star hotel. Another officer, identified as Captain Mahesh, was also detained.
The soldiers allegedly went berserk, beating up policemen, breaking transmission sets and telephone receivers. In the commotion, nine suspected criminals managed to run away from the lock-up.
But army sources say three civilian witnesses who were at the New Year’s Eve bash and appeared at the court of inquiry did not corroborate the police version. The army has filed FIRs against the police for harassing the officers in violation of the Army Act.
Army authorities do not want to speak of the inquiry on record till the formalities are over.
But accounts have been obtained by the officers’ colleagues in Calcutta and they are angry that their “brother officers” were mistreated.
The latest account has been circulated in army headquarters and in an email to the Retired Defence Officers Forum, New Delhi, the Ex-Servicemen Association, Dehra Dun, and to the Naval Foundation, Delhi Centre.
Copies of the email are available from within the army headquarters. The unidenti-fied emailer, who signed as “Setu Madhavan”, alleges that Calcutta police was delaying the investigation by refusing to depose before the court of inquiry. And it was only after a magisterial order that two policemen from Park St-reet police station deposed, more than a month after the incident.
Asked for an official version of the findings of the inquiry, army sources said: “We are not saying the officers have been exonerated. The inquiry report is delayed because the police have not been cooperative.”
The police top brass in Calcutta rubbished the charge. “There was a letter from army officers requesting our help and we did send our officers to depose. The question of not cooperating just doesn’t arise. We could then question why the army lodged an FIR a few days after the incident. We don’t want to go into all this,” said an officer.
A police officer said it is “not easy” for a woman to come out and speak up in public. “She did it while in the hotel and we have the statement of the hotel’s security guard to justify our point. It could be that she is caught in two minds.”
dear aseem
i agree tht such acts are not justified but at the same time may i request all INTELLECTUAL citizens to incl media to come and stay with me for just seven days on a post in kashmir and than reiterate ur views. i ask u aseem, wt do u know abt army or for that matter kashmir and kashmiri muslims.
have u ever read a story published by any media when this poor jawans going to meet thier families are ill trated by ur honourable TCs and civilized civilians. even in uniform today our respectful citizens wont offer a seat to jawan coming from most inhospitable place and going after 4 to 5 months to meet his family. where does ur respect and patritotism goes tht time.
do u know tht a IPS officer becomes secretary rank which is equivalent to a MAJOR GENERAL in 14 yrs and an indian army officer reach their in 30 years. and tht to not all. only 10%. Has any media projected this point. I as an officer after 7 years of service get 20000 approx. Wt shud i do with? cn i raise my family respectfully.
my dear aseem plz come to me and first understand army than pass such comments on this gr8 institution.
I can write unabated….but i hope i made my point clear. i openly invite u for a discussion any time coz i want the people of these country to realize tht all we need is respect and tht also has been taken away from us by beurocrats and politicians and our people are totally ignorant about it.
if possible JOIN ARMY
Hello Akhil,
Thanks for your comments over the article… So very true of every word that you have said… But I believe its altogether a different discussion and many comments have quite missed the point.
The very intent of mine in writing this article hasnt been to disgrace the army or to discourage those aspiring to join the army. The only sole intention was to put forth the disarrayed state of a few army men because of which the whole army is defamed. I remember my lessons in school when my teacher would pitch a black dot on a white board and ask us to spot it out. And we would, without any difficulty. Its the same case here Akhil. For all good the army is for us and for all good that every army men does every single moment when we relax on cozy couches at our homes watching the latest DVD flicks one such misdeed just changes the face of it all.
The army is NOT licensed to turn perverse just because its frustrating to fight against the bureaucracies creeping into it. I do not understand the logic that one shoots down his senior officer just because he is paid lesser than any other civilian, or one rapes a woman just because he is frustrated with the life he is living in, or maybe one troubles a civilian simply because he can? I dont know how many army men would accept this on record. But this does happen in supposedly the most disciplined institution of the world. And its certainly not a media hype. I know these cases are pretty few compared to the unparalleled efforts of the army which the media conveniently fails to highlight. But it does call for a retrospection.
Yes Akhil, I completely agree with you that its easy to talk about this sitting comfortably back home. You need to be there and have done that. And I salute all those army men who have been true to the ideals of the army and are fighting their way out of the unending trauma which they obviously do not deserve to be in. For the rest I can only pray that they would change… Or sincerely hope that someone brings the change. Its much needed to hold the faith of millions in the Indian army…
To all those reading here… wish you all a Happy Republic Day :)
Regards
Aseem N
DEAR ASEEM,
I MUST SAY THAT YOU HAVE A BALANCED MIND AND HAVE WRITTEN QUITE LOGICALLY BUT DONT FORGET THAT WE GUYS COME FRON THE SAME SOCIETY AS YOU ARE AND NOT SUPERHUMANS. ONLY PROBLEM IS THAT WE GET GENERALISED EASILY DUE TO MEDIA HYPE. HOW CAN U EXPECT ALL ARMY TO BE IDEAL WHEN WHOLE SOCIETY AROUND HIM IS DIRTY.
