ARMED FORCES - STATUS MUCH BIGGER

ARMED FORCES - STATUS MUCH HIGHER THAN ANY BUREAUCRAT

( In our country, the bureaucracy still lives in the British era. It was unfortunate that Sardar Patel, the Iron Man of India did not get time before the independence to Indianise the ICS officers to be shaped into the democratic structure. After Independence the Bureaucrats managed to instil fears in the minds of the politicians that we had at that time of a military take over and got into downgrading the Armed Forces to a miserable extent, may be the status or the pay and allowances. The Nation must realise, specially after the situation in Afghanistan post 15 Aug 2021, that the Nations can disintegrate in case the Armed forces do not have the morale and will to sacrifice  for the nation.)

Former President of the United States, Mr Barack Obama once saw police officers in Ferguson armed with military grade weapons. He asked the

Homeland security who authorised these weapons to the police. As a result,
he, as the _President of United States, issued an executive order in 2015
prohibiting the transfer of a host of equipment, including armored
vehicles, grenade launchers, high-caliber weapons and camouflage uniforms
over the_ *"militarization" of the police.* He was aware of the
significance to maintain sanctity of military status as highest in the
state. *It is blasphemous to compare soldiers with another profession
because the soldiers earn the glory for the nation by spilling their own
blood*.
 
🚩⚠⛔ _*Soldiers in battle never seek a written order to lay down their
lives in the line of duty.*_
 
Sanctity of military ranks and placing them above all services is not a
creation of rank conscious Indian military but a convention that has become
a law across all nations. _The Lord Jesus Christ Himself recognized that
power of Pontius Pilate_ *“which has been given from above” (Jn. 19:11):*
the power of the sword, to kill and to defend a state from its enemies
rests with the soldiers. The legislation, government, judiciary and the
farmers can function if the state is defended by powerful armies. That is
why the profession of arms was considered *the most valued profession by
almost every scripture- Gita, Bible and Quran; and a soldier was placed at
highest pedestal in a state and society*.
 
Not many people know that *the military ranks have been sanctified by tens
of names of martyrs and hundreds of nameless martyrs.** These ranks have
not been picked up at random but from those who laid down their lives in
defending their respective nations. Idea was that every time you address a
solider by his rank you actually honour the martyr by remembering him. *The
respect given to the profession of arms was such that no one could become a
king or shepherd of a church without serving in the military*. The
importance of serving in the military was so significant that *those who
refused to serve in the military could never become part of the body of the
Church and member of the court of the King. Thus the profession of the arms
was and will continue to remain above all other professions in spite of the
fact that there has been constant conspiracy to erode it. *Even today the
British Crown Prince is required to serve in the military !*
 
A court official no matter how high he was not given the power to kill but
it was and is vested with the soldiers. *In the battlefield a soldier could
kill, injure or even spare the life of an enemy and the authority rests
with the soldier to decide as per his conscience.* All other government
functionaries can be prosecuted for killing another human. Supremacy in
status was accorded to military personnel not only in Hindu scriptures but
across all religions, faith and empires from Europe to Asia.
 
In the recent past a debate has been raging about the status of the
soldiers and their leaders. One has to be completely out of sync to believe
that a bureaucrat or file pusher can be equated with the soldier. 🚩How can
a support staff be superior to the one whom they are supposed to be
supporting? 😠 It means that the support staff in an operation theatre is
even more important than the surgeon who conducts the operations over the
patients. Try and tell the surgeon that henceforth , he would follow the
command of the man who is responsible to maintain the operation theatre and
its cleanliness. Will the surgeon take orders from the support staff to
conduct surgery? ❌ *It is completely absurd to even imagine that sectorial
or support staff as equal or even superior to the military whom they are
employed to support.* ! !! !!! 😯
 
