27 August 2015
By Lt Gen PG Kamath (Veteran)
It was post 1971 and the nation was euphoric. Our countrymen were
lauding the Indian Armed Forces for a spectacular victory that had
changed the geography of the sub-continent. The nation was savouring the
victory and more than 97,368 prisoners were in our Prisoners of War
Camps. It was the second largest surrender in the Military History;
second only to the surrender of Gen Von Paulus, German, 6th Army at
Stalingrad in the Second World War. The Armed Forces were feted
everywhere for its courage and the people were convinced that it was one
instrument that would never let the country down.
Amidst this euphoria there were 4000 families, who had lost their
fathers/sons/husbands in the war. Another 10,000 were wounded and maimed
for life. They were picking up the lost threads of life to continue
their journey in the forbidding world. However their sorrow was lost
amidst the mirth, laughter and jubilation of victory.
Unknown to the services a band of bureaucrats were conspiring as to how
to cut the Armed Forces to size. Defence Secretary was Mr K B Lal, who
was literally there for the entire duration of the Third Pay Commission.
He was the one, who provided the inputs to the Third Pay Commission.
The Commission was constituted a year before the war and concluded two
years after the war. It’s final recommendation marginalising the Armed
Forces was made public two months after Fd Marshal Manekshaw
relinquished the post of Chief. Indeed it was a clever move as the most
popular person in the country was not able to take cudgels against the
government. This Pay Commission cut the Armed Forces to size for winning
the war for the country. Even Fd Mshl Manekshaw was not spared; more of
it later. ‘Ingratitude unkinder than the winters wind’ to adopt
Shakespearean phrase to an ungrateful government. How did the Government
go about the act?
Firstly they abolished a separate Pay Commission for the Armed Forces
and formulated an equivalence between the Armed Forces and Civilians. It
was here that the Pay Commission struck its vilest blow when they
considered that ‘a trained infantry soldier with three years of service
is below a skilled labour. Little do they know that it is the infantry
soldier who does the actual fighting and charges the enemy with naked
bayonet literally on the very front edge of the battle and makes eye and
steel contact with the enemy. He is the one who bears the brunt of more
than 90% of casualty in all wars and yet he was considered the lowest
strata to base their comparison. It also means that the infantry soldier
with less than three years’ service was considered an
semi-skilled/unskilled labour? Just mark the irony of the sinister and
ignorant move? Rest of the soldiers were equated based on this
preposterous formulae?
Next step was to reduce the percentage of pension for the Armed Forces.
The OROP that was effective till 1972, was annulled after the third pay
commission. A soldier then served only for 15 years and went on pension
at the ages ranging from 33 years to 36 years of age. In view of this,
his pension was 70% of his basic pay and an officers pension was 50% of
his basic pay as the bulk of them retired at 50 years of age. The
civilian counterparts were getting only 30% of their basic pay as
pension. Please note they served till they were 58 years of age (now 60
years) and the soldiers retired a quarter century earlier. The wretched
Third Pay Commission did not consider the additional 25 years of service
his civilian counterpart served and raised their pension to 50% and
reduced a soldiers pension from 70% to 50% in order to achieve the
so-called parity. Further the government put mandatory 33 years of
service for full pension fully knowing that the soldier then retired
after 15 years of service. They further as a largesse made a seemingly
generous gesture to the Armed Forces by pegging the mandatory service
for full pension (50%) to 25 years. Just look at the clever move; fully
knowing that the soldier retired after 15 years of service. Thus the
soldier in effect got only 30% of pay after 15 years of service, as
extrapolated from full pension of 50% of pay with 25 years of service.
Thus the Government ingeniously cut a soldiers pension from 70% to 30%
of pay at the same time enhancing the civilian pension from 30% to 50%.
Look at the perfidy; how can possibly a Government run down her own
Armed Forces? It is indeed a remarkable feat from a nation that was a
slave nation for over two centuries, yet disregards her Armed Forces who
ensure her hard earned freedom?
Our Defence Ministry were hand in glove with the proposals. There was
not a whimper of protest to set right the injustice. The soldiers had to
pay heavily for having won the war for the country. Their travails were
not over; more was yet to come!
One would wonder why the soldiers did not protest against the brash
injustice perpetrated on them? It would be difficult to believe, as
those were the times the officers in particular were told that politics
and pay were not to be discussed. They were naïve and had full faith in
the government that in the long run; no injustice would be done to them?
