Fiddle at the Academy : Symptom Of An Extensive Malaise Within The Military

By Abhijit Bhattacharyya

WHEN the National Defence Academy corruption story broke in June, I had called up an old friend, a decorated three-star retired military officer settled in Pune to check whether or not he knew anything “extra special” about the matter. He feigned ignorance and also advised me not to give credence to such “baseless and malicious” reporting by an “irresponsible” Indian press. After two weeks, during which time the case had assumed the proportion of a deep-rooted scandal, I telephoned my long-time soldier-friend again to know the reaction of the armed forces’ veterans, now settled in Pune.

This time, the retired General replied:  “Kindly remember old boy, that this is no corruption at all. You should look into the quality and quantity of the civil corruption first, before wasting your time, energy and resources on the soldiers. The soldiers have done absolutely no wrong. This is owing to the present system which has been in place for long. One simply followed it in letter and spirit. Look at the degree and depth of what happened to our great Rajat Gupta in the USA. Look at the scams in which various ministries of the Government of India are involved. Look at the unprecedented loot in the name of Commonwealth Games and tell me how many IAS officers have been punished, transferred, jailed or dismissed from service for their acts of omission and commission? How many civil servants were asked to proceed on leave in the aftermath of the 1962 war in which China thrashed India? Why do discredited and failed IAS officers get time-bound promotion to rule over us (we soldiers)? Why don’t the ignorant netas and babus first try to learn the subject before dealing with the various proposals on national defence and security? Why do they maltreat us with such supreme arrogance  and ignorance? Remember, and I mean it, the young officers of the armed forces today are fed up with, and tired of, the rampant mega-corruption in the civilian bureaucracy and political set-up. They also have a strong urge to make money at the expense of their sense of duty. You just cannot stop them. Their actions are only a drop in the ocean. If you have the guts, fight for the honour of the military and give them their dues; and warn the civilian babus and netas that the officers and soldiers of India will not take this nonsense and avoidable humiliation anymore.”

One was simply stunned as the former three-star apolitical and professional Commander blurted his heart out. One could sense the extraordinary degree of depression and demoralisation that has gripped the collective psyche of the “injured” and the “hurt ego” of the Generals. 

A week later, one tried again and spoke to some other retired commanders. Regretfully, one heard a virtual chorus of anger and resentment in the minds of the veterans. This is an ominous trend. Along with the retired, why are some of the senior serving officers equally angry... and now corrupt?  What ails the system? What is the remedy? The answers are not readily available simply because only those at the helm of the State apparatus may have some clues to offer and ensure a semblance of sanity, if they so desire.

It is now quite transparent that the Indian army today is a divided house. It has two groups at the higher command of the officer corps who can make or break the traditional apolitical professionalism of the army despite such factors as caste, religion, tribe, ethnicity and the language-based regimental system. A striking feature is the emergence of powerful and allegedly corrupt commanders. There also appears to have been a decline in the number of “honest” leaders of men. And between them, there has developed a silent and fierce struggle for power, indeed to climb the hierarchical ladder.

The recent spate of corruption cases against senior military officers raises a fundamental question. Have the commanders’ anger, unscrupulous actions and lack of probity contaminated (or likely to contaminate) the junior officers in the front? No, not yet. But, “tell tale” symptoms of decay, dissatisfaction, defiance, disobedience and disorder in the camp, cantonment and mess have surfaced from time to time ever since the mutiny of ace soldiers from the traditional catchment areas in June 1984. 

The corruption in the higher echelons of the military should be taken as a serious warning because unlike the shrinking armies of the Western nations (except the USA), the Indian army is constantly expanding owing to multiple-front external threats and the civilian corruption in the hinterland of soldier recruitment/catchment areas. Here, the country’s history could be useful for the present-day state actors to confront the corruption at the level of men and their masters in uniform. One example would suffice. While the numerical strength of the Mughal army had increased over time, the military network became cumbrous and hard to be controlled and managed. To make matters worse, acute jealousy and bitter rivalry between senior officers often destroyed the chances of success in campaigns. Historian William Irvine has pointed out that “corruption” was one of the evils “from which the Mughal army suffered in its most balmy days”. 

After the Revolt of 1857, the British constituted military commissions to look into all aspects of soldiering in India virtually every 10 years. The government introduced reforms that covered recruitment, retention and retirement. The formation of regiments was periodically changed. Unfortunately, free India has not inspired any confidence in matters pertaining to defence and one major reason is the presence of non-specialist, uninterested people. There are very serious and unresolved issues which need to be addressed with a long-term perspective. The government must set up a commission to examine all aspects of recruitment, retention, regiment, pay, promotion prospects, and political patronage.

The country’s 1.2 million-strong army is allegedly plagued by corruption and scams relating to ration, recruitment, land-deals, bravery awards, sale of the handgun, housing, armament acquisition, posting, promotion, and even the wrong date of birth at the highest level. This poses a grave threat to the nation’s security. It also points to utter demoralisation and destruction of the system from within. The nation’s army faces a defeat without fighting a war.

The writer is an alumnus of the National Defence College of India and a practising advocate

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