Veterans In Politics-A solution to Civil Military Relations.

New Generation Parties and  Veterans of India-A Force Multiplier?

Thanks to a visionary Commanding Officer, who performed his duties of grooming young officers with an eye on the future, I was introduced to Samuel Huntington's book on Civil Military Relations at a very early stage of my Naval career. India then ,was too young a democracy to predict the trends in civil-military relations or to be able to steer a debate on essentials of this critical relationship in matters of good governance. Generations of Military officers grew up with a sub optimal understanding of remaining apolitical in a democracy. As I was to learn later, most senior leaders had not grappled with issues pertaining to the duties of a soldier in a democracy, more importantly when the political leadership in India, barring those who lived through World war 2, were completely at sea when it came to matters military. Isolating the Military from decision making processes of the Government was based on a mis- perceived threat of coup after independence and the reluctance of the elected representatives to learn about duties of a soldier vis-a-vis the responsibilities of the society to the soldier. After 66 years there is now a window of opportunity to correct the anomalies and injustice meted out to the Soldier of India. (The term Soldier is generic to Sailors and Airmen too and has been used to describe the military in Civil-Military relations in general) 

Since new generation parties(NGPs) such as AAP, Nav Bharat Democratic Party and Lok Satta  have declared their intentions to professionalize governance through induction of capable, clean and committed candidates into Parliament and State Assemblies,it is time to address issues that have remained clothed in secrecy for most part of our post independence history.  

Recorded history and analysis carried out on the subject of civil-Military relations has established that the Armed forces in a democracy must remain apolitical and serve the Government elected by the people. It means that while individuals in the Forces may choose to vote for a party of his/her choice, once the results are declared and a Government is formed with the assent of the President(the supreme commander of the Armed forces) it is the Government of the day which enjoys the full loyalty of the soldier.  In practice however, a vast majority of Indian Soldiers  were never given the opportunity to exercise their franchise, neither in the station they were posted nor through postal ballots. The Government of the day did not consider it necessary to treat a Soldier as a citizen first, whose right to vote cannot be denied under any circumstances. Hence, ,lacs of soldiers were deprived of their right to vote. Most politicians who were busy wooing specific vote banks were not interested in this disciplined community which was known for its obedience and integrity.The irony is that most soldiers and very senior officers were of the view that not voting was part of being apolitical.  Thus a combination of apathy from politicians and sheer ignorance of democratic rights vested in a soldier as a citizen, resulted in complete absence of discussions on the subject.

While the serving community was constrained by mis- interpretation of rights of a soldier to exercise his franchise, the retired community kept itself away from what was seen to be a dirty vocation.

Post 1970's the quality of those who increasingly got elected through money and muscle power,   continued to deteriorate rapidly, which in turn affected the image of the politician. It further dissuaded veterans from entering Politics. Compare this with the second largest democracy, which has, over the years, continued to elect Presidents and senior political leaders from the retired Military community. George Washington, Eisenhower, Grant and John F Kennedy are but a few examples.  In a democratic electoral process every retired soldier is free to enter politics and pursue his political duties with the same dedication and vigour, with which  he pursued his military duties..

 . We now have over a crore retired soldiers and families and a similar number of serving soldiers and families., Some of them have rendered yeomen service to society after they shed their uniforms. They have all the requisite administrative, organisational and professional competence to oversee good governance. Currently, they are angry, hurt and repeatedly ignored. Supreme Court decisions on legitimate pay arrears ruled in their favour, have been contested by the same Ministry which is responsible for the welfare of its veterans.   

What can NGPs do for them?

Firstly, understand and participate in  debates on National security. Ensure that the budgetary allocations are commensurate with the needs of our fighting forces.

Second, ensure that the Army is not committed on a permanent basis to solve problems related to poor governance within India.

Third, hold the Government accountable for timely modernization of weapons, equipment and platforms.

 Fourth, Implement recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee on integration of Armed forces, creation of CDS and integration of  service personnel in MOD.

 Fifth, restore the izzat of the Armed forces by upholding the status of the soldier in society.

 Finally and more importantly, care for the retired soldier by ensuring his financial and economic well being, as also his health. Recognize the role of the society in taking care of war casualties, wounded and disabled soldiers and their widows.

