Defence Minister issues instructions for reducing litigation against military personnel

Good Morning India.....

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/defence-minister-issues-instructions-for-reducing-litigation-against-military-personnel/

MOD was known to litigate till the Supreme Court in cases decided against it. On implementation of Parrikars order, the Ministry is expected to shed the ‘compulsive litigant’ avtar. Unfortunately the IAS babus working in the MOD have egoes bigger and taller than mount Everest. Unfortunately they do not think twice before approaching the Supreme Court against serving Soldiers, Veterans and war widows to deny their financial rights as decreed by The Defense Tribunal. They think by saving a few pennies for the MOD they will be in line for the Bharat Ratna.

This led to a lot of heart burn amongst war widows and veterans also resulting in rising litigation in routine matters and those involving meager financial implications. the Committee of Experts constituted by Parrikar expressed displeasure on the MOD for ‘indulging in litigation of luxury’ and which recorded that appeals were being filed as a default reaction and by indulging in ‘ego-fuelled’ litigation.

A glaring case in point laying bare the hypocrisy and anti defense stand of IAS babus in recent times is the case of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.

The Government took the decision to honor the Field Marshal who not only wiped off the stigma of 1962 reverses but won a decisive victory. Someone had repeated the feat after over two millennia. Chandragupta Maurya had done it in 300 BC when he drove the remnants of Greek armies that opened the gateway to the invasions of India. 
FM Sam Manekshaw was treated most shabbily because he refused to kowtow to his political masters, and was terribly hated by the then IAS Babus in the MOD.

Soldiers live and die for izzat - their own izzat as much as their country’s. This virtually untranslatable concept symbolizes at once a sense of pride in one’s calling, a resolve to uphold professional traditions built over decades by human sweat and blood, an unflinching determination to vanquish the aggressor and, above all, to live up to the exhortation of the Gita (IV:8): vinashaye cha dushkritam (for the extermination of evil deeds of the wicked).

After the Presidents ceremony of giving him the FM's Baton and appointing him as Field Marshal for life,, some politicians pointed out that Manekshaw had become swollen-headed and did not salute the President properly after investiture as Army officers normally do. The Service officers present on the occasion had to explain to know-all politicians and senior bureaucrats that a Field Marshal traditionally uses his baton to salute, instead of his hand. We created a Field Marshal but didn’t know how he conducts himself. Indira Gandhi had also decided after the Bangladesh War to appoint Gen. Manekshaw as Chief of Defense Staff (CDS).

However, the bureaucracy was not in favor of this. The CDS would become part of the Ministry of Defense and perform most of the tasks handled by babus of the jack-of-all-trades Indian Administrative Service. There was a hitch when Y.B. Chavan, as Defense Minister, recorded his opinion that the effect of Gen. Manekshaw’s promotion on the other two Services should also be considered. Eventually, the proposal to appoint the Chief of Defense Staff was torpedoed by the time honored strategy of divide and rule that senior bureaucrats aka IAS Babus had learnt from their British masters. They soon started filling the ears of the then PM Indira Gandhi, against Sam.

Indira Gandhi was always apprehensive of Manekshaw and soon became more so. As a person she was deeply insecure. One day - so goes the story - Manekshaw was summoned by the Prime Minister to her office in Parliament House. The Prime Minister said that she had heard that he was going to take over India. Sam was shocked. He assured her that he did not harbor any political ambition. He replied that he was quite happy commanding the Indian Army, and as long as he was allowed to do that, she could run the country the way she wanted. Indira Gandhi seemed to be relieved and, it is said, thanked him profusely. But Indira’s aides were always ready to see in the irrepressible Field Marshal a threat largely because of his unabated popularity.

Manekshaw was branded an egotist, and soon became persona non grata. After her return from the Shimla Conference, Indira Gandhi, in a meeting with Manekshaw apprised him with the terms of the agreement with Bhutto. The irrepressible Manekshaw told her: “He (Bhutto) has made a monkey of you.” And that was the last nail in the coffin of the Field Marshal- Prime Minister equation. Finally the IAS babus of MOD had achieved their aim.

Though the Government could not take away his rank, it did take away everything else and treated him shabbily indeed. He retired in January 1973. Field Marshals get full pay and allowances till death. Manekshaw never got even the pension of the rank he held nor a house or a car after retirement. It took the Government of India aka the IAS Babus, 36 years to decide his scale and entitlement. Sam's larger-than-life image also earned him some enemies. For long, he was denied the benefits and status due to a Field Marshal. It was not until 2006-07 that President Abdul Kalam took the initiative and made sure the general got his full dues. That’s how it works, , the system Parrikar presides over today.

When he was on his death bed, in Coonoor Military Hospital in June 2007 suffering from complications of pneumonia, a shameless babu called on him in the hospital to hand over a cheque of Rs 1.60 crore towards arrears of his entitlement. When Lt Gen SK Sinha met him and congratulated him on this, Sam replied “Sweetie, a babu from Delhi came and gave me a cheque. I have sent it to the bank. I do not know if it will be honored.” A few days later - on 27 June 2007, he passed away. None of the VVIPs of Delhi was present at his funeral.

As per our protocol, a field marshal ranks with the Service Chiefs and below the Cabinet Secretary. Bureaucracy aka IAS Babus had their way. The government was represented by a mere minister of state at the funeral. The funeral should have taken place in Delhi with the President, the Prime Minister and the high commissioner of Bangladesh, or a high dignitary from that country, attending.

The ruling sovereign, King or Queen, in England - custom has it - attends the funeral of every Field Marshal with the Prime Minister and Service Chiefs in tow. The President of India, the Prime Minister, the Defense Minister and the three Service Chiefs (obviously, on orders from above) were too busy to attend the last rites of India’s first Field Marshal. Minister of State for Defense, Pallam Raju was the sole political representative.

Thank you Mr. Parrikar though a small kick arse step it is in the right direction.