Official war histories of our country have remained under sealed covers and archival material is largely unavailable to military professionals, scholars and academics. This has led to an inevitable void in information

Holding it close to chest: The government’s reluctance to part with official histories of its wars has added to the apathy and loss of objectivity in second-hand accounts

Sandeep Dikshit

Civilisations indifferent to the recording of history also tend to consign military history to the backseat. Of the four million recorded documents in Indian languages — from the classical era to the 19th century — half are believed to have been irretrievably lost or destroyed and a vast majority of the ones that survive remain untranslated and undigitised.Military history as the basic discipline for the development of national security strategy has remained an underdeveloped genre. But for a clutch of former military men and some academics, the recording of military history is largely hagiography. This approach has suited power centres in India as well as globally because the shortfall in objectivity and honesty helps talk up their exploits while brushing under the carpet instances of ineptness and miscalculations.The Indian government’s reluctance to part with official histories of its wars adds to the apathy and the loss of objectivity in second-hand accounts based on first hand experiences. India did publish the official history of the 1947-48 operations in Jammu and Kashmir and the liberation of Goa in 1961. But the war with China led to a downturn in enthusiasm in the bureaucracy and political class to make public official histories of the subsequent wars. The 1965 India-Pakistan War history was labelled non-official and the 1971 War history remains under sealed covers. The Kargil Review Committee report and a subsequent report by a Group of Ministers, understandably redacted in parts, did provide an official window to the progression of events and the war itself.The erudite man he was, Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao did initiate a move towards openness and making available archival material to military professionals, scholars and academics but the resistance was inevitable. The rules governing the Public Record Act of 1993 took four years to materialise. The Act had promised declassification material at the end of a 30-year cycle. The inefficacy of the legislation led to a fresh debate on the need for openness. While the RTI Act did bring relief to pensioners, the disabled and war widows, it did not result in opening of the archival material. The lacunae led to the setting up of a committee in 2009 comprising bureaucrats and academics with lopsided composition — two historians, seven serving and two retired officials. The committee met a few times in earnest. But last heard, the panel had been wound up and the few suggestions that came its way remained unacknowledged and unimplemented. Given this approach, a knowledge gap is inevitable; not just in stand-alone devotion to the subject but also when benchmarked against international trends.To begin from the beginning, that is the cradle of knowledge, scholars have repeatedly pointed out that the Indian university system is apathetic to the study of military history. Most major and prestigious Central universities offer no course in military history. Even the Departments of Defence and Security Studies (DSS) that exist in about a dozen universities make do with an optional paper and are reported to be bereft of a professional faculty.Although some limited work exists of the pre-Independence British period, there is no serious original work by an Indian author on modern war studies. Rather, mostly foreign scholars excel here and are widely quoted.

A former Defence Secretary recalls“Coming back to the Defence Secretary’s office, the complex, if it may be called, consists of a room for his staff officer, a separate conference hall and a spacious, well-laid out space in the Defence Secretary’s office to hold meetings. On the left side of the office of the Defence Secretary are wooden shelves, stacked with files and books. One of the most coveted books is the Henderson Brooks Report, which is kept under lock and key. It cannot be taken out of the Defence Secretary’s room and cannot be given or lent to any person, including the ministers. I must confess that I have not seen the relevant Order but these instructions are orally passed on from one Defence Secretary to another….

Lessons from others

Both in the US and Australia, it took almost 30 years to integrate the three services. Ultimately, it had to be done by legislation. In India, we are ensuring this coordination and looseness by government orders. Eventually, a law would be required to legally enforce closeness and coordination. Excerpted from Born to Serve: Power Games in Bureaucracy by Yogendra Narain. Manas

Disaffection in forces

Little things can trigger disaffection. The British officers of the East India Company’s army made light of the unease among Indian soldiers over the use of grease on their bullets. The insignificance attached by them to this issue and their subsequent apathy to addressing the misgivings among its infantry gradually snowballed into the First War of Independence. Similarly, because of the absence of source material, sociologists and historians have not been able to expound on the few instances of protest after Operation Bluestar. If at all, the reports might be held by disparate institutions: the military, of course, but also the Intelligence Bureau and the intelligence and police apparatus of states where the incidents occurred. The lessons from the disaffection, however, cannot be applied to the current unease over salaries, order of precedence and pensions.

