TV interactions on Sri Lanka and India ties and UN war crimes report

Col R Hariharan

Recently I took part in  TV interactions in two different Tamil news channels relating to Sri Lanka and India's interests in the island nation. If you are interested you may access the Tamil programmes at the following You Tube links:

1. 16 August 2015 on NEWS7 TV Zero Hour: One to one interview on India-Sri Lanka ties to combat terrorism. http://youtu.be/wWLNhvH1ibs 

2. 18 August 2015 on PUTHIYA THALAIMURAI TV:  Discussion on "India's take on Sri Lankan war crimes after UN report" https://youtu.be/_5cgyUrQoug

Comments on Sri Lanka-India PMs’ talks

COLONEL R HARIHARAN

[This article is based on the notes used in a TV panel discussion on the talks between the visiting Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on September 15, 2015. It touches upon three issues that figured in their statements at a press meet on the same day.]

Question: It is rather strange that when Sri Lanka government has not reduced the military presence in the Northern Province as demanded by Tamils for a long time, Prime Minister Modi has spoken of expanding defence cooperation with Sri Lanka. He said India would expand cooperation with Sri Lanka in three areas: training of Sri Lanka armed forces, security of the maritime neighbourhood and in combating terrorism. The reference to ‘combating terrorism’ does not make sense because Sri Lanka has claimed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) has been wiped out.  What are your comments?

Answer: The two prime ministers have not touched upon the issue of reducing the army strength in Northern Province in their statements, probably because it was not discussed. In any case, this issue has been debated many times in this forum. So I don’t see the point in linking it up with defence cooperation between the two nations. I shall confine my comments to three aspects: extending our military training facilities to Sri Lanka, maritime security cooperation and combating terrorism.

Extending our military training facilities

Indian armed forces are the biggest in the region next only to China with extensive military training infrastructure and years of experience in training armed forces.  India had thrown open these training facilities for Sri Lanka’s use for nearly four decades. And Sri Lanka is not the only country to avail of our military training infrastructure facilities for their forces. Over 32 countries, particularly in our neighbourhood, and some African and Arab countries have been training in our facilities. So we have not made an exception in the case of Sri Lanka, though probably it had benefitted the most.

So Modi’s reference to further expanding existing levels of cooperation in this field between India and Sri Lanka has to be understood in this broader strategic context and not solely on the basis of Sri Lanka Tamil issue.

As the two countries are geographically too close to each other, it will be in their national interest to optimize their military capabilities to ensure their security is mutually reinforcing. Moreover, Sri Lanka is the vanguard of peninsular India’s defence because any threat to it will adversely affect India’s own national security.  Military training is perhaps the best method of achieving greater understanding, close coordination and cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries. 

Maritime security cooperation

Sometime back, India entered into maritime security cooperation agreement with Sri Lanka and Maldives. Under the agreement, Indian Navy, the largest force of its kind in the Indian Ocean region(IOR), has been protecting their interests in their huge extended economic zones(EEZ) in Indian Ocean from external exploitation.  It is strategically important for all the three countries to sustain such cooperation to protect not only the natural resources undersea in the EEZ but also from external naval threat.  

This becomes important as the Indian Ocean sea lanes are increasingly becoming strategic life line of global maritime trade and commerce and naval power assertion by its major users to protect their interests. India’s maritime trade is increasing in tandem with its expanding economic power and it has benefitted both Sri Lanka and Maldives. For Indian container based traffic Colombo is perhaps the most important port of call.

The strategic scene in Indian Ocean region is changing rapidly. Chinese naval presence is increasing in our vicinity in the Indian Ocean; it is helping Pakistan Navy to increase its naval capability. Indian Navy is also in an expansion spree. So the IOR is becoming the focus of maritime security concern not only to regional powers, but also to the US and its allies who are increasingly concerned at the PLA Navy’s increasing presence.

China has created port infrastructure in Colombo and Hambantota Sri Lanka in and in Gwadar in Pakistan. And Chinese warships have berthed in these ports causing uneasiness among India’s strategic planners. Sri Lanka and Maldives have also entered into strategic security cooperation agreements with China. So it makes sense for India to ensure existing maritime security arrangements with Sri Lanka and Maldives are further reinforced and strengthened. This would explain why we have been training the naval and coast guard forces of Sri Lanka and Maldives to improve their capacities and capabilities.

