Young officers cheer General V K Singh while seniors give guarded response

[Zarvan]

New Delhi: Even as many young officers support General V K Singh's apparent challenge of the civilian establishment, senior officers are deeply divided over the Army chief's decision to move the Supreme Court against the government.

Many young officers look at the entire issue as a general's courage to take on the civilian bureaucracy, which usually manipulate and suppress the military. "He is showing courage in taking on the civilian administration. Please do not misinterpret it as a challenge to the political leadership," said a young officer, who believes Gen Singh will win his battle.

Another young officer pointed out that successive civilian bureaucrats sitting in the defence ministry had refused to deal with the military with respect and accommodation, and the age issue was reflective of that larger malaise. "See the way they have treated his demand, sending it for legal opinion, and passing on those AG opinions without any respect for the chief's office," he added.

Such sentiments are palpable across the junior ranks of the military, while at the senior levels, there are much more carefully crafted words when it comes to discussing the chief's move.

A senior Army officer, who has served with Gen Singh for many years, said he didn't feel very comfortable with his move.

"It was a matter in the Army headquarters and that was settled there. Now to drag the entire government into the issue is not a very comfortable thing," he said. The officer pointed out that Gen Singh did not get "justice from his Army superiors and not ureaucrats".

"Once he was appointed as the chief, there was no question of age, isn't it? He should retire on the day the government wants him to retire," said another senior officer.

While some retired senior officers are vocally supporting Gen Singh, many are upset that his effort was also meant to scuttle the possible appointment of Lt Gen Bikram Singh as the next Army chief. Many others shy away from commenting on the issue. Some of the former military chiefs did not want to discuss the issue.

Vice-Admiral (retired) S C S Bangara said the issue was reflective of what was wrong with the civilian-military relations in India.

"If they stop keeping away military chiefs from decision making and carry out the MoD integration as recommended, then such things are not likely to happen. Political leadership will have to learn to deal with military leadership and military problems without depending solely on the bureaucracy," Bangara said.

Another retired general said government needed to make "age irrelevant" for senior level appointments. "You go by merit, and drop these seniority-based appointment of chiefs," he said.

 

[punit]

anothe feather on the hat of present govt. Well done "a" lickers of sonia G and rahul G.

 

[Android]

civilian government should stay away from military issues and vice versa

 

[KS]

Well done General.

 

[LEGENDARY WARRIOR]

Obviously, the senior generals are waiting for their turn, so they want him out by hook or by crook...

 

[KS]

BTW this is the official document proving the DOB of Gen Singh is 1951 and not '50.

 

[KS]

As read from IA fans FB page:

Why this chief is sore in their eye?

1. Not part of arms lobby-govt nexus.
2. Pressing cases against Adarsh, Sukna scammers.
3. Conveyed army’s independent view on AFSPA and opposed its removal.
4. Opposed involvement of Army in anti-naxal operations.
5. Army did not play game on Anna’s character.
6. Trying to clear army of corruption (honest army is too dangerous for corrupts).
7. Tried to assert his position as chief to much disliking of Govt (not behaving like head chowkidars).

 

[KS]

Four former CJIs back Army Chief General VK Singh in age row - India News - IBNLive

Army Chief General Vijay Kumar Singh has been wronged in the controversy over his date of birth, according to four former Chief Justices of India. In their opinion General Singh has been consistent on his date of birth since he joined the National Defence Academy (NDA).

Murphy's law is wreaking havoc with this corrupt Govt..Whatever could go wrong is going wrong.

 

[joekrish]

Hope all goes well for him, he is a good and honest man and we are proud of him.

 

[perplexed]

The Solicitor General has already informed MoD that all the documents validates VK Singh's claimed DoB of '51. Even after being informed, our antony ji went on to claim on the floor of parliament that the issue has been "settled" and it is '50.

Every one from top brass in IA to bureaucrats in MoD knows that if the General goes to court, he will surely win.

The issue has been reduced to an ego clash between MoD and IA which is so pathetic.

 

[KS]

^ This is an ego clash of just the babus and the politicians who want to politicize the last remaining apolitical institution of the Indian Army.

Gen V.K. Singh is well within his right to haul the babu/neta arse to court and I support him in his endeavor. This country is being looted by the IAS/Politician nexus and Army also must not fall prey to it.

 

[Bang Galore]

^ This is an ego clash of just the babus and the politicians who want to politicize the last remaining apolitical institution of the Indian Army.

Gen V.K. Singh is well within his right to haul the babu/neta arse to court and I support him in his endeavor. This country is being looted by the IAS/Politician nexus and Army also must not fall prey to it.

This issue is far more complicated than what you suggest & one needs to take a nuanced view of the same. It is a messy issue but it was largely a mess created within the army itself. Two successive chiefs have weighed in on this matter & whatever the merits of their actions, it would be extremely uncharitable to blame either the bureaucrats or the politicians for the whole mess. The government could have done a better job at handling this issue with more circumspection but the legal grounds on which they have acted is based on the advice of the country's highest law officer - the Attorney General. We should wait & watch what happens in the Supreme Court but regardless of the outcome, this is a really unfortunate situation to be in, both for the government as well as for the CoAS.