To be able to do this a National Security manifesto should form the guaranteed deliverable of a NGP. Currently only Nav Bharat Democratic Party has addressed  these issues. Quite clearly, Veterans of great repute for their contribution to society need to be located and encouraged to fight elections. It is they who will compensate for the lack of knowledge  in Parliament on affairs Military, the ignorance on service conditions and genuine needs of the armed forces. 

What good is development without security?

On the occasion of Navy day 2013.

Culmination of Ideas and Dreams

Myths and Realities of Modernisation

What a remarkable achievement, one might say. When most navies of the world are stagnating or drawing-down due to scant resources, i.e .financial, material and human, the Indian Navy has commissioned a whole range of potent platforms that would make any modern Navy proud. Arihant and Chakra, both nuclear powered Submarines, the former indigenous and the latter leased; P8I Boeing, the much needed maritime surveillance aircraft; Vikramaditya, the long awaited aircraft carrier; and the first indigenously launched communication and satellite are a few worthy of mention. Add to these two extremely ambitious shore facilities - the new naval base at Karwar and the Naval Academy at Ezhimala – and the Navy's growth seems even more impressive.

Myths on modernization may suggest that the Government of the day or those at the helm of affairs have pulled off a miracle. The reality is that no acquisition in India is possible unless the case has been examined for decades. All the above listed platforms have been conceived, discussed and processed for decades. For instance the first proposal for Vikramaditya was   made in 1994. The deal was signed a decade later, after many levels of scrutiny by experts from the Navy, MOD and Finance. The ship was handed over in 2013.  The reality is also that there is no accountability with the Government for inordinate delays caused by repeated interventions and scrutiny. The opportunity costs of such delays do not fall within the purview of any of our auditing mechanisms, nor are they viewed with concern for their impact on budgetary escalation.

Advantage Indian Navy

Being a small service, the navy enjoys some unique advantages. Firstly, perspective plans and budget management fall under a common head who reports to the Vice Chief of Naval Staff. The Future Navy is the sole responsibility of the senior most Principal Staff Officer of the navy. It is not so in the other two services owing to their size and historical imperatives.

Secondly, being a small service with a disproportionately large responsibility of guarding the maritime frontiers of a sub-continent, the Navy had to learn to consistently pursue long term plans which are refined with the passage of time. The very first plan for the modernization of our Navy soon after independence, contained references to a three-carrier fleet. It has taken more than six decades to partially realize the dream.

Conceptualizing the design and building a destroyer takes up to a decade. Build time in our shipyards are notoriously high due to lack of modern and contemporary facilities. After they are addressed, we could perhaps reduce it by half, to be at par with established navies of the West. 

Thirdly, the Navy was quick to support ship building in India in Defence Public Sector yards and a few privately-owned Indian ship-builders. This impetus has paid rich dividends, right from the commissioning of the British designed Leander class frigate Nilgiri in 1972. We now build Fast Attack Craft, Corvettes, Frigates, Destroyers, Landing Ships, Tankers and Aircraft Carriers. Remarkable, but modest, in terms of future needs of high quality platforms. There are some unsuccessful stories too which are covered later in this piece.

Fourthly, we were quick to embrace indigenization and place confidence in DRDO supported laboratories. While the growing DRDO capabilities were unable to produce weapons to keep pace with the build cycle of the ship, (despite that being a prolonged process) Sonars to hunt submarines and EW systems did pass the test. Many of our frontline platforms are fitted with these systems. Also, radars, communication and EW systems have been supplied by BEL and other PSU labs in India.

Fifthly, indigenous ship building gave birth to thousands of small and medium scale industries that supplied auxiliary equipment, power generation and air conditioning systems, cabling and thousands of other sub-systems that go into a building and sustaining a modern warship. There are well known large scale industries that supply generators, as also shafts for propulsion of ships. The stringent quality-standards applied to clear them for acceptance have enabled most of them to become internationally certified and known. This is a classical spinoff of defence related activities. The private sector thus has a significant stake in warship building

Lastly, among many such success stories, a couple that do not find mention often enough are the navy's own design department based on whose stellar work indigenous warships are built, and the Navy's own group of specialists that continue to do pioneering work in the development of state-of-the-art Combat Management Systems and a slew of cyber security products and networking solutions for the Indian Navy.  Such capabilities hold strategic potential and are essential components to establish self-sufficiency.