Cooperation in combating terrorism

It is true that the LTTE has been wiped out in Sri Lanka at the end of the Eelam War in May 2009. However, the Tamil Tigers overseas modules particularly in Europe, Canada and UK have continued to exist with a low public profile. Though they are lying low at an opportune moment the possibility of they becoming active to revive  separatist insurgency cannot be ruled out. A few LTTE modules have also been busted in Tamil Nadu from where they could have easily infiltrated Sri Lanka. These reports  have made Sri Lanka wary of the Tamil Tiger terrorism sprouting once again in Sri Lanka. India is also aware of the dangers of LTTE (where it is proscribed) terrorists staging a comeback. So the two countries (including Tamil Nadu) have been exchanging vital information on suspected Tamil insurgent group’s activities.

There is yet another angle to terrorist threat. In the recent past, there had been instances of Jihadi terrorists from Pakistan infiltrating into India using Colombo as a transit point. In these instances involvement of Pakistan ISI operating from the Pakistan High Commission in Colombo had come to India’s notice. There is also the lingering threat of the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists making an entry into India using Sri Lanka as the take off point. Thus Sri Lanka’s cooperation has become essential for India to ensure such attempts are not made by.  So we have to under the Indian Prime Minister’s reference to cooperation in prevent Pakistan intelligence agencies and Jihadi terrorist elements using Sri Lanka to the detriment of our national security. Modi’s reference to combating terrorism has to be understood in this broader context rather than solely on the possible revival of LTTE.

[Col R Hariharan, a retired MI specialist on South Asia, served as the head of intelligence with the Indian Peace Keeping Force from 1987 to 90. E-mail: haridirect@gmail.com Blog; http://col.hariharan.info ]

Only India can pull Sri Lanka out of trouble

There is a lot of convergence in the outlook of the leaderships of the two countries than before

COLONEL R HARIHARAN   @colhari2 |pOLITICS |7-minute read |14-09-2015      

 

Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is neither a stranger to the inner circle of New Delhi politics nor an unfamiliar personality in the North Block. However, during the last one year his profile has undergone a welcome makeover. This seasoned political leader, known more for his failures than successes in his repeated forays for power, pulled a political coup of sorts. With the help of current Sri Lankan president Maithripala Sirisena,  another political veteran though from the opposition, Wickremesinghe thwarted former president Mahinda Rajapaksa's bid for power twice!

The duo defeated Rajapaksa's bid for a third term as president in January, and seven months later, they outsmarted Rajapaksa’s attempt to come back to power using his loyalists in the seemingly more powerful coalition – the United Peoples Freedom Alliance (UPFA), in the recently held general election.

As a result Prime Mininister Wickremesinghe now enjoys power with a public endorsement of his political agenda twice within a year. Despite political obstacles the Wickremesinghe-Sirisena duo had made some progress in living up to the expectations of the public.  Their promises include increasing the accountability  of the executive president  to the parliament, empowerment of the prime minister and cleaning up the administration of corruption and cronyism. Their work done so far, though still not completed, has restored Sri Lanka’s credibility which was eroded both at home and abroad by former president Rajapaksa’s autocratic style of governance.

Wickremesinghe is heading a national alliance government - the first since 1977 - in which the ruling United National Party (UNP) and the main opposition the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) have come together. This has increased the chances of promoting a national agenda to focus on development in an environment of unity, peace and harmony. Former president Rajapaksa, failed to do just that despite his singular success in getting rid of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) once and for all. He frittered away five years of peace that followed the military victory in May 2009 by focusing on strengthening his support base. As a result the socio-political environment was vitiated by acrimony, distrust, religious and ethnic polemics and strife.

This has increased the chances of the present government making further progress in its reform agenda despite the widespread cynicism in the political milieu. But Wickremesinghe would be more confident than ever before when he visits New Delhi today for the first time after becoming prime minister.

There is a lot of convergence in the outlook of the leaderships in India and Sri Lanka than before. Wickremesinghe’s agenda to correct Sri Lanka’s tilt towards China after Rajapaksa had succumbed to its "fatal" charm in the areas of strategic security and trade was one such area. So it was not surprising to find the Ranil- Maithripala duo welcomed Prime Minister Modi's renewed efforts to build a broadened and enduring relationship with Sri Lanka when he visited the island nation some months back. They reciprocated his desire to get rid of other kinks in the relations between the two countries that had appeared during the earlier regime. This makes the Sri Lankan leader’s New Delhi visit a special one as Sri Lanka government probably enjoys greater credibility in the corridors of North Block than Rajapaksa.