*What makes a soldier sacrifice his life in the line of duty? It is sense
of honour and dignity of being the elite and chosen one.* Why the two
professions cannot be compared is because a civilian can work at leisurely
pace without any irreversible loss to the self and the nation. But 🚩 *if
a warrior does things at a leisurely pace he will not only lose his life
but will also lose honour of the nation and the loss could be
irreversible.* Churchill had said that the military must not suffer fools
or those who are incapable of understanding the art of war. Patton said
while addressing the political leadership, either lead me or get out of my
way to let me do things as per my ability. Civilian control is not
bureaucratic control and military must resist to become subordinate to
bureaucracy. It would be great disservice to the nation if the military
allows itself to become subordinate to bureaucracy. If the military starts
behaving like the bureaucracy, the first casualty will be warrior ethos of
‘sweat together to bleed together’ and second will be the moral contract to
‘train together to fight together”. *A General must have
courage to say no to the unjust orders* especially that affect morale,
national interest and *erode the elitism amongst the soldiers.*
 
There is a need to look at the larger picture. There seems to be a
systematic approach to keep military engaged in fighting with the system so
that it is unable to focus on maintenance of morale and its ability to
prepare to fight future wars. If a Chief and his DGMO are fighting
bureaucracy to protect the rank and status of soldiers, who do you think
will plan for military operations at a juncture when the Indian Army was
almost forced to go to war over border standoff with China? The Indian Army
does not need Doklam to go to war. *There is Doklam happening every day* in
the form of status of the forces, *unresolved pay anomalies of 7 PC, NFU,
OROP and modernisation of the Defence Forces.* Chanakya had said, 🚩 *to
defeat a big army fight it from within and you need no enemy to defeat
biggest of the armies.* Imagine the impact of the equation and reduction of
the status of armed forces with the support and secretarial staff on the
officers and men? So far _*every officer and soldier is told there is no
one equal to you in status and that’s why you are chosen to lead your men
unto death.*_ 👊✊✌
 
The President of India is the Supreme Commander and a soldier serves with
the pleasure of the Presidential decree. No other services enjoys such a
status but _the question is whether the Supreme Commander should continue
to remain silent over the issues that are ultimately eroding the morale and
operational edge of the armed forces_ or use his executive powers to thwart
any attempt to dilute the status of the armed forces vis a vis civilian
counterparts and secretarial staff. In fact , if the rank and the status
of the military is reduced, it is an insult to the office of Supreme
Commander under whom the armed forces are supposed to function and warrant
of precedence is issued.
 
_Political leadership should judge whose interest it will serve if the
morale of the military is eroded by creating internal dissensions_. Thus it
is time to identify those who are acting as enemy to fight from within the
system against the last pillar of the state. Current and future governments
have to decide whether they want an Army that is capable of winning future
and current wars or an army that is weakened by constant attack on its
stature? The current trajectory appears to be going in a direction that may
create insubordination in the services headquarters because it will put
military officers subordinate to support and secretarial staff. But if the
government wants to use the lowering of states of armed forces officers to
group B to deflect the ire of the Court against the denial of the NFU and
declare Armed Forces as group B services , then there cannot be greater
misfortune where *a government will engage and fight against its own armed
forces !*
 
No matter what happens to the overall debate, one thing is sure that _the
military is conscious of its rank not because it gives them status but
because the rank carries the names of known and unknown martyrs._ System
and bureaucracy may attempt to insult the martyrs but the men who carry
their ranks can’t afford to insult those who laid down their lives to
protect the honour of the nation. I had written in an earlier article that
*the significance of salutation* and what it means to *a soldier when he
salutes his superior, it means “sir I am ready to carry out your command”*
and an *officer returns the salute by acknowledging that “I will lead you
till last breath”.* That is why an old soldier never saluted a civilian
irrespective of his position because _a civilian cannot lead a soldier to
war and he is in no way equal to the profession of arms_. If *the services
chiefs accept willful erosion of status of military vis a vis support and
sectorial staff, they will not only do injustice to past, present and
future generation of soldiers* but will also insult martyrs. Soldiers do
not fight for cash awards but take and give lives for the Flag and Colour
of the ribbon. One may recall that first thing soldiers did on reaching
Tiger Hill was not to wash their wounds and count their martyrs but raised
the Tri Colour under the barrage of enemy artillery fire. That is why
*soldiers cannot be compared to any other profession because they seek
glory under the shadow of the swords.*
Jai Hind

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