Dear Aditya, its really heartening to see ur remark regarding comparing Army Officers with the one from Indian Police Services.
Let me narrate a very beautiful story of one of my Retd. Collegue, Who joined army in the year 1967 as a Jawan, He was just an Middle Standard passed. In his unit he was made helper(Sahayak) of the C.O. And did his best to please the said C.O, while as per his collegues he was below average in every thing else except Pschophancy. Now see the twist in the luck same C.O. was made the President of S.S.B. Merrut (which got disband later on).
Same C.O. got that Jawan recommended for ACC commission from his unit and in S.S.B. interview.
And that Jawan hence became an Army Officer.

And in your words that guy is equivalent to IPS officers like Kiran Bedi?
In another instance an C.O. of a unit, whose son was so much poor in his studies that he got failed thrice in his matriculation exam. Than his father did a trick and got his maticulation examination centre in some interior place in Himachal Pradesh, And as usual with the help of unfair means the guy cleared matriculation exam. And now his great father got him in Army and in his unit as a jawan and after three years that guy became the officer through A.C.C. Commission.
Now in your idea that guy is also equivalent to IPS??
And i can narrate thousand of incidences like this. Now what can of behave u can expect from these undeserving guys?

I can completely understand.

5. THE INDIAN ARMY IS THE MOST RESPECTFUL ORGANISATION IN THE WORLD WITH 100,S OF LANGUAGES AND RELIGION THEY ALL WEAR GREEN. STATISTICS HAVE PROVED THAT THE ARMY STILL STANDS THE LEAST CORRUPTED ORG…
6. IN A COUNTRY WHERE STATES ARE RAGING A WAR AGAINST EACH OTHER 70% OF POLITICIANS ARE CORRUPT, EDUCATION IS ONE OF THE FASTEST SELLING PRODUCT TO FOOL STUDENTS, INTERNATIONAL MANUFACTURING FIRMS GETTING IN INDIA FOR PRODUCTION WHICH OTHERWISE MEANS POLLUTION, WITH CRAP SHOWS ON TELIVISION KILLING OUR VALUES SELFRESPECT & CULTURE AND A NEVERENDING LIST OF MOTHER LAND BEING KILLED….. I THINK WE HAVE BETTER THINGS TO MARKET ON ESTEEMED BLOGS LIKE YOURS SIR.

IRONY… Three ARMY men who lost their life for our Nation get their little pictures on the 4th page of The Tribune and the person who made 200 scores in an English game(cricket) gets place at the front page. The newspapers are the picture of the society, Is this what we value ?

WARM REGARDS
THAKUR AARUNESH
aarunesh@gmail.com

Read through the various comments and your replies to them albeit a little late. It seems that you kept saying that the intention of the article was to open a can of duccussion which looks at the issue from various angles. However, if you read the article posted by you initially that certainly doesnt’t seem to be the motive. It says “Is this our Army” and then you talk about what the indian Jawans did. I would like to agree with Col JP Singh and a few other officers who have shared their thoughts. “Yes” this is our ARMY…where if a deed – ethically, morally or legally defaming is comitted and there is proof of it, the miscreants are booked for it and are even court martialled if required within the time frame that is due to such cases. That is the kind of example, that the Indian army sets for the rest of India. The fact is not that an act was committed by some people who turned out to be jawans but the fact is how was it treated by the Institution. That is what you should have written about. It is not the Indian Army’s fault if some people who have committed a crime turned out to be a part of teh army and misued their powers, however if the Institution would have ignored it, or encouraged it or tried to hide it and let off those people I would have completely agreed with you. Now all you have are a few senational words with an absolutely wrong title.

The cases of graft and corruption are numerous, however, some recent cases are enumerated here. An Indian arms broker who has been accused of taking kickbacks to help seal a defense deal with Israel seven years ago was arrested on tax evasion charges last week. Suresh Nanda, the son of a former Indian navy chief, one of several people accused of corruption in an 11.5 billion-rupee ($288 million) deal clinched with Israel in 2000, was arrested late Saturday, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported. Nanda’s son, a tax accountant and an income tax official were also arrested by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) at a hotel in the financial hub Mumbai.

