Soldiers paying respects to soldiers?

(Courtesy South Asia Monitor-uploaded on 23 Dec14)

Vijay Diwas;India needs a national war memorial

For the past 43 years the Armed Forces of India have been celebrating or commemorating the victory over Pakistan in 1971. Laying wreaths at scores of war memorials set up by numerous Military establishments around India, is a solemn and mandatory part of the celebration.

War memorials are meant to remind our citizens of the sacrifices made by their soldiers. That, successive Governments overlooked the need for a National War Memorial at Delhi is well known to most of us. The present Government has made a commitment which appears to be grand and hopefully we will see it materialise within their tenure of five years. Nevertheless, damage has been done to the memory of warriors who have lost their lives in several operations since Independence, both in peace and war. 

Existing Memorials have been erected and maintained by the soldiers themselves with the exception of those erected at Pune and Bengaluru. The former was funded by sustained campaigns conducted by soldiers, citizens/activists along with efforts made by the Indian Express group. The latter is a laudable effort of Sri Rajiv Chandrashekhar MP, who has been championing the cause of the Soldier for many years. The Pune memorial has even received the title of National War Memorial! Such a title is flawed on many counts.

A National Memorial has to be created by society through Governments, preferably in the Capital city and not merely by soldiers fighting for it in any city. In the extant case, it is located like all other war memorials, on Military property which is inaccessible to tourists and visitors for most part of the year, save on occasions such as Vijay Diwas. All the arrangements and invitations are issued by Military authorities and the function is populated by the serving and retired soldiers and not the citizen who wishes to pay his respects. Even ministers or senior civil authorities avoid these functions as they are construed as pure Military ceremonials or perhaps they do not care for the sacrifices of the soldier due to compulsions of vote bank politics.

Unless the caring citizen who wishes to pay his respects to the departed soldier has access to the memorial, such as Rajghat at Delhi, war memorials will continue to remain out of reach of the citizen. Every visiting foreign head of state starts his visit by paying respects to the Father of the Nation; he will pay respects to the departed soldier too- not the unknown soldier but the soldier whose name is inscribed in letters of gold on the walls surrounding the memorial.

Most countries who have fought long wars have realised the need to glorify the profile of the departed soldier so that it remains etched in the conscience of the citizen and consequently the society as a whole. By failing to do so on many pretexts including the one that "Amar Jawan at Delhi is good enough", we have unwittingly relegated the importance of the wars fought after independence.

Vijay Diwas is also an occasion to take stock of the insensitivity displayed by the society as a whole to the plight of the war wounded and disabled soldiers and equally of the war widows of independent India. Why is it that the media or activists have remained silent witnesses to the scores of court cases filed by elected Governments challenging the legitimate claims of the soldier. In most cases the highest court of India has ruled in favour of the soldier and yet Governments have delayed the benefits which were long denied. This is a peculiar if not deviant way of showing our appreciation to the soldier.

One reason could be that most, if not all the wars fought since Independence, have not touched the citizens of India barring those who live on the borders. People were willing to part with their gold if the Government was in need of financial support to fight the war. Yet when the Indian Government ordered our soldiers to intervene in Sri lanka and we lost valuable lives to protect their freedom, our Prime Minister, on a visit to Colombo a few years ago, declined to inaugurate a War Memorial dedicated to Indian Soldiers which was built by the Sri Lankans in the prime property adjoining their own War Memorial. The reason was as impious as coalition politics.

 In comparison millions of lives were lost during WW1 and WW2 in UK,Europe,USA ,Soviet Union and Japan. Almost every family had lost a member and the Wars lasted for years. One may conclude perhaps erroneously that only long wars would sensitise our society to respect the needs of a soldier. Arthashastra contains references to the dangers to the society if soldiers are not well cared for both in service and after retirement.

Both the politician and the bureaucrat are products of our society. An 'uneducated' society would be oblivious to  the justifiable needs of a soldier. If that be so, how would we educate and sensitise the society in the first instance, so that the by-product that enters governance-related structures is well equipped to deal with the travails and tribulations of a soldier?

