The controversy over the age of the Army Chief General VK Singh is now attaining disgusting proportions. In the backdrop of the proverbial procrastination of the Ministry of Defense to take a firm decision on the case, it is degenerating into an all out media war with wild allegations flying all over. Now a previous Chief has been roped into the controversy with insinuations of having orchestrated a succession plan in connivance with politicians, arms merchants, businessmen and other ambitious Army officers. The insinuations go further to get into their ambit huge arms deals and self serving Army Officers.
The fact of the matter seems to be entirely different. It seems that the present Chief is becoming more and more insecure and cynical as his retirement date is approaching and he is misusing the entire machinery in his command to pressurize the government into toeing his line.
He is being projected as an epitome of virtue; one does not wish to argue this point as long as it is not at the cost of painting all those before and after him as corrupt and manipulative. It is allegations like these, which are coming out at his behest, that are denting the image of the Armed Forces.
It is being said that VK Singh took over the army when it was ridden by scams. A closer scrutiny indicates that the scams happened only under his jurisdiction as Army Commander of the Eastern Command and those involved were on his vindictive hit list more so for having gone against him in his quest to get his birth date Changed; Lt General Avdesh Prakash who was Military Secretary at the time when the controversy arose and who did not agree to Singh’s contention was involved in a misappropriation case. This reeks of vendetta. Now the cases are falling apart and more eggs are likely to fall on the general Singh’s face.
Those who are writing in his favour are also painting organs of the Government like the Ministry of Defence and the Law Ministry as pliable fools on whom a “Sectarian card” can be played by a serving General to change their opinions, absolutely ludicrous and an affront on the Indian state.
In case the Ministry of Defense cannot give a decision on the subject it can, at least, prevail upon Singh to cease this mindless character assassination. The country has enough problems to deal with other than the personal ambitions of a civil servant. India has had some good Chiefs and so it will have in the future also, the army functioned well enough before Singh came to the helm and it will function equally well after he leaves whether in 2012 or 2013. There is nothing that he can do with one year extension that he could not have done in the two years that he got as the Army Chief, others have achieved more in a lesser time frame. It is time to put a lid on such infantile nonsense that is being fed by a motivated media.
In fact all those who will be negatively affected by this controversy have, till now, maintained a very dignified silence and have left the decision entirely in the hands of the government. All that is appearing in the media is motivated propaganda designed to assist the Chief in his case. Nobody is going to gain much from this trash but the Nation and the army will lose a lot.
It is VK Singh who is using his Military secretary and Adjutant Generals Branches to project his case and pressurize the government into giving a decision in his favour. It is at this level that blatant manipulation is being resorted to. By whose authority did the Army approach the retired Chief Justices of India? How are fringe journalists getting inside information about important defense deals? How do these people know about some inside manipulations of a so called succession plan in the Army? These are the questions that the government should be raising to General Singh and that also fast before the water raises above the head.