Both Wickremesinghe and Sirisena have also shown their readiness to act upon the concerns of both India and the West including the US, which were dealt with superficially during ten years of Rajapaksa rule. These issues are sure to be included in Modi-Wickremesinghe talks even if they are not aired in public owing to sensitivity over some of them in both countries.

Both India and the West were irritated by Rajapaksa’s ploy to twist their concerns over his government's dismal human rights record during and after the ethnic conflict to whip up Sinhala nationalism and encourage xenophobia for his political advantage. Similarly, he distorted their insistence on resuming the political dialogue process with Tamil polity to resolve their long standing demand for equity with Sinhala majority as encouragement to Tamil separatism.

This had created problems for India as its negative fallout in Tamil Nadu politics adversely affected the fortunes of successive governments in New Delhi. This had cramped India’s efforts to meaningfully contribute to build a win-win relationship with Sri Lanka. This weakness was exploited by China to enter Sri Lanka in a big way.

Though the coalition era has ended in New Delhi, ethnic amity in Sri Lanka will continue to influence India’s policy not only due to its impact on Tamil Nadu politics, but also in the interest of national security. India and Sri Lanka are geographically too close to each other, making their national security interests complimentary than contentious. This makes it necessary for them to build a relationship that can be mutually reinforced, notwithstanding their unequal sizes and strengths.

The political dispensation for Sri Lanka Tamils will continue to remain one of the lynchpins for the progress of India-Sri Lanka relations. The Wickremesinghe government had tried to break the impasse in resuming the dialogue process with Tamils within the ambit of 13^th Amendment (13A) to the Constitution which is supported by India. However, it will be politically difficult for the Sri Lanka government to grant land and police powers envisaged in the 13A to the provincial councils. We can expect this issue to come up when Modi and Wickremesinghe meet, though it is a moot point whether it would go beyond making cordial statements.

For both India and the West, Rajapaksa reneging on his promises to them attend their concerns went beyond matters of Sri Lanka’s internal politics; it became a challenge to their strategic power assertion particularly after he got cozy with China and provided a welcome strategic foothold for the Dragon in Sri Lanka in India’s close proximity and midway in the Indian Ocean sea lanes through which bulk of global maritime trade is conducted. This assumes special significance in the light of China increasing assertion of is naval power in Asia- Pacific region, particularly in the Indian Ocean.

From the Sri Lankan perspective, there are some issues where it needs India’s help and understanding. The UN Human Rights Council Rights Council (UNHRC) discussion on Sri Lanka’s follow up actions taken on the US-sponsored resolution passed three years back would come up on Friday, after the report of the UN Human Rights Commissioner is presented. Though the US is likely to modify its insistence on a UN sponsored international inquiry by accepting a domestic inquiry with the assistance of the UNHRC, Sri Lanka needs Indian support to broaden its support base. Though the US move has met with some political criticism in Tamil Nadu and agitation by fringe elements, egged on by the Sri Lanka Diaspora, India had always supported domestic inquiries in preference to international ones. In view of this the compromise solution suggested by the US would probably be supported by India. 

The second issue is Indo-Sri Lanka trade. During his Colombo visit, Prime Minister Modi had revived the idea of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and Sri Lanka. India had mooted the idea and it almost came through in 2008. However, in the face of protest from local business, the Rajapaksa government developed cold feet and gave it up. Sri Lanka is facing exceptional economic crunch and problems of debt servicing for the servicing the loans it had incurred. Even the IMF had been lukewarm to the idea of lending more to Sri Lanka to service Chinese loans.

So Sri Lanka urgently needs to hold India’s hand to see it through its crisis. However, it will be difficult for Sri Lanka government to openly support CEPA as it is probably a no-go area in Sri Lanka politics. However, it appears Sri Lanka would not be averse to work out an economic arrangement similar to CEPA though it may be called by a different name. This was indicated in a report in Sunday Times, Colombo which quoted Sri Lanka Deputy Foreign Minister Harsha de Silva  as saying that CEPA issues were likely to be among other important issues during the bilateral talks between the two leaders. He added, “We must push for such agreements with countries like India. However, we must not blindly enter into such agreements. We must study in detail our own experiences and that of other similar countries to negotiate the best deal for us. Any bilateral or multilateral trade agreement that benefits Sri Lanka must be pursued.” 

