The General's War

http://expressbuzz.com/magazine/The-General%E2%80%99s-war/354914.html 

Sunday January 15. India’s 64th Army Day. During the official celebrations, the suave Indian Army chief General Vijay Kumar Singh was observed playing the perfect host to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Defence Minister A K Antony. No tension over the age row that has pitted the office of the Army chief against the government was visible. 

But then military strategy is all about surprise for the sake of tactical advantage. On Monday, January 16, insisting that his real age is 60 and not 61 inspite of differing Army records, the general approached the Supreme Court to seek redress against the government he is sworn to protect and defend. Unlike the usual theatres of war in faraway deserts and inaccessible mountains, this battle is being fought in full public glare and perhaps marks the decline of the institution of the Chief of Army Staff due to politics and intrigue. “It is sheer incompetence, mishandling and folly on the part of the government. If it was a sensitive matter, then the minister should have tried to sort it out with the Chief,” says Jaswant Singh, former soldier and defence minister in the NDA government.

General Singh—a third generation officer, a 1971 war veteran, and a topper of the gruelling US Ranger’s course—is known to be a canny military strategist. But what drew him to take on the civilian government in the Supreme Court, going against Indian Army tradition? Is it a battle to reclaim personal dignity “within the four walls of my home” as he said? Is it a charge against a cabal within the army, which he claims conspired against him? Or is it a protest against the cynical attitude of India’s political class, which degrades the armed forces for short-term political gains — decorated officers like Lieutenant General Bikram Singh are in the dock when a decade-old alleged fake encounter case surfaces. ‘The Army Chief moving Supreme Court is unfortunate. It is an unhealthy precedent,” says MoS (Defence) Pallam Raju.

Since Independence, the civilian bureaucracy has been blamed by the military for gradually working to undermine the institutions of the services. The gigantic Defence Estates, perhaps the army’s biggest school for scandal, is mainly run by civilians as the Adarsh scam and others have revealed. The gradual downgrading of the Services Chiefs in the Warrant of Precedence—that defines the importance of a post in the eyes of the government—has demoralised the military. A young officer of the Indian Army says, “The battle has sent out only one message, that the political establishment does not trust the word of its own Army Chief. It really dents the morale of the Forces.” The way the age issue is being handled is showing  the army in a poor light. Records in the public domain show the government was aware that the debate around General Singh’s two DoBs has been raging on for years: both in 1985 and 2002, the general had made efforts to correct the discrepancy. In 2006, the-then Military Secretary Lt General Richard Khare wrote to Singh noting the age discrepancy in Army records. Singh replied he thought the matter was resolved, and in case it wasn’t, it should be corrected immediately.

THE GENERAL’S BATTLE PLAN

The kerfuffle between the government and the general has been simmering for over a year. The genesis of the controversy is the National Defence Academy admission form dated July 1, 1966 that General Singh filled as a 14-year-old boy in which he ‘wrongly’ wrote his date of birth down as May 10, 1950. After 35 years of service, the discrepancy was raked up in 2006, leading to the controversy going viral five years later. Reticent Defence Minister A K Antony refrained from a public debate on the issue, and the air was dirtied by a slew of insinuations hurled by a section of the media, bureaucrats and a few retired soldiers at the Indian Army Chief — ‘opportunist’; ‘power-hungry’; ‘one who puts self before service’.

Determined to defend his honour, Singh approached four former chief justices of India — Justice J S Verma, Justice V N Khare, Justice G B Patnaik and Justice R C Lahoti — for their opinion. Justice Patnaik noted, “The Central government can take steps to change the DoB of an employee, provided the relevant Service Rules provides for taking such a step. That apart, no such decision can be taken without putting the concerned officer to notice the basis on which the employer proposes to change the DoB and only after receiving the reply of the concerned officers to such proposal.” Armed with their favourable legal opinions, the general pleaded with the Supreme Court to give him justice.

