AIR CMDE SC CHAFEKAR TAKES OVER THE COMMAND OF 12 WING

Air Cmde SC Chafekar took over the Command of 12 Wing, AF from Air Cmde Rajeev Sachdeva who stands posted to HQ IDS as ACIDS (ICT) New Delhi on promotion as Air Vice Marshal.

Air Cmde Chafekar was commissioned in 28 Dec 82 into the IAF. During his service spanning over 28 years, he has more than 7000 hrs on various types of aircraft which includes Otters, HT-2, HPT-32, Avro (HS-748), Kiran and AN-32. Air Cmde SC Chafekar is an alumnus of Defence Service Staff College.

Air Cmde SC Chafekar has served all over the country and specializes in Air Maintenance. He is a Qualified Flying Instructor with over 2500 instructional hours. He has held three important portfolios at AF station Chandigarh. He was the flight commander, has commanded the 48 Sqn and now is the Air Officer Commanding which is a rare feat. He was Chief Operations Officer of Asia’s biggest Air Force Station Agra. During his last tenure as CO of the 48 Sqn, he executed trial landing at three ALGs namely DBO (16200ft), Nyoma (13500ft) and Fukche (13500 ft); DBO being the highest airfield in the world. He has also done a stint as PD Ops (T&H) at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan) where he was incharge of IAF transport fleet before taking over command of 12 Wing, Air Force.

Surviving a missile and an Air Marshal

Air Commodore SC Chafekar takes over as the Air Officer Commanding of 12 Wing in Chandigarh on Monday, the 2nd May. He is the second Commanding Officer of 48 Squadron who takes over as the AOC Chandigarh in succession. But what brings to mind is his remarkable escape, first when the AN-32 which he was co-piloting was shot at and damaged by the Pakistan Army near Kargil, and his subsequent escape from efforts to blame him for the fiasco.

At that point of time Wg Cdr Chafekar was attempting the first landing by a fixed wing aircraft at the newly established airfield in Kargil in 2002.

Let's recall that unfortunate incident in slight detail. As is the wont in this country, any important event has to be hijacked by the powers-that-be. And so this pioneering flight to Kargil had to have the then AOC-in-C, Western Air Command, Air Marshal VK Bhatia, on it. But the Air Marshal was not satisfied by being just the passenger on board. Or for that matter being just a co-pilot. He took over as the Captain of the aircraft and Wg Cdr Chafekar became the co-pilot. Flt Lt V Awasthy was the navigator. On approach to the runway, which was a bit tricky and since the Air Marshal was not familiar flying in this area, the aircraft strayed over to the other side of the LoC and was fired upon by a Pakistan Army unit with a missile which hit one engine.

The aircraft managed to land in Leh and the incident was kept under wraps for a few days. I was then working with the Hindustan Times in Chandigarh and found out about it a couple of days later. My Editor asked me to double check on it and by the time I did so, Gaurav Sawant, then working with Indian Express broke the story.

I was packed off to Leh in double time and what followed was a series of stories with Lt Gen Arjun Ray, the then GOC 14 Corps, saying a couple of things about Air Marshal Bhatia, on record. He was peeved with initial attempts by the Air Marshal to try and fix the blame on friendly fire from Indian Army on peaks around Kargil. I enjoyed doing the stories because Lt Gen Ray could be quite colourful when he wanted to prove a point. Ultimately, he stopped only when the Army Chief asked him to pipe down in interest of harmony among sister services and I got another story to do in Leh. The shooting of LoC-Kargil, the JP Dutta movie on Kargil conflict had started and Lt Gen Ray's son was an Assistant Director in the movie. So Dutta had all the facilities of the 14 Corps at his disposal (also with Army HQs permission) and I had access to an exclusive story. Both, Lt Gen Ray and me, were happy to move on from Chafekar-Bhatia episode.

But to come back to the main story, there were unfortunate attempts to frame Wg Cdr Chafekar and to insinuate that it was he who had erred. But Air Chief Marshal Krishnaswamy, the then Air Chief, intervened and made sure the Court of Inquiry made the right recommendations. Wg Cdr Chafekar, thus escaped through the skin of his teeth, while Air Marshal Bhatia was sent at a significantly lower post of Inspector General Flight Safety while retaining his perks and privledges as a C-in-C. Interesting to note that someone who violated flight safety was made in-charge of it. But that's another story.

And so Wg Cdr Chafekar went on to become Gp Capt, command a squadron in Chandigarh, made some more pioneering landings in DBO, Fukche and Nyoma and now comes back as Air Cmde to the same station.

Here's wishing him more safe landings.

