Blame Antony for Gen’s outburst

[sudhir007]

Blame Antony for Gen’s outburst - India - DNA

The old soldier and former defence minister Jaswant Singh on Monday pointed the finger at defence minister AK Antony for the embarrassing situation that hurts the army’s image.

Refraining from supporting the General’s disclosure to the media of corruption in purchases, the BJP leader said it is necessary to know whether the army chief felt he had to speak out because the minister did not respond.

“I have known Mr Antony for a long time. I do not know Gen VK Singh,” the BJP MP from Darjeeling said in response to a query.

And he characterized Antony’s style of functioning as the art of indecision. He said that a defence minister cannot indulge in procrastination and that it would affect national security.

Jaswant also left no one in doubt that he did not like the General going to the media. He made it clear that the action of the General and the inaction of the minister have impacted the morale of the armed forces.

The BJP leader recalled that when he took over the defence ministry — he did not mention that it was because of the sting operation on defence deals — he appointed a committee headed by Arun Singh, who was minister of state for defence in the Rajiv Gandhi cabinet, and an assessment was made of the needs of the armed forces in terms of modernization and acquisition of weapons and equipment. The BJP leader said the decision to acquire aircraft — there was need for 226 and it was brought down to 124 — has not yet been implemented.

He also said he had made a provision for setting up a registry of all middle-men in the arms purchases sector so that the agents working for arms manufacturers would all be brought out into the open. He said the government of the day had also written to the manufacturers asking them to give the names of their agents in India and the commission they were being paid for the arms transactions.

He was also not sure whether a CBI inquiry, which Antony has ordered in the wake of the General’s accusation, is the right thing to do because, he felt, institutions like the armed forces should have their own means of correcting the distortion in the system.

 

[Infinity]

I think this shows the frustration of General after SC verdict on his case................Generals shouldn't be allowed to open their mouth wide to media..............its time to show him the Exit Gate........

 

[T90TankGuy]

in my view the general has lost a lot of credibility , with view to the defense ministers statement in the house today .

 

[ARCHON]

Army chief is embarrassing himself .. he is speaking about this only now after age controversy..

he is late in reporting this just as he was late in filing his age...


yaaaaaaaaaaaa blame antony...

 

[sachin@india]

dude just go through it.

Antony and Manmohan: The dishonesty of honest men


No one, not even their worst critics, would ever think of accusing Manmohan Singh or AK Antony of ever taking a bribe. If anyone does so, the chances are the accusers will damage their own reputations.

But is honesty about not taking a bribe? Can honesty only have a negative definition – not taking a bribe – or does it have positive content? Like standing for integrity and truth. Like blowing the whistle on the dishonest. About standing up for what is right and sticking to it come what may?

The curious case of the chief of the army staff – Gen VK Singh – brings many questions about honesty to the fore. The general should rightly be taken to task for disclosing a Rs 14 crore bribe offer so late in his career. And this, too, only after it has become clear that he will not be getting an extended tenure due to the controversy over his date of birth.

What is one to make of such honest men that they don’t speak up when they must, and become eloquent only when it serves their purpose?

The defence minister appears to have been cut from the same cloth as the prime minister, who did not find the courage to do anything about the 2G scam. Raveendran/AFP
Honest Antony, to whom the general reportedly spoke about the indirect bribe offer, does not emerge with a halo around his head from this affair.

In fact, the defence minister appears to have been cut from the same cloth as Manmohan Singh, who did not find the courage to take on Andimuthu Raja’s deliberate efforts to hijack the telecom policy for reasons best known to him. Similarly, after deciding that coal blocks will be sold by auction in October 2004, Manmohan Singh — who was then coal minister as well — failed to persuade the coal ministry to adhere to this policy decision.

Is this honesty? When, in the interest of staying in office, or out of a misguided sense of loyalty to the party chief, you sacrifice what you yourself believe is the right thing to do, how can that be called honesty? Whether it is 2G pricing or coal block auctions, Manmohan Singh does not emerge from it as a man with integrity that goes beyond not taking a bribe.

Antony, too, appears to be built in the same mould of private integrity combined with a broader inability to adhere to the norms of professional integrity or even competence.

In the case of the general’s age, the matter could have been sorted out in one of two ways: by directing the army headquarters to correct his age by aligning the dates reported by the Adjutant General’s Branch and the Military Secretary’s Branch, or, in case it was felt that the general should be asked to retire early, offered him a face-saver where he was given a post-retirement option that would help him leave with dignity.

But Antony’s inability to take a decision forced the general to head for the Supreme Court – and it was the court that finally sorted the matter out.

