The Times of India-Editor Views of Wing commander (Retd) Shashank Bendre

Sir,

In his article "Bridging The Gap" (January 20) Admiral Sushil Kumar has brought the very crucial issue of Civil Military relationship to the fore.Unfortunately,it required the ongoing unseemly controversy over the date of birth of the present COAS unfolding into a major crisis, to bring it into focus.For the military,the reason for this conflict is very palpable- a result of the mistrust in which the military is held by the civilian authority.While the world powers understand that their military has an important role in planning strategic policies of their countries, the Indian military is kept at a hand's distance by the civilian authority.Moreover,the servicemen allege that the standing of the Armed Forces vis-a-vis their civil counterparts is being systematically lowered over the years, on purpose.They charge the bureaucracy of selfish motives in conspiring to see that the military is not given its due prestige in the scheme of things.Therefore,a distinction must be made between the bureaucratic and political authority to remove any misgivings.The civilian political leadership can no longer avoid addressing this anomaly to formalise a code of conduct and restore the dignity of the military before the situation goes out of hand.


Wing commander (Retd) Shashank Bendre