BLAME GAME GOES ON

BLAME GAME Dr K Prabhakar Rao Every one expects Defense forces to be a role model for dedication, inititaive, honesty, integrity and steadfastness and efficiency. Ultimate saviors of the country are defense forces in any country.But why only these forces should be targeted? Why not civilians who are supreme in a democracy even if the degenerated democracy like in India.Our Democratic set up was copied from the Bristish parliamentary system and like copy cats we copied them and felt happy.We had no clue of our caste politics and head aches of religion that would undermine system. However the guys who wrote the document failed to realise that Indians are not Englishmen.Here Educations was very poor. The over populated country had its own problems. The natives who were robbed of power since centuries were only waiting like vultures to devour the nation after capturing political power in India. The same was predicted by Sir Winston Churchill. Exactly same thing happened.A tiger that has tasted human blood will not leave it. It goes after kill after kill till it si destroyed. What is going on in this country is same. Our political leaders have tasted the political power and the immunity it offers apart from various facilities are akin to the man eating tigers described above. They will not abdicate political ambitions. They hang on to the power even when they get physically invalid and , mentally in-alert. Yet they harbor further ambitions.Family rules and dynastic successions have become order of the day in India that is peculiar to only this nation. Gandhis name becomes an icon anda passage to power. What a shame!How one can cleanse society! Nepotism, corruption have become part of our DNA in Indians.Most amusing is that the writers preach that only Defense forces should be above all the ills while clean chit is given to the civilians. In fact all should be above all types of ills. Is it possible? Black sheep will be always there. There used to be few rare honest political leaders too in past and we had most eminent Defense personnel above board. Few incidents here and there do not make entire system bad. However in case of Civilian setup entire set up has become debris and muck.Army is a much smaller Orgaization compared to civilian set up.However in Defense forces strict code of conduct is there. In civil setup also code of conduct is there. Every political leader takes an oath when assumes his office. He betrays the oath and becomes corrupt. No other examples are required to sustain the argument after seeing what is going on now. The court cases that are going on now in the country against the scams will keep continuing for decades and invariably all the offenders will get scot free. Experience has taught us this. Every one knows about Bofors scam. Mundra affair of Nehru times is known to all. Helicopter scams is forgotten. 2G scam will go on and on for decades. Tehelca scam is also gone to winds. No major jail punishments were given and executed. However money was lost. Bofors scam is the right example to prove the point. When top guys are sustect things will not work correctly in all scams.. In such situation what we can expect? Civilian authority is supreme. But when civilian authority is highly corrupt, who will punish the corrupt and arrest mischief?PM is a helpless person. He does balancing act on tight rope. Men like LalooPrasad continue as Member of Parliament and he was the railway minister too. He is the prime accused and court case will go on till he lives and enjoys power. Once he is out from the world on his own ( wish so), the case will be struck off. Look at the no. of civil servants who are involved in various cases in AP and other states. Does it speak well of supreme civil society and immunity given to it? The nation has become a rotten one. Defense forces were and are good even now with in the prevalent conditions. But they have been discriminated, down graded and partisan treatment goes on against them. It is the most unhappy set up simmering like a cauldron. It could burst at any time although like Ostriches we feel that all is good. When civilian set up fails to deliver some changes could take place that no one can prevent. There is no other force that can counter Defense forces. The politicians should be mature enough in handling Defense problems and its men in uniform, . Treating them like all and sundry can spell doom to the nation. The date of Birth controversy of Gen VK Singh is a glaring mismanagement in MOD that could have been avoided. It has become a prestige issue for the Govt when the desperate General went to court. Why he was driven to that extent? Who will ask this question.? Inability to cater for forces is another failure on part of MOD. Pay commission problems that we had earlier with forces will keep on repeating. the govt has failed to make commission in Defense forces attractive. From where people with values will enter? All and sundry could find way into it from all walks of life in a same way as theya re entering civil services. It is national army. It is no more Royal army with officers class coming from elite class with strong financial back ground. Deterioration in defense forces thus started long ago after General ( Now FM)Cariappa transformed the British Indian army into national army of you and me. Obviously values have changed. Outside influence has affected it adversely. Who is to be blamed? Surely not the guys in uniform. It is the civilian setup that is to be blamed squarely. •