Army's job is to fight wars when needed and maintain perception of preparedness for the national security in the times of peace. While this is as simple as it could get, General Bikram Singh, who became the 25th Chief of the Indian Army, knows that the challenges he faces as the Chief are far from simple. He literally has too much on his plate to keep him occupied till July 2014 when he steps down. Indian Army has been looking less like a war fighting unit since the previous Chief Gen V K Singh and his civilian counterparts in the ministry did more of firefighting over issues, serious and frivolous, in the last one year or so. What this has done is that it has tarnished the image of the security establishment and somehow cracked the perception of invincibility of the national security that is so critical for ensuring people's faith as well as the hostile enemy's fears in place.
In the country where scams are dime a dozen and where there is also an active movement to improve the systems, army was perceived to be "above all of this" and enjoyed a sage-like position on people's mind. It all began with Sukhna Land Scam, Pune Land Scam, Adarsh Society Scam, went on to the Tatra and other issues of inefficiency.
Enough has already been written on the age row with reference to Gen VK Singh's date of birth issue. Thankfully it has settled down in a peaceful way, but with the potential of the involvement of the judiciary it had threatened to throw the delicate civil-military relations balance further into a deep abyss. The logic here is that you already had a low point in your relations, if you added another third party to the debate then it would only become more off-balance.
One of the biggest issues in governance a democratic system is of precedence. Once a precedence is set in place, then it is very easy to go back to it each time. Indian security establishment would have reached a point where judiciary would be called on to deliver 'justice' each time the two agencies disagreed on any matters. To the extent possible, all civil-military matters must be settled by rules of procedures established by law and not by laws as interpreted by judiciary. While, and thankfully, Gen Bikram Singh does not have to deal with anything similar.
Another low point was the leaking of the Army Chief's letter to the Prime Minister and the controversies surrounding that issue. And it was all topped off by the Indian Express alleged expose of the fears of a coup earlier in January 2012.
Army Chief VK Singh's subsequent declaration that he was offered bribe for a substandard product perhaps was the biggest controversy for his tenure given the sensitive atmosphere that is there in the country with regard to corruption at the political level.
Therefore the position that General Bikram Singh occupies today is perhaps unenviable since he will be watched very closely from all quarters as to how he chooses to act on issues raised by his predecessor. Thus he has to restore calmness in the corridors that connect the Army HQ with the North Block at the earliest. Hopefully, this task should be easier given defence minister AK Antony's statement to "put behind the turbulent phase and bitterness of the past several months".
Second, the Indian Army is in the phase of fast acquisition of modern as well as expensive defence equipment as it prepares to take the national security to the next level. Gen Bikram Singh has to ensure transparency wherever he is involved and must restore the faith in armed forces as a non-corrupt institution.
Third, eventually he will be called on to decide on the case involving Lt Gen Suhag where he will need to take a fine balance.
India has already had a loud tenure of the Army Chief in form of Gen VK Singh. One is not blaming him for saying all that he has and sometimes things need to be said loud enough in order to being noted by right forces. Hopefully General V K Singh's tenure has led the security in the right direction and hoping that Gen Bikram Singh is a quiet taskmaster that the Indian Army needs today!
(Views expressed here are strictly personal!)
In the country where scams are dime a dozen and where there is also an active movement to improve the systems, army was perceived to be "above all of this" and enjoyed a sage-like position on people's mind. It all began with Sukhna Land Scam, Pune Land Scam, Adarsh Society Scam, went on to the Tatra and other issues of inefficiency.
Enough has already been written on the age row with reference to Gen VK Singh's date of birth issue. Thankfully it has settled down in a peaceful way, but with the potential of the involvement of the judiciary it had threatened to throw the delicate civil-military relations balance further into a deep abyss. The logic here is that you already had a low point in your relations, if you added another third party to the debate then it would only become more off-balance.
One of the biggest issues in governance a democratic system is of precedence. Once a precedence is set in place, then it is very easy to go back to it each time. Indian security establishment would have reached a point where judiciary would be called on to deliver 'justice' each time the two agencies disagreed on any matters. To the extent possible, all civil-military matters must be settled by rules of procedures established by law and not by laws as interpreted by judiciary. While, and thankfully, Gen Bikram Singh does not have to deal with anything similar.
Another low point was the leaking of the Army Chief's letter to the Prime Minister and the controversies surrounding that issue. And it was all topped off by the Indian Express alleged expose of the fears of a coup earlier in January 2012.
Army Chief VK Singh's subsequent declaration that he was offered bribe for a substandard product perhaps was the biggest controversy for his tenure given the sensitive atmosphere that is there in the country with regard to corruption at the political level.
Therefore the position that General Bikram Singh occupies today is perhaps unenviable since he will be watched very closely from all quarters as to how he chooses to act on issues raised by his predecessor. Thus he has to restore calmness in the corridors that connect the Army HQ with the North Block at the earliest. Hopefully, this task should be easier given defence minister AK Antony's statement to "put behind the turbulent phase and bitterness of the past several months".
Second, the Indian Army is in the phase of fast acquisition of modern as well as expensive defence equipment as it prepares to take the national security to the next level. Gen Bikram Singh has to ensure transparency wherever he is involved and must restore the faith in armed forces as a non-corrupt institution.
Third, eventually he will be called on to decide on the case involving Lt Gen Suhag where he will need to take a fine balance.
India has already had a loud tenure of the Army Chief in form of Gen VK Singh. One is not blaming him for saying all that he has and sometimes things need to be said loud enough in order to being noted by right forces. Hopefully General V K Singh's tenure has led the security in the right direction and hoping that Gen Bikram Singh is a quiet taskmaster that the Indian Army needs today!
(Views expressed here are strictly personal!)
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