Given that long wars are unlikely between nations and that terrorism-related and ideological/religious skirmishes have the potential to inflict devastating damage and loss of lives, we need to bridge the yawning gap between the soldier and the state or the soldier and the society.

Making Military training a part of the academic profile of every Indian may well be a solution.

Need to bridge chasm between India's Citizen and Military

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Need to bridge chasm between India's citizen and military

Posted:Oct 21, 2014 

    

  

  

By Vice Admiral Suresh Bangara

Can you deny that the military in India today is 'an enigma wrapped in a riddle'? There is just no connectivity with even the better informed citizens of India.

Most would not know even the rank structure or what the military does in peace time.  Each passing year will make it worse unless we initiate some corrective measures. Why is there such a large chasm between the citizen and the military?

At the time of Independence due to the preceding great wars which lasted for half a decade each, there was enough understanding of the duties, trials and tribulations of a soldier. Indeed the British used a large number of Indians to fight their wars. Consequently, most Indian families belonging to both undivided India and post Partition were in awe of the soldier.

This was further bolstered when fiercely patriotic Indian soldiers and sailors made a very difficult decision to fight the British in pursuit of freedom for India. These are well documented. In 1946 sailors of the Royal Indian Navy mutinied and set the stage for the subsequent freedom struggle. The fact that any Indian soldier worth his salt was a quintessential patriot, expedited the withdrawal of the British occupation forces.

While India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and V.K. Krishna Menon, his trusted defence minister, were known for their belief that the days of war were over and that fighting for peace and tranquility at the UN was the flavour of the day, the consequent downscaling and neglect of the armed forces had to be hastily redressed after and during offensive actions in 1947, 1962 and 1965.

The trauma of 1962 and the subsequent efforts to rejuvenate the military served a very important purpose of keeping the soldier engraved in the hearts and minds of the Indian citizen. However, long periods of no war -no peace coupled with unusually long deployment of the army on counter insurgency operations have willy-nilly relegated the relative importance of the soldier in our society.

The uncaring attitude of successive governments to deny justifiable demands of the veterans, and repeated attempts to sideline the cause of the veterans have had deleterious effects on the importance of the soldier in our society. A society which fails to care for the serving and retired soldier invariably is guilty of lowering the image of the soldier which is synonymous with lowering the prestige of the country as a whole.

 On matters military, discipline, national integration and leadership, what has gone largely unappreciated is the fact that the National Cadet Corp act of 1948 slowly but surely engaged the entire youth from schools and colleges across the country. We had thus created a precious resource of the largest trained youth power in the world. By the early 1960s, lateral entry into the three services had begun. Many young men and women not only realised the importance of the military but were fiercely patriotic due the curriculum which nurtured their resolve to place the country above all. Currently the strength of NCC stands at 13 lakh cadets. It has the potential to double if not triple the number.

Periodically, the question of instilling discipline among the youth has been under discussion among the intellectuals. Making NCC compulsory for all students is an option that has found favour, but was not implemented due to resource constraints. What might be the broad contours of such constraints? Budgetary consideration is the foremost. Currently the centre and state governments have a clear cut responsibility for sharing financial and manpower related burden.  This in turn has largely limited the growth of NCC.

For instance, there are 100,000 cadets who have volunteered from schools and colleges of Maharashtra. Increase in population has resulted in creation of more educational institutions, both government-run and those of the private sector. There are 800 educational bodies on the waiting list to raise more units of NCC. Given the growth of our economy in recent years and the ability to fund schemes of national importance, it would appear that budgetary limitation may not be as big an obstacle as it was in the earlier decades.

The manpower requirements of the training and administrative staff from the three services is the second constraint. The services are unable to provide additional staff to meet the enhanced load of training. This can be resolved by permitting ex-servicemen to undertake this task through an ordinance or an amended NCC act of the parliament. This will also provide much needed post retirement opportunities to the large number of soldiers and officers who enter the job market every year.

