Of Odd jobs and Army

For once I agree with his observation when Omar Abdullah tweeted “The Army was to be a measure of last resort to be called upon in extreme emergency. Now it seems like it’s the 1st number on the speed dial.”. That indeed is what Army has been reduced to by the present dispensation ever since it took over. Be it spreading of mats for International Yoga Day, clearing garbage leftover by the tourists, cleaning rivers or laying a bridge for Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s cultural extravaganza on Yamuna riverbed and now construction of three foot-over bridges in Mumbai, Army has indeed been on Modi Government’s speed dial. It can’t get any more ridiculous than that. Any number of happy hours Prime Minister Modi shares with troops, on Diwali, can’t justify this blatant misuse of Army on duties which ought to be carried out by those who are employed and paid for the purposes.
None grudges employment of Defence Forces in aid to civil authorities during emergencies – natural or manmade- like   floods, fires, earthquakes, riots, evacuations or even to pull children out of bores dug into the earth but left unguarded. While humans may not have full control over natural calamities, recurrence of manmade ones speaks very poorly of our national character and of an abject failure to bring those responsible for causing loss of life and national assets to book. Take for example Elphinstone Railway foot-over bridge tragedy, 23 lives were lost while many more were injured. What were the agencies responsible to upgrade grossly inadequate facilities, or those responsible to conduct safety audit, doing to prevent such a tragedy? More importantly, none responsible, including the former Union Railway Minister, has been punished for ignoring warnings – ironically from their own public representatives- about then impending catastrophe. Offering monetary assistance   to the next of kin of the deceased or to those maimed by the tragedy at Elphinstone Railway Station stampede is no solace to the countrymen if this callous neglect goes unpunished.
Employing Army resources, men and material, to construct three foot-over railway bridges in Mumbai amounts to encouraging inefficiency and dereliction within the system. This goes against the very commitment of the present government, repeated ad nauseam by our beloved Prime Minister, to weed out the termite infested wood from the system. Where is the accountability of a bloated and overpaid Railway Engineering Department or that of the country’s richest civic body- BMC with a budget of over 25,000 Cr- that the Army must take the responsibility of building bridges? Then, we have the Central Public Works and State Public Works Departments. Why can’t they rise to the occasion to undertake the job on war footing? Unlike for Army, these are the primary tasks of these departments.  Sanjay Nirupam, of Congress, rightly points out “Calling Army to make a bridge in Mumbai underlines failure of  the Shiv Sena BJP ruled  BMC. Hope army will not be  asked to fill potholes”. That sums up the indifference of the current dispensation towards the inefficient and the corrupt. It is no one’s case to exonerate Congress of their own commissions in this regard.  Yet, BJP spokespersons’ vain attempts to defend Government’s decision, by repeating a casually drafted party line claiming “it is our Army’, smacks of poor understanding of the role and responsibilities of this national asset as laid down in the Constitution as it also exposes political arrogance and contempt for the national sentiment. Who will educate them that Army does not belong to a political party but to the whole nation? It is a different matter that this nation, yet to evolve a cogent national security paradigm, overlooks abrasions of the political executive to ask military commanders to report to or brief non-constitutional entities/bodies.
There is a seething anger in the veteran fraternity and an unexpressed resentment amongst the serving against this decision to commit Army on a pure civilian work in a non-emergency situation. A nation that does not learn from history is bound to repeat it. Just before Sino-Indian war of 1962, 4th Army Division was similarly committed to construct accommodation at cost of training for war. Subsequently, this misuse of Army resources was to cost this Division and India dearly as these undertrained and underprepared troops were thoroughly routed in war with China. Casting aside his political affiliations, 1965 war veteran and India’s foremost military historian, Captain Amrinder Singh has advised Union Defence Minister against frittering defence resources on non-emergency civilian jobs. Citing 1962 debacle, he warns of serious security implications if country continues utilizing the Army for constructing bridges and cleaning roads instead of training in peace to prepare for war. ‘More you (soldiers) sweat in peace less you bleed in war’ is a dictum which the political leadership seems oblivious about.
Blaming the civilian government alone would not be telling the whole truth. Part of the blame must be shared by the military, more so the Army, hierarchy which bends over backwards to unreasonable diktats from all and sundry without a demur. Normally one   refrains from commenting about post retirement gratification of military brass, yet, there are situations when one is compelled to bring in this issue. The lure, for some, is so tempting that Institution’s interests take a back seat. If elevation to the highest echelons of Armed Forces is based on political or parochial considerations, pliability of commanders is a natural corollary. Post-Independence, when Nehru offered Lt. Gen. Nathu Singh Rathore the post of Army Chief, he retorted “Sir, why me?  We have a very capable army officer, my senior Lt. Gen. Cariappa, who is most deserving”. Rest is history; wherein also lie buried such exemplary moral conviction and uprightness – essentials of military leadership.
Today, Army not only misses the iconic leadership of Field Marshals Cariappa and Manekshaw but also the likes of Generals Raina and Krishna Rao. While Sam Bahadur radiated an aura to walk unannounced into Indira Gandhi’s office, Gen. Raina had the guts to refuse a diktat from brash Bansi Lal, the then Defence Minister, to provide water trucks for a Congress election rally that too during infamous Emergency. Gen. Raina, despite sharing a good personal equation with Indira Gandhi, steered clear of Emergency by impressing upon his command thus “You are not a part of the Emergency and keep away from politics”. Or, when Gen. Krishna Rao just walked up to Indira Gandhi to obtain an instant sanction of entitled rations for the officer cadre. One can’t recall any one from the recent roll of Army Chiefs who carried themselves with equal élan, authority or conviction.
It should be the collective endeavour of the political executive and Armed Forces hierarchy to ensure that this fine Institution is not overburdened with tasks that are not its primary responsibility. For nation’s sake, don’t exploit its disciplined and ‘never say No’ character to blunt its cutting edge. Army is not an agency to which odd jobs can be outsourced by the political executive.