For now, he seems to be occupying the legal high ground. His 66-page petition is supported by 150 documents, including his matriculation certificate, PAN card, passport, service I-card, driving licence and more – all showing his DoB as May 10, 1951. The date of birth, if accepted, will give him extension of another 10 months. This has baffled the Ministry of Defence, mindful of the succession line of the world’s second largest standing army, as the Chief of the Indian Army is still appointed on the basis of seniority rather than merit.

Stung by the general’s decision to go to court even as parleys were being held to arrive at a compromise, the Defence Ministry is now involved in the firefighting along with the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The Congress-led UPA government, after losing face on other fronts, is under fire from all quarters for letting the issue fester. “In the prevailing environment of a crusade against corruption, supported by the Union government with the Prime Minister repeatedly promising ‘zero tolerance’ to corruption, any injustice done to a high public functionary whose public image according to media reports is of combating corruption, is bound to erode the sincerity of this promise,” said former Chief Justice of India J S Verma while accepting May 10, 1951 as General Singh’s date of birth.

A DATE WITH CONFLICT

On January 17, a day after the general sued the government, the prime minister cancelled all appointments and went into a huddle with his key aides to craft a strategy to counter counter-insurgency specialist General V K Singh. The government decided to stick to its guns that Singh’s date of birth is May 10, 1950 for all official purposes as it is the date based on which he has occupied his  present office.

Admiral (Retd) Vishnu Bhagwat — sacked in 1999 by then defence minister George Fernandez — rips through the government argument. “We have a constitution. We are a republic. There is no place for line of succession in a republic. There is no personal prerogative in a republic. It is a planned manipulation to effect early resignation of the Army chief, termed outstanding by the Union Law Minister himself,” Bhagwat says. Admiral Bhagwat had later gone to court and got his privileges restored.

There have been dissidents among senior ranking officers after being superseded or overlooked for promotion but never has such a murky battle being fought with such doggedness. The two branches of the Indian Army have two different dates of birth for General Singh. The Military Secretary Branch, responsible for all the postings and promotions of officers, has recorded May 10, 1950 as his date of birth. The Adjutant General Branch, deemed as the official record keeper of all officers, lists May 10, 1951 as his date of birth, making General Singh younger by a year. Almost 36 years of service, when General Singh was set to take up the rank of Lieutenant General, he was informed about the discrepancy, to his bafflement and disgust. Army sources say this is part of a plan moved years ago to humiliate the general.

THE DIRTY WAR WITHIN

When the general took over the reins of the Indian Army, its public image had taken a beating following a slew of land scams involving the top brass. It was seen as Singh’s responsibility to restore public faith. While taking charge, one of General Singh’s important promises was to weed out corruption in the army. Admiral Bhagwat says this became General Singh biggest vice. “When the chief, who is their (political establishment’s) chief security advisor, who speaks the truth, is honest and does not compromise with arms dealers, they want to oust him,” says Bhagwat, drawing a parallel with his not-so public battle with the defence ministry.

In 2006, for the first time the MS Branch queried General Singh about the anomaly in his date of birth. In 2007, then Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor had approved a note by then military secretary Lt General P R Gangadharan, stating 1950 should be considered Singh’s birth date “for the purpose of promotion and retirement,” — as per the official record with the defence ministry.

Some senior Army officers who wish to remain unnamed say former Military Secretary, Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash, vehemently pursued a campaign against General Singh at the behest of General Kapoor. Prakash has since been dismissed from service without pension or benefits by General Court Martial for his involvement in the Sukna land scam. General Singh has also pointed fingers at his predecessor, General Kapoor, whose name had cropped up in scams like the Sukhna land scam and the Adarsh scam. Singh has contended that General Kapoor had let the matter remain unresolved. Kapoor is alleged to have abetted Lt Gen Avadesh Prakash in the Sukhna land scam and later is alleged to have grabbed a flat in the Adarsh Society ostensibly built for the martyrs of the Indian Army.

