UNLIMITED. POWERS UNDERMINING NATIONAL SECURITY : OF BUREAUCRACY, MEDIA & EVEN JUDICIARY.
Nation and lawmakers have to decide, whether they want to keep India as one nation or see it breaking up like Soviet Union. Deliberately or otherwise certain forces are at work which are leading India towards disintegration. Indian Bureaucracy, blinded by self interests ; Indian Judiciary, inebriated by Legal overdose and Indian Media intoxicated by unbound craving for freedom of expression they are all working together to undermine National Security. In so doing, they may be unwittingly falling into the trap of foreign forces. It is no doubts that all three of them enjoy unlimited powers in their respected fields. And a serious effort is being made by all three of them to denigrate and demoralize armed forces, the only instrument of Indian state, which was holding it together. All three think National security is a child's play and they can handle it better from their air conditioned offices. Judiciary never sees anything beyond their legal minds. Their world starts and ends in the legal cocoon. And always armed forces are at the receiving end because of Jealousy of bureaucrats or lack of national security consciousness of judiciary or foreign funding of our media.
National integrity and security are not tradable commodities. However, in a recent interview to IBN KHABAR, Dr SD Pradhan, ex Deputy National Security Adviser during UPA government, has revealed as to how National security was compromised for petty political gains by then Home Minister , Sh P Chidamram. He has been earlier blamed by his ex Home Secretary and other officials for changing the initial affidavit in the case of ISHARAT JAHAN , where , it was being deduced that ISHARAT JAHAN was not a terrorist and her encounter as fake. Such acts of Chidambram allowed national security to be compromised and weakened India's case of Pakistan's complicity. This was certainly an act of treason. If it is true, it needs to be taken cognizance and the culprits given exemplary punishments. It is surprising as to why no court is taking a suo motto notice of such a serious offence.
It seems Indian judiciary has no concern for the security of the nation, otherwise perpetrators of such crimes should have been, by now, rotting behind the bars. No wonders, Indian legal and judicial system is not only blind but also mute. One was shocked to read a recent Supreme Court judgment, which asked detailed investigation on every case of encounter killing, even if the terrorist was a known hardcore killer/ murderer. What is the purpose of AFSPA Armed Forces Special Power Act? Genuine mistakes can take place when you employ soldiers in insurgency environs. Terrorists/ Militants/ separatist do not roam with head bands. If inquiries are to be held for each such case, then most of the soldiers would be only attending to inquiry. In fact, it's impact would be seen when soldiers would shirk engaging with separatists and like police force, army too would become ineffective. What is shocking is that neither army nor the government has challenged this order of the Supreme Court. Certainly, this is overstepping of the judiciary into a domain, they know nothing.
Politicians come and go but bureaucracy stays permanent and rules this country. If the need be, it misleads the politicians, like it is currently doing in the case of Home Minister and Finance Minister--- the two most powerful minister in the present government. Some one referred to bureaucracy as a predator . Well! It is very much true. Look at the way they have treated the armed forces in the 7th Pay Commission. Soldiers have been brought down to a pedestrian level. The cries and noise of soldiers go unheard and uncared. One rank one pension ( OROP) case has brought out the fact that even strongest politician like Narender Modi can not over rule bureaucracy. He had made a tall claim in his Rewari Rally in September 2013 but in 2014 he said that it was a very complex issue. Bureaucracy had Finance Minister on their side. And what veterans got after over 200 days of agitation at Jantar Mantar , Delhi was a dwarfed OROP in September 2015. The stamp of bureaucracy was clearly visible. While soldiers had been agitating for this for 40 years, bureaucracy and Para military forces got it without a hitch. There is a general feeling amongst soldiers that all political parties use them as condoms. If this feeling gets strengthened, what would be the impact on national security? Well! Disintegration of the nation is , then, not far.
Unfortunately current Union Government has been unknowingly adding to it by following certain policies which are accelerating the process of disintegration by alienating and demoralising armed forces , the only institute of the nation which was holding it together. And it is this alienation which has caused frustration and demoralisation of the army. Narender Modi's drive for modernisation of armed forces would go waste because men, who have to operated them , have no heart in it. All his efforts are on economy, make in India are on foreign visits. Some one has to tell him that all his efforts have NO meaning of armed forces, the cementing power of national unity, break down. I wonder if his military advisors like Gen VK SUNGH and col Raj Vardhan Rathore have told him that it was NOT the weapons but men behind the weapons who win military conflicts.
IMedia is a self made overlord and is not answerable to anyone in the country. It can demolish reputations at will. Politicians dare not touch them--- they can gang up and get after the ministers or anyone who questions them. Indian media has played a key role in not only undermining soldiers morale but also in breaking the cohesion of the armed forces. Media, in the name of freedom of expression, creates hypes about terrorists. They magnify soldiers unintentional errors of judgment. Recent unrest in Kashmir is a case in point. Some of the reputed journalists called a terrorist as a martyr and equated him with Bhagat Singh. These statements of these journalists add fuel to the fire. And when questioned , they talk of freedom of expression enshrined in the Indian constitution. They forget that Freedom of expression ends where national security begins. They have no right to dabble into matters of national security.
National security is above every thing. Expenditure on defence is a national insurance premium, which the nation has to pay to ensure its security. If nation needs security, it has to accept restrictions on unbridled freedom and liberty. There is a dire need to enact a National Security Act to ensure the integrity and unity of India. In fact, this act must define National Security so as to bring in its gamut all such acts, physical, perceivable and demonstrable, which endanger and threaten unity and integrity of India. Problem of security can not be discussed as law and order. What is happening in Maoists infested areas , North East and J&K is not Law and order problem but a more serious nature of a military conflict. Militants,terrorists and insurgents are the " Irregular Soldiers" of our regional adversaries. They are well trained in the use of sophisticated arms and tactics. Police forces are unfit to combat them.
There is a need to draw a line between Law and Order issues and National Security. A lot of water has flown in the Ganges when Armed Forces Special Power Act was brought into force in 1958. It was done to use army in aid to civil authority and cover it up for genuine mistakes. But insurgency, today, is no more law and order problem. It is an extension of war by other means ( WOM) and it needs trained soldier to handle it. There is a need to replace AFSPA-1958 with ANSWER 2016 (Act for National Security with Emergency Regulations) . It must provide adequate powers to soldiers to deal with all kinds of threats to national security. Mass agitations, communal riots, industrial strikes , insurgency, terrorism, armed movements like Maoists movements, Mafia activities, like cross border smuggling must come under the gamut of National security. ANSWER-2016 is the only way to revitalize national security by working out a National grid for counter terrorism/ counter violence/ counter agitations. In so doing, internal security and external security must be clubbed under the Ministry of Defence and Security. Home Ministry should deal with only Law and Order, which should cover crime and investigations where individuals are involved.
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