Another response to Wednesday's Indian Express editorial

Today's Indian Express editorial has sure stirred the 6th Pay Commission pot a different way! Here's another response from a senior retired officer to the editorial, this time from Maj Gen Rajendra Prakash (Retd), based in Dehradun:

Sir,

Your leader “It’s the Uniform”, is clearly an inspired piece of somewhat vicious sophistry, plugging with a bare-faced effrontery, for the powerful politico-bureaucratic combine. It makes no pretence at rationality, reasoning or fairness. Cleverness with words is one thing, but wither your much-flaunted mast-head "Because the Truth involves us All"?

Your leader implies in so many words that the three Service Chiefs are obsessed with trivia, because they have taken up jointly, a strong case for the removal of some gross anomalies deliberately introduced (by whom?) in the Government orders, implementing 6th Pay Commission report. Unfortunately, the value judgement you have passed, does not bother to touch upon the merits of the issues on which the Chiefs and the Armed Forces are so upset and agitated. It is not the money, but the steady whittling down of the 'inter se' status of the military vis-a-vis the civil services. If this does not make any difference to the functional efficiency of organizations, why has the bureaucrat striven so diligently (and successfully ), since 1947, to do down the Indian Armed Forces?

It would be a dereliction of duty by the Service Chiefs, if they were to let go the interests of those they command. It would please the politician and the bureaucrat no doubt, but would be a betrayal of comrades-in-arms.

The ever-proliferating bureaucracy diminishes itself with each proliferation (witness as many as 8 Director Generals Police in a state, including a DGP (Rules), a DGP (Housing} and so on !). But the Armed Forces do not seek for their equations to be enhanced, but only to be maintained and not depressed further. Apart from moral, there are strong functional reasons for this.

Indian Armed Forces have sustained the integrity of their country over last 61 years, at a heavy cost, for the sake of their fellow countrypersons, who are the salt of the earth, but not for the sake of convicted murderers, crooks, thieves and pious hypocrites, many of whom presume to lead us, or the self-seeking and corrupt, many of whom administer us, or even the sophists, who can sell their intellects!

It is said that it is a foolish person indeed, who tries to chop-down the very tree-branch, on which he happens to be sitting!

Yours faithfully,
Rajendra Prakash

Photo ©Copyright Shiv Aroor/LiveFist / Army jawans at Uri, J&K, October 2005

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