Views of Brig RS Chhikara

Citizens of India – Please spare a thought for the Nation

We Indians have been brought up on a diet of ignorance and indifference over the past 63 plus years; courtesy our self serving politicians and babus. We believe that we do not have a care in the world as long as our defence forces are there to protect us and the country. Never mind the monumental corruption, mis- governance and the utter lack of any sense of responsibility on the part of these worthy rulers. The average Indian goes about his business secure in the belief that ultimately the defence forces will be called in to sort out the mess created by them and all will be well. This belief has held ever since.
By and large public faith in the Defence forces is not misplaced either. After all this is the only institution not yet subsumed by prevailing systemic ills.

There are , however, pretty powerful forces at work to take this fine institution down with them too. Enemies of India will give their right hand to succeed in their nefarious mission through these emissaries. That leads me to wonder who the likes of Noorani are playing for. Certainly not for the nation. Are they just working in aid to civil authority if I may use that expression? Is it only a proxy for the Babu lobby who are wily enough to remain behind cover? This possibility is easy to see but there is a catch. The IAS lobby would certainly like to do down the military but they would certainly recognise that at the end of the dayt the defence forces are the ultimate cover for all their misdeeds in the absence of which the public may well be tempted to lynch some of them. They would not like to be devoid of that life saving cover.

My friends in the media are absolutely convinced that Indian media is fully sold out to pecuniary interests which ever quarter these may come from. Foreign powers enimical to India included. There is talk also of well orchestrated conspiracies to dismember India without having to physical attack us militarily. It is not too far fetched to imagine moles within the establishment and human rights activists being part of such conspiracies.

The bogey of Military take over is not original thought. It was raised in the early fiftees resulting in the Military being assigned roles in agriculture and house building. I recently visited Ambala where Operation Amar was launched . The result was there for all to see in 1962. Nooranis could well be aiming at a repeat experiment on a bigger scale. Doing away with AFSPA could well serve their purpose.

Our politicians have little knowledge of matters military nor are they enlightened enough to understand the importance of learning to take good advice where it is available. They can hardly be expected to check the bureaucratic and media mischief. After all they are but partners in the enterprise of corruption and misgovernance. The defence forces have already suffered serious dilution of military ethos because of the devide and rule tactics which has always been available as a master stroke in the armoury of the bureaucrat. Our system of promotions in the forces has been so corrupted from within as to ensure that people like Nathu Singh, Cariappa, Thimayya , Prem Bhagat, and Sam Bahadur are virtually precluded from reaching positions at the helm. Who then will stem the rot?

No AFSPA – No Army. This can not be a worthwhile recommendation. Army must stay and AFSPA must stay. Otherwise the field will be clear for all mischief mongers foreign or indigenous. A demoralized military will be helpless in managing internal destabilization and sabotage as well as external aggression, together. Such an attitude of hands off disengagement will be suicidal.

We must ask ourselves the question; who stands to lose most in such a situation of anarchy ?. It will undoubtedly be the ordinary citizen. The onus of correcting things while there is still some time available, must therefore devolve on the shoulders of civil society. Which means ; it is high time our civil society wakes up to the dangers inherent in present day goings on and spares a thought for their own future and for that of India. Sans the defence forces, they are the only ones who can and must take matters in hand. There is no Iron Frame and whatever its present day awatar there is, only deserves to be demolished in national interest. And if the fourth Estate continues to be as irresponsible and self serving as it has shown itself to be, they do not deserve the freedom to burn India down.

This however, is easier said than done. Such movements require enlightened, dedicated, Steadfast and patriotic leadership. Where is one to find such leadership? It will be chaotic if one relies on civil society to throw up this leadership spontaneously unless one believes in the Geeta. ‘ Yada Yadahe Dharmasye Glanir Bhavti Bharata, Agyuthanaya A dharmasya tadadmanya sarjamyam ham.’Under our present circumstances, ( Kalyug) the required leadership has to be provided, nurtured and sustained by a comparatively better organized segment of society. Perhaps military veterans along with some thinking and concerned citizens are destined to play that vital role.

Brig RS Chhikara,
Email chhikarars1940@yahoo.co.in
0124-4219549, 9560348585

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Chander Kamboj