Is there any Discontent in the Indian Armed Forces?

 Is there any Discontent in the Indian Armed Forces?

Posted on 23/09/2023 (GMT 09:20 hrs)

Updated on 23/09/2023 (GMT 18:30 hrs)

We were surprised to view the following tweet by Paul Koshy:

TWEET ⤡

One can see the PM’s blatant lie on the Chinese occupation :

In countering the claim of The Hon’ PM,, Dhruv Rathee and Akash Banerjee, two anti-Godi Modia journalists, had put forward the empirical facts of the Chinese imperialism or invasion in India, the fact of which is denied by the present ruling party:

It is unprecedented in the post-independent India when the Indian Armed Forces have raised their voice against the the political executive of India. Though we already know all about the great jumlabaaz, the King Liar, for whom we perhaps have to write a pseudological (history of lie) account!

As DHFL victims, I can assume that the Indian Air Force already has a great deal of discontent in its heart against the manufacturers of the DHFL scam⤡ ⤡ , since they had invested a significant amount in the same company before it allegedly went “bankrupt”.

We had earlier requested them to withdraw their support to the RBI-appointed Committee of Creditors’ (CoC) decision to provide them the full invested amount, since that would have led to discriminatory behaviour (thus contradicting Article 14 of the Indian Constitution) with regard to the other FD-NCD holders, viz., the common Indian citizens.

“It (The NCLT) also suggested that the “ARMY Group” be treated as a separate class, subclass of creditors and be repaid Rs 39 crores of their claims in full, “considering the nature of duties performed by them who are protecting the Nation, sacrificing their lives, difficult working conditions and human service to keep peace of the country it would be appropriate for the members of the CoC to reconsider and to repay their entire admitted claim without any hair cut thereby expressing our deep concern, gratitude and respect to the Army Personnel.” VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 17th June, 2021 ©CNBC TV18)

After requesting the same, we could see that the Air Force refrained from taking an opportunistic or privileged stand, and instead, sacrificed their chance to get back the entire amount for the sake of the fellow sufferers.

Thus, we saluted the Indian jawans wholeheartedly for this altruistic dedication of theirs:

In the above-mentioned article, there is a separate section on the infamous “Pulwama” incident on 14th February, 2019. We are citing the same here:

Pulwama Terror Attack (2019- just before the Lok Sabha elections!): who were responsible for the casualties of our beloved Army Personnel???

One year of Pulwama attack: All suspects dead, no clue still how explosives reached Kashmir VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 14th February, 2020 ©The Print)  

Pulwama Attack Was BJP’s Conspiracy Just Like Godhra, Says Shankersinh Vaghela VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 5th February, 2019 ©early Times)

Pulwama: JeM’s Indian touts helped move RDX provided by Pakistan army VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 25th February, 2019 ©oneindia)

We can connect or associate the above with Mr. Satyapal Malik’s (ex-Governor of J&K) series of statements/testimony about the reality of the Pulwama attack and how the current ruling party was thoroughly involved with that:

At the time of Pulwama attack, PM Modi was busy shooting for a Man vs Wild episode with Bear Grylls. Modiji then cut himself from the gadgets of communication. It is the height of responsibility on the part of Hon. Indian PM.

While Rome was burning, Nero was playing his fiddle!

There is no doubt that the deus ex machina of the Pulwama affair had tried to garner sympathetic votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha Election by the calculated murder of 40+ jawans of the Indian Army!

After that, the Balakot incident was a ridiculous simulation by the Indian government:

Balakot air strike (2019- just before the Lok Sabha elections!): simulation? myth or reality: the world of “post-truth“ (?!)

Balakot air strikes: Pakistan to lodge U.N. complaint accusing India of ‘eco-terrorism’ VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 1st March, 2019 ©Reuters)

Balakot airstrike killed 10 trees, it was painful: Imran Khan at UNGA VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 27th September, 2019 ©IndiaToday)

Balakot air strike: Pakistan villagers ask India where are the ‘bodies of terrorists?’ VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 1st March, 2019 ©BusinessToday.In)

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Moving ahead from that, it must reminded that the ex-servicemen of the Indian Armed Forces were deprived entirely by the present ruling party of their pension dues. Given below is The Wire‘s comprehensive reports on the same along with one audio version:

Government Has Clamped Omerta on Retired Servicemen  VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 21st September, 2022 ©The Wire)

