In July 2011, I was travelling by road from SFO (San Francisco) to LA ( Los Angeles) , in USA On Highway 5. We stopped at SIX FLAGS AREA--- for refuelling and refreshment. It was 04 July---American Independence Day. I saw a notice on the restaurant entry---- Free meal and Drinks for veterans. I casually mentioned to owner that I was a veteran of Indian Army. Lo! He said " It is honour to have you here, Sir. We will give the same treatment to you" To say the least, he did not charge anything from us. What a respect for an alien soldier, who is disgraced and dishonoured in his own country! No wonders, USA is world"s only Super Power!!
It reminded me of atmosphere in Punjab vintage 1971 war--- when I was respected like this. Nations do not become great by lofty talks but by respecting the men who safeguard your honour. Respect and "IZZAT" a nation pays to its veterans, is the national premium for safety and security.
American national war memorial in Washington DC, is manned round the clock by serving soldiers. Come rain, snow and thunder, sentry stands unmoved right in the open. In our country war memorials are desecrated and disrespected. Stray dogs and wandering cows find a shelter there. A few years back, a war memorial statue at Ludhiana in Punjab was uprooted and thrown away.
I remember when General Douglas Mac Arthur was the Chief of U.S. army in 1931, American president Franklin Roosevelt proposed to cut down defence expenditure. In a meeting with President , Mac Arthur pleaded with the President not to cut. But Roosevelt did not listen to him and dismissed him. Mac Arthur got up and walked away but then turned and said: "Mr. President, when in the Next war , an American Soldier with enemy bayonet piercing his abdomen, spat out his last curse, I do not want the name to be Mac Arthur but Roosevelt." It is NO gain saying the fact that Roosevelt reversed his decision.
Compare this with Indian Generalship. They do not even have the guts to cry on the insults being heaped upon them publicly by bureaucrats and politicians. How sad we saw three Chiefs sitting as dumbos when Defence minister announced truncated OROP on 05 September 2015. Not a whimper of a protest by anyone of them. How sad they were not even consulted on PMR/ VRS issue before announcement. What was more disturbing was the facts that none of them had the guts to tell the Raksha Mantri : "Mr. Defence Minister, please tell your Prime Minister that it was a biggest insult you have heaped upon the armed forces. Armed forces will not remain the same hereafter. If the mistake is is not rectified soon, the last bastion of holding together of Indian nationhood would get disintegrated.
Sheepishly sat the three Chiefs and sheepishly they walked away. Remember the quote by Sun Yet San, an ancient Chinese Military philosopher : I AM NOT AFRAID OF AN ARMY OF 100 TIGERS LED BY A SHEEP BUT 100 SHEEP LED BY A TIGER. Well! We can now assess the impact of SUCCESSION PLAN of Chiefs of Army Staff , initiated in 2005 , during the tenure of General JJ Singh as the Chief of Army Staff.
There is a wrong notion that Military strength flows out of Economic strength. In fact it is the reverse of it. China was NO where in sixties and seventies but it successfully used its manpower to flex its military muscle to send cold sweat down the spine of USA and even USSR. Today its economy is of ten Trillion dollars while India is at Two Trillion Dollars. Mind you China became independent two years later than India.
Look at USA. Their economic strength draws out of their Military power. In ISA other than military arsenal and space research, nothing is manufactured. Everything comes from outside at terms dictated by USA. And it is a 16 trillion economy-- merely because of its military muscles.
Look at your neighbour Pakistan. It is reckoned at par with India purely because of its military powers. Giant like India is a helpless spectator to Pakistan's pinpricks because we do not have the proper military muscle to shut her up.
Finally, Mr Natender Modi must know that it was not the machine but the man behind the machine which matters. Pakistan's Sabre jets and Patton Tanks in 1965 war fell prey to Indian Gnats and Sherman tanks respectively. The Kargil war of 1999 was NOT won by the Generals sitting in the AC rooms in Delhi or Srinagar but by motivated soldiers led by spirited Captains and Majors .
What Modi Government and the bureaucrats did with the willing cooperation of the three Service Chiefs,on 05 September 2015, was to demolish the spirit and motivation of the soldiers. Unless quickly rectified, our nation will pay a heavy price for disrespecting its veterans. And in the next war with China or Pakistan,when an Indian soldier flees from the battlefield, shame will be on this BJP Governments with veterans like General VK Singh, General Khanduri & Col Rajverdhan Rathore , and Not the soldiers because you broke their spirit. National humiliation would be worse than 1962 war. All your Raffles or Chinook deals or FDI investments would not be able to prevent this humiliation because what matters more in war is the man behind the machine.
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