There are two other issues which need scrutiny. The first is to expeditiously introduce e-governance to make accounting and administration as transparent as possible to avoid misuse of scarce resources. The second pertains to the Armed Forces themselves, who have relegated this rich source of potential recruits, to the lower rungs of priority.

In the 1960s when I was a NCC cadet, senior service officers availed every opportunity to visit the nearest NCC units during their tours. It was indeed a source of inspiration for the impressionable minds of the young students. In spirit alone they could match the best serving personnel of the forces.

From the foregoing, it would appear that investing wisely in training the youth while simultaneously exposing them to discipline, leadership and national integration is a desirable option. If we lack one vital trait as Indians today, it is discipline.

So, let us reap the benefits of the much-touted demographic dividend of India. Here is a low hanging fruit ready to be picked. If implemented, this single step would bring the youth - the dominant segment of our population for the foreseeable future - closer to the military as never before and bridge the gap between the citizen and the military.

(Vice Admiral Suresh Bangara is a former FOC-in-C, Southern Naval Command. He can be contacted atsouthasiamonitor1@gmail.com)

  

  

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Customs and traditions

Customs, Traditions Dress Codes et al..

A pluralistic, multilingual, multi-ethnic, multi-religious India is coming to terms with scores of issues that need discussions, debates and most of all resolution where possible. It is hence disconcerting to see  dress codes in institutions and clubs engaging the attention of regional political 'satraps'. They have been compelled to protect their sub national predilections on attires to be worn, through legislations, orders and threats to managing committees of private recreational clubs and institutions. As a sequel, some less informed civilians have now begun to challenge dress codes enforced at recreational facilities for the Armed Forces of India. 

Customs and traditions play a vital role in the lives of men/women in uniform. Rules of conduct and regulations/instructions, on almost all activities pertaining to their existence in service, promote camaraderie, discipline, mutual respect and honour.

It is not that our Armed forces have remained static and inflexible. For instance, wearing of a tie in establishments has been done away with, many decades ago. Aspirations of the younger generation have been accommodated so long as they are reasonable and do not vitiate the disciplined environment or hurt the sensitivity and sensibilities of both the old and the young.

Care and sensitivity has been on display when parents of passing out cadets who have never worn trousers or any form of western attire for instance, are received on these formal occasion and entertained in their traditional attire. Why then can we not permit serving officers too in their traditional dress for recreational purposes, as in a club?

Firstly, given the diversity of India, numerous attires and head gear can be classified as traditional. Is it a kurta -pyjama, lungi  or veshti, Dugli-Pheta and many more combinations with colourful head gear too. It is for this reason that  Bandh- gala has been made a formal dress for occasions listed by the Government of India. Even Ministers who do not wear  trousers or other western attire are seen in Bandh- gala when they attend formal occasions  abroad. Trousers and shirts can no longer be categorised as Western attire, it is as universal as the English language is. That a dress code is an accepted tradition world over proves that decorum and deportment are considered to be a desirable attribute. 

Secondly, just as the uniform binds people and brings dignity to those who wear them, uniformity in dress code in clubs too gives a distinct identity. Take for instance the Chinese, who for decades following the creation of the Peoples Liberation Army, stuck to simple uniforms  without rank badges for both officers and men. Separate uniforms for officers and men were introduce only in the 1990's after decades of experiment on egalitarianism failed to achieve the desired end objective. Appropriate dress codes are enforced by most institutions in the world.

Officers and soldiers must be seen to be conscious of their dress even when out of uniform. People instinctively or subconsciously expect them to be different from  the others. 

What needs to be changed or reinforced is the extant tendency to pay less attention to the uniform one wears. Head gear is an essential part of uniform. Walking in uniform on streets without head gear makes a soldier or an officer incorrectly dressed and hence indisciplined. Improperly dressed military men appear like disinterested policemen. Insulting the uniform is the worst offense one can commit. This is the reason why so much attention was paid to turn out, which is a clear sign of discipline, apart from being an indicator of good morale.

