India’s political executive under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has established its own mechanisms of nomination and selection. It is well within its right to appoint officials as long as the process is within the court-mandated norms of collegiality of decision-making and responsibility. Some eyebrows will naturally be raised over the appointment of Bipin Rawat as the new Army Chief because it was after a long time that the Government did not opt for the chain of seniority. Some have attributed the appointment to the General’s proximity to the centre of power in his current posting or continuation of the infantry’s grip over top positions in the Army. In defence, Gen Rawat is reported to score in hands-on experience of insurgency over his two overlooked seniors.Regardless of the calculations that went into the decision, the appointment of a service chief is completely the Prime Minister’s privilege. And supersession in the services the world over is not out of ordinary although it has happened at the top level after a long time in India. Moreover, Modi did observe the seniority principle in appointing the new chiefs of IB, RAW and Air Force. What rankled was the departure from the practice of making the announcements a month in advance to allow the incumbent to settle in. Was it a coincidence that Gen Rawat’s appointment was made public a day after Parliament ended its sitting?With the new appointments out of the way, the Government should now undertake the long-overdue restructuring of the higher management in the armed forces. Even though the Kargil War exposed the infirmities in the present setup, previous governments could not complete the political consultations on appointing a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). India requires tri-service cohesion to tackle the emerging security challenges, especially in the space and cyber dimensions. But the Government must try for an all-party consensus on the changes to manage the tremendous pain it inflicts on superseded officers. Although the Government has been short on candidness, whether it is the new CBI chief or demonetisation, national security is one area it cannot afford to come up short.
Rawat transformed UN mission
New army chief reworked strategy in Congo and peacekeepers became a symbol of hope for the locals
NEW DELHI: When Bipin Rawat took charge of the UN North Kivu Brigade in the Democratic Republic of Congo eight years ago, things weren’t going too well for the world’s costliest peacekeeping mission, known by its French acronym MONUC.
HT FILE/RAHUL SINGHIndian peacekeepers in the Congo in 2008.
The locals were contemptuous of UN peacekeepers, questioning what difference they had made in their lives and accusing the mission of doing little to protect them. Angry crowds would often hurl stones at UN vehicles on the streets of Goma, the capital of North Kivu and where the Indian brigade is based.
Lieutenant General Rawat, who will take over as army chief on December 31, was a brigadier when he was sent to the Congo in August 2008 to command the Indian Army’s, then as now, largest deployment on foreign soil. He hit the ground running and quickly grasped the reason the peacekeepers were struggling to contain the crisis in the Congo, formerly known as Zaire.
“We were not fighting with our equipment, despite Chapter VII of the UN Charter, authorising the use of force in some scenarios. We have decided to fight with our equipment,” Rawat told this correspondent who was then covering the conflict in eastern Congo.
Rawat reworked the velvet-glove strategy to an iron fist within a month of his arrival, frequently authorising the use of attack helicopters to strafe positions held by rebel groups responsible for civilian deaths, recruiting child soldiers and displacing millions of people.
As the Congo’s internal conflict raged, he ordered the deployment of infantry combat vehicles rigged with machineguns and cannons to crush rebels and enforce peace in flashpoints such as Tonga, Kanyabayonga, Rutshuru and Bunagana.
In a remarkable turnaround, peacekeepers facing public anger soon became a symbol of hope for the local communities.
The change in attitude was clearly visible when thousands of locals, caught in the crossfire between the Congolese forces and rebel fighters, took refuge in an army base at Masisi located 80 km from Goma.
The crowd clapped and cheered for the peacekeepers as Indian helicopter gunships swooped down and sprayed rockets on rebel positions, allowing the Congolese army to push them back.