Crises of Leadership

A lot has been written about the controversy surrounding Gen VK Singh's date of birth so there is really no need to get into all that once again. Except perhaps to recount the latest revelation that an MP has written to the Defence Minister citing the General's year of birth to be 1949 and not 1951 as he is claiming or 1950 as is mentioned in some records. And the MP has obtained a birth certififcate from the Kirkee Cantonment as a proof of his assertions.

It is unfortunate for the Army's senior most officer to be embroiled in such a controversy at a stage of his career. It is also unfortunate for the Army as a service to see it's chief being involved in a unsavoury controversy.

The Ministry of Defence is trying to solve this 'age-old' mystery but given its incompetence in resolving it before the Chief came to hold this office, not much speed should be expected from it this time around.

However, General VK Singh has to accept the blame partly for precipitating this crises. It was widely believed that the entire thing had been solved to his satisfaction. And then came the RTI application and the Army's super cleverness in referring it to the Law Ministry. Reminds me of the couplet by Majaz:

"Meri himmat dekhna, meri tabiyat dekhna

jo sulajh jaati hai guthi, phir se uljhata hun main"

If Gen VK Singh had acceeded to the solution found when his predecessor was holding the office then he should step up and say that I am satisfied with the solution found and that I accept it.

If he was unhappy with the solution propounded at the time, he should have made sure it was solved to his satisfaction before he assumed office of the COAS. Now, at this stage, when he is half way through his tenure, to let this crises take over the centre stage when there are more pressing issues at hand, is simply not done.

All he had to do was to have stepped forward and issued a statement saying that he is happy with what the organisation decided for him. But his very silence means that he is not happy and that he feels that he has been wronged. That may well be true, but he should have thought of all this before assuming the highest office of his service. Personal organisational grievances at the level of COAS do not augur well for the image of the service for which he is the custodian.

And if worst comes to worst, what if it is proven that his real year of birth was 1949 and that he was never eligible to become the COAS? Imagine the catastrophe it will be for the service? What disgrace? And what punishment can one inflict upon a COAS who may have indulged in such a thing, even if it was way back in his career?

For all the spin being put out by the official spin doctors of the Army, the Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI), the Army Chief's image has taken a battering, and so has , by default, the image of the Army.

Had this happened with a junior ranked officer, even if his rank was that of Lt Gen, a court of inquiry would have taken place and a result had withing a span of few days. However, nothing of the sort can be done with the COAS because of his rank. And, ultimately, the call has to be taken by the MoD.

It is very important not to sully the image of the COAS but if there is enough evidence at hand that the office of the COAS has been sullied by an individual, then expemplary action must be taken.

Only Gen VK Singh knows the truth. And if there is not a single shred of evidence against him then he should simply state the facts to the Defence Minister and insist, nay demand, on a quick resolution in interest of the service. But if there is even an iota of truth in the allegations against him, he should quit. This is the least he could do to save the image of the service.

General-ul-Muslimeen?

Lt Gen SA Hasnain recently took over as the GOC of 15 Corps and even before he could fly the Corps flag on the bonnet of his vehicle, the print media got a bee in its bonnet.
Apparently the print media was very taken in by the fact that he was the first Muslim General to get command of the Corps in two decades. It is a fact, yes. But apparently this has set off a series of journalistic orgasms which do not look like abating anytime soon. It has spread to a pink papers and now to full page coverage, and it may eventually reach a climax with some magazine devoting several pages to the phenomenon.
All these publications who harp on the Corps Commanders religious identity as their news peg do not waste any time to get on to his professional accomplishments as soon as they throw the first fact on the face of their readers. But unfortunately, all pails in face of the Muslim-Kashmir-General combination vomitted at the very outset. And this is doubly unfortunate for the General who is a outstanding soldier whose military career has not flourished just because he commanded a Brigade or a Division in the valley.

Is all this propaganda (yes, it is propaganda) going to help in the Army's role in the valley? The lovers of the first-Muslim-General-propoganda-campaign feel yes. On ground, it will be difficult to quantify. Lt Gen Hasnain is going about doing his job in a dispassionate manner, like he did in his previous assignments in the troubled region. He is not holding on to his religious identity just because he is the GOC of 15 Corps, just as one would expect a soldier of the Indian Army to do.

So is it just the sentiments of some journalists and pseudo-journalists or is there a larger game plan behind it? I would hesitate to call it a game plan but then there definitely seems to be a purpose behind it, mis-interpreted.

The fact that the Army is tacitly supporting such religion-based coverage is obvious because they have not objected to it. The sad institution called ADGPI would have been snapping at the heels of journalists had they felt that this was something which the Army really does not care having written about. But the fact that no letters to the Editor have appeared in the newspapers makes it apparent that they are OK with it. And in certain instances, it even appears that they might have given a encouraging nod for such coverage. Lt Gen Hasnain has done a good job in the past without all this stuff being written about him and by all indications he will do well in his present assignment too, even if the print media decides to clap their hands in merriment because he is a Muslim.

