The discontent and street protests by the armed forces veterans has exposed fissures in the civil-military relationship and thus led to the political manipulation of the latter. The belated efforts to resolve the aforesaid issues have only confirmed the perception that the government acts under political pressure; being disciplined and apolitical counts little when political supremacy over the armed forces degenerates into civil servants’ supremacy.

This brings me to the core issue of the civil-military relations.

Civil-military relations form an essential component of a nation’s security system. The Indian armed forces inherited a legacy of maintaining an apolitical stance and have steadfastly preserved it through the years. With their oath to the Constitution, they have stuck to the concept of loyalty to the constitutionally elected government, not to any particular political party or alliance. The credit goes not only to the military and its traditions, but also to the political leadership, our egalitarian society and other well-established democratic institutions.

In India, there is little awareness about the armed forces: their systems, procedures, traditions and the issues and concerns that affect their functioning. During a war, the armed forces are glorified, greatly respected, even treated with awe. But after the war, they feel forgotten and neglected by the political class and society. Since the ruling elite in the country consisting of politicians, bureaucrats and industrialists have stopped sending their kith and kin to the armed forces, the distance between the civil society including the aforementioned three categories and the armed forces has increased progressively.

... contd.