The Biggest Stake Holder in Unity of India The Army Treated Scurvily by BJP

India is a diverse nation with ethnic races and diverse regions and cultures. This nation was made into a cohesive entity by the British who brought far flung areas like Naga Land into the state of India. How did the British make India into a nation? In this they used the Indian Army officered mostly by the English as  their main  instrument. After the British left India in 1947, the leadership under Nehru and others should have consolidated the Republic But for a strange phobia of the army, the leadership began a policy of neglect of the armed forces. Perks and privileges were denied and latest weaponry not arranged.

The army was allowed to go to seed. During this time insurrections came to the fore in many parts of India and Hindu-Muslim riots began with great frequency.  The army was called in to handle these movements , some of which called for secession from India. Right from 1955, when Mr Phizo raised the banner of revolt in Nagaland, the army was called in to stop the secessionist movements. Such movements however continued to spread and the result was that almost 40% of India is gripped by groups who want either to secede from India or change the basis of the constitution. It is the army which has become the biggest stake holder in the unity of India as politicians have played a dangerous game and many actions like article 370 of the constitution and inner line permits in the North East have contributed to these balkanizaton tendencies in India.

The political leadership has not recognized this fact and right from the time of Nehru and now Narendra Modi  the governments are in a denial mode as far as the army is concerned.. Perks and privileges are regularly watered down and a long pending demand of One Rank One Pension(OROP) not honored, despite two parliaments and two different political parties ( Congress and BJP) having accepted it as a national necessity.

Nehru was known as a man who was allergic to the armed forces and he paid a terrible price for him and India. It was expected  that with the arrival of the BJP and Narendra Modi, things would change and the old policy of denial of rights to the army would change, especially when Narendra Modi became prime minister. This man went and even addressed troops that OROP is approved and sanctioned. Unfortunately the reality is different as the Narendra Modi government has under pressure from its own top leadership and the bureaucracy decided that the promises made to the army be watered down or not accepted. A nefarious scheme bordering on evil is launched and the  honor and dignity of the army and its retired personnel given short shrift.OROP is not approved and some insidious proposals to water down the proposal floated.

The BJP government is no better than previous regimes and Narendra Modi is perhaps another Nehru. The failure to recognize the army as an instrument of national prestige and the biggest stake holder in the unity of India  will have dire consequences.Such antics do not do justice to the army which unfortunately also has a weak leadership, that is non-assertive.

What of the future? the failure to accede to genuine demands like OROP won't be good for India. In the long run it can have disastrous consequences. Another sad part of this story is the role of soldier politicians like Colonel Rathore and general VK Singh who have been towing the official BJP line. One wonders how they feel in not getting legitimate demands honored by the political leadership, presently headed by Narendra Modi.

India is at the cross roads and the future course of the nation can be in peril. Nehru paid a terrible price and one wonders whether Modi will have to answer also. One hopes that a change in the political thinking takes place and old soldiers and army be thought off , not as  a necessarily evil, but a exponent of the glory of india. narendra Modi will have to answer this question to future historians.

Devious Attempt by Modi Government to Create a Officer-Men Divide in Indian Army

The BJP government led by Narendra Modi does not seem to have learn't any lessons from history and the conduct of Pandit Nehru. In one stroke Pandit Nehru reduced the finest fighting machine in Asia to a toothless tiger, resulting in a massive defeat at the hands of China. India never recovered from that blow and since then has played second fiddle to china in all matters. Nehru's greatest blunder was lowering the morale of the armed forces mainly as he down graded the perks and privileges of the army and never gave it the weaponry it needed. He seemed to be unaware of Mao's dictum that"power comes out of the barrel of a gun". He paid a heavy price and had his international reputation in tatters as he died a broken man. Only if he had made the army an instrument of power and not relied on civil servants to down grade the finest fighting machine in Asia. Nareendra Modi as Prime Minister seems to be suffering from the same mental block. It is a pity that he appears again to be led by notions that negate the army as an instrument of power. An example is the non-sanction of a promise made by him from the rooftops. I mm referring to his call that OROP( One Rank One Pension) would be sanctioned. Now he is sulking behind the skirts of the finance Minister Mr Jaitley and the Defence Minister Mr Parrikar. These worthies have diluted the concept of the OROP. Worse they have devised a nefarious plan to sanction some money for the other ranks leaving the officer fraternity out of the OROP. The attempt is to divide the armed forces by creating a vertical split between teh officers and the other ranks. One cannot think of a more sinister scheme than this. Perhaps one can even label it as evil. Major General Satbir Singh the Chairman of the Ex Servicemen Association has written a forthright letter to the 3 service chiefs. He has pointed out the dangers of implementing this scheme and asked the Service Chiefs to meet Modi and other political leaders of the BJP to get this nefarious scheme nipped in the bud. Modi and party do no realize the danger this divide will bring with it. At one stroke a vertical split will be created and the efficacy of the armed forces will suffer.You cannot have a divide in the army which is a cohesive fighting force. It is surprising the Narendra Modi is not aware about such trivial things. He is again playing with fire and there is every chance that he will lead a great nation down an abyss. Perhaps Modi does not understand the politics of power and military might in the comity of nations.

When will Modi Learn Mao's Dictum" Power comes out of the Barrell of a Gun" ?

Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister of India. Before I add anything further it must be remembered that successive Indian leaders from the time of Jawaharlal Nehru failed to reaize the geo-political forces in the world heralded by Military power and surrendered the leadership of Asia to China. They made the nation Pakistan centric and reduced the importance of India as a world power. The ills of 60 years cannot be set aside in a day, but now Modi has to make a start and understand that there is no substitute to military power for the nation to play a geo-political role. It has not heldped down the decades the the Chiefs of the Indian army have been men of straw who have bowed double to their poltical masters with the result that a sense of alienation is coming in the rank and file of the army and allied services.

Maoi has come on a wave, but waves ebb also and recede and Modi has a lot to do to restore Indian prestige. He must first realize that Mao tes Tung was a great thinker and one of his quotes that 'Power comes out of the Barrell of a gun" is proved true many times over. Nehru and his ilk committed a cardinal blunder in thinking the military was a relic of the Raj and must be isolated and kept down. It was a foolish approach and he paid with his reputataion and died a broken man, humilaited in the world with the slap by China. He also committed blunders in Kashmir, when witha military victory on the cards he called of the operations and approached the Unted Nations.

Has Modi learn't the lessons of history? It appears he is following the Nehruvian agenda again. There is no thought of military parity with China. He again has treated the armed forces in a scurvy fashion. He has failed to sanction a pet and legitimate demand of soldiers for One Rank One Pension(OROP) and has played to the gallery ( read Muslim sentiments in Kashmir) by condemning the Indian army troops for some killings in Kashmir which s nothing but collateral damage. Which leader in the world talks like this and shows that Modi has little knowledge of the army as an instrument of power and position in the world. he must read Mao , otherwise he may well end up as another Nehru.