Why we must not celebrate OROP victory just yet

If Modi wants to make a difference in the lives of veterans, he must constitute a permanent veterans’ commission to proactively advise him.

COLONEL R HARIHARAN @colhari2| POLITICS | 7-minute read |06-09-2015        

Whether the armed forces and the people of India recognise it or not, it was the 83-day long relay hunger strike by veterans that forced the government to accede to their legitimate demand for the “one rank one pension” (OROP). The veterans resorted to Jantar Mantar agitation and the hunger strike that came after years of petitioning, parliamentary resolutions and Supreme Court judgement failed to move the government that seemed to have done the trick. The home truth that taking to the street in agitation mode gets results than all other democratic methods is a bitter lesson unlikely to be forgotten by both serving and retired military men, though these are so alien to good order and discipline ingrained in their lives.

Thus the veterans’ agitation, rather than the grant of OROP, is a watershed event that will continue to haunt civil-military relations in the country. None of the stakeholders would be happy about it. But it is a logical sequence to six decades of neglect of armed forces and their problems by the nation. The sooner the government and the people recognize it, the better it is for the country lest it becomes an irreversible trend.

So the Modi government should take corrective action to halt it, rather than congratulate itself for bringing the OROP issue hopefully to a closure. Of course, veterans are thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for upholding his promise to implement the OROP though it was done 15 months after assuming office. But they will have to thank not only Modi and the Defence Minister Parikkar, but also the RSS that seemed to have given the final push to Modi to end the folly of allowing the veterans to agitate too long. Needless to say, in the veterans' eyes RSS has probably gained greater credibility than the BJP they voted for.

The Modi government’s decision has only a revived a system of defence pension that Ms Indira Gandhi’s government had abolished unilaterally in 1973. So the government has now redressed an injustice done to the veterans 42 years ago, rather than dishing out goodies to keep the soldiers in good humour as some of the bureaucrats and media scribes seem to think. And it is not enough.

It is time for the Prime Minister and the BJP to do some serious soul searching on how things came to this sad pass. Though the Prime Minister swore to implement it before the tiranga on Independence Day, it brought little comfort to the agitating veterans because it came only after a few aged veterans went on a fast unto death after over 70 days of agitation. Not only that; they had boycotted the golden jubilee of 1965 war in which they had given their blood, sweat and limbs. Finally, they had to go through a humiliating process of haggling with bureaucrats and middlemen for rectifying an injustice done to them.

All along the agitation, they had one request only: to be allowed to meet the Prime Minister to put across their case in a face to face meeting. However, he chose to ignore the request till the end. In hindsight, if he had done so on August 14, probably he could have defused the unpleasantness of allowing the situation to reach criticality in the later days. So the government was pushed to take the decision to accept the veterans demand as time was running out with the nearing of zero hour for announcement of Bihar state election, even as some of the aged veterans on a fast unto death started sinking in the hospital.

Perhaps this is the reason why the OROP announced by the defence minister is good in parts, like the curate’s egg. It has left enough inbuilt glitches to keep the issue alive, while dividing the ranks of veterans. Probably only the Finance Minister, who sneered at the whole OROP proposal of “annual increment” to pension (as he misinterpreted the concept), and the babudom he presides over, had the last laugh at the confusion that seems to be dogging the announcement. This has left the leaders of the veterans in a dilemma and uncertainty. It is not certain that veterans will say “we will be back” like General Douglas Macarthur did when he retreated from Philippines during the World War II. 

That would be a tragedy because veterans are respected members of the armed forces biradri where the collective wisdom prevails more than the individual. The jawan of today is better informed on political happenings than the officers of our times. And he is going to be the veteran tomorrow. So the process of repairing civil-military interface should start now. If the government and political parties choose to ignore the writing on the wall, it could cause more unpleasantness in the years to come.

Though I would very much like to be more positive, I do not see the light at the end of the tunnel. The tunnel will need be cleared of the debris of years of neglect, though the revival of OROP gives a thin ray of hope seeping through the muck.

