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The MoD, ignoring service HQs had unilaterally amended the gazette notification containing recruitment rules for the GMBOA in 2017, opening doors for a Joint Secretary-ranked bureaucrat to be appointed.

The Canteen Stores Department (CSD) had been established in 1948 alongside the Navy canteen services. The reason for its creation was to provide military personnel with their basic needs, despite remoteness of their location. It initially commenced with a few items in its inventory, which has grown to over 4,000 presently. Its profit in the last financial year, earned from mainly military personnel was Rs 1,253 crores. It is under the overall supervision of the defence minister but run by army HQs.

It was created solely for military personnel, which was subsequently extended to civilians paid from defence estimates in 1966, against military advice. Despite serious objections by the military community, this facility was subsequently extended to retired civilian staff too, thus adding 650,000 entitled personnel.

Retired civilians had restrictions on some items of purchase for which they objected to the Defence Ministry (MoD). The MoD has been attempting to force service HQs to remove these restrictions, which they are resisting, as it would impact availability to genuine customers, the serving and veteran community, due to budgetary constraints. Restrictions pertain to costly items including cars etc. There are already limitations on procurement by military personnel, but if opened for all, it may become nigh impossible for military personnel to obtain these items or ensure long waits.

The General Manager and Chairman Board of Administration (GMBOA), responsible for the daily running of the entire CSD network was always a serving military officer of the rank of a Major General, appointed on contractual basis for three to four years. Last week, the MoD issued a notification appointing a Major General, posted in another appointment in Mumbai, on a temporary basis for a duration of six months or selection of a new GMBOA, whichever is earlier, as against a permanent appointment.

The MoD, ignoring service HQs had unilaterally amended the gazette notification containing recruitment rules for the GMBOA in 2017, opening doors for a Joint Secretary-ranked bureaucrat to be appointed. This unilateral action angered the military and Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, the then senior most chief, wrote to the defence minister, Arun Jaitley, on the subject. No action was taken.

In August this year, when the current air force head of the CSD moved on promotion, it became evident that the MoD was contemplating appointing their own. The three service chiefs jointly approached the defence minister in August, who temporarily stalled the action.

Hence, a temporary appointment was announced. Based on the meeting, service HQs subsequently forwarded an official communication to the MoD, objecting to the unilateral amendment. This communique has been languishing in the MoD, without being processed.

The bureaucracy appears to be planning to delay the case for six months, hoping for a change in defence minister or government, enabling them to push forth their agenda. The intention behind appointing a bureaucrat is to dilute CSD facilities by opening it to other central government organizations, making it almost redundant as also to amend rules on sharing profit earned by the CSD. Logically, if desired for others, a similar organization can be created, rather than dilute an existing one.

CSD profits have already been used to fund the Sanskriti school in Delhi, which was created for children of bureaucrats. Most of the profit is kept by the government, the small portion which is returned to the armed forces is utilised for creating facilities and providing financial assistance to veterans.

The bureaucracy is seeking to grab every institution of the military that it can, despite having no role in the running nor even being entitled to it. It is now an open conflict between the bureaucracy and the military on controlling military assets.

Evidently, the military is spending more time battling its own MoD and bureaucracy, which suddenly seems to have grown wings, rather than handling cross-border threats. At every stage, the bureaucracy seeks to delay, deny and prevent the armed forces from moving ahead. Surprisingly, this action appears to have the support of the defence minister, who permits it to act, either knowingly or unknowingly.

In addition, in a recent communique to Cantonment Executive Officers (CEOs) and Local Military Authorities (LMAs) responsible for the security and well being of cantonments, Minister Nirmala Sitharaman issued a clear warning. Open all roads ignoring security aspects or face the consequences. She ignored military security concerns. After her last directions, the army had already opened most roads keeping a few closed for security purposes.

She is evidently following the philosophy that the armed forces interest ‘come last, always and every time’, the exact opposite of what her role as the defence minister should have been. With such a head at the MoD, there is no wonder that the ministry is working in a coordinated manner to denude the armed forces of every institution they have, including those on which a majority of the forces depend. Military hospitals are being opened to ‘Modicare’ and the CSD being taken over by the bureaucracy. Cantonments are already open. What could be next??

Never in the history of the country have the armed forces been pushed to such depths that they are forced to fight for their rights and dues. The defence minister can threaten the armed forces, as she did in the cantonment case, only because they are disciplined and respectful. But she cannot direct her own ministry not to cross limits in denuding the status and institutions of the armed forces.

Is this the status and standing of the armed forces that PM Modi promised in his Rewari rally of 2013? Are his directions to her to break every military institution, degrade its status and lower its prestige? If these are not his directions, then she needs to be firmer with her MoD than the military. She must ensure that her bureaucracy does not cross limits. She should remember that as military institutions fall, anger against the government would only rise.