Looking Back to see the future

In the last six decades, scores of committed individuals have skillfully led the Navy's planning initiatives, often innovatively. They have been ably supported by a leadership that saw in these efforts the means to leap-frog the Navy into a potent blue water force.

A myth that found favour with overseas experts, and some of our own in the 1970s and 80s, was the description of the Indian Navy as a brown water force aspiring for blue water status. The rear view suggests otherwise. Even as early as  the 1950s, Indian Navy ships were deployed for flag showing as far as the Australian waters. In fact, when I had the opportunity to meet Mr Wolfenson, former President of World Bank in Washington in 1997, he greeted me by narrating his experience of boarding the old Cruiser INS Delhi at Melbourne in 1954. Warships do leave indelible impressions on those who visit them. Even the old Indian Navy was never a brown water force.

There was however a brief interregnum when the ships acquired from the Soviet Union imposed limitations on engine hours of their gas turbines, which in turn significantly reduced blue water deployments.

    

When ageing British ships, which formed the mainstay of our Fleet, were to be replaced and the first submarine acquisition programme was approved, the U-turn performed by the UK in denying India the supply of submarines is well-documented. The consequent large acquisition programme from the Soviet Union enabled us to tide over gaps in force levels until our own programmes began to fructify.

The Soviet platforms however, gave us insights into relatively modern weapons and sensors, and more importantly, into missiles and torpedoes. Surface-to-surface missiles were positively a force-multiplier and when ably supported by surface-to-air missiles, they provided the Fleet with punch enough to deter any adversary.

The submarine arm too received the much-needed upgrade when both German designed submarines and the Soviet designed EKM submarines were inducted in quick succession.

At this stage, naval planners were busy pushing for indigenous construction of a variety of platforms. First they focused on the successors of the Leander class ships by indigenously modifying their design, which not only enabled a frigate to carry a 10-ton multirole helicopter for operations at sea, but also led to the induction of the Godavari class frigates that skillfully integrated Soviet missile systems with a host of indigenous systems and equipment accessed from multiple sources abroad. Simultaneously, new design for Corvettes, Tanker and Destroyers evolved over time. The only occasions we were forced to seek foreign shipbuilding assistance was for six Talwar class ships from Russia and Tankers from Italy, both owing to inadequate capacity in our own yards due to over loading.

Some Lessons

One of the unfulfilled programmes of a rapidly modernizing force relates to the inability of the Navy and the Government to build submarines to offset depleting force levels. A number of factors have led to the present imbroglio. The optimally designed German SSK submarine inducted into the Navy were also built at Mazagaon Docks in Mumbai. The build-facility was set up at a great cost and technicians were trained to use state-of-the-art build technology. The project was soon abandoned after two boats were built due to alleged kickbacks and corruption. Consequently, the entire set up along with trained manpower of the yard was allowed to dissipate and be wasted.

The Scorpene submarine to be built with French assistance has been inordinately delayed. The second line of construction remains to be concluded. Thus, the Navy is yet grappling with the declining force levels of conventional submarines.

As regards budgetary allocation for the navy, constant interaction with MOD has seen an increase from 11% of the defence budget to almost 18% in recent years. However, the target of 20 % has to be achieved in the near future, if we are to accept the new challenges posed by the global strategic focus to the Asia Pacific region.

In so far as defence acquisition procedures are concerned, they continue to stifle and throttle efficient and time bound programmes. Unless procedural and systemic changes are brought about by professionalizing and integrating the decision-making structure of MOD as recommended by the Committee on Defence Management chaired by Arun Singh, there is little hope of optimizing the process.

Finally, whenever there is resource crunch, as in late 1980s to mid-1990s and now in 2013, the armed forces are advised to tighten their belts and review acquisitions in the pipeline. Nothing could be more disastrous than this approach. Each year lost in reduced budget allocation results in depletion of combat capabilities. The cumulative shortages can never be remedied by nominal increase in budget subsequently, due to systemic limitations and minimum acquisition time cycle needed to complete the task. Combat capability and adequate reserves to fight a limited war cannot be compromised under any circumstances, unless the nation is prepared to accept defeat in war as an option. Victory in 1971 has not erased the memories of 1962 - the latter was caused by neglect, inadequate knowledge of military needs and insufficient political interaction with military leadership.