 

[KS]

This issue is far more complicated than what you suggest & one needs to take a nuanced view of the same. It is a messy issue but it was largely a mess created within the army itself. Two successive chiefs have weighed in on this matter & whatever the merits of their actions, it would be extremely uncharitable to blame either the bureaucrats or the politicians for the whole mess. The government could have done a better job at handling this issue with more circumspection but the legal grounds on which they have acted is based on the advice of the country's highest law officer - the Attorney General. We should wait & watch what happens in the Supreme Court but regardless of the outcome, this is a really unfortunate situation to be in, both for the government as well as the CoAS.

Frankly the CoAS was not left with much option after the campaign against him through press leakings,media management,mis-interpretations etc. It was the only logical recourse left to him and I'm glad he found it fit to be exercised rather than take it lying down.

Yes, the AG's advice is crucial in this whole plot and it seems Mr.Vahanvati bungled it..once more.

This sense of victimisation is reinforced by what they see as a media campaign to malign the army chief. They cite as an example, a news report, ‘Lies of the General’ in the latest issue of India Today, in which Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati is quoted as saying police verification at the time Gen Singh joined the army showed his year of birth as 1950. To refute that, Business Standard was shown copies of the police verification (from DIG CID (IB), Rajasthan and DIG CID, Punjab; Haryana, the army chief’s home state, did not exist at that time) indicating his birth year as 1951.

Broadsword: Antony faces trouble for statement on army chief's age

Sources say that in the present case, the top legal advisers failed to pre-empt the adverse Supreme Court judgment and could not offer correct and timely advice to the Government. "The law officers are appointed to advise and defend the government, its policies and decisions in the courts. The ag is a constitutional functionary who is supposed to be a step ahead of the Supreme Court in terms of reading the court's mind during the hearing," explains a law ministry official.

Defenceless Defenders : NATION News - India Today

And this is what the CoAS has to say about the AG in his petition :

The Chief in his petition says it is almost unbelievable that the government would get wrong advise from the Attorney General.

"It also seems almost unbelievable that the Attorney General would give precedence to the inadvertent mistake of wrongly writing the date of birth over the prescribed procedure such as preparation of IAFZ-2041 and therefore, the petitioner doubts as to whether a correct query was asked from the Ld. Attorney General.’’

http://sawantspeak.blogspot.com/201...tml?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitterHAWK EYE: EXCERPTS: COAS GEN VK SINGH'S PETITION

 

[Bang Galore]

Frankly the CoAS was not left with much option after the silent campaign against him through press leakings,media management etc. It was the only logical recourse left to him and I'm glad he found it fit to be exercised rather than take it lying down.

I agree. Pretty stupid of the government to handle it so tactlessly. The MoD should have been put on a tight leash with bureaucrats being made aware of consequences of leaks/planted stories in the media. A pity that this was allowed to go the way it has especially considering that Gen.V.K.Singh's integrity was never questioned by anybody.

The only good thing (in my view) that has come out of this issue is that it shows that there are at the very least, a few people who cannot be bought. I'm pretty certain that a bribe of governorship or an ambassadorial posting to some quiet European country would have been offered (even if only informally). Speaks volumes of Gen.Singh's character that he stood his ground risking both a nasty vilification campaign as well as the possibility of having his tenure cut short with no real upsides (except personal redemption) even if he wins.

 

[Bang Galore]

Army chief age: Spotlight turns on low-profile Antony

Defence Minister A K Antony has come under unprecedented public gaze over the handling of the controversy over Army Chief V K Singh’s age as the view grows in government and outside that the issue should have been tackled much earlier without letting it reach the present stage of crisis.

With the Army Chief petitioning the Supreme Court now, the Defence Minister, who meticulously maintained low profile so far and is highly regarded by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, finds himself in sharp focus over his approach on the issue.

Antony — known as an avid stickler for rules — went for the labyrinthine approach of tackling the matter at the bureaucratic level instead of looking at it politically. Determined that he did not want to politicise an institution as sacrosanct as the defence forces, he issued strict instructions that no one was to respond even if the issue came out into the public domain.

Even when the issue picked steam over the past 10 months and the Army Chief chose to speak publicly on it, he stood his ground, keeping away from any other option to end the crisis. He was, in fact, upset when Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh wrote a letter last month supporting the Army Chief, arguing this amounted to politicising the issue. Amarinder backed off, saying it was his personal view.

But as the crisis management reached the PM’s table on Tuesday, many feel the issue should not have been allowed to fester. On Tuesday, Antony came under attack from Opposition for letting it come into public domain. BJP leader Jaswant Singh, a former Army officer himself, went to the extent of saying he was “amazed at his (Antony’s) incompetence and sheer folly of treating such a sensitive matter in an insensitive manner”.

Unhappy voices have emanated from the government and the Congress too, though out of deference to Antony’s pre-eminent status within the party and government hierarchy, none are willing to comment openly.

“The issue is unfortunate. It should not have happened,” a senior party general secretary said. A senior Cabinet minister agreed it would have been better if the matter had been sorted out amicably with the Army Chief.

Army chief age: Spotlight turns on low-profile Antony - Indian Express