The writer is a retired Major-General of the Indian Army.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 11

Former Union Minister Arun Shourie today alleged that the deal to buy 36 Rafale jets from Dassualt Aviation of France was the direct culpability of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in “compromising national security”.

When he announced the decision about getting 36 jets in April 2015 in Paris, Modi overturned the work of 7-8 years done by previous governments. There is no scope for discretion of the PM in such matters, said Shourie, addressing a media conference here.

He was accompanied by another former minister Yashwant Sinha and lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan.

Shourie termed Finance Minister Arun Jaitley as “minister for blogging” in an obvious reference to his recent blogs on the subject. “His statement is contradictory to what he has said in Parliament,” said Shourie.

Jaitley says approval of the Defence acquisition council (DAC) was taken in May 2015, then how did the PM arrive at the number (36 planes) and the decision before the DAC had met. Dismissing claims of India-specific upgrades, Shourie referred to the April 2015 joint statement of Modi and French President François Hollande. It said the aircraft and associated systems and weapons would be delivered on the “same configuration” as had been tested and approved by the Indian Air Force.

Both Sinha and Shourie said the government has “spun a web of lies to protect Modi’s culpability in the largest defence scam” the country has ever seen.

“Every explanation they put out ensnares the government in the web of lies they have spun. This means they have a lot to hide,” said Shourie.

The following points need to explained: How price increased from 670 crore to 1,680 crore; how HAL was not included; why there is no transfer of technology; and how the deal is actually causing a delay.

He made the statement in Pune while addressing a gathering of soldiers and officers who were disabled in the line of duty. The function also included a dance and song performance by disabled soldiers, men and women.

Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat Thursday warned that officers and jawans of the Armed forces “who cannot withstand stress” and “feign disability citing high blood pressure, diabetes and hypertension to avoid operational duties and earn extra money” will soon face action from the Army headquarters.

He made the statement in Pune while addressing a gathering of soldiers and officers who have been disabled in the line of duty.

He said, ”The Army will continue to provide all possible assistance, even of financial nature, to the truly disabled soldiers. But I am warning those who feign disability to earn extra money, will soon face action from the Army headquarters that they will not like. (This type of) disability cannot become a reason to avoid operational duty at the cost of lives of officers who continue to perform the duty till the last breath.”

The function also included a dance and song performance by disabled soldiers.

Aradhika Sharma

Why are most faujis so humorous?” I enquired of Brig Neeraj Parashar. He responded: “Well, since a fauji’s role is to die for the country with a smile, he may as well practice the smile throughout his life. He certainly can’t practice  death!”

“On a more serious note, however”, he continues “since the protection of the country’s borders, even at the cost of their lives, is a prerequisite of the job, humour is a natural defence mechanism for the soldier. An attitude of nonchalance towards life makes the possibility of sudden death or disability less morbid and the daily rigours of fauji life, more endurable.” Armymen know that humour is the best antidote to melancholy, sadness, stress and depression, helping in elevating the mood and diffusing tense situations. A sense of humour indicates high emotional quotient and is a recognised leadership quality for military leaders.

There is an entire sub-section of literature devoted to Army humour. Reams have been written about humour in uniform, mostly by the faujis themselves. The internet has pages devoted to comicality in the army. Army humour appears as comic strips, one-liners, quips, jokes, parody, ridicule, pranks, double entendre and, of course, the famous “barracks jokes”, which are essentially bawdy jokes, rhymes and songs. Some of the milder jokes that have cracked up generations of people are:

What branch of the military do babies join?

The infantry!

What don’t you say to a marine?

I thought you had to be in relatively good physical condition to join the Marine Corps.

What happened to the soldier who went to the enemy bar?

He got bombed.

Reader’s Digest has been running “Humor in Uniform”, the hugely popular column now known as “Offbase”, which has been appearing for half a century and has published “more than 3,500 jokes, quotes, and funny stories from the more than a million readers who have submitted them.” These were compiled into a book with the same name. Several long-running cartoon strips have been based on the funnies in the Army. Mort Walker’s Beetle Bailey (begun on September 4, 1950), set in a United States Army military post where several maladroit soldiers are stationed, was a popular comic strip. Also noteworthy are George Baker’s Sad Sack, Dave Breger’s Private Breger and William Henry “Bill” Mauldin’s Willie & Joe, to name just a few. Hank Ketcham’s strip of Navy humor, was distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1970 to 1975. Nguyen Charlie by Corky Trinidad (later compiled into a book, Nguyen Charlie Encores) was a Vietnam war comic strip. The best Ordnance cartoons came from Sergeant Robert Vittur, USMCR, who found humour in the riskiest of occupations, bomb disposal. He created the popular EOD cartoon character, Mulvaney.