In terms of traditions, perhaps it is time to Indianise some useful customs followed by the Military. Dinner nights in our messes is a good example. Dignified and solemn as they are, yet the process and procedures could be termed as a bit anachronistic, when the band plays a waltz in the background or when bagpipers burst on the scene. The oldies have to give way to the  generation which has no exposure to such grandiose procedures. Traditions have changed with times even in Britain which may be on its way to losing one third of its territory to Scotland! May be they did not change fast enough.

We are infinitely more challenged in composition of our manpower and hence it would be prudent to start a debate on those customs and traditions in our Military which are not relevant today.

Impressions of South Africa-Our recent sojourn.

Just when I thought that I, as an erstwhile Sea-Warrior, would perhaps not be fortunate to visit the Cape of Good Hope,my wife and I were presented with an opportunity to visit South Africa. 'God's Own Country' is a terminology used by the State of Kerala to attract tourists in India.South Africa is truly pampered and blessed by mother nature. 'A tapestry of intricate waterscapes in myriad forms; a palette of rainbow hues-a symphony of wind kissed mountains...' that is how Kerala is described. South Africa has it all and due to its location in the Southern hemisphere she is blessed with heavenly weather.

Let me go beyond tourism and record my observations on common challenges that the Republic of South Africa(RSA) and India face.

 Soon after arrival,the state of good infrastructure would surprise most of us. World class roads,ports and airports. We in India have caught up with airports but not with roads and ports.

 Delhi,Mumbai,Bengaluru and Hyderabad would make us all proud in so far as airports are concerned. Our guide was quick to point out that the roads we traversed were typically tourist circuits and that pot holed roads do exist in the interior parts. He had little idea about what size of pot holed roads we drive on. Often, during and after monsoons even our Metro cities look like the surface of the moon. Not potholes but craters.

I dug a little deeper. Are these the efforts of post apartheid regimes? Not really,I was informed that most of the basic structures and plans were implemented during the pre apartheid era and that since 1994 they have merely resurfaced and expanded on the foundation left behind. The White regime had made good use of the the natural resources of the country to up grade and induct modern facilities that existed in the West.This includes a nuclear power plant in existence for over three decades.That they were also  nuclear weapon capable, until they agreed to destroy their holdings is a point to note.

Given that much like our cast- system,   they now have Blacks,Whites,coloured,Asians and Indians and that the Whites have been relegated to third or the fourth lowest category of citizens, the challenges are as many as we face . For instance, meritocracy is no longer  the sole criteria for success. Quotas and mandatory reservations have been institutionalised to protect the long suppressed Black  citizens. Many qualified Whites have migrated to Australia, New Zealand, UK,Europe and USA. Many more are on their way out. Transborder migrations of hordes of   illegal migrants from other parts of the continent, have created their own unique socio-economic challenges which are transgressing into the Socio-Political  space. 

RSA needs a large workforce to execute their modernisation plans. The 55 Million South African are not enough to man the blue and white collared segments of skilled and semi skilled manpower. Although illegal immigrants are a threat to law and order,RSA cannot do without them. RSA being the most prosperous African nation,it is seen as a land of opportunities.  There is a large section of Black indigenous BPL community which is moving into the middle class segment. Cheap labour force of immigrants is filling  the vacuum. Predictably,within a short period the immigrants have started to demand rights for housing and other privileges extended to the poor people of South Africa. In the absence of employment opportunities, crime and drug trafficking have become the quick fix solution for income generation. 

In India too, we have faced large scale migration from Bangladesh and within our own States, the workforce at large, has perforce migrated from the less affluent States . Corruption and misgovernance have afflicted the progress of RSA as much as they have in India.The common man has the same aspirations of our' mango-man'. Better Governance and elimination of corruption.