The problem is not with the system but the leaders who are supposed to drive it. National security does not occupy the space it deserves in the scheme of things in the country, regardless of the endless spiel everyone dishes out about armed forces’ sacrifices. Already a few committees have gone into the problem and their recommendations are collecting dust in the archives of MoD. Hopefully the defence minister Parikkar, who appears to be more result oriented than his predecessors, implements the recommendations on the key issues soon.

But veteran’s issues are a different ball game. They have been treated like the aged, physically challenged, visually impaired and transgender whose voices do not excite the government. Veterans need an interface to talk to the government. The MoD has proved it will not be able to do this; probably there is already enough on its plate in dealing with serving soldiers. And its department of ex-servicemen’s welfare has singularly failed to deliver value to veterans.

If Narendra Modi wants to make a difference to the lives of veterans, he should immediately constitute a permanent veterans commission to proactively advise him, not merely on veterans issues, but on putting to use the trained and disciplined manpower of veterans for nation building.

After going through their ordeal, veterans have probably learnt how to deal with the two upper castes that run the country: the politician in power and the bureaucracy. Veteran’s had to compete for media space for their struggle with the media tycoon and socialite Indrani Mukherjea with her good looks and dark deeds of murdering her daughter. Despite lurid tales of Ms Mukherjea and her shenanigans, some of the diehard votaries of OROP, including a 92-year old Major, rewrote the script by going on a fast unto death that was lapped up by the sensation-hungry visual media.

The long struggle also exposed the limitations of veterans joining political parties. After all, both General VK Singh who mustered veterans support for Modi and Col Rathore had joined the BJP and became part of the government. Did they make a difference? At least not to the agitating  veterans; if they had helped their cause in the backroom, god bless them.

The Congress party’s disastrous response to the veterans’ struggle and the government announcement reminded me of the Charge of the Light Brigade. They could have gracefully apologized for sitting on the demand for a decade and welcomed the government announcement though it had was somewhat flawed. But Rahul Baba at helm these days believes in surprise strikes it seems. He suddenly noticed the OROP agitation gathering momentum at Jantar Mantar and tried to muscle in to gain some media mileage. However, when veterans shooed off his attempt, he wisely reverted back  to the ‘other earthshaking national event’ - the FTII strike - to unearth the RSS “conspiracy” against national institutions.

Apparently, Rahul has continued to strategize the Congress response to the OROP announcement also. Otherwise, it is difficult to understand why the second most inarticulate (or is it incomprehensible?) leader of the Congress Party - AK Antony – was chosen to comment upon it. Antony had not covered himself with glory during his long tenure as defence minister. So it was not surprising to see him haltingly pronounce that the government had cheated the veterans by offering a diluted version of OROP than what the Congress had agreed upon. He conveniently forgot that he sat upon the proposal for nine long years as defence minister.  

And BJP must be praying that Rahul Baba should continue to lead the Congress from the front, so that it can bask in the reflected glory.

Courtesy: India Today Opinion portal DailyO  http://www.dailyo.in/politics/one-rank-one-pension-veterans-modi-bjp-demands/story/1/6094.html

Interview on OROP: 'Even if the PM grants OROP, the trust is fractured'

'Even if the PM grants OROP, the trust is fractured'

Modi has entered blunderland as he does not understand the army. He has actually meddled with the army, which is much more damaging than the ignorance of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.'

'People had an impression that the BJP was different. Now it has been made very, very, plain that it is not.'

'Look at the contrast in the behaviour of the prime minister. When they burnt buses in Gujarat for an unjust demand, the prime minister addressed them in Gujarati while the army veterans were on relay hunger strike for the 74th day on that day, but no word on this from the PM.'

Colonel R Hariharan (retd) joined the Indian Army in 1962 when it was fighting a war with China and served the country for 29 years.

Today, he is recognised as a specialist on South Asia military intelligence, having served as the head of intelligence for the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990.

The 79-year-old soldier, below, left, says had he been younger, he would have been in New Delhi with the other ex-servicemen who are fighting the toughest battle in their lives, to force the government to implement the One Rank One Pension scheme.

He spoke to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com, about OROP and the implications the struggle by the veterans can have on the army and the country.

When previous governments sat on OROP, Narendra Modi during his election campaign and later at many platforms promised to implement it without any delay. What is preventing the government from doing so? What is the technical problem they are talking about?

As an analyst, I will say Modi has got some grey areas. You take the land bill and the goods and services tax bill. He had made very firm commitments. Similarly, he made a commitment on OROP also.

