There are various detractors of the armed forces in the country eager to point out the tiniest of malaise and blow it out of proportions. The Bofors scandal was one such event which maligned the image of the armed forces, while all the culprits were politicians, bureaucrats and business houses. The armed forces are still reeling from the backlash where ”Clean and transparent” ministers wouldn’t let the army’s modernisation plan go through for want of “clean” procedures. The tainted are having a field day while the armed forces are being denied of basic wherewithal to combat internal and external aggression.
Then you have a country where IPL has hogged the limelight over the past few days. The amounts of monies involved are staggering and can feed, clothe and educate millions of poor in the country. Harshad Mehta suddenly appears like a saint compared to the likes of BCCI and IPL stalwarts who consider it below their dignity to trade in anything less than Rs 70 Crores – that too as sweat equity. But that’s not even the tip of the iceberg. There are scandals and improprieties worth thousands of crores waiting to be unearthed. Each day the level of complexities only gets murkier.
Forgotten amongst all this are the accountability procedures of the Armed Forces where four generals are facing disciplinary action for “signing” a No Objection Certificate of a civil land over looking a military cantonment. The ignominy which the armed forces have suffered over the issue and the beating which its image has taken is debilitating to say the least. An organisation, where an impropriety is judged from such strong standards of code of conduct, has been subjected to collective humiliation of its psyche in a trial by media.
In the same country tainted figures and history sheeter s are still “leaders” of all hues. From fodder scam to rotting wheat to rampant corruption in all departments of governance there are voices emanating over skinning the military over “judgmental errors”.
This witch hunt in the country of Harshad Mehta and Lalit Modi demoralises the armed forces beyond comprehension.
After all you get your armed forces from the same society where corruption is the only tool that apparently works. Despite that if there is an organisation in the country which can hold its head high and punish the guilty promptly – it is the military which has sworn to live and die for the country.
For the rest it is ” Chalta hai”!