Northeast, always forgotten

The Northeast has often been a theatre of war in the past. In the 1962 War, it figures in popular lore just once and that too as supporting civilians: Rifleman Jaswant Singh Negi of 4th Garhwal Rifles was assisted by two local girls in keeping off the Chinese. Otherwise, it is rare to come across any book, paper or article about the involvement of Northeast soldiers on either side of Independence. The fact is many young men joined the military to fight the Japanese to defend their home turfs of Kohima and Imphal as well as further afield in Burma and Malaya. Several, for whom age had rendered them unfit for enrolment as soldiers, scouted for intelligence at great peril.In addition, the region has been neglected in the recording of oral history that would have set some of the myths about the 1962 War at rest, especially the one that the Chinese came in wave after wave overwhelming our troops. It may hold for Ladakh but not in Arunachal Pradesh. Very little effort has gone into the recording of oral history. As for the contribution of fighting men, the various states of the Northeast have become inward-looking because of the competitiveness in domestic politics. Assam remains fixated on Ahom culture while political leaders of other states, too, are more preoccupied with highlighting their effort to put indigenous cultures on a pedestal. The recording, preserving and exhibiting of their contribution to the military remains underplayed and unsung.

Rawat was speaking at an event organised by the United Service Institution. PTI file

New Delhi, December 6

Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat on Wednesday said that there was a politicisation of the armed forces and the military “should be somehow” kept away from politics.

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It is essential that the military stays far away from politics for a vibrant democracy, he said.

“The military should be somehow kept out of politics. Of late, we have been seeing that politicisation of the military has been taking place. I think we operate in a very secular environment. We have a very vibrant democracy where the military should stay far away from the polity,” he said.

Rawat was speaking at an event organised by the United Service Institution.

In the “good old days”, the norm was that women and politics were never discussed in the forces, he said. However, these subjects were gradually “inching” their way into the discourse and this should be avoided, the Army Chief added.

“Whenever (any) issue (of) linking any military establishment or military personnel where political entity comes in then…  that is best avoided,” he said.

The defence forces, he asserted, do best when they don’t meddle in the political affairs of the nation. PTI

NDA Cadets from the early to mid eighties will remember the imposing frame of SM Darbara Singh. During the rehearsal for the Passing out Parade in 1985, the cadets were in a particularly rebellious mood. The noise did not die down even when the Nishan (Presidential Colours awarded to NDA) was brought into the QM fort, and this was a serious matter indeed, for the Nishan is held in high esteem by the cadet community.

The insult to the Nishan did not go down well with Subedar Major Darbara Singh. With his measured steps he stepped up to the podium and with a voice heavy with anger and gruff with emotions, he asked the cadets to lend him their ears.

Subedar Major Darbara Singh “Cadets, I have served in the Indian Army for 23 years. I have seen the 1962 operations, the 1965 and 1971 wars as a combatant. The Nishan that you have not acknowledged today, stands for me and countless others who have taken up the profession of arms and given their youth and lives for the honour of being given an opportunity to salute the Nishan, as the symbol of the supreme sacrifice made by our martyrs.

I will tell you a story that might indicate to you the feelings that we soldiers have for the Nishan. The SM drew a deep breath and continued, In this very academy we have a hut of remembrance,where the names of all the former alumni of this institution who have fallen in action are inscribed on the wall, I have been in this academy for the past three years and I have been able to enter that hut only once.

Because written on the wall is one name, Lt Palta of the 4th Battalion the Sikh regiment.

During the 1962 China War, my Paltan was posted in the Tawang sector. I was deployed right on the border, and my section commander was the same Lt Palta whose name is there on the wall in the hut of remembrance.

On the fateful day of 15 Nov 1962, the Chinese attacked our post and we were told to fight back to the last man, last bullet. Lt Palta was personally leading the fight back. It was a harrowing time, we were outnumbered, out gunned and desperately short of ammunition.

