A Colonel General

The one aspect that has stood out in all the interviews given by General VK Singh is that he has been consistent and never once dithered to answer a question. Everything he has spoken is logically sustainable. He admits to certain disgruntled elements within. We are thus reassured that under this Chief matters are not being brushed under the carpet. In such a scenario some feathers will be ruffled and apple carts upset. For an institution as eminent in stature as the Armed Forces, upturned apple carts should be treated as hurdles in a steeple chase. One way of separating rotten apples some would say.

Anything unprecedented portends either evil or goodness. The way Gen VK conducted himself is unprecedented, in that there was a lot of media (and by default the Nation’s) attention focused on him due to events contrived or otherwise. So we can expect some good outcome, the optimist that I am.  He took over the reins in trying circumstances and vowed to start a process to ‘cleanse’ the system.  Some of us know that it was not a task as direct as it sounded. There has definitely been an attempt to right wrongs is evident. Just yesterday the financial powers of Service HQs have been tripled to ₹ 1500 million. The establishment has woken up to the fact that the Nation’s Defence is ill equipped. The bureaucrats are rattled. The focus is once again on corruption in Defence deals. The much touted ‘succession plan’ for Chiefs have been exposed. Some internal squabbles have come to the fore. As a veteran I feel some much needed churning in the innards of the Army is in progress. In the process a lot of muck has been exposed. I ask, how can we clean the room without removing the carpet and exposing the dirt. The whole exercise is definitely painful – what with dust in the air and everybody sneezing and some catching an allergy.  We can only hope that once the process is done with and the dust disperses we get a clean atmosphere.

I thought the Chief spoke like a Colonel and NOT a General...is that the difference?

In passing…whither intellect?

One other point of note in the transactions between our politicians on National TV is the tit for tat attitude; a complete lack of intelligence in discussing issues. Last evening a spokesperson for the movement against corruption was drawing attention of the panel to the various corruption charges against senior incumbent ministers (Not frivolous allegations but points already raised in Parliament) one panelist belonging to an entrenched National Political Party retorted “You make allegations against ministers what about allegations cropping up in the papers on members of team Anna?”. At that point I was overcome with an intense feeling of nausea and hurried to the loo.