The four were arrested on charges of cooking Nanda’s account books, PTI said. Nanda was interrogated about his finances by CBI in January, which is trying to trace a money trail back to the deal to purchase seven Barak anti-ship missile systems from Israel Aircraft Industries Ltd. Investigators believe Nanda received about $100,000 in kickbacks in the deal. The Barak corruption scandal is one of several dogging India’s defense procurement process. An Indian court in December ordered police to complete a probe into charges that a bribe was paid in a three-billion-dollar deal to buy Scorpene submarines from a French defense firm. That same month India said it was scrapping a $600-million deal to buy 197 military helicopters from the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) after allegations of irregularities in the bidding process.

A general court martial (GCM), trying two brigadiers of the Indian Army for their alleged role in a liquor scam, has held them guilty of misappropriating military intelligence funds and wrongfully taking loans from a private party. They have been awarded a severe reprimand besides loss of service for the purpose of pension. According to Indian media, Brigadier R.G. Dewekar had been awarded four-year loss of service for the purpose of fixing pension, while Brigadier R.S. Rana has been awarded three-year loss of service. Both officers were brigade commanders in an infantry division in Bareilly, whose commander, under Major-General G.I. Singh, was earlier tried and cashiered by a GCM for allegedly perpetrating the scam. Brigadier Dewekar had faced two charges under Section 52(f) of the Army Act for intent to defraud and two alternative charges under Section 63 for acts prejudicial to good order and military discipline, for allegedly diverting Military Intelligence funds and handing them to his division commander.

Brigadier Rana had allegedly borrowed Rs 60,000 from a private vendor, thereby violating Para 337 of the Regulations for the Army. The money was to be handed over the division commander in exchange for a cheque meant for releasing intelligence funds. Major-General G.I. Singh was commanding an infantry division in Bareilly, when the scam involving sale of large quantities of canteen liquor on the civilian market was unearthed by the military intelligence. During his trial, it was brought out that he used to issue cheques to his brigade commanders on the pretext of utilizing the funds for certain projects or for cultivating sources and gathering intelligence.

An alarming rise in the number of Indian military officers charged with corruption, senior ranks quitting due to frustrating service conditions and instances in which disgruntled soldiers have shot dead their seniors has started boggling the minds of India’s policy makers. For the past few decades, the Indian Army has experienced high-profile scandals, ranging from the infamous field-artillery deal with the Swedish arms company Bofors (for which former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had been accused) to the case for which another former prime minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, was convicted in 2000. Amongst the foremost corrupt institutions within India, its armed forces retain the top position. The Indian army personnel are known to receive “commission” from politicians, bureaucrats and businessmen.

When their cases are forwarded to court of inquiry, they usually manage to slip away unpunished. The corruption report published in the “Times of India” speaks volumes for the state of indiscipline and corruption in the Indian Armed forces. The crime rate within the Armed Forces is comparatively high in areas where the Indian army is deployed in order to suppress insurgencies and secessionist movements like Kashmir, Nagaland, Mezoram and Assam. Incidents of suicide, self-immolation, opening fire on commanding officers and colleagues, desertions etc are frequent. The crimes are not only committed by jawans, but also the senior officers are found involved in minting money through unfair means. So much so a Brigadier of Indian army has recently been sentenced to seven years imprisonment for his involvement in running fake currency notes business. The reports have unfolded some more scandals in the Indian Held Kashmir (IHK). Tanker owners in the valley have said that a scam to steal army diesel fuel involved Indian military officers and had been going on for years. The IHK Petrol Tank Owners Association says “the scam involves drivers, officers and middlemen and has cost hundreds of millions of rupees to the Government of India. It was found that diesel in seven tankers bound for Ladakh had been sold off and replaced with water. According to a report published in the “Times of India” on October 3, 2005 the Indian Armed Forces have held 6,000 courts martial since 2000, and that by any standards is a disturbing picture for the Indian Armed forces. Last year, around 30 officers were convicted in court martial proceedings.

Indian army’s Naib-Subedar Attar Singh was arrested recently for allegedly molesting a 26-year-old Australian tourist on board the Jaisalmer-Jodhpur Express when she had gone to use the toilet at midnight in the third AC compartment. Singh had also gone to the toilet at the same time and stopped her in the passage between the two toilets and molested her. There have been reports that jawans pushed out five people to their death from a train; a major cooked up enemy encounters in Siachen in order to win a citation for his unit; a colonel used tomato ketchup to fake killings in Assam in order to win a gallantry award. These are not just aberrations but reveal deep rooted cases of bribery and corruption.

woh kuch to hai ki hasti mitt ti nahin hamari,
Yunan mishra roman mit gaye is jaahan se
Sare jahan se accha hinduatan hamara

Jai Hind