A General Conspiracy?

Amidst all the news reports about the Chief of Army Staff, Gen VK Singh's date of birth, the Chief himself has maintained a stoic silence. Very apt too, because it would be beneath him to join publically in what may eventually turn out to be a ugly affair.
While murmurs of a conspiracy can be heard in the corrdidors of power, there are more important questions to ask. If, like the reports suggest, the COAS had in 2009 agreed to accept the decision of the then Chief, why is the age issue being raised now? Would it be proper for the government to address the issue afresh at this stage, thus affecting the entire line of succession of Chiefs, so to speak? And, lastly, but more importantly, who is the issue being raised through the backdoor via a RTI query?
To begin with, Hindustan Times has brought out a letter written by Gen VK Singh in 2009 to the then COAS pointing out that the matter ends as far as he is concerned. But then the wording of the letter is very clever. It clearly brings out that the matter has ended at the directions of the COAS. It also goes to to say that the MS has clarified that the matter is dealt with AG. Now, it is in public domain that as per AGs records the General was born in 1951 and not 1950.
It would not be out of place to suggest that the letter written by Gen VK Singh in 2009, in his capacity as Eastern Army Commander, was in reply to one written to him by the COAS, Gen Deepak Kapoor. The tone certainly suggests that. But the Hindustan Times has not obliged us by getting that letter, if it exists.
This now brings us to the issue of the government re-opening the issue of Gen VK Singh's age at this late stage when he has finished half his tenure. However, it is not clear why the General did not get this anomaly corrected in the early part of his career? We certainly know that he tried to do so for the first time in 2006 and all that which followed, but what about when he was a subaltern or a Lt Col, Col, Brig, Maj Gen? Indeed if he had raised the issue at any of these stages of his career, the matter would have been sorted out by now. This does not take away his right to raise the issue in 2006 but it does give raise to a lot of questions. Also, why was the matter not settled once and for all when he was to be appointed as the COAS? The government should have taken legal opinion and ended all speculation instead of waiting for a RTI query to pop up when the General has already served more than a year into his tenure.
This brings us to the very suspicious looking RTI query. From what we can gleam from our sources, the query emanates from Kolkata and is written by a civilian gentleman. A very innocent query seeking to know the date of birth of some Generals. But for the curious route the answer to the query takes, all would have been well. The Army could have responded decisively by saying that the Gen VK Singh's date of birth if X or Y depending upon the record they hold. In which case, as the letter written by Gen VK Singh indicates, it is the AG who would be the repository of the correct age i.e. 1951. But the Army instead refers the letter to the Law Ministry. Which then says that the 1951 date should be taken into account as it was in his matriculation certificate. Maybe the Army PIO was treading carefully. Maybe he was trying to stir a hornet's nest. Maybe something is afoot.
The other affected party in the case, Lt Gen Bikram Singh, the present Eastern Army Commander, really does not have much to say at this stage. He is next in line to the COAS but this would be confirmed only when the ACC confirms it. Till then he has to sit tight and expect the best.
I have a feeling that Gen VK Singh is going to get this issue sorted out once and for all despite whatever undertaking he may have given to the previous COAS (at his directions). It may not look good on paper but this exercise will have to be done and, if Hindustan Times, is to be believed the government has started doing just that.
This sort of a thing has happened in IAS/IPS many a times. Perhaps it was just a matter of time before it happened with the Army.

KARGIL GENERALS CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO GET AWAY SCOT FREE

The ghost of Kargil is not going to go away. At least not until all those, who have escaped and evaded the responsibility of the intrusions and the subsequent inept handling of the situation, are held accountable for their actions.

On the face of it Brig Devinder Singh's case in the AFT may appear to be one of an officer who wanted to get his ACRs set aside and Battle Performance Report/Corps After Action Report amended. But the decision of the AFT forced at least one person to come out and speak in the public for the first time on a TV channel. Lt Gen Krishan Pal, former GOC 15 Corps, a man who many think should have been sacked along with the then GOC 3 Infantry Division, Maj Gen VS Bidhwar, but who instead got a Uttam Yudh Seva Medal.

One could almost feel pity for Lt Gen Pal as he went around defending his doctored Battle Action Reportand ACRs on Brig Devinder. The venom was clear in the speech and all that was required to complete the picture of hatred was frothing on the lips, but alas, Lt Gen Krishan Pal did not oblige.