I TELL YOU ONE INCIDENT. ONCE IN A OFFICERS MESS PARTY WHEN WE INVITED SOME CIVIL OFFICIALS LIKE DC AND SP..AFTER A DRINK OR TWO THEY STARTED SAYING ABOUT CORRUPTION IN ARMY..ONE OF MY RETD COMMANDING OFFICER , COL BALWANT(71 WAR VETERAN) ROSE AND ASKED THIS LITERATE IAS OFFICER THAT” SIR MAY I ASK YOU ONE SIMPLE THING? ” WHEN MY SOLDIER GOES TO HIS VILL TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH HIS FAMILY….YOUR TEHSILDAR ASKS MONEY FOR A WORK, YOUR SARPANCH ASK FOR MONEY, HOSPITAL ASKS FOR MONEY,POLICE ASKS FOR MONEY, AND SO EVERYONE AROUND HIM….WHAT SHOULD HE DO? HOW DO YOU EXPECT SOLDIER TO BE EPITOME OF IDEALISM WHEN EVERYTHING AROUND HIM IS SO DIRTY AND CORRUPTED…..THE IAS HAD NO ANSWER…..BEACUSE WE MAY BE DOING ONE ODD BEATING HERE AND THERE..BUT OUR POLITICIANS AND BEAURACRATES ARE EATING THE NATION…….ALAS….YOU WONT UNDERSTAND ASEEM……AND I DONT BLAME YOU FOR THAT………THIS IS A FAULT OF OUR SYSTEM AND FAILED DEMOCRACY……YOU KNOW SOMETHING WHY A SOLDIER KILLS A SUPERIOR? JUST GAUGE AMOUNT OF STRESS IN HIS LIFE WHEN HE DO SUCH THING WHEN HE KNOWS THAT ARMY LAW IS THE TOUGHEST AND NOT LIKE CIVIL LAWS WHERE YOU CAN GET AWAY DOING ANYTHING…….HE STILL DO IT….MAY I ASK YOU TO PONDER?…….
AND YA I MUST TAKE OPPORTUNITY TO REPLY TO REEMA….IF SHE IS CALLING POLICE AS HONEST AND ARMY CORRUPT…SHE IS THE MOST INSANE PERSON I HAVE ENCOUNTERD… AS A ARMY MAN I HAVE NO HESITATION IN SAYING THAT IF SHE COMES IN FRONT OF ME I WILL FORGET CHIVALRY OF NOT HITTING A WOMAN..AND GIVE HER A SOLID PUNCH……
I FEEL SHAMEFUL THAT OUR NETIZENS WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE LITERATE ARE GIVING SUCH STUPID COMMENTS…………
I M NOT SENTIMENTAL BUT I M PROUD OF ALL THE SOLDIERS AND MARTYRS…YOU MAY FORGET …….I WILL NOT……..
GOD BLESS
Am still pondering over what makes you think I wont? If I may, let me sum up my article again… Its NOT on Politicians (who are for no good to the country), its NOT on corrupt policemen or anybody in the Indian Administrative System. And its certainly NOT against the Army or army men like you. So if you are looking for something challenging the Indian Political System or even articles written with laurels for the army, this is not the page you should be on. May be you can have a look around my blog for those. Its simply an attempt to highlight the abominable acts of a few army men so that one day there are none.
What happens when you read the title “Is this our Indian Army?” Does it hurt? It sure does. It does equally to me too. But the intent of this chosen title is not to hurt you and me but to encourage self realisation amongst the army men who might have lost their way. Let them feel ashamed for once on reading this.
While somewhere down my heart, what makes me really happy is that on this blog post the army and army men have received their much deserved praise which is often underplayed by the media. Whether its come through an article written oover the courage and bravery of the Indian army or on the misconduct of few of them.
Jai Hind!
Regards
Aseem N
Dear Aseem,
Firstly its good that a bolg on the Army has been brought out and view points for and against put forth here. One questionable issue is the title “Is this our Indian Army” well certainly this is your Army and who do you think are the members of the armed forces. Its you and me people like us who have chosen it as a profession.
The issue is acts of “Indiscpline”. Acts of indiscipline will occur and no one can fault the army for it — its human. But its how acts of indiscipline are handled - I have 30 years of service in the Army and one thing I can assure you that acts of indiscipline are considered abhorrent and not tolerated in service and very strict action is taken against defaulters. Any complaint against an army preson is investigated and I can assure you action is taken once found guilty. But its not the otherway around — cases of harrasment of service personal are hardly looked into in the right letter and spirit. When we write to the civil administration we dont even get a reply.
The reporting against the Army is also prejudiced and much hyped by todays paparazzi in order to get to the front page before the other does. The paparazzi has poor knowledge of the Army and are only too willing to create a story for the gossip mongering society. Mostly the story turns out to be some
thing else but by then the public has read it and opinions formed and even if the Armys rebuttal is printed who is bothered now?
The fact that people are ignorant about this service is amplified by someone here commenting that IMA, NDA , DSSC etc should be closed down and we should all be sent to the IAS nad IPS academy so that we become more disciplined. Well I need say more on an Indian who again shoots off his mouth against the Army without even knowing what his country is all about. He should read the surveys carried out by various agencies as to who is most corrupt in this country and he will get his answers to the statement he made.
Someone said something about the playcard “The Indian Army Raped Us” How many women have stood up and said “the militants raped us” — the militants have been provided or have been forciably provided for with everything from daughters to mothers and no one has spoken about it . We all know what the foreign militants did in the Valley before the Indian Army finished them. Second piont about rape . I would like to share with you something , women of all kinds are present at all levels of our society. They have been having fun with army jawans / officers for gains monetary and otherwise. But when they are exposed or they fear being exposed in public they cry RAPE. Its is still happening and perhaps some willing and brave soul will be able to show you whats happens. There is not a place in this country where you wont find women willing to get involved. I can vouch for it. When we find out that an officer or a jawan is involved in this kind of relationship is corrective action is taken with all sincerity.
So my good country men bear with us — read reports on the actions of army men of other countries too. Maybe we are a shade better. Jai Hind.