Tour of nationalism and detour of professionalism
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“Criticism of an Army General does not make you anti-national, but belittling the supreme sacrifice of a fallen soldier does”
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At a time when nations are grappling with the COVID-19 menace and re-inventing their economic and public health machineries, an army General thought, it is apt to talk about the idea of tour of duty (TOD). As per news sources, this is to tap the rising nationalistic fervour of the nation’s youth. The General put forward this idea then reclined in his chair, put his hands behind the head, and waited for bouquets and laurels. He was right. Some from his target audience revelled at the idea. “Bravo!”, “Game changing!”, “What an idea sirjee?”, were how people reacted. In real life, very few of these people will have the passion, courage or conviction to join the forces, if given a choice. It seems the corporate world did not want to feel left-out of the nationalistic jamboree. Anand Mahindra of the Mahindra Group said that he will be happy to accept these TOD graduates. No, I am not alluding that Mahinda defence systems has anything to do with it. Social media has already declared Tata group as the most patriotic company. It is time the Mahindras get their due credit. The General’s game changing idea came at a time when the Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world talked about “atmanirbhar abhiyan” (self-reliance). The PM took cue from other nations, reacting in a similar way. His target audience also revelled on the announcement. Some of them earn money by talking to people, writing and maintaining software for foreign companies.
The statement by General M M Navarane was personally, disturbing and alarming. I wanted to write about it that day itself, but I thought Major Gaurav Arya might shout from the Republic studios, “what do you know about the Army? I served in it, so I know more than you”. Reassessment of the situation calmed my worries. I have limited readers. The chances of Major saab reading my write-up is next to zilch. Sorry for digressing, I think the General did not understand the meaning of atmanirbhar. Otherwise, he would want the Army to be atma-nirbhar and not rely on the civilians. What is the General thinking? Why change something which seems to work perfectly fine? The reasons the general gave were unconvincing.
This comes months after General Rawaat’s statement on protesting students. The fact that this is happening freely under a democratically elected government is troubling. Generals, Marshals and Admirals should not take “too much” space in public discourse. If that is happening, it is a troubling sign. Thankfully, many serving and retired army personals disparaged General’s statement. This speaks of the ethos of the Indian Army. This is unlikely to happen in Pakistan, where the Army has not only taken over politics but the functioning of country’s economy as well. The ethos of the Indian Army has taken aeons to come to its current form. When the Britishers left India, two different armies were born. While India’s neighbouring Army embraced religious identity in its functioning, the Indian Army held on to its British legacy, inheriting military buildings, laws, etiquettes and propriety. So instead of adopting “Vande Mataram” it took over “Kadam kadam badhaye jaye..” from the Indian National Army. Its military band continues to play Aung Lang Syne, the 18th century Scottish song, instead of any Indian music. The continuance of this tradition has ensured that religious identity has failed to creep into the forces. Talking about religious identity would be an insult to the Army, that takes immense pride in its true secularist credentials, but I will still do it to make a point. It is because of the ethos of the Indian army, that in a country that set ups commissions for the assessment of minority’s condition, Muslims rise to the ranks of Lt. Generals in its Army. Two illustrious contemporary Muslim officers I would want to mention here will be, retired Lt. General Syed Ata Hasnain and Lt. General Zameer Uddin Shah (brother of famous Bollywood thespian Naseer Uddin Shah).
The founding fathers of a young nation also rightly kept the army away from the state. So we had two parallel forms of functioning in the country. One noted for its misgovernance, corruption, and lack of professionalism, and the latter being epitomized as the hallmark of professionalism. And professionalism of the Indian Army is second to none. Having experienced two arms of the Armed forces from close quarters in my life, I must say, I am in total awe of the professionalism of the Army. This is my personal commentary and I do not intend to offend the other arms. The way the Army manages so efficiently with meagre resources at disposal is exemplary. The camaraderie and passions the jawaans, who give 15 years of their lives to the service of the nation is by no small means praiseworthy. Out of all the forces, the Indian Army has lost the most and continues to lose men day after day. Even though, there have been only 5 official wars. Despite this, thousands of young Indians continue to aspire to become Army officers and jawaans, and becoming one is really very competitive. Anyone who has applied for NDA would know this.
