The British granted India independence in 1947. I use the word ‘granted’ because that is what it actually was. Despite minor pinpricks like the Indian National Army led by Subhas Bose and Gandhi’s civil disobedience movement, the British left the country after 200 years of ruling on their own. The basic problem was the cost of maintaining India after the devastation of the Second World War, which loaded the dice in favor of leaving India.
The British withdrew from India but left behind a well-oiled civilian structure and the army in its place. The Indian state thus inherited a first-class army that had proven its mettle during two world wars. He was an excellent fighting machine with high morale, as can be seen from the fact that in 1897, 21 Sikhs from the British Indian Army faced a horde of 10,000 Muslims for the good of the queen and the British Empire in Saragrahi, now in western Pakistan. .
But after independence, the Nehru-led Congress had little idea of military power and hard-line politics, which was replaced by idealism and naivety. The result was disastrous as China lost a large area in Ladakh. Also, Pakistani raiders occupied a third of Kashmir just after independence (1948). The army staff at the time was unable to have any impact on Nehru and the Congress party and only played a passive role. Thus the view gained strength that the army was an unnecessary appendage to be tolerated rather than cared for. This state of affairs was the result of the Indian General Staff which, with a trained force under his command, allowed itself to be dominated and intimidated by the civil authority.
The Indian general staff thus abdicated its decision-making ability and allowed the army to go bankrupt. No strong concerted effort was made to convince the government of the need to improve the infantry or armored corps. This had its repercussions and the Chinese gave India a nosebleed in the 1962 India-China conflict. This negligence resulted in the Indian soldier facing the well-trained Chinese army equipped with obsolete .303 bolt-action rifles. Worse, winter clothing was not available and the army soldier was expected to fight in the snow in conventional clothing. Thus, the defeat was a natural corollary. The situation reached its lowest point when Gen Thaper, a four-star general, accepted orders from a deputy secretary in the Government of India.
Thus, the seeds of submission were sown in the minds of successive General Staff officers, including the Air Force and Navy, and they abdicated their primary responsibility for equipping and modernizing the army. Furthermore, the welfare of the officers and men under his command was neglected. Thus, when the Indian Army faced Pakistan in 1965, the vaunted Patton tanks failed only due to the poor training of the Pakistan Army and the individual bravery of the Indian soldier, although he was handicapped by outdated tanks like the Sherman tank and the AMX tank.
Over a period of time, the fortunes of officers and soldiers in the armed forces deteriorated further. So much so that in the 1980s and 1990s becoming a lieutenant colonel became very difficult as only one in four was promoted. This negatively affected morality and cynicism set in. The government of then Defense Minister Venkatram proposed that the full ranks of colonel be introduced after 16; 18 years of service. Unfortunately, the Indian General Staff did not accept these proposals.
The mid 1980s was again a period where the Indian General Staff let things go astray. The wage-setting anomaly in which rank pay was to be given in addition to the base salary was not effected. This was contrary to the recommendations of the payment commission. But the General Staff did not represent this to the Government at all. Individual officers were left to appeal to the courts, an unprecedented proposition.
To make matters worse, Air Chief SK Sareen received a proposal that improved flight pay for air force pilots without any increase for engineering and technical officers. Severe turmoil in the officer ranks followed and the government had to step in and restore normalcy. Additional flight payment was suspended.
Over the years, the chiefs allowed a systematic demotion of officers’ rank against civilian counterparts in the order of precedence with a disastrous result on morale and overall status in society. An example will suffice. In 1947, a district police chief was equal to a major, but now he is equal to a 2-star general! The bosses themselves have been demoted to 14 or 15 in the order of precedence.
The caciques have let things drift and at no time have they pressured the government. The result is that officers and men have suffered. The recent episode in which the government refused to implement a ruling of the supreme court on the rank salary and, in turn, filed an appeal for review of the sentence is an example of this. The caciques were literally not consulted and could not exercise their authority. Even the demand for rank one pension from soldiers and officers is not accepted and has been simmering for more than 30 years. This is a sad read.
The country today is held together only by the armed forces, this is a thought that is anathema to civil authority. Should the army withdraw from Kashmir and the northeast, will these parts remain in the hands of the mother country? With the Maoist insurgency also rearing its head, the Chiefs of Staff have all the aces up their sleeves. But it is a sad comment that his court order does not run with the Government. However, as the general staff has failed, it is up to the government to act quickly and restore confidence in the troops. The delay could be dangerous.
