VK: If unjust, resist civil supremacy
Civilian supremacy over the military that is not “rooted in justice and fairness” must be “resisted”, former Army Chief Gen. V.K. Singh said Tuesday, five days after he retired.
Saying he was a “firm believer” in civilian sup-remacy over the military in a democracy, Gen. Singh said this supremacy “must always be rooted in the fundamental principle of justice, merit and fairness”. “Violation of this in any form must be resisted if we are to protect institutional integrity of armed forces,” he said. Reminded of the armed forces’ ethos of obeying the orders of superiors, the former Chief said the ethos was to obey “correct” orders. “If the order is wrong, stand up and say that the order is wrong”, he said.
In his first interview since retiring May 31, Gen. Singh acknowledged his last months were controversial and “eventful”. But all controversies were “manufactured”, he said, and there were “all sorts of allegations, from implied coups to communal nonsense”.
He cited two media reports, one hinting at an implied coup because of troop movements towards New Delhi in January and the leaking of his letter to Prime Minister Man-mohan Singh on the lack of defence preparedness. “The coup story was the most bizarre thing” during his 26-month tenure, he said, adding there was no such thing as “unauthorised troop movements” in the Army. The former Chief said it was “now quite obvious” that leaking of the letter was “motivated and aimed at discrediting me”. The inquiry into the leak must not be “covered up”, he added.
Comments
These are the most golden
Chanra Nath
06 Jun 2012 - 12:10
These are the most golden words uttered by Gen VK Singh. There is a correction: "Any lawful command" and NOT just "civilian supremacy based order"!
If this was behind all actions he needs to be praised. When a soldier commits his life for "any sacrifice including the supreme sacrifice" the covenant agreement is that all lawful commands will be “rooted in justice and fairness”!
When armed to the teeth and the execution of the order could be against any thing and any one ( including perhaps elimination of highest executive authority) for violation of the Constitution, this is the sacred covenant. Or else, a blindly obedient soldier is the most dangerous to the polity.
The cost to the command does not come cheap when you demand highest sacrifice from you, the soldier.
As stated: "Without the blindly obedient soldier, dictators and tyrants have no power. The men I honor as heroes and bow in respect to, are those who went to jail and were dishonorably discharged, rather than lose their souls fighting for an evil cause. The "contract" a soldier signs to fight is null and void when he's given illegal and immoral orders. A crime is a crime, whether it be committed by some thug off the street, or a costumed gov't mercenary "just doing his job."
With out this, maintenance of an army armed to the teeth will be very dangerous to the nation state. If you understand this, you have understood the mind of a soldier.
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