I have been privileged to speak to many Army officers, JCOs and other ranks. The humanism and a different outlook towards life that they have, is something that is noteworthy. Most of them had faced adversity and few had escaped death. Yet, it had not swayed their commitment to their duty. These men did not morph into professional men in uniform in months. The Major that I met, might have studied in a military school, then spent 3 rigorous years at the NDA, followed by another year at the IMA. This does not end here. Soon he will have to go through young officer’s course, spend time at forward posts and continue to go through courses at various military training schools across India. The gentlemen I had pleasure interacting with, would be a different person if I had met him during college days or, had he not joined the army. Few of them will take this professionalism to the second phase of their career in corporate world. No wonder private companies are more than happy to take them on board. The adverse working conditions that these men experience has also shaped up a strong sense of brotherhood. A soldier will always be empathetic to his fellow soldiers. They can give up their lives for each other and an Indian Army officer will put his life at the stake and lead from the front. The officer to men casualty ratio in the Indian Army is one of the highest in the world. The making of a professional soldier takes years and it can only happen in a professional environment.
Very recently a commanding officer attained martyrdom on line of duty. Do you expect the youth who does not want to take up Army as a career and just want to experience it will put his life at stake? Why would you want to give such youths less risky jobs for TOD? Don’t you have enough that could deservingly fill up these posts. What is this obsession of trying to attract talent from premier technical institutes like the IITs. The IITs have a different role in the nation. I am sure some have indirectly helped the armed forces by working at organisations like DRDO. By the way, don’t you consider NDA as a premier institute?
The two generals have done great disservice to the ethos and tradition of the Indian Army. The mere thought of TOD has belittled the making of a soldier. If in just 3 years, the General thinks that he can transform a youth into a paragon of Army’s professionalism that the corporate will vie for, he is mistaken. I am guessing the General has included training in that as well. If the General’s think tank feels this is possible, they should cut down the training tenure at the extant military academies. It will lead to greater savings. Let the general do the maths but I am sure the numbers will be much bigger then what he has come up with for TOD.
If implemented, in a course of a decade, it will dilute the ethos and be responsible for the slow demise of the respect for the men in olive green. This respect is a result of blood and toil of people who have served before and are serving currently. For god’s sake General, please do not try to gauge nation’s mood or make decisions on the basis of it. Don’t mix the professionalism of the Indian Army with nationalism and patriotism of youth. Leave the discourse on nationalism to your civilian counterpart. I know they are not as professional as the Indian Army but as a civilian, I would want to continue to give an example of the professionalism of the Indian Army. Things like TOD will not help. You said you are trying to hit two birds, one cost, and the other, shortage of officers, with the same bullet. Both of these are laughable arguments and already WhatsApp forwards from serving officers are dumping them in graveyard. If you really want to work on some game changing ideas, then work on the topics of gender parity and inclusion of transgenders in the armed forces. Both of these are touchy subjects in the armed forces circles. Can you dare to make some progress on them? That will be truly game changing.
In fact, lets take this “tour of duty” to other branches of the government.
- How about “a month tour of the Parliament?” to stop corruption, crime and illiteracy in national politics.
- How about “a year in the Indian bureaucracy?”, to check lackadaisical and corrupt bureaucrats?
- How about a year at the high courts?, to clear thousands of backlog of cases. After all, the youth of today claims itself to be much learned and decide on what is right and what is wrong?
I think I should end this write-up. If you are not alarmed by the General’s statement, I will leave you with the thought of the General having an own program on the lines of “Mann ki baat”, where the General will directly talk to the youth. Imagine him asking the youth of the nation on “General se baat” platform, “Should we wage a war against Pakistan?”. If you think I am being farfetched, and this won’t happen in a democratic country like India, let me ask you this, did you ever think that India would have a Prime Minister who will plainly refuse to talk to the media?
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PS: Talking about tapping the patriotism and nationalism of youth, how about revisiting the Sainik School system and other military schools. The Sainik school system in particular, lies in shambles. The last time the issue came up in the Parliament, mere 100 crores were awarded to more than two dozen of schools across India. They have struggled to keep their brand intact with the rise of private English medium school systems across India. Sainik Schools have a great potential to contribute to the right idea of nationalism and patriotism in India. Re-invent them. Anyone who wishes to know what is life like in the armed forces can study in them. Trust me, it will be truly game changing and at a much smaller cost to the state. After all, did not the general say, these so called enthusiastic folks want to experience life in the army but not as a career. What better way to do it then? We will kill many birds with a single bullet.
