Those keeping up with the national news must have seen the media blitz that erupted over the reports where in retired Army Chief, General VK Singh made the revelation that the army pays money to “all the ministers in Jammu and Kashmir to perform particular jobs” for maintaining peace and harmony in the state. In separate interviews to various national level news channels, the former Army Chief said the practice has been going on since independence to assist the state government in ensuring the people are kept together, reduce the army`s work, win hearts and minds of the people and bring peace in the state. That blew the lid off in the media and there after, there have been allegations and counter allegations, demands and counter demands. One can only speculate on whether the same was practiced in another region that is akin to the state of Jammu and Kashmir in terms of the special importance and impunity given to the Armed Forces under the cover of Armed Forces Special Power’s Act (AFSPA): the North eastern states. Even as the allegations buzz around everyday in the media spotlight, what is relevant is that the armed forces which is portrayed as the role model of nationhood, discipline and a sector with principles is showing the same rot that we see in every other sector. In recent years, it has become all too common to see clear cut cases of indiscipline, corruption and malpractices happening at various levels. In fact every time there is talk of the soldier keeping vigil in difficult terrain that is aimed at making the general population beholden to the armed forces and perhaps make them a bit guilty over not appreciating the forces, the truth is that the forces with the system have been part of the loot as well. From taking part in defense deals to playing dirty over promotions and awards and honors, the defense forces have seen it all.
The 2010 CAG report for example pointed out that the Army`s procurement and supply of dry rations that includes rice, wheat, dal, sugar, tea, oil, tinned items and fresh rations like vegetables, fruit, meat, milk undertaken at an annual cost of Rs 1,440 crore lacked in terms of quantity and quality. The can of worms that the report opened mentioned that over three lakh soldiers under the Northern Command in J&K, were being issued rations by Army supply depots even after the expiry of their original estimated storage life, among other malpractices. The other major rattle in the defense forces or specifically, the Army incidentally involved the current protagonist: former Army Chief V.K. Singh when he made the dramatic announcement in 2012 that a former officer-turned-arms lobbyist had offered him a bribe of Rs 14 crore to approve the purchase of 600 sub-standard vehicles. The same year, it emerged that there was a recruitment at India’s premier defense academy, the National Defense Academy (NDA) involving the recruitment of class IV employees. With the Air force too, the rot of corruption in defense deals while procuring equipment are out in the public domain. The Navy is yet to open its account in terms of a major defense or corruption scandal but this deficit has been filled up with scandals when a wave of voices emerged where spouses of officers went public over wife swapping and spouses being used as a means of seeking favor for promotions.
So yes, the armed forces are all human and since they are part of a decaying society, they too will make mistakes. But the distinction comes in terms of the privileges that they enjoy. The Right to Information act for instance cannot be used to seek information about the defense forces and its functioning, all in the name of national interest therefore willingly turning away from the fact that corruption and malpractices, quality being compromised in equipments being brought are in essence, the real issue of national interest. The portrayal of the armed forces in popular culture like films and literature are almost always heroic tales of valour and sacrifice while the hard core realities of betrayal, treason, corruption and worse are kept away from public domain in cloaked secrecy. Other countries elsewhere have policies on when Government confidential papers relating to national security can be made public but this isn’t so in India which means that the armed forces pretty much gets away with its performance warts and all.