Paradoxically, six decades later, we continue to grapple with the basic issues of national politico-military interface.

Vice Admiral Suresh Bangara (retd) former C-in-C of Southern Naval Command. He has had the unique opportunity of heading the Policy and Plans, and later Naval Operations divisions of the Indian Navy.

0f air bags,seat belts and crashes-The Indian Story

Motor vehicles in India today, have pleasantly surprised many of us who grew up in an era dominated by acute shortages of quality vehicles, an under developed industry,inability of most to pay for a new car and severe restrictions imposed by Governments on scarce  foreign currency for transfer of technology. The good old Ambassador of Hindustan motors, Fiat,standard Herald were common sight on the sparsely crowded roads of our country.  The changes after  liberalization however, saw quantum jump in design, quality and safety standards of  cars that continue to flood our market. From the days when a direction- indicator was a rarity,we now match the latest trends in technology and software driven applications in all our automobile products.

This is the backdrop against which I am recounting the details of a car crash which my wife and I survived recently. Given that advent of modern cars coincided with attempts to upgrade the quality of National highways and Express ways, the opportunity to exceed an average speed of 80 Kms on these newly built surfaces became a reality.  While the ability to traverse distances in comparatively shorter duration became a reality, a whole host of attendant facilities coupled with the need to educate the semi literate user on the repercussions of high speed traffic,were perhaps not pursued with equal vigour.   . Safety features in all walks of life in India, be it,construction,transportation and industry, are far from meeting well documented and mandatory features enforced by advanced countries of the West. It is thus not unusual to see inadequate sign boards/ warning signals/signs, incomplete safety barriers to prevent human and animal encroachment on high speed corridors, unauthorized traffic of two wheeler ,four wheelers and tractors in the wrong lane( often heading the wrong way) and inability to hold highway authorities accountable for dangerous diversions and unlit stretches of potentially high risk accident prone zones. Viewed from the ever increasing density of population bordering on intercity motorways and unregulated settlement of colonies, we are poised on the threshold of serious conflict of interest posed by human/animal and environmental issues.

For a country which has witnessed unprecedented growth of motor vehicles but not enough infrastructure development,strict adherence to rules of the road and close monitoring to check indiscipline, should be a very high priority activity. That it is not so, is known to all.The chances of encountering an unlicensed driver at the wheels of a truck or load carrier and vehicles with poor material state  are very high ,if not real.

With all the knowledge at my disposal, I managed to collide with a milk truck on the National Highway near Kolhapur in Maharashtra.Entirely my fault. The rather well made SUV took the brunt of the collision and voila, the air bags deployed as designed. I was in for a further surprise apart from the safety features of my SUV. The emergency road side assistance provided a flat bed and a taxi in a reasonably short span of time.Such facilities were unthinkable a few years ago. Well done Mahindra.

The sense of relief and gratitude for our very miraculous escape was marred soon thereafter, by the procedures adopted by the Cops who arrived on the scene. That is another story which needs to be analysed in the context of services provided for the common man in India.

So we thank the Almighty for sparing us rather lightly. But air bags, seat belts and a well designed firewall perhaps contributed in no small measure to our survival.

Do spend a few moments on the safety features of your new car before you select one. A cashless policy with zero depreciation is well worth the investment for those of you who intend to frequent our Highways. 

Poor Civil-Military Relations-Root Cause Of Malaise?

POOR CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS-ROOT CAUSE OF MALAISE TODAY

Most democracies have struggled to find a balance in their civil - military relations. Unlike India, more seasoned democracies of the West have learnt to handle frequent disharmony between the two, owing to decades and centuries of deployment of their Armed Forces in Great Wars and more importantly at distant locations away from their home land. Refinements in processes of Command and Control were thrust upon them due to extraordinary circumstances including the post World War 2 occupation of Germany and Japan. This was managed and run by Military Officers who were suitably empowered and authorized by Heads of elected Governments of their respective countries. There were also occasions such as the Truman-Mac Arthur dispute, during the Korean War, which was seen as one of the most illustrative tools of the civil-military friction in the history of USA.