However, in 2008, Singh was poised to take over as Army Commander —  a prerequisite for anyone to become eligible to become chief — and once again he was informed that his date of birth is 1950. The battle had begun. The strategist in Singh responded with a neutral message of protecting the army’s interests, a message that met with a hostile response subtly threatening disciplinary action. He stood his ground, and the military secretary backtracked and cleared the way for his appointment as Corps Commander. In 2008, Singh wrote to the MS that he will mention his year of birth as 1950 “as directed,” leaving things open to interpretation that he has been pressured by vested interests in the Services.

Undoubtedly, the Army’s new martyr is General V K Singh. His petition in the Supreme Court asks why the government decided to change his date of birth after 36 years of service. General Singh has pleaded in the apex court that after a service of 40 years he has the “right to retire with dignity”. His lawyer Puneet Bali says: “It is mentioned in the petition that it is a matter of honour and pride and how the institution of the Chief of Army Staff should be treated.”

The petition informs the court: “The then Chief of Army Staff had (in 2008) personally assured that he will resolve the issue regarding the petitioner’s date of birth, but when nothing had been done for almost three months thereafter, the petitioner, vide letter dated July 1, 2008, addressed to the then Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor, requested for justice to be done in his case.”

Bhagwat senses a deeper conspiracy. “The line of succession has been designed by divine right of General J J Singh… the bureaucrats in the PMO have persisted in this. What is the motivation behind this campaign?”

General V K Singh has challenged two orders of the Ministry of Defence, dated July 22 and December 30, 2011. In the last order, the ministry rejected the statutory complaint of the Army chief, leaving him only with legal recourse. The government has based his stand on the opinion of Attorney General G E Vahanvati. In his third opinion running in nine pages, Vahanvati says: “I am of the view that the matriculation certificate cannot be the sole basis on which date of birth can be sought to be changed at this stage.” The Attorney General also rejected General Singh’s contention that he sought change in his date of birth from 1985 to 2006. “It is pertinent to note that there is no record available of any effort to correct the date of birth between 1971 (when the SSC certificate was purportedly received) and 2006,” the AG’s opinion says.

POLITICAL WARGAMES

After the conflagration went into an uncontrolled spin, speculation is rife about Singh’s next move and the government’s response.  The chief and the defence ministry are racing against time.

Singh is unlikely to go the Bhagwat way, and the government may rush to name Lt Gen Bikram Singh as the next chief to calm the maelstrom. General V K Singh may tender his resignation right after the senior officer next in line, Lt Gen V K Ahluwalia, retires at the end of February. In which case, it would be the turn of his friend, Western Army Commander Lt Gen S R Ghosh to take over.

As the controversy escalated, the ‘apolitical’ Indian Army was the subject of political manoeuvres. A group of ‘Rajput’ MPs went to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to submit a memorandum in support of the chief. The prime minister politely refused to accept it and asked the MPs to refrain from politicising the issue.

Next, the Congress’s Chief Ministerial candidate in Punjab, Capt. Amarinder Singh, who has served in the Army for three years, wrote to Defence Minister Antony giving his opinion on the issue and supporting the Army chief’s stand. Antony, a stickler for correct procedure, refused to accept the former maharaja’s view, saying he was politicising the issue. The Congress party quickly distanced itself, calling it Capt Amarinder Singh’s ‘personal opinion’. Antony, insistent on keeping politics away from the Army, had already issued strict instructions to bureaucrats and other ministry officials to keep totally silent on the issue.

A former service chief who refuses to be quoted by name, “More than the Army versus civilian government, the issue points at the mess within the organisation. It should not have reached so far. The best way to handle this was when it was within the Army.” A former Indian Air Force chief points out, “It is the fault of the system. In the Air Force, we do not have two branches recording the two date of births.”

The Indian Army is already fighting on many fronts: in Kashmir and the North-east along with battalions deployed on the country’s western and eastern borders. It certainly doesn’t need this war in New Delhi.