Yet we soldiered on , because Lt Palta did not know any other way.

I will carry this blood to my funeral pyre.” The SM’s voice became gruffer with verbalized emotion, “When I entered the hut of remembrance the first time, I saw Lt Palta’s name and picture on the wall.

In an instance I was transported back in time to 1962 and felt his cold stiff body on top of mine and his blood congealing on my face. Till date I haven’t been able to enter the hut again.

” Cadets, its for officers like these that the academy has been given the Nishan. It has been won by the blood of ex NDAofficers and it stands for all that is good and pure in these horrible times; I will not permit you to insult the Nishan and Lt Palta as long as I have breath.”

So saying the SM stepped off the dais and strode out of the QM fort in fragile silence. The silence of the QM fort was shattered only by the echoing word of of command of the parade commander some eight minutes later, ordering the passing out parade to coil its sinuous way out of the QM fort in to the drill square.

The Nishan is nothing but a piece of cloth for those who see it as such, but for Subedar Major Darbara Singh of the Ninth Battalion of the Sikh Regiment of the Indian Army, and countless others like him, it stood for Lt Palta and a cold winter night when a young Lieutenant died trying to protect and lead his men in to battle and to supreme honour.

It stood for a quintessential Indian army officer, who, even when dead, continued to shield a young frightened soldier who was out of ammunition and at the end of his wits.

A breed of officers who gave these grizzled old men the self-esteem and sense of honour, of belonging to a family, of mattering, of esprit-de-corps, and in the end, a way of life. And that, in my opinion is true leadership.

Suhail A Shah

Anantnag, November 20

Three days after a footballer-turned-militant shunned the gun, another youth from south Kashmir has renounced violence and given up arms to return to his family.The police have been tightlipped about the identity of the militant who gave up the gun today.Soon after the police announced that a militant in south Kashmir had returned home, paying heed to the pleas of his family, Deputy Inspector General, South Kashmir, SP Pani, confirmed the news.“Yes, a boy has returned to his family,” Pani said, but maintained that the police wouldn’t give out any details about the boy.“We will not disclose his identity for now, given the involvement of various issues in the process,” Pani said, remaining non-committal on whether the identity will be disclosed at all.Sources, however, revealed that the militant has been identified as Nasir Ahmad Dar, a 16-year-old from Czimmer village in the DH Pora area of Kulgam district.Dar had been missing from his home since September 27 this year. Meanwhile, Director General of Police SP Vaid took to Twitter and expressed happiness over the development.“On my visit to Kulgam, I was told another local militant has come back home in response to the appeal of his mother and other family members. Great news!” Vaid posted.

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, October 28

An Army aspirant allegedly committed suicide by jumping before a train near his village, Uppli, last night.The Government Railway Police (GRP) handed over Vikramjit Singh’s body to his relatives after a post-mortem examination.Sangrur GRP munshi Karnail Singh said Vikramjit, 22, was depressed for the past month after he failed to clear the medical test for Army recruitment.

For those who respect and have faith in the forces, let the authorities know that it cannot play with those who serve the nation.

Two major inputs regarding the case in the Supreme Court on the non-functional upgradation (NFU), granted to all other central services, except the military, are doing the rounds on social media.

The first is a report in the press highlighting the ministry of defence (MoD) and the armed forces headquarters (AFHQ) locking horns over the draft equivalence committee report. The second is a statement made by army chief Gen Bipin Rawat while addressing officers in Srinagar that the NFU case may be lost because the government considers the armed forces neither as a group-A nor a group-B service, but distinct altogether.

The case is scheduled to come up for its final hearing on October 26.

The MoD has taken it upon itself to work out the equivalence between the AFHQ civilian and the military cadre, ignoring the warrant of precedence (WoP) issued by the ministry of home, which is responsible for setting the order of seniority between services and ranks. The army member disagreed with the draft report, which has been supported by the service chiefs. The MoD has basically adopted its own calculations to adjust the additional vacancies allocated to it by the cabinet. Their claim that this seniority adjustment is solely to coordinate functioning at the service headquarters and MoD level is adding insult to injury, as it would make service officers subservient to those junior in service, experience and age.