He makes political obligations without analysing the financial implications. He thinks everything can be sorted by inter-state politics or intra-party politics, but that might work at the state government level. That is why he has blundered.

You call it a blunder?

Yes. He has entered blunderland as he does not understand the army. He has actually meddled with the army, which is much more damaging than all the ignorance of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh, and the indifference of A K Antony to the real issues of the army.

OROP is not about successive governments making promises. There was a Parliament resolution and two Supreme Court judgments. And it was Indira Gandhi who promised OROP in 1973.

She 'rewarded' the army for winning the 1971 war by reducing their pension. The pension that was 70 per cent of the last pay was reduced to 50 per cent of the last pay while the civilian pension was increased from 30 per cent to 50 per cent.

Why did the army remain silent then?

Exactly. I find fault with all the chiefs since then. They did not put their feet down. That was because we didn't have a (Field Marshal S H F J 'Sam') Manekshaw anymore. Very few successive chiefs have shown the courage or conviction to challenge this. I know this as I was serving the army then.

I don't blame the bureaucrats; I only find fault with the chiefs.

In India, it is a very funny situation. The army is accountable for national security, but bureaucrats are in charge of security. The defence secretary is in charge of national security whereas the army has to deliver.

So responsibility is with somebody and accountability is with somebody else.

The previous defence minister (A K Antony) was grossly incompetent. He did not want to take up any controversial issues. His sole aim was to have a lily-white reputation though the maximum corruption was in the same regime.

So I have no hesitation in saying, politically, national security has never been on the agenda of any of the national parties except as a club to beat other political parties.

People had an impression that the Bharatiya Janata Party was different. Now it has been made very, very, plain that it is not.

The BJP had the support of all the army veterans, all the ex-servicemen....

That was because Modi made the promise that he would implement OROP. (Former army chief) General V K Singh joined the BJP along with Colonel Rajwardhan Singh Rathore because of this. They were able to muster the support of the veteran community mainly in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

It played well for the BJP and they knew that the army veterans were not going to negotiate. They have no trade union; in fact, it is forbidden for the army men to form a union. They are not going to form a union after serving the army for 30, 35 years.

Look at the contrast in the behaviour of the prime minister. When they burnt buses in Gujarat for an unjust demand, the prime minister addressed them in Gujarati while the army veterans were on relay hunger strike for the 74th day on that day, but no word on this from the PM.

That is why Major General Satbir Singh, who is leading the agitation from the front, asked, 'Why didn't he (the prime minister) come and explain to us the problems he faces, on August 14?'

Do you feel he is ignoring the ex-servicemen?

Many times they were promised that he would give them an interview, but nothing of that sort has happened so far. He has become even rarer than Manmohan Singh. I feel he is insecure in discussing the issue because he doesn't understand it. All the negotiations were done by the bureaucrats.

The defence minister had been sympathetic and the ministry had worked out a package in consultation with the financial advisor. That was in February. They are talking about technicalities now.

What do you think are the technical difficulties that they are raising now?

The simple technicality is that they do not want to accept the simple definition of OROP that has been accepted by Parliament. They want to change it.

The finance minister has discovered suddenly that the railways and the paramilitary forces also can raise similar demands. This is absolute nonsense because they don't retire like us; they retire after full service.

Army men retire early as they want to keep the army young. It is the case not only in India, but the world over.

That is why in the West, the pension has been fixed between 70 to 73 per cent of the last pay.

The pay commission blundered as the army was never represented properly. We don't directly go to them; it goes through the ministry of defence. It has come to a stage, the army is unable to control its own weapons

Now, even if the PM grants the whole thing, I am sorry to say the trust is fractured.

You take the case of my family, there are many officers in my family. In Vellore in Tamil Nadu itself, there are 60,000 ex-servicemen. You can imagine how it will be in a state like Punjab.

Do you think this will have an impact on the serving army too?

That is why the former chiefs met the defence minister and told him that this will affect the army and they will not trust any civil administration or any pay commission. They will have a problem with every pay commission.

Will it affect morale in the army?

It will not affect the morale of the army because the soldier is fighting for his life. But every army man will think twice, 'If I die, what will happen to my family? Will my wife get proper pension?' That is what will happen and this will have an impact.

Hereafter, nobody will believe any promises. The Congress had failed and now, the BJP also has failed.