The Indian scene was quite the contrary. Along with independence came a series of Coup de'tat, in many of the Countries in our region. India alone  stood as a shining example of a copy book democracy, with the Armed Forces remaining apolitical all the way. This is no mean achievement, especially given the fragility of so many of our neighbours who had to be subjected to Military intervention in their internal politics. But this 'harmonious' civil-military equation in India, came at a price. The civilian leadership right from Independence began to neglect the dire needs of both the serving and the retired Soldiers. (The term Soldier is used to encompass all three services and their men)  Modernization of weapons and sensors, service conditions and health care of serving soldiers and the care that ought to be extended to retired soldiers through reemployment opportunity and compassion towards widows of war veterans etc continued to be accorded less priority.

 The politician  was never very comfortable with the strict traditions and dress codes that gave the military a distinct identity and character.  Consequently, 

the sanctity of civil -military relations were from time to time tested.  Some of the notable events of conflict were, Nehru-Gen Thimmaya, Krishna Menon- Gen Thapar and later Indira-Gen Manekshaw. The military, however, conducted itself with dignity and discipline. Since the media was not intrusive and confidentiality of sensitive information was respected, matters of dispute remained in-house and appeared in print only when someone wrote a book, years after the event. Leakage of information outside the confines of the Defence Ministry was considered to be blasphemous acts.

 Civilian control over the military went through periods of tension without violating the basic tenets of Command and control. Errant and less informed Defence Ministers with personal agenda  did try to intervene in routine matters of administration,promotion and land acquisition/ disposal.In most cases direct access of the Chiefs to  the Prime Minister,  acted as a relief valve. Equilibrium was soon restored when needed.

The discomfort of the Politician continued to grow even as the quality of Politics and politicians deteriorated after mid 1970s'.In order to sequester  the politician  from assertive soldiers, the bureaucracy was increasingly given the responsibility to decide on most matters military. This was aggravated when some Prime Ministers also held the Defence portfolio  in addition to many other Ministries. On such occasions,  RRM's chosen to fire- fight on day to day activities, were quite incompetent and relied heavily on the bureaucracy. Consequently,the service Chiefs  had to stand in queue to meet the Prime Minister. Earlier, they had the liberty to walk in and out of the PM's office  when necessary.

After the Rajiv Gandhi era which enjoyed better civil-military relations, the country was subjected to a grave economic crisis which resulted in shelving of all major modernisation programmes for nearly a decade. Matters Military were relegated in priority till combat efficiency began to erode.

Another major factor that has had deleterious effects on civil-military relations is that Armed forces deployed to restore law and order in poorly administered and terrorism infested states of India including Kashmir, found themselves permanently deployed with no solution on the horizon. Troops so deployed are exposed to politicization owing to the nature of  the environment and firsthand knowledge of political exploitation and machinations.

 A series of events thereafter led to reduction of the status of the soldier in society: until Kargil restored some aspects of neglect, when the electronic media brought the war to the drawing rooms of our citizens.

The first serious review to study what led to Kargil was entrusted to late K Subrahmaniam, the well known expert on strategic affairs. The team formed under him consisted of experts drawn from the retired community as well as people of considerable experience in their respective domain. The then Government, ensured that the study was carefully vetted by a competent group of Ministers, who in turn formed Task forces to address the issues that would lead to successful implementation of the broad recommendations submitted by the Subrahmaniam Committee.

By a twist of fate, Tehelka expose exploded in the face of the ruling party. George Fernandes was forced to step down. The second 'coincidence' occurred at this point in time. The External Affairs Minister was given temporary charge of Defence. In a short stint, he proved that perhaps he was the most perceptive and far sighted Raksha Mantri that independent India had seen. He was an acknowledged scholar with a Military background and an author of one of the best written books on Defence of India. He had already appointed Arun Singh, former RRM in the Rajiv Gandhi Government as an advisor to EAM.

Arun Singh, was perhaps one of the few corporate honchos brought into Government, by Rajiv Gandhi, based purely on his passion for matters Military and unparalleled knowledge of how the Military and bureaucracy ought to function. The far sighted RM now holding fort for his colleague who had stepped down, promptly selected Arun Singh to head the Task Force on Higher Defence Management. Arun Singh had substantial knowledge on how the Ministry of Defence functioned and he had a rare insight into knowledge of the Military including its modernisation. Arguably, independent India had perhaps not seen a Civilian with this capability. He was also the leader of the team which  produced a document titled The Committee on Defence Expenditure(CDE), for the VP Singh Govt. The only occasion when he came out of a self imposed ban, after his abrupt departure from Rajiv's cabinet.