Decreasing emphasis on meritocracy have led to repercussions which cannot be easily quantified. While very little confidence is reposed in their President, coloured and White citizens are often critical of the incompetence of their elected representatives.
However, I witnessed two international debates with Ministers of the recently formed Govt. One on Energy Policy for RSA and the other on Education. This is the new breed of educated Black women in power. Both impressed me with their homework, knowledge of the subject,which included renewable and nuclear energy and their ability to articulate their thoughts without even a sheet of paper to read from. Cogent,cohesive and pithy- they outshine some of our incompetent and ill prepared Ministers who read scripted material and that too, rather badly.

The English language has survived well during the whole process of rather peaceful transition to the Black- led leadership. Despite competing with Afrikaans and other officially recognised Tribal languages,English language skills have not diminished as in India. From a man on the street to a low paid employee, they appear to possess remarkable and grammatically correct communication skills. In the Globalised environment they stand out as a competent global partner.

A word on management of traffic. The discipline on the roads and strict adherence to traffic laws in all provinces, came as a surprise to us. The laws are same as we have, but the implementation is their secret of success. Excellent electronic surveillance facilities and an upto date data- bank along with real time integration with all the provinces of RSA, permits immediate detection of traffic offence followed by quick communication of penalties to the offender.The only untraced offenders are those who own cars driven across the border. Most toll roads provide RFID based tracking for smooth flow of traffic without any loss of revenue.We have smart cards which cannot be read by a traffic cop nor are we integrated with real time data flow. Enforcing even helmets for two wheelers continues to be a political debate in India. Paradoxically, we are the IT leaders of the world.

If there are two observations of import  based on sights at Johannesburg, they are, the creation of a Mahatma Gandhi square at the heart of the city with a statue of the young Gandhi, which was dedicated as recently as in 2003: and the second, large multi storeyed buildings in the commercial heart of the city lying vacant for decades, consequent to the ouster of prosperous White business men. There are no coloured, black or others who have the capital to move into these impressive commercial structures. A sight unimaginable in most other financial capitals of a country.That tells a story about the future-perhaps.

Lastly, having discovered the freedom of a democracy, long suppressed miners struck work for five months. As is evident during the drive to Sun City, they  continue to live in abysmal conditions. It is the turn of Industrial workers now.  Twenty years of freedom have gone past.

Like us,they too are discovering that,"Free people are not equal(in income) and equal people are not free."

War Room and Decision Making.

"War Room" Enters the political lexicon of India.

will it be adapted for Good Governance ?

Perhaps the largest exercise in logistics in the world, has just been completed in India. General elections covering the length and breadth of India came to an end on 12 May 2014. Conducted over 9 phases, from 07 Apr to 12 May this year, this complex activity covered an estimated 814.5 Million voters of which close to 100 Million were newly eligible this year. It is estimated that the total expenditure incurred by candidates and the Government would be close to US $5 Billion.

Interestingly, well endowed National Parties used cutting edge technology to monitor and embellish their campaign. It is gratifying to note that the word "War Room" has entered the lexicon of political parties in India. Let me explain why.

The concept of' Operations Room' or' War Room' is an integral part of Military operations. It enables rapid dissemination of information to all stake holders, uses the best available means of communication with back up modes, employs well trained personnel to interpret incoming data, analyses and presents material to senior authorities for quick decisions and is always manned 24/7-365days-in peacetime or War.

The only time our political leadership is exposed to this environment is when there is a war, a natural calamity or a catastrophic event of national importance. Given a chance, senior politicians and bureaucrats would rather not be present in a war room, which demands speedy decision- making under hostile conditions. When rapidity of thought and action are demanded from it, our political system which depends on decision- making through Committees and consensus achieved over months of debate, is highly stressed. Ipso facto, it generally resists accountability for decision- making.

Increasingly in the course of their tenure, key Ministers are required to tackle emergencies such as hi-jacking of aircraft, terrorism, natural calamities etc which need an efficient Operations room environment described above. However since the Cabinet Secretary is the senior most civil servant who has the powers of coordination among numerous ministries and State Governments, he is also the leader of the team nominated to tackle an emergency. Going by recent experience of Governance, he may be heading scores of Committees for critical decision making inputs, thus making him a Superman blessed with extraordinary skills of materiel and time management. 

