POLO FIRST

One really must hand it to 61 Cavalry. Their devotion to the game of Polo surpasses anything else. It really does not matter if the morale and discipline in the regiment is in tatters after the alleged brutal beating up of a jawan by some officers. It also does not matter if the Indian and Pakistani troops are engaged in a confrontation on the International Border and the Line of Control which threatens to spiral out of control. For 61 Cavalry, Polo comes first. Which is why perhaps, disregarding the situation within the regiment and on the borders of the country, a contingent of the regiment rushed to China to take part in a Polo match with Pakistan.

It also does not matter that the Indian Polo Association, on whose behalf the 61 Cavalry takes part in Polo tournaments, is not even recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. This amazing fact has been admitted by the Ministry in a RTI reply. However, more of it later.

In the circumstances prevailing on the country’s border, it should be eminently avoidable for any Indian Army contingent to take part in a direct match with Pakistan. Leave aside the fact that such matches have no sanctity in the eyes of the Indian government, the Indian Army itself as well as the Quarter Master General’s Branch should have been seized of the gravity of the situation and should have called off the participation of the Indian Army officers in the team.

The fact of the matter is that India and Pakistan played in the Zone ‘D’ play offs in China where Pakistan today defeated India to qualify for the World Cup to be held in Chile in March 2015. The teams of India and Pakistan arrived in Tianjin city of China on Oct 7 where the match was played Metropolitan Polo Club. Horse draw and team meeting  was held on Oct 8, a practice match was held on Oct 9 and the actual match was played today i.e. October 11.

The Indian team comprised Lt Col Ravi Rathore (61 Cav), Maj Vishal Chauhan (61 Cav), Simran Shergill, Abhimanyu Singh, Naveen Singh, Kuldeep Singh, Team Manager Lokendra Singh.

Interestingly, the Commandant of 61 Cavalry, Col R Pattu was the manager of this team and had very nearly left for China but for the unfortunate happenings in his unit and he was dissuaded from leaving at such a crucial juncture. A Court of Inquiry is taking place into the incidents in the unit and as per media reports an FIR has also been filed by the wife of the affected jawan, naming four officers for assaulting her husband brutally.

While there can be an elaborate discussion on the command and control situation in 61 Cavalry over the years and the manner in which the image of the regiment is being affected, but that should be the subject of another post. This regiment has no other person that the Chief of Army Staff Gen Dalbir Singh as its Colonel of Regiment by virtue of his appointment as the Army Chief. Therefore, all steps taken by the regiment must be keeping in regard the high office that the Army Chief holds.

Again, it is a matter of a long discussion as to why the Indian Polo Association is not affiliated to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. I have elaborated on this earlier in my blog too. However, to put it in a nutshell, the IPA did not appoint any Public Information Officer under the RTI ACT, as demanded by the Ministry, therefore it seized to be affiliated to it and does not get any funds from it.

This reluctance to be a part of the RTI Act is also exhibited by the Army Polo and Riding Club which has successfully stonewalled all attempts to gather information about its activities despite the fact that it uses all assets and personnel of the Army and comes within the definition of a public authority.

It can be nobody’s case that when it comes to encouraging sports activities, the Indian Army is doing a great service to the nation. It also cannot be denied that if not for the Army, the nation would be nowhere in the game of Polo. However, it is quite clear that the higher echelons of the Army are being kept in dark about the actual position of the IPA vis-à-vis the government.

The lack of transparency is a bane and since 61 Cavalry is deeply involved in all Polo affairs of the Army it is only correct that all facts should be out in the open and nothing should be concealed or hidden.

It is, perhaps, also time to debate the relevance of a horsed cavalry unit in the Indian Army. 61 Cavalry needs to be better utilized. For purposes of tradition the President’s Body Guards are enough as they too are horsed. The 61 Cavalry Regiment should be mechanized so that its traditions and history are not lost, but it certainly should do more than just parading down the Rajpath once a year and its officers taking part in Polo matches under the auspices of a association which is not even recognised.  

Lekin ye qissa phir kabhi.

   

SHOW CAUSE NOTICE TO COL G SRIKUMAR OF MILITARY INTELLIGENCE

Here is the Show Cause notice given to Col G Srikumar, former Commanding Officer of 3 Corps Intelligence and Surveillance Unit and now posted in a Infantry Division, which lead to the eventual award of 'Severe Displeasure' to him by the Chief of Army Staff, General VK Singh.

The officer has approached the Armed Forces Tribunal bring these documents, thus, to the public arena. It is important to note that Para 3 of the Show Cause notice is missing which is a legal infirmity. Also, the mandatory 30 days reply period, which can be cut down to 15 days in exceptional cases, has been deliberately truncated to 10 days so that Gen VK Singh could award the censure before retirement.

Interestingly, the officer was on leave and has still been held responsible for an incident which took place in his absence! Should not the officiating CO be responsible for this? How have the BGS (Ops) and the Corps Cdr been held responsible for the lapse of a Havildar or at the most, the OiC of the raid? Is it a clear case of vindictiveness or that of instant justice? You decide.

NEXT ARMY JAG LANDS IN PROMOTION MESS

Even as the war for succession for the next Chief of Army Staff is still on, the Army's Judge Advocate General (JAG) branch has landed in a controversy over the next Judge Advocate General. The present JAG retires on January 31 but the one anointed to be the successor may not be able to take over because of a stay on his promotion by Kolkata bench of the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT).