To say that the former GOC 15 Corps was unrepentent would be an understatement. He was virtually dismissive of the AFT. He contended that he had not been examined by the AFT. Apparently he was under the mistaken impression a court cannot come to a conclusion without examining a witness and that since he had not been examined or given a chance to speak in the court, he implied that he does not respect the verdict. The least the AFT can do is haul him for contempt. The maximum that the government can do is to prosecute him for damaging the reputation of the Army in vengeful pursuit of his own agenda against a lower formation commander serving under him.

This clique of Generals, who have tried to push their acts of ommissions and commissions under the carpet, must be exposed. These holy cows must be put out to pasture.

And in this context, the role of General VP Malik, too needs to be examined. He cannot get away by claiming that the case of Brig Devinder Singh is one of personal conflict between him and the Corps Commander. And then he also tries to downplay the question of the Brig getting a VSM instead of a gallantry award by saying that it was he, as the COAS, who intervened and got him a VSM.

If incompetent people, who let the intrusions take place under their watch can be awarded Uttam Yudh Seva Medals and Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medals, then it is quite clear what kind of interventions were taking place from the Chief's office. He may be right that the after action report of the Corps HQ was compiled after he retired, but he could not have been oblivious to the fact that the Corps Commander had a bee in his bonnet about Cdr, 70 Inf Bde. And since he was taking such a personal interest in the higher direction of war, why did he not intervene?

And lastly, if Gen Malik thinks that he can get away from the ghost of the Kargil war by sacking one Brigadier and court-martialling couple of Majors, then he is sadly mistaken.

The nation has a right to know who failed them and the nation will know that in due course of time. The victories of Kargil will not be dimimished in any way if those responsible for the failure are identified before the nation. The nation cannot turn a blind eye to the faults of the higher commanders just because they choose to dove tail their failure by citing the bravery of the junior officers and other ranks. The fog of war is lifting......after 11 long years. And soon, all will be clearly visible.

To quote Bob Dylan:

How many times can a man turn his head

And pretend that he just doesn't see

The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind

The answer is blowing in the wind

When will 4 Horse remove this murderer's name from its regimental crest?

I decided to blog on the above heading after reading a book by Lt General SK Sinha of the 'supersession' fame. Though the topic has never been far from my mind but the resolve to write about it as renewed after reading "A Soldier Recalls". In his chapter "Supersession", Lt Gen Sinha recounts how Gen KV Krishna Rao, who was a great friend of his, broke the news of his supersession by Lt Gen Arun Vaidya, in the most impersonal manner. He goes on to write that after he conveyed his decision to the COAS to resign from the Army and after the COAS had made the usual noise made about not taking a rash decision, Lt Gen Sinha decided to carry on with the agenda items he had for discussion with the Chief.

One of these related to the removal of the name Hodson from the regimental crest of 4 Horse.

I quote verbatim from the passage in the book, "The last case I discussed with him that day was the regimental crest of 4 Horse. This unit was raised by Hodson, an officer with a tainted personal record who had murdered the two hapless Mughal princes of Delhi in 1857 in cold blood. After Independence the name of the unit changed from hodson's Horse to 4 Horse, and so had the shoulder titles worn in the regiment. But the word 'Hodson' continued to appear in the regimental crest. I got Krishna's approval to recommend a suitable change of crest. This had to be approved by the President. Although a decision to recommend this change was taken and duly recorded, mistaken loyalty for regimental traditions has managed to prevail and to this day the change has not been effected".

Now, this book was written way back in 1991, and to my knowledge, the change of regimental crest has still not taken place and the name of the murderer continues to adorn the crest. 4 Horse is not the only regiment to take pride in its traditions and there are several regiments which still carry on with the symbols of the past British victories over native Indian princely states. But none have the name of a murderer and a philanderer written on their regimental crest.

There is certainly no harm in perpetuating regimental traditions. There are several cavalry and infantry regiments in the Army which have taken part in active supression of 1857 war of Independence. But these are only spoke of in hushed whispers in this day and age and they do not adorn the cap badge of every rank and file. The least that the armoured corps brass can do is to get this anomaly corrected, which Lt Gen Sinha tried to do even on a day when his dream of heading the Indian Army lay in ruins.

Can we expect the Colonel of the Regiment of 4 Horse, whoever that noble soul is, to initiate a corrective action. Sadly, no. that would be too much to expect from him. Not because of any personal flaw of character, but because of a flaw in the system which will look at him with suspicion the moment he tries to do anything of the sort.

On another day, we will debate how long the Highland bugle will form part of the regimental crest of several of our infantry regiments. and when will Battle Honours like Seringapatnam, Bharatpore and Sobraon be consigned to the dustbin of history....far-far from the honourable place they enjoy in the list of regimental victories.

But as of now, let 4 Horse get rid of Hodson's ghost.