Just to clarify, in War like situations, the War book held by all Ministries contains a list of activities which permit smooth coordination and transition from peace to war.  This assumes that there is sufficient indicators of an impending hostile action by the enemy and that the Government has the sagacity to declare a precautionary state of readiness. Special powers for the Armed Forces to requisition civil transportation and such like activities essential to mobilize, are accorded strictly in consonance with the instructions contained in the book. Operations thereafter are left to the Armed forces to execute within the frame work of broad guide lines of intentions outlined by the Government of the day. The war room/operations room thus becomes the hub of activities during hostilities.

In order to deliver during hostilities, the three services, upgrade and modernize their facilities on a regular basis, to make information- flow as close to real time as possible;  so that they are not found wanting when the need arises.

Civil servants on the other hand neither have the training nor the wherewithal to lead or guide operations for which facilities akin to operations room become a vital link. For instance when a hi jack occurs, various personnel listed in a Government memo which is revised from time to time, would need to congregate at a temporary facility which has the barest minimum communications and information dissemination facility. During the Kandahar Hi jack of IA 814 on Dec 1999, readers would recall that the aircraft could not even be detained at Amritsar due to delay in assessing the situation and consequently deciding on the course of action. Adhoc arrangements and lack of frequent drills often lead to disastrous handling of a sensitive situation.

On a positive note, recognizing the need to handle situations related to aircraft through an organised Operations Room manned by qualified experts, the Indian Air force facilities have recently been brought into the loop. Similarly for Sea- Piracy, the Naval facility has been appropriated. 

In the absence of qualified experts and facilities to expeditiously and efficiently handle less than war situations, we need to find early solutions within the boundaries imposed by peace time limitations.

A possible solution is to identify a permanent team of experts drawn from various agencies of Military ,Police ,Intelligence and Civil services, to activate urgent containment actions in the first instance. This implies that the expert team should either be available in the vicinity of the operations room or at best gettable within 20 minutes or so of the emergency.

Second, a suitable Operations room needs to be identified and equipped with connectivity to numerous civilian agencies that may be required to react to a disaster. A National Disaster Management Authority  exists but it needs to be provided with an operations room which goes beyond natural or man- made disasters along with connectivity to the remotest parts of India.  Cell phones and Satellite communication terminals now, make this highly feasible.

Third, Clear demarcation of responsibility and accountability among decision makers and operational authorities need to be documented for efficient execution of the task.

Fourth, frequent drills need to be conducted to assess the readiness of the team and its ability to receive and disseminate orders/instructions to the remotest parts of India. Unless similar teams are constituted at the State level it is unlikely that the mission can be accomplished expeditiously.

It is in this context that the 'War Room' model employed by Political parties for election, plays an important role to underscore the dire necessity to replicate such models and concepts to meet genuine national  emergencies. It is an inextricable component of good governance. 

A holistic review and prophylactic actions are the need of the hour.

Vice Admiral(Retd) Suresh Bangara former C-in-C of Southern Naval Command was also the head of Naval Operations from 1999 to 2002 and the first Deputy Chief of Operations of HQ Integrated Defence Staff

National Pride

The Inviolable Sanctity of National Pride-Address Basic Issues First

We take for granted that most Indians, if not all, can sing and understand the contents of our National Anthem. Thanks to electronic media and cable TV, those who did not have the opportunity to learn the National Anthem at  school or through audio-visual shows, have crossed the first threshold of merely singing it. Next, what about contents and meaning of the anthem; written in highly sanskritised Bengali and later translated into Hindi.

 Sanskrit itself has lost its predominant place among Indian languages.  . It was the preferred language in most schools which offered a choice of languages other than the official language of the state, until perhaps the mid 1950s. Not so today. Efforts to revive Sanskrit have now commenced, due to its reported compatibility with mathematics and computers.