Having been made the leader of the Task Force on Higher Defence Management, Arun Singh left no stone unturned to bring to light a whole range of changes and reforms that would have made India a very potent and effective force to reckon with.

Based on facts and drawing from experiences gained by developed nations of the West, this report contained far reaching reforms that made the bureaucracy and some uniformed officer, both serving and retired, very nervous. As long as Arun Singh continued as an Advisor in the South Block and the EAM was holding temporary  charge of Defence, they worked as a well oiled team. Implementation of all the recommendations moved flawlessly and rather speedily. Red tape and delaying tactics at all levels were dealt with firmly and decisively. It appeared to be the turning point in Indian Military history. It was not to be.

The next episode is quite inexplicable. Prime Minister Vajpayee for reasons best known to him stopped the most important reform of all. Integrating the Armed forces under a single Chief, was stalled by him. All the progress made until then came to a dead halt.

Enter George Fernandes after he was cleared of all charges and Arun Singh quit his post as abruptly as he did, when he left Rajiv. Another coincidence? One will never know until one of the main actors writes about it one day.   

The greatest opportunity to cleanse the system of all its malaise was thus lost. Needless to say no further reforms were carried out by the new Govt. The bogey of the CDS becoming an all powerful entity reappeared. Equations and pay and allowances of Soldiers were distorted. Post Vietnam- like scenes were witnessed on the streets of Delhi. Soldiers returning medals, the age row of a Chief and now the spectacle on Television on the VK Singh episode, which makes India look like a banana republic, are all symptoms of a disease caused by Poor Civil- Military relations.

The sad part is that, all of it was caused by uninformed Ministers, a leaderless bureaucracy which is equally uninformed on matters Military and conniving Soldiers who were too parochial and petty minded to waste a golden opportunity for reforms.

No reforms of the armed forces have been successfully planned and executed by the Soldiers themselves. They have been thrust upon them, ala, Maggie Thatcher, the Iron Lady and the Gold Water Nichols act in USA.

As Arun Singh often said, "Those who have vision have no power and those in power lack vision on matters Military".

(Suresh Bangara, former C-IN-C of Southern Naval Command and presently Vice President Nav Bharat Democratic Party.)

'We are like that only'?-What is common between politics and sports

Some one once commented, "Politics is not bad but politicians are"  Surely not all of them. You must admit that there are many good ones who despite being sidelined, continue to do their duty by their conscience.But then they do not make news. The screaming TV anchors cannot hold you spell bound with their vituperative and acerbic comments and rehearsed stunned /hurt looks, if the subject of their talk- show, is an honest and well meaning politician.

So when the recent confabulation and ready consensus emerged among all political parties on why they need to be out of the ambit of RTI or how charge sheeted  politicians should continue to function in Parliament, it was unbelievably amusing. As amusing as a comedy show on stage . Well scripted,choreographed and enacted with panache.

Soon another bunch of comedians joined the play. These were senior functionaries of the Indian Olympic Association,(IOA) who having been shown the door by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for failing to cleanse the system accused of corruption, continued to face the camera with non nonchalance and completely oblivious of  the humiliation and shame that they have brought upon the Nation. Distinguished sportsmen who have brought laurels to the Country, even appealed to them to professionalize the administration ,to  stop treating  sports  bodies as perennial source of perks without accountability and to read the writing on the wall which said " Go home" In return they received a standard response on why should they break way from the law applicable to politicians. Charge sheets are not the benchmark but conviction is. Hence one can continue to discharge all  duties as long as they are not convicted of the offence. Dejavu!

Not surprisingly most members of sports bodies and their heads are politicians of all shades.There is thus a bond between the two,i.e. Politics and Sports. The shamelessness stems from utter contempt for processes and institutions.  Why should a country which is blessed with so much talent  be governed by those accused of corruption, skulduggery,parochialism and sheer greed.? The same applies to sports bodies. Where are the good men and women who can professionalize and run complex institutions?

'Cleanse politics first and the rest will follow'. Nav Bharat believes in this motto. Candidates are being carefully selected based on merit. Institutions and party structures are being built brick by brick so that Good Governance results from it. Our candidates are the bed rock of  the party and not viceversa. Join us in our endeavour to build a new India as fast as we can. Exercise your right to vote and ensure that a good.committed and capable candidate is not rejected due to money and muscle power.

