Nation must know the truth

  THE act of sacking Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat has indeed generated a deep controversy. It would have been much better had it been avoided dextrously, since the matter in question concerns the armed forces of the nation, whose supreme command is vested in the President under Article 53 of the Constitution.

The manner in which the Admiral has been removed, indeed, smacks of a political cobweb. All the five questions mentioned in the signed editorial (Jan 4), of course, remains unanswered so long as a White Paper is not issued.

The most relevant question is centred around the third posed through the editorial: “...if there was anything adverse about the conduct of Admiral Bhagwat, why was he then promoted as Naval Chief in the first instance? There must have been a routine enquiry into his character-related issue as well. Was it adverse?”

So, until a proper and fair enquiry is held, the extreme punishment inflicted upon the former Naval Chief appears unjust. Actions like sacking result in a social stigma and that too for a person of the Admiral’s stature.

All said and done, if still silence is maintained, this will be tantamount to having committed a sin.

SHASHI K. GALHOTRA
Abohar

TIME TO RETHINK ON DEFENCE: The editorial says, “The armed forces cannot be allowed to become a plaything in the hands of politicians”. Alas, this is precisely what the politicians want to achieve. This has been proved by the fact that while the Admiral has been summarily sacked, the Defence Secretary has been merely transferred. Perhaps the strong union of the bureaucrats has something to do with this sordid state of affairs.

However, has anybody at the helm realised that the nation is paying a heavy price for these dangerous games? As a veteran of 38 years in the IAF and a student of national affairs, I can say this with confidence that ever since Independence things had been inexorably moving to such a denouement.

India was among the very few newly independent Third World countries that remained truly democratic. The armed forces were apolitical and thoroughly professional in their ethos. However, due to lack of self-confidence on the part of the ruling elite there was a determined effort to “subjugate” the military top brass by the civilian authorities. Consequently, men like Krishna Menon started playing duck and drakes with the Generals’ careers. The Menon tradition is being faithfully followed to this date.

If General Thimmaya’s resignation and subsequent withdrawal did not snowball into a major controversy, this was because of both Nehru’s stature and the General’s self-restraint. There have been several questionable decisions regarding postings and appointments ever since. Nevertheless, nothing can match the present case, which has reached scandalous proportions.

If we look at the Western democracies, we find most of the politicians and civilian administrators have a strong grounding in military matters. They either have done a stint as soldiers or have been associated with the armed forces in one way or the other. This helps them appreciate the special professional needs of the forces. All decisions are thus taken keeping the best interests of the nation in mind. This is not true in our case. Parochialism, nepotism and casteism are slowly but surely eating into the vitals of the only reliable professional entity left in the country.

It is time a rethink was done on the issue of handling sensitive defence matters. The Defence Minister should be a retired armed forces General, Marshal or Admiral with proven mettle and integrity.

A.N. WADEHRA
Panchkula

AVOIDABLE PUNISHMENT: The unceremonial dismissal of Admiral Bhagwat is a lopsided decision. How is that his integrity, after his having served the nation for 38 long years, became doubtful in the eyes of the government only six months before his retirement. Even a Class IV civilian employee is not sent packing the way the Admiral has been made to experience.

Politicising the armed forces may not do any good to the nation, and should be avoided at all costs.

BALRAJ SINGH PATIAL
Hamirpur

A distorted picture

This has reference to the news-item “GJU officials charge-sheeted” published some time ago. The report, containing the allegation of illegal help by officials of GJ University to the management of the Al-Falah School of Engineering & Technology (AFSET) or their connivance is devoid of any truth and merit. The only case of a student of AFSET approaching a court is for allowing its students to appear in the examination. The position, however, is stated as follows:

The students had appeared in the examination pursuant to the orders passed by the Civil Judge, Gurgaon, and, therefore, his permission cannot be interrupted as illegal as had been made of. It is absolutely false to allege any malpractice on the part of officials of the university or any connivance with the management of our institution. It is also clarified that the Superintendent (Legal Cell) of the university had appeared in person in the court of Mr M.P. Mahendiratta, Additional District Judge, Gurgaon on 2.6.98.

Thus it is abundantly clear that the news-item gives a distorted, wholly misleading and incorrect picture.

It is also a fact that this institution has never denied admission to any student belonging to a minority community till date if he had fulfilled the minimum qualifying conditions for admission prescribed by the university. Moreover, this institution carried over 23 vacant seats in the first academic session, 1997-98, to which the news-items pertains.

M.S. FAROOQI,
Director (Education), AFSET
Dhouj (Faridabad)