The disarming naivety of our officers appear incomprehensible now; but
it was true then. Hence the entire master stroke of cutting the armed
forces to size by impoverishing them was done with so much of dexterity,
it took us couple of decades to realise its negative impact.
Mrs Gandhi was feted and was called ‘Durga’ and she basked in the
limelight of victory and self-adulation. However, she proved to be the
daughter of her illustrious father by sharing the same antipathy and
disdain towards the Armed Forces. She was a smart women hence concealed
it to a great extent with outer façade of support and derived maximum
political mileage of the victory. The running down of the Armed Forces
in the Third Pay Commission could not have been done without her active
and positive consent?
Their next target was the most popular figure in the country Fd Marshal
Manekshaw. He was made a Field Marshall and the appointment is active
for life, though ceremonial in nature. A Field Marshall does not retire
and continues to wear his five star rank for life. He was entitled to
Pay and Allowances for life. The bureaucrats who were literally jealous
of his popularity ensured that he did not get his pay and allowances;
low and behold! for the next 36 years, and finally a lump sum of ₹ 1.60
crore of arrears was released to him on intervention by then President
Abdul Kalam. A non-descript bureaucrat gave him his pension dues on his
deathbed in Jun 2007 a few days before he breathed his last. Isn’t it a
national tragedy? Don’t you sometimes feel whether the country deserves
selfless service from its soldiers? Can any country on this earth be
more ungrateful towards her soldiers than ‘Mother India? What a great
victory for the MOD for destroying the soldiers pride?
Let us now analyse as to why a soldier fights? Why does he give his life
for a cause? What makes him charge through a fusillade of bullets and
splinters against sure death and injury overcoming the instinct of
self-preservation? Why is he prepared to make his ultimate sacrifice and
bid goodbye to the world? Why does he not think of his loving wife, his
innocent children, his aged parents and the living world of mirth and
bliss; knowing he has not even spent a quarter of his life? Why all his
near and dear ones pale in to insignificance and he sees only his
mission like Arjuna only seeing the eye of the bird? All these questions
can be answered in two words; His Pride.
It is his professional pride that make him a hero. He wants to be a hero
before his comrades; before his superiors, in his unit and in his
country. He is a hero of his village and hero in front of his parents.
He is a hero to his wife and a super hero to his children. He also knows
he is the last bastion of the nation and he is the last trump card in
the hands of his nation. He knows that if he fails the nation fails. It
is this emotion that drives him towards mission accomplishment. It is
all the way Pride! Pride! And Pride. It is nothing else but ‘Pride’.
Sad to say; it is exactly that the Governments of his own country wants
to deprive him of? He has been badgered, humiliated, impoverished and
made a laughing stock in all the successive pay commissions. His status
has been lowered time and again by an insensitive government. How can
noble thoughts like sacrifice, mission, cause, patriotism and pride be
ever understood by self-serving, sly and scheming bureaucracy? A
soldiers pride has taken a beating and believe me sir! It would be a
long and painful time to build it again?
Mr Prime Minister! Before you forget history; In Jun 1932 President
Herbert Hoover, the 31st President of US ordered firing on the veterans
of First World War for demanding the promised bonus. Two veterans were
killed and several injured. Herbart Hoover lost the election with a
devastating defeat and has gone down in history as a lack lustre
President. The Great Depression may have contributed to his rout but the
firing on veterans brought him great disrepute. Mr Prime Minister! You
are certainly made of a better stuff than Herbert Hoover? Enough has
been said of ‘OROP’ and nothing more needs to be said about it. Supreme
court has granted it and parliamentary committee has approved it. Not a
single political party has opposed it but it is still undone? For the
past 70 days agitation is on and brute force of police has been
unleashed on them. Dear Prime Minister! I hope you have seen the sad
picture of a proud veteran trying to fight his tears and another veteran
whose shirt with medals torn asunder withstands the criminal use of
force against him with quiet dignity and equanimity. It is still not too
late to make amends.
Reminds me the words of Edmond Burke “ Invention is exhausted, Reason is
fatigued, Experience has given its judgement but Obstinacy remains
unconquered”. Mr Prime Minister ! I believe you have still the ability
to overrule small minions around you, who do not have the nation in
their heart and are bent upon the murdering the ‘ Pride in a Soldier’.
Remember ‘Soldiers’ Pride is Nation’s Security’. You kill his pride; you
endanger the nation’s security.
https://www.reddit.com/r/india/comments/3ih3kl/soldiers_pride_is_nations_security/
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