Take the case of Tamil Nadu where there are so many ex-servicemen. I am very disappointed that the Tamil Nadu government wants to take up the case of Sri Lankans, but not our own ex-servicemen.

This shows the lopsided attitude of the political parties. They are going to pay a heavy price for this.

Even now, there is a huge shortage of men in the defence services. Will this dissuade young men from joining the services?

This will have a huge impact. The army had made many suggestions and they were all rejected. It had said that the army men were retiring early and they should be absorbed in paramilitary. This was rejected by the home ministry saying there would be seniority problems.

I don't know why they can't have a separate battalion with a separate cadre with ex-servicemen to carry out the job the CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) is doing.

I can imagine, tomorrow if there is a war, the Intelligence Bureau will be spying on the army!

That is why I say Modi has blundered.

Do you think Modi is unaware of the consequences or he is simply playing politics?

I don't blame him as Modi has got different pulls within the party. He has to establish himself in the party. His party has stalwarts who will not be happy with his success. Because of the pressure, he is in a hurry to show results.

See, he has promised Rs 125,000 crore (Rs 1.25 trillion) for Bihar. Non-Performing Assets of Rs 56,000 crore (Rs 560 billion) are written off. You can find money for these things, but not for the army.

When I see the selective approach, I cannot but draw the conclusion that they very well know the veterans will never stop buses and burn them.

Is it not a sad state of affairs that those who guard the country have to resort to a fast unto death to make the powers that be, to listen to them?

Does anybody care?

My point is, the army itself did not recognise it as a major issue. The army has been following whatever the defence secretary was saying.

In 2013, General V K Singh (then the army chief) pointed out the deficiencies in the army in a letter to the prime minister after he had put it across to the defence minister. It was not done secretly.

Somebody leaked the letter and blamed it on V K Singh. And all the Opposition parties joined with the Congress and flogged him. And nobody talked about the deficiencies. Till date, nobody has asked what happened to those deficiencies.

Have you ever seen anyone discuss any defence matter in Parliament? Our country never had any strategic security culture.

Had Parliament functioned, would they have discussed OROP? Had Rahul Gandhi instead of making a noise, allowed Parliament to function and raised this issue, I would have had some respect for him. I have no respect for any politician.

Sorry if I sound cynical. India will soon realise that it cannot have a cynical army.

I resigned my job and joined the army in 1962 to fight for the country. Today, who is joining the army? Those who cannot get a government job because you have to pay bribes to get the job. And we have to motivate these guys. Still, they function in a disciplined way.

Why is it that only the army premises are clean when the rest of the country is dirty?

The situation is such that there is no support system for the jawans today. If a widow has to fight 12 years to get her pension...

The war veterans are fasting for their dues. And if you have a cynical army too, in what way will this affect the country?

You yourself can answer the question as good as I am. I am a much older guy and you are going to live to face it.

There is an umbilical connection in the army and we are like a family. If something affects the grandfather, it will affect the grandson too. He has to be concerned.

Now, the government is planning to celebrate the 50th year of the 1965 war...

Celebration for whom? The dead ones? What kind of celebration are you talking about when the living ones are not respected? You exclude all the war veterans and celebrate?

I also took part in the 1965 war. When the man who got two Vir Chakras, one in 1965 and another in 1971, says he would have participated in the celebrations if the government had announced something, you can understand the sentiments of all the veterans.

Do you feel General V K Singh and Colonel Rathore should resign from the Modi ministry?

There are people who believe that they can do some counselling within, but many feel they should have resigned. I am sure they are better judges, but I am surprised that they have behaved exactly like Modi. Apparently they have taken the stance of following party discipline.

I don't know how I would have behaved if I were in that position. They are all good people. I feel even now, it is not too late. They can still resign. At least they can wear black bands.

Do you think more veterans will join the agitation?

Yes, and it will go out of control. Had Modi announced whatever offer he had on August 15, it would have carried some credibility. It would even have divided the movement. I am not questioning Modi's intentions. We do not know why he has not kept his promise.

But they (the ex-servicemen) put forward a lot of options in front of the government, like paying the disabled war widows first, then the widows and the army officers last. They were even ready for valid government bonds. But the government doesn't want to respond.

Courtesy: www.rediff.com September 4, 2015

http://www.rediff.com/news/interview/even-if-the-pm-grants-orop-the-trust-is-fractured/20150904.htm