Why Nav Bharat

The Story of a Retired Sailor and Nav Bharat

                                                                             , 

Four decades in the Navy was enough to give me an insight into a whole range of  subjects that  go into governance of  a country. Surprised? Here is how it worked.

My first memory of meeting the political hero of India, Jawaharlal Nehru was at the Republic day parade at Delhi in 1962, when I was all of 16 years. I led  the Junior Division NCC Air wing cadets of India on a cold,hazy and freezing morning. There were no winter uniforms. Cotton full sleeve shirts, shorts and stockings and off we went marching down Raj Path. Thousands had lined up on either sides and the sheer sight of the President taking our salute and the feeling of pride kept us warm.

  Later at a special occasion Pandit Ji  presented me with a trophy which in effect was the start point of my Military career. My picture with him has been on my desk for the past  52 years.

My College days came and went, but not without giving me an opportunity to meet the then Raksha Mantri YB Chavan. Yes, the RM had the time to meet a lowly NCC cadet who was selected to represent India, at the Malaysian Air Training Corp Camp, in Singapore, in 1964. These were some impressionable events with Politicians, albeit of my teenage life. They appeared to be in service of the Nation-not Masters of the people who put them there.

The Indian Navy became my home from 1966. In 1970, I was sent to the Soviet Union. A remote island in Vladivostok was to be our training base for the next year. Frozen seas and temperature of -32 degrees did not deter us from venturing to challenge their way of life. Communism/socialism with all its ramifications and nuances were on display in day to day Governance of the Country and their Armed forces. Young as I was, it was still a lesson on a political systems of governance.

The 1971 war gave me firsthand knowledge of what Military action meant to people in uniform. The attack on enemy ships off Karachi and the port itself, gave me insights into human emotions and passion . Death and destruction  which is an inextricable part of war, demanded  a high quality of Military and Political leadership.  We were fortunate to have had  a lady PM, who showed courage, decisiveness  and  single minded purpose to carry the whole nation with her. Here was leadership on display as never seen thereafter. The soldier needs just that to die for his country. After all he fights for "the ashes of his father and the temple of his god"

Events leading to the declaration of emergency in 1976 however, by the very same leader, taught us the oft repeated lesson on how absolute power corrupts absolutely.

A stint with the British Navy at the then Royal Naval college at  Greenwich, coincided with the arrival of the iron lady-Maggie Thatcher, at the helm of British politics. I was given an opportunity to study a leader who single handedly lifted the  sagging morale of the British people as a whole.  Another lesson in politics.

Barely five years later in 1985, I was appointed as the Indian Naval Adviser at our High Commission  in Islamabad. For the next three years I had numerous occasions to study the political system run by a Military leader, in a non- democratic system of governance. Zia Ul Haq was able to provide a false sense of economic prosperity and political stability for very nearly nine years. His reign ended only with his untimely death in 1988, due to assassination through sabotage of his aircraft. Here was another dimension of governance and many political lessons  to learn.

Not many would remember the stellar role performed by our Armed forces consequent to a coup attempted at Maldives by 300 armed militants, in 1989. My ship was positioned to stabilize and oversee the withdrawal of our forces after the successful handing over of control to the legitimate Government of Maldives. Extensive interaction with the senior Ministers and President of the Maldives, gave me insights into restoring confidence in a shattered people, albeit of a small island nation.

Finally, owing to  a series of postings at the Integrated Headquarters at Delhi at senior ranks bestowed on me, I was closely involved in briefing and working with senior bureaucrats, Diplomats and politicians  tasked to govern India, including the PM. This is where the real lessons of governance or the lack of it was on display.

That my friends is, just one example of how the Military is exposed to Politics.

 There are numerous others who have not cared to pen down their experience. Yet whilst in uniform we remain completely apolitical,  forbidden  from interacting with media, foreigners,  political parties et al. That is not to say that as individuals we do not have political views based on which we are expected to  exercise our franchise at every election. The fact of the matter is most of us, except a small minority, could not exercise our right to vote, as the postal ballot paper never once reached us due to various reasons. We were thus denied the right to vote due to the callousness of all those involved with the electoral process.  It was left to the Supreme Court to rule in 1971, that every soldier should be permitted to vote at his station of duty. What about a large percentage who are in remote corners of India guarding our inaccessible borders and sailors who are at sea?