Brig PS Rathore, currently serving as Deputy Judge Advocate General (DJAG) in South Western Command in Jaipur has been approved for the rank of Major General. But a petition against him is pending in the Kolkata AFT which had last month put a stay on his promotion. That stay order has not been vacated as yet. On top of that, the petitioner against Brig Rathore, Lt Col Mukul Dev, has filed a contempt application in the Kolkata AFT seeking action against the Army authorities for de-classifying Brig Rathore's promotion board result inspite of the stay order of the AFT.

The genesis of this mess lies some years back when Brig Rathore was serving as DJAG Central Command in Lucknow and Lt Col Dev was posted there as AJAG. To cut the story short, things were not good between them as one thing led to another, Lt Col Dev was shifted to a non-criteria appointment, a Part-II order was issued when, perhaps, it should not have been, and as a result of all this brouhaha a Court of Inquiry was ordered.

The CoI found several officers blameworthy, including Lt Col Dev and Brig Rathore. However, inexplicably, while Lt Col Dev got 'Severe Displeasure' from the Army Cdr, Brig Rathore did not get any punishment.

Lt Col Dev's promotion prospects got affected because he had not been adequately exercised when he had been moved away from the appointment of AJAG and then, of course, because of the punishment.
Consequently, he moved the AFT which passed the orders which have been enunciated above.

One would expect the JAG officers serving at senior appointments to be well-versed with the law so that such situations do not arise. But apparently, all is not well in the JAG Branch.

The JAG is also the principal legal advisor to the Army Chief. And with the present one retiring, the new one will not be at hand to help the Chief in any legal imbroglio of the organisation. Something for the Army Chief to chew on while he fights a personal legal battle over his date of birth.

Photograph of Western Army Cdrs self-styled badge

Here is a photograph of the Western Army Commander wearing his self styled badge on his beret. Note the difference when you compare it with the beret badge of the COAS. Eccentricities in uniform are common in defence services but only when those who practice them are of sufficient fame and prowess.

Lt Gen SR Ghosh can hardly put himself in category of Field Marshal Montogomery or Sam Maneckshaw when it comes to designing his own headgear accoutrement. And he wears it in the presence of the Chief! What affront!

The General Doth Protest Too Much

The Chandigarh edition of Hindustan Times has been quite charitable to Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi (retd), former Vice Chief of Army Staff. In that it has devoted nearly a quarter page to his article castigating the media and the defence minister....and oops, lest I forget....busybody bureaucrats in South Block who have nothing better to do than give juicy leaks to the media.
I have immense respect for the General with whom I have had the priviledge of interacting many-a-times when I was with Hindustan Times in Chandigarh. But unfortunately, I do not agree with what he has written today in defence of the Army Chief.
The questions which begs to be asked is....who brought things to this pass? Certainly not the media. It was not the media which prompted a cold war between the Army Chief and the Eastern Army Commander with the Military Secretary acting as a catalyst for the former. And it was certainly not the bureaucracy which asked the GOC 33 Corps to get influenced by the MS and agree to sign the NOC.
And aren't we....the horrible journalists sick and tired of the oft repeated assertions..... look how much money the politicians make, look how the IAS and IPS officers amass ill-gotten gains and look at our poor little scams which pale in comparision to Satyam, Harshad Mehta etc etc.
My take is.....either do not act like holy cows or accept the veneration and the consequent fall from grace which comes after being put on a pedestal by the nation. The simple fact is the Army, or rather, the defence services are the last bastions of propriety left in the mind of the citizens of this country....and that includes irresponsible journalists too. But with the Army officers increasingly falling prey to pleasures of easy money, especially the General cadre, alas, this gloss is fading.
As any informed person who has intimate knowledge of the Sukna affair knows, it is a war of the Generals. The one who was hunted earlier has now become the hunter...and he has struck back with a vengeance. Lt Gen Oberoi is right when he questions the monetary cost of the scam....virtually nil. No one would have bothered whether the NOC was given under duress from the MS or if a private builder was setting up a school based on fake papers had there not been icy relations between the Army Chief and the now COAS-designate.
And because of this, the actions of Army Chief, in recommending administrative action against the MS instead of the outright dismissal recommended by the Army Commander, must have seemed as a step to save the accused.
Frankly, I would love to read an equally voluminous piece by a retired three-star General, any General, on why the Army has not had a DG Ordnance Services for the past nearly two years. Why is it that scores of Major Generals of Ordnance are mired in one scam after another resulting in their non-empanellment for futher promotion? Why the ASC was emboilled in a similar situation in a couple of years earlier resulting in no officer occupying the appointment of DGST?
And lastly, in defence of the defence minister. Is he not the same person who stood by the Army Chief when he moved out the Northen Army Commander to Central Command despite the fact that there were very distrubing allegations levelled against the COAS? Wasn't he the one who turned a blind eye when virually all officers indicted in the tent and egg scam in Northern Command were given lesser punishments than what had been recommended?
I cannot and will not accuse the Army Chief of not telling the complete truth in this entire affair. But, to quote 'Yes Prime Minister'......"There's a lot of difference between not telling lies and not telling the truth".