India is possibly the only country among top military powers with a completely civilian-run MoD, seeking to downgrade those whom it controls, rather than working together to resolve pending issues. It spends more time delaying military demands and requests, battling for supremacy over the uniformed, enjoying the perks of the military, without any responsibility and accountability. Downgrading of seniority levels would give more decision-making powers to those who have no understanding of defence and security issues, other than that obtained from perusing files.

Repeated demands for amalgamating the service HQs and the MoD for greater transparency, better understanding, speedy decision-making and cohesive working have only run into stone walls. The military brass has realised, knowing the working of the government, that if it accepts this insult even once then it would remain for eternity. MoD’s downgrading would be adopted almost immediately by the ministry of home, resulting in a fresh and degraded new WoP.

Are photo-ops by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with troops only for elections and he has no genuine concern?

Downgrading the military would adversely impact its morale at every level. Hence, it would be fought tooth and nail and rejected at the service HQs.

The bureaucracy, supported by the government, having lost all avenues in the NFU battle in the courts attempted to establish additional roadblocks. It first sought to degrade the armed forces from a grade-A service to a grade-B service through the equivalence commission. If the armed forces would have accepted it, the decision would have been in their favour. When it realised that this is likely to be prolonged and the service chiefs are unlikely to give in, despite pressures, mainly due to internal ramblings and morale, it adopted a different approach.

The new approach is to classify the armed forces as neither grade-A nor grade-B service. The logic flows from the fact that only armed forces officers are commissioned with the commissioning certificate signed by the President of India, while all other services are not. Hence, it does not come in either category and should thus be denied a benefit announced for grade-A services alone.

Where was logic when the armed forces were let down in every pay commission? Where was it when the armed forces and civilian services were equated based on Grade Pay through the decades and multiple pay commissions? Where was it when privileges including travel benefits were announced based on grade pay? Why has it come up now, when every other argument has failed? Is this solely the handiwork of the bureaucracy or are the politicians a part of the game to intentionally lower the morale of the armed forces?

If the government considers inter-service seniority based on salaries, then why should the military be considered separate, when it comes to the NFU? If the WoP does not consider it as a separate entity, then why should it be changed now? Has the tacit approval of the Department of Personnel and Training, which is directly under the PMO, been obtained.

Are photo-ops by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman with troops only for elections and they have no genuine concern? The morale is already being affected within the service, which is not an ideal state for the nation.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman with defence personnel.

The inputs on the above issues are being moved rapidly through social media in all service groups. Questions are being raised on whether the government is truly concerned about the welfare of the serving officers or is the bureaucracy leading it by the nose. The veterans are aghast at this attitude of the government. They are aware of inter-service rivalry and jealousy, especially since the armed forces are more respected in the society, but the government allowing the bureaucracy a free run to hurt the uniformed, is crossing tolerable levels.

The veterans are likely to attend the final hearing in strength and have also planned a mega rally in support of the serving at the end of this month. This is one battle which the armed forces cannot afford to lose, despite government inaction. It can only be won, if the service HQs puts its weight behind the battle. A few stalwarts have taken the government to court, reached the final stage, in a battle which would immensely benefit present and future generations of those serving. They must be applauded and supported for their efforts. This is a battle for rights which must be fought to the end.

The service HQs should join their serving cadre in this battle, rather than consider the government line or promises of subsequent release, as it is known that democratic governments, especially in India, make promises solely to break them. Granting of NFU would enhance morale, bring in equivalence between the civil cadre and the armed forces, wherever they are jointly employed and restore its standing and prestige. Losing the battle would result in just the opposite, a disgruntled force, blaming the hierarchy for lack of support and losing faith in the system.

For those who respect and have faith in the armed forces, this is your moment, spread the message, expand your reach, let the government know that they cannot play with those who have no public voice, no power to object and are always there for the nation, securing it daily, even at the cost of their lives. Let this battle have your support and blessings. The armed forces need the support of the nation now.

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