Two Sailors of Italy who were under trial in India were flown back to Italy to cast their votes -just less than a year ago. That is the seriousness and importance of voting in a democratic set up.

So, it was not surprising that on shedding my uniform I opted for a role in political activism to contribute my little experience and to start a movement to cleanse the system. Four years in Professionals Party of India(ppi) and now Nav Bharat Democratic Party are the logical courses of action for one, who refuses to fade away without a fight.

I hope you agree with my reason to fight and that you will join Nav Bharat to help us restore order in this chaotic democracy of ours. Distance without destination and mileage without mile stones is not what  the youth- our future asset of this country, deserve. Join us to put the right people into Parliament.

     
"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing"
                                                                                     Edmond Burke                                    

JAI HIND

The Tragedy of Indian Politics-A Strong Desire to Self Destruct.

The media is full of pot holes-not the ones created by the rather good monsoon this year but by the emerging political scenario in India. Yes, we are just six and a half decades old with much to learn from other mature democracies. They too had their paths riddled with bad politics, poverty, internal and external mine fields to negotiate. They did it over many decades and in some cases,  centuries of trial and error. We do not have the luxury to traverse the same path due to the globalized environment and instant flow of information in a wireless era, compounded by accessibility with hand held devices.  So we have a well informed population but not necessarily with wisdom to supplement the knowledge base.

Instant solutions to complex problems is the demand of the youth increasingly equipped to process information but, without the time to assimilate and analyse. Compressing time required for decision making  may be advantageous in business matters, but perhaps not in complex socio-economic and governance related issues, that demand deliberation among knowledgeable and wise members of the society.

Our current democratic processes have failed to keep up with the rapid reforms required to implement lessons repeatedly learnt by successive Election Commissions.No political party has shown any resolve to implement electoral reforms,administrative reforms,Police reforms or Judicial reforms. A strong desire to cling to power and the added incentive to dramatically increase the financial status of incumbent politicians, as revealed by recent surveys, have resulted in a strange convergence of interests among otherwise squabbling political parties. Politicians all over the world irrespective of their ideologies display preference to overlook national interests over political expediency.This may be morally despicable to many not in power, but, it is not alien to human behavior. It is said that as long as the human race exists there will always be greed and conflict.

In our context, politicians display unanimity when doling out allowances to themselves,making RTI inapplicable to political parties, sacking honest bureaucrats,accepting criminals in parties and looting our natural resources or selling away spectrum. Vulgar display of VIPISM and armed commandos surrounding leaders of little value-forget about threat to themselves that they conveniently reinvent from time to time -do not appear as waste of public money.   Who in his right sense will regret the demise of one of those heavily protected Netas, should he be despatched to face God. Even the terrorists do not consider them to be good enough targets for publicity. Perhaps they expect celebrations and not grief among the people who are deprived of  the presence of such Netas among us.

 If this is the attitude of those in power and coalitions Governments are condemned to be the order of the day,  what are our options. There are a few worthy of consideration.

More participation in politics and not less is the first mantra. Politics is not dirty but the ones you elect or those elected by default, are. So why not participate in voting with a purpose and convincing your neighbours to do so too.

Second, why not convince those who have achieved financial stability and are known for their competence and character to stand up and be counted. Often the fear is of rejection and loss. There are ways and means to overcome such fear provided the' mohallas 'supports such candidates. Buying voters is fast losing its charm as people who are rising from poverty to reasonable lower middle class status are thinking of the future of their children. They are also displaying more courage of conviction to change the face of politics than the affluent and the rich who are not effected by the results of election,or,on  who is selected to legislate our future.Like the squabbling politicians who find common cause to unite, perhaps, the rich and the not so rich should find common cause to elect the right candidate.

Third, if coalition politics is a reality that cannot be wished away, why not start a debate on direct election of PM along with separation of the executive from the legislators. If you are weighed down by the need for constitutional changes, do not fret, we have amended our constitution 98 times in six decades.    Surely this is a good cause to unite us all. Act well before 2014-it is just round the corner. A New India or NAV BHARAT is what we need.   .