World War II demanded immense perseverance and courage from most American soldiers and gave birth to a lot of authors among whom was former soldier, Spike Milligan who wrote Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall, Rommel? Gunner Who?, Goodbye Soldier and Mussolini: His Part In My Downfall. The bestseller Catch-22 by Joseph Heller is set during World War II, from 1942 to 1944. It mainly follows the life of Captain John Yossarian, a US Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier.

MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors and the series of M*A*S*H books that followed were written by Richard Hooker, an American writer and surgeon. The novel was based on his own personal experiences during the Korean War at the 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital.

The Virgin Soldiers by Leslie Thomas (who was briefly involved with the military action against communist rebels in the Malayan emergency) spawned two film versions.

For reasons unknown, although the Indian Army has a long tradition of repartee, humour, bawdy songs and jokes, there aren’t too many officers who have written humour. Among those who have forayed into the realms of writing are Col Sudhir Jee Sharma with Military Anecdotes: Indian Military Humour.  Sajita Nair’s debut novel For She’s A Jolly Good Fellow is an amusing take on the life of a woman officer in the Indian Army while Militarily Crazy: The Lighter Side of Life in the Indian Army by Maj Gen. Anil Sengar is a compilation of humorous real-life stories of life in the Indian Army.

Ordered to Laugh: Essentially Indian Humour in Uniform by Sudhir Mudgal is supposedly an “authentic Indian military joke book”. Some fauji wives have also tried their hand at writing humourous books on Army life (Soldier & Spice: An Army Wife’s Life by Aditi Mathur Kumar, Fin, Feather and Field by Simren Kaur)

A specialty of army humour are the quips and one-liners that are, in fact, pithy doses of good sense, but full of wisdom. These form an essential part of the parlance of the armed forces the world over:

Military Expert: One who tells you what’s going to happen tomorrow – then tells you why it didn’t.

All battles are fought at the junction of two or more map sheets… printed at different scales.

Says Col Tarun Parashar: “Spontaneity and timing are essential to humour, as these are to military operations. A good joke is like a well laid ambush, sprung in time, to catch an unsuspecting audience off guard, and …well…. make them die laughing!!”

New Delhi, September 9

In the midst of a political firestorm over the Rafale jet deal, the Indian Air Force is quietly making preparations, including readying required infrastructure and training of pilots, to welcome the fighter aircraft, official sources said.

They said the IAF is sending a batch of pilots by the end of this year to France for training on Rafale jets.

A number of IAF teams have already visited France to help Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of Rafale, incorporate India-specific enhancements on-board the fighter aircraft.

Sources said Dassault Aviation had already started test flight of the fighter jets to be supplied to India and the company had been told to strictly adhere to the timeline for delivery of the aircraft.

Paradoxical as it may sound, but here was a man who could not swim even in a bath tub and yet he ‘missed by a whisker to be the Naval Chief’, as he mused with a chuckle to my wife during a brief visit to our home in 2012. When we met for the first time in 1969, he was the Chief Instructor (Navy) while I was a student at Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He was among that last generation of officers who had no inhibitions in striking lasting friendships with junior officers.

He was the happiest taking his watch on the ‘bridge’ of a Naval ship and perhaps even more so, tugging guide ropes of a sailboat. But he was truly on cloud nine astride a horse, come rain or sunshine; and faster the gallop so much the more invigorating! Six-foot-plus, broad shouldered, not an ounce of flab, ramrod upright and dressed in the traditional striking red coat, snow-white breeches, full length black riding boots, he was the epitome of  ‘Master of Hunt’, anywhere!

There was a strange contradiction here, because he never wanted the quarry to be run down as he hated the idea of ‘blood sport’. I think he simply loved the thrill of speed as he was also a qualified pilot. And in his younger days, he owned a chrome yellow  sports MG car, which in the 1950s was the fastest automobile in India. He got a severe tongue-lashing from General Shrinagesh once when he took Mrs Shrinagesh (his cousin) on a spree in the MG and in the process they had got delayed for an official function.

His hour of professional glory dawned in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, when in fulfilling the mission of blockade of the Bay of Bengal, he was conferred the Vir Chakra and a decade later was appointed the Flag-Officer-Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Fleet. In between, he had the most fulfilling two years as Commandant, NDA, Khadakvasla, where with his imposing personality, he influenced countless young minds in the creed of ‘Gentlemen Officers’. The present Army Chief is one among his cadets.

He was also a very well versed and committed amateur naturalist. On October 28, when I felt convinced that unless the PM personally intervened and immediately, the Gir lion may go extinct, I got this mail: Dear Baljit, I will write to the PM. Please help by drafting a letter from me to him which I can print on my letterhead. To help, I will send him a copy of my book on the Gir lion, which was published in 1998, titled, Of Homo Sapien and Panthera Leo. Warm regards.

That was Vice-Admiral MP Awati, PVSM, VrC, who on November 4, 2018, passed away, aged 93.