The Indian Armed Forces as an institution will continue to serve the state uncomplainingly in the years ahead. The rumblings will always appear in the form of individual cases of rebellion against the internal chain of command in units. These need to be seen in the overall perspective of rationalising the use of internal violence by the state rather than as external manifestations directed at company and platoon commanders. Without denying the importance of administrative measures undertaken at various levels by the government and the army, the larger issue of the use of force by the state needs consideration, for this is as much a challenge to Indian society as it is to the military.

The writer is a security analyst