The legacy of Gen VK Singh

The just completed tenure of General VK Singh as Chief of Army Staff will be remembered as an epoch making one. It was marked by a series of controversies as single handedly he tried to clean up an entrenched corrupt system. I am reproducing an interesting analysis of the legacy General VK Singh leaves behind by Lt General Harwant Singh, former Deputy Chief of Army Staff, that had appeared in the Hindustan Times (Chandigarh edition) for your reading.                                               

Gen VK Singh's legacy

By  Lt-Gen Harwant Singh ( Retd )
                     
Much has been written in the press and much more discussed on TV channels as to Gen VK Singh’s legacy. Equally there have been controversies and allegations on his conduct, relations with the MoD and with senior officers within the army. It is time to examine the issues in their correct perspective and close this chapter of accusations and counter charges. 

Myanmar: Testing political acumen

[This article was written on April 21, 2011; since then, Aung San Suu Kyi and NLD members have been sworn in as members of parliament. The article is reproduced here courtesy South Asia Magazine, May 2012 issue which carries it]

Testing Political Acumen

Emerging victorious, Aung San Suu Kyi has created quite an impression in Myanmar and beyond. But how much political refinement will she need before she is ready to face the real battle for democracy?

By Col R Hariharan (retd)

Nobel laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi who had been leading the struggle for democracy led the National League for Democracy (NLD) to a resounding victory in the recent parliamentary by-elections in Myanmar. The re-entry of Suu Kyi and the NLD in Myanmar politics opens a new chapter in the troubled history of this nation.Undoubtedly, Suu Kyi’s charismatic leadership and tremendous popularity bagged 44 of the 45 seats for the NLD.

Downside of Media 'scoop' on National Security

By Col. R. Hariharan 

The controversy surrounding the outgoing Army Chief General V. K. Singh’s revelations in the last two months provided an excellent opportunity for the Indian Express Editor’s cleverly constructed “scoop” hinting at the panic created in New Delhi when two military units – a mechanized column and a parachute battalion - moved towards the capital on January 16. Its innuendoes at the establishment’s suspicion about the loyalty of the army drew nation-wide attention. It is significant that a factual news story on lessons army learnt from the same military movement published a month earlier in a news website failed to get the same attention. 

What is the state of readiness of our troops - 5

TV and to a lesser extent print media are increasingly becoming arbiters of many issues of national interest in the real time. As the vie with each other to increase their TRP ratings, truth and objectivity in reporting and analysing events have been pushed back. Their conduct in covering the recent events relating following the Army Chief General VK Singh "episode" has been remarkably murky. Writing about General VK Singh's conduct had been full of innuendoes and sneering contempt.

The worst was the Indian Express front page news story full of snide comments, hinting at the "curious'" (bashfully not uttering the C word) purpose in two army units moving "towards" New Delhi on the day the Army Chief's case in Supreme Court came up for judgment. This had shocked even the worst critics of army and the Army Chief. Many media men have taken the newspaper to task for such unabashed sensationalism. I am reproducing below an hard hitting article by Nitin Gokhale, veteran defence analyst and news editor of NDTV, on the media's conduct in the whole affair for your reading.

The Soldier, the State and the Media

Nitin Gokhale, April 6, 2012

In my three decades of reporting on the Indian military, I have never felt more uneasy about the military-media interface as I have in the past three months.

What is the state of readiness of our troops - 2

The unseemly controversy surrounding the Army Chief General VK Singh does not seem to be dying out. It got further complicated when a front page scoop in the Indian Express by the editor-in-chief, hinted at New Delhi's panic reaction when two army units moved towards New Delhi the day General VK Singh's case came up for judgement in the Supreme Court. Although, the sensational story was of dubious construction, and vehemently denied by the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister, the damage has been done to the reputation of the Army Chief and the Army - the innuendoes questioning their patriotism was obvious.

In this context, I am reproducing another article by General VP Malik, former Chief of Army Staff, that appeared in the Tehelka today, courtesy Tehelka Magazine for your reading.   

Army should not look like it's losing its values

VP Malik, Former Chief Of Army Staff

As A former Chief of Army Staff, I have no hesitation in admitting that the unprecedented events of the last few days have deeply damaged the reputation of a very precious institution. One is tempted to say in despair, what is left?

Storm Signals on National Security

by Col.  R. Hariharan 

“Army chief’s letter bomb” screamed TV anchors when leaked contents of a letter from the Army Chief of Army Staff General VK Singh addressed to the Prime Minister reached the media. In his letter he had made ten points to show that the army’s fighting capability. The Army Chief listed ten points which have rendered the army ineffective to face threats to national security. All of them related the lack of timely procurements of armaments and ammunition to the troops. 

The reaction to this national security fiasco in parliament was typical. Many members including the Right and Left, spent more time on the danger posed to national security by the leak, than its damaging contents. Some members like the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lallu Prasad Yadav, who was no paragon of probity, wanted the Army Chief to be sacked summarily for leaking the letter, without even bothering to find out who did it. His cohorts from UP and Bihar of the Samajwadi Party and Janata Dal (U) echoed the same sentiments.

The burden of heading 1.3 million-strong Army

Col R Hariharan

The Defence Minister took four months to reject the statutory complaint from his own Army chief.

Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju has aptly summed up the government’s largely self-created mess, after Army chief Gen V K Singh petitioned the Supreme Court to get his date of birth in the government records corrected: “It is an unfortunate development and it is not a healthy precedent either for the ministry or the armed forces…It is an unhealthy precedent. It does not augur well either for the ministry or the forces,” he said.