Now, a embittered general is trying to bring out more skeletons from the UPA’s cupboard. The Rs 14 crore bribe offer, he says, was reported to Antony, but the latter apparently did nothing. The question is: if Antony thought it was a fib, he should have conducted an immediate inquiry and closed the chapter and reprimanded the general. If he thought it was serious, he could have ordered the general to sack the officer concerned or force him to take action.

Antony did nothing.

But perhaps the worst thing to happen during Antony’s watch was what could have been a huge kickback in a defence deal: the Rs 10,000 crore missile deal with Israel Aerospace Industries.

Antony’s ministry allowed the Israeli firm to bill a huge Rs 600 crore as “business charges”, and failed to kick up a storm over this clause in the agreement.

Where did this money go? What were the business charges incurred? For a much smaller payment of Rs 64 crore, Rajiv Gandhi got himself entangled in the Bofors controversy. He could never wash off the stigma. But a Rs 600 crore payment under Antony has completely gone under the radar. (Read the full story here).

Sure, we all know Antony did not have anything to do with this payment. But is his silence a sign of strength or weakness?

In ‘A Man for All Seasons‘, Sir Thomas More, the man who stood up to Henry VIII, the king who repudiated the Roman Catholic Church in order to seek an illegal divorce and remarriage, Sir Thomas, who opposed the marriage and was tried for treason, is queried by Cromwell on the nature of his silence about the King’s legitimacy.

When Cromwell asks him whether his silence about the King’s legitimacy did not amount to denial, Sir Thomas replies: “Not so. Not so, Master Secretary. The maxim is “Qui tacet consentire”: the maxim of the law is “Silence gives consent”. If, therefore, you wish to construe what my silence betokened, you must construe that I consented, not that I denied.”

Both Manmohan Singh and AK Antony were silent on the issues they should not have been silent about. Did they then consent to the crimes that may have happened during their watch as executive head of the country and the defence ministry?

The silence of honest men seems somehow more dishonest than the lies of the dishonest.

Antony and Manmohan: The dishonesty of honest men | Firstpost

 

[Big Boss]

Sonia gandhi's puppet antony is good for nothing he don't care about India or its people.

Gen VK singh is a very honest and professional.

He have taken strict action against corruption and transformed the army with vision.

He was the man who moved army for the "Operation Parakram" and after it he have taken deep study to transform army and removed the hurdles in swift attack on pakistan.

 

[sachin@india]

anthony is honest but incompetent just like puppet singh.

 

[T90TankGuy]

Sonia gandhi's puppet antony is good for nothing he don't care about India or its people.

Gen VK singh is a very honest and professional.

He have taken strict action against corruption and transformed the army with vision.

He was the man who moved army for the "Operation Parakram" and after it he have taken deep study to transform army and removed the hurdles in swift attack on pakistan.

you do realize that op prakaram was a failure? it failed all its objectives and we lost 700+ solders to mines and other incidents.. by the way any source to substantiate the above? as he would have been a divisional commander during 2001 , not even a theater commander.

 

[OrionHunter]

Both the Chief as well as the Defence minister are equally culpable. Antony for not taking any action for more than one year by giving a flimsy reason that the Chief did not give it in writing!! But he slipped up in Parliament when he mentioned that he does take immediate action even on anonymous complaints!! Then why no action on the info provided by the Chief personally?

And then why did the Chief report the matter to the defence minister when he did not want him to pursue the case? So, the Chief didn't want to take any action himself and didn't want the defence minister to do so as well! So why did he take the issue to the minister in the first place? What was his aim?

And why publicize it now a month before his retirement? There's more than meets the eye here, chaps! Interesting times ahead. Fasten your seat belts and hang on to your Mexican hats! You're gonna be witnessing a box office pot boiler!

Cheers!

 

[T90TankGuy]

Both the Chief as well as the Defence minister are equally culpable. Antony for not taking any action for more than one year by giving a flimsy reason that the Chief did not give it in writing!! But he slipped up in Parliament when he mentioned that he does take immediate action even on anonymous complaints!! Then why no action on the info provided by the Chief personally?

And then why did the Chief report the matter to the defence minister when he did not want him to pursue the case? So, the Chief didn't want to take any action himself and didn't want the defence minister to do so as well! So why did he take the issue to the minister in the first place? What was his aim?

And why publicize it now a month before his retirement? There's more than meets the eye here, chaps! Interesting times ahead. Fasten your seat belts and hang on to your Mexican hats! You're gonna be witnessing a box office pot boiler!

Cheers!

i get the feeling the chief will enter politics soon after is is out . (may be wrong , but its what i feel )