Some countries such as Australia and South Africa, have made their anthem bi-lingual so as to preserve the culture and language of the aborigines/original inhabitants. That  was practical and effective as English remains their National language.

If Sanskrit in India is as neglected as is popularly believed, it becomes necessary and mandatory to translate the contents of our anthem, in all the major languages of India. Presently it is the responsibility of the citizen to understand the power of its content. There is no dearth of English and other versions of Tagore's masterpiece. A brief survey has revealed that most are happy to just sing the anthem even if the contents are not fully understood. Imagine the force multiplier effect if they also understood the spirit behind the words of the poem.

 How many of those who have just working knowledge of Hindi understand what Tagore had so lovingly conceived as salutations to India?  Those who live in deep down South and the corners of North East India need also to be inspired by the contents of the anthem. Electronic, print and social media along with smart phones make this possible today-  provided we have an accountable element of the Government which is tasked to do so. Is there a need to educate our masses on the relevance of the flag, national anthem, national flower, national bird and national animal? I would argue for it for reasons more than a score. The end of this article has an anecdotal evidence for the need to think anew.

Incidentally, Bangladesh adopted Tagore's poem "Amar Sonar Bangla" as their National Anthem. But then it was written in their National language too and hence is understood by every Bangladeshi. There is thus an emotional connect in addition to the patriotic flavour of the anthem.

How then can every Indian Citizen imbibe the spirit and intent of the anthem while singing it with pride and emotions that the occasion deserves. Is that the primary reason why most people singing the national anthem appear to be mechanical and not emotional?

 The English translation of 'Jana gana mana' was done by Margaret Cousin, which was meant for a slow rendition style. The orchestral choral adaptation was meant for ceremonial purposes. This 52 second rendition was composed by Herbert Murrill. There is also an abridged version (with the first and last lines only) for specific  ceremonial occasions.

This raises a number of practical questions. Herbert Murill composed the orchestral version keeping in mind that the National anthem should be short and inspirational as it is sung/played on solemn occasions, often in the presence of the Military.. What then are the occasions when Margaret Cousin's version may be sung? I am sure such occasions are hidden away in numerous orders on the subject which remain inaccessible to many.

Theatres too have begun to play different variants of the Anthem. In the absence of clarifications and instructions easily accessible to all, it is likely that a 'pop' variant would hit the stage soon. 

I was forced to introspect on the subject, due to a recent incident. A casual visit to a film show at a local theatre turned out to be eventful. When the National Anthem duly preceded by a request to rise was played, the entire audience stood up- save one. Here was a man a few rows ahead, who continued to text on his I- Phone while being firmly seated in his chair.  Come intermission, I walked up to him and with great restraint said, "You Sir, must be the most troubled man in India which prevented you from rising for the National Anthem" He, with nonchalance, brushed me aside and replied, "That Sir is a long story." Little did I imagine that in my life time I shall meet a young man so angry with his motherland.

So, was it ignorance ,apathy, anger, rebellion,.....?  My mind raced back to post Vietnam scenes in Washington DC when unhappy and discontented demonstrators displayed anti-national sentiments. . Is this a process of evolution which is best left unaddressed or does it reflect the need to legislate or even better, create awareness through public private partnership.

Governments are notorious for inability to reach out to the people, except during elections. This subject needs bipartisan/multi party consensus and innovative programmes cutting across party lines. Sadly,  many of the elected representatives themselves need a crash course on the subject of Patriotism.

Post Election Dilemma

Post Election Dilemma- National Security Paradigm 2014

Whoever occupies the chair of PM will have to address a whole range of inadequacies which are systemic and inherited over six decades. Even if policy/decision making/implementation paralysis is overcome through speedy governance, major unaddressed  institutional weaknesses would continue to stymie good intentions. While this may be applicable to all departments of the Govt, it has special significance to National Security as a whole.

