Chairman SvipjaCMRChair had written on this Blog on 16 Jan 2012 that the COAS of the Indian Army should have tendered his resignation once his age plea was not accepted by the Govt., and definitely after the Court verdit. It did not happen, but followed many 'ungraceful' events.
Lt General S.K. Sinha, formerly Vice-Chief of Army Staff, and ex-Governor of Assam, and Jammu and Kashmir, a very savvy General and an Indian to the core, while writing 'Ethics, Ethos and the New Chief' on 31 May 2012 has observed the following:
1. The last one year has been a dark patch in the history of the Indian Army. Gen. V.K. Singh’s tenure as Chief started with a blaze of a self-created controversy compounded by the shenanigans of a few others.
2. Never before has any Chief in this country or any democracy in the world, filed a statutory complaint or gone to court. This lowered the dignity of that high office. Matters were compounded by the caste factor being brought in.
3. Members of Parliament of his caste sought the Prime Minister’s intervention in his favour and his brother-in-law organised a public rally in his support in Delhi
4. Civil stands for the political executive and not for civil servants. Subordination of the military to the civil should not mean subservience or servility. There may be occasions when a Chief may have serious differences with the government on policy matters of national importance. In that event, he must resign and not promote public controversy while still in service.
5. Napoleon’s advice about military operations is relevant: “Every General-in-Chief when given orders that he feels are wrong must represent and get them changed. If this is not done, then he must resign.”
The Article provides 'a very grand view' of how CMR should move in the Indian Context. Provides insight into the complex CMR in democracies.
Read the Full Article: Ethics, Ethos and the New Chief