A few examples should suffice. Given that India has had no political leader who has had in-depth  knowledge of functioning of Armed Forces and that the post independence period has seen only short bursts of wars not exceeding a couple of weeks at a time, both the decision maker and the citizen has little to offer in terms of worthwhile contribution to National Security. An un informed leadership and an indifferent citizen-many of who did not have to face the terrible consequences of a great war lasting for years, constitute  a       recipe for disaster.

Who was an effective defence Minister who earned the respect of our Forces since independence? Perhaps Indira Gandhi, while not holding defence but providing political leadership of a high quality during the 1971 war and later Jaswant Singh as an interim defence minister in 2001. A rank outsider who made an impact and strived to strengthen the institution of national security was Arun Singh. In my memory of 40 years in the navy, civil-military relations were at their optimum best when Arun Singh was RRM and later when he headed the study on Defence Management, after the Kargil crisis. Creation of CDS, integrating MOD with service headquarters, creation of tri-service commands , delegation of financial and administrative  powers to the Chief  and many more long pending reforms were steered by him personally. But he quit at a crucial stage of implementation, the Govt changed and we slid back to the bad old days of laissez faire.

The Armed Forces of India were structured to induct, train and fight along well tested methods of the British experience. These were modified when India had an intense phase of interaction with the Soviet Union. During the cold war, not only did we send some of our bright officers to undergo courses in UK,USA,France,Australia and Japan, we also kept our doors open to all of them to avail of reciprocal training facilities in India. All this, even as a very large percentage of our officers were sent for courses and acquisition of platforms/weapons to the erstwhile Soviet Union. India was often called a Soviet ally and those of us on training with the Western block were isolated from operational closed door sessions.

Intermingling and interaction with the Western block and concurrently with the Eastern block during the cold war era was an experience that few armed forces in the world could have boasted about. What it did to our personnel is that it exposed them to the critical deficiencies in higher level defence management in India as compared to the closed Soviet system and a democratic Western model  . This experience reinforced a strong desire among the thinking military leaders, to be a part of the decision making process pertaining to National Defence. A desire which is yet to be noted or noticed by successive governments.

 While most countries had integrated their armed forces for efficient management of resources, India continued to follow an outdated and vacuous process based largely on the presumed dangers of military intervention in politics of India. Bureaucratic dominance at MOD and the convoluted process of decision making which led to lead time of decades to acquire new systems, were a product of the neglect to reform the system. Numerous committees have underlined the need to reform and rewrite the business rules  of MOD.

What needs to be done?

The new Govt would need to complete the incomplete process of implementing the Kargil Review Committee report and the decisions of the then GOM. It may be noted that most institutional  reforms implemented in western democracies were politically thrust on the reluctant forces, who more often than not, hold on to their turfs. But then ,those politicians who successfully brought about reforms had a deep understanding of national security due to their long contribution in active service and war. How do we tackle this weakness which cannot be wished away?

 One option is to reconstitute the implementation committee of the erstwhile Defence Management, with those originally tasked to do so. If necessary,consider including retired senior officers of known professional competence and integrity from the three services and Foreign Service in particular. The latter not only interact with Armed forces personnel in India but also in various parts of the world during their service. This has to be a time bound activity in order  that the newly elected Govt is enabled to perform within its tenure.  

The Integrated Defence headquarters and tri service commands of Andaman and Nicobar as well as Strategic Forces are already functional. The IDS which is currently toothless as it functions under an equally toothless COSC, would finally be empowered as the staff of CDS.

The Govt would have a single point adviser in CDS and the integrated MOD would fulfill the long standing desire of the uniformed community to participate in decision- making and policy- making process of the Govt. The RM would be better served with professional advice on both counts. It will ensure close rapport at all levels and eliminate the 'We versus them' syndrome which is all pervasive in the Ministry.

This is just the beginning. We need to address the interface with NSA and the role of CDS in all policy and decision making bodies of higher level committees and Group of ministers. Just professionalise the whole gamut of National Security.

Vice Admiral Suresh Bangara was the former C-in-C of the Southern Naval Command and the first Deputy Chief Of operations of IDS  headquarters