Army Warns Ex-Soldiers of Non-Payment of Pensions, Police Cases Over Social Media Posts VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 10th July, 2023 ©The Wire)

There was a “conspiracy of silence” over this issue through mass censorship of news-reports or testimonies of the ex-servicemen. The apex court of India also reaffirmed the current ruling party’s position on this matter:

‘Pension Is Service Matter, Approach Armed Forces Tribunal’: Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Seeking Revised Pension For Ex-Servicemen VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 5th July, 2023 ©Live Law)

After knowing the role of the Judiciary, we have to ask a simple question in this regard:

Cf. Do you have faith in the Contemporary Indian Judiciary?VIEW HERE ⤡

In response to such discriminatory practice on the part of the executive and judiciary, there were recent nation-wide protests, too:

Ex-servicemen are not only deprived of their pension, their security is also at stake in the wounded India⤡. In the film “Prahaar“, it was shown that the injured ex-army man Peter was attacked by the goons and was killed. His, commander, General Chauhan took the revenge of his killing but was sent to the mental asylum. This shows how even army personnel, like other laypersons, are threatened from multiple spheres.

Apart from the above instances of discrimination on the Indian Armed Forces, the same phenomenon further extended when the controversial Agnipath scheme was introduced by the current NDA government.

“India unveiled a new scheme called “Agnipath” on Tuesday for the recruitment of soldiers in the Army, the Navy and the Air Force, largely on a short-term contractual basis, with an aim to cut the ballooning salary and pensions bill.”

(…)

“However, job aspirants are upset defence recruitment at the jawan level has remained stalled since 2019. They complain that instead of filling permanent vacancies that come with pension and other benefits in the 13-lakh strong armed forces, the government has proposed the new ‘Agnipath’ scheme. The scheme envisages the recruitment of soldiers for a short four-year period and retirement of most without pension and other benefits.”

Source: Why youth are protesting against the Agnipath scheme VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 19th June, 2022 ©Deccan Herald)

Therefore, we may conclude that there are covert discontents within the Indian Armed Forces and the aspirants of army-jobs . The government should be cautious enough to tame (?!) the discontents of military-industrial society.

This very government has cut a sorry figure in the last nine years, e.g., Demonetization⤡, ill-conceived IBC (amended 35 times within the span of five years) , CAA-NRC-NPR (particularly in Assam, where basic human rights are infringed for the impulsive implementation (cf. CAA-NRC: Lessons from the Assam experience VIEW HERE⤡ (As reported on 20/12/2019 ©Hindustan Times) etc. Thus, we, the (supposed) Indian citizens are living in a sick society that is wounded by a failed state⤡.

We are reviewing the history of the scams related to buying weapons from other countries. We have seen Bofors Scam⤡, where a middleman outside the government had played a crucial role in the deal. In the case of Coffin Scam⤡ and Rafale Scam⤡⤡ (both took place under the consecutive NDA governments), the current ruling party itself had played a central role as a middleperson of the deal. Thus, they bought the Rafale at an astronomically extended price by compromising the taxpayers’ money.

Moreover, we cannot help but remember the film “Rang De Basanti“ (2006) in this context. The film revealed how the government buys defective, dumped aircraft from foreign countries by compromising the security or life-guaranteeing provisions of the soldiers. The film was a deliberate attack on the roots of corruption involved in arms-dealings.

It is also surprising that Mr. Gautam Adani had got the responsibility to manufacture indigenous “Made in India” weapons. However, he had no prior experience in manufacturing of arms-ammunition⤡. It is no wonder that Indian Armed Forces often compained about the incompetency and inefficacy of most of the weapons they are provided with⤡ ⤡.

In the case of the Manipur massacre, the Indian army had shown their gentle dissent through their appeal to the concerned authorities by means of a Tweet. The discursive formation of the following tweet from the SpearCorps.IndianArmy might unveil the dark side of the present Indian government:

The above tweet speaks itself about the inefficient (?!), incompetent (?!) ((Inefficient? Incompetent? Impotent governmentality? Or is it deliberate attempt to fan the flame of conflict with wonderful conspiracy of silence to maintain the most unkindest “rajadharma” or “Kings’ sacred duty” as mentioned by Late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the context of post-Godhra pogrom, 2002)) govermentality of the executive as well as legislature as

(a) Emergency on the basis of Article 356 was not declared in Manipur, though it was then need of the hour;

(b) untimely or delayed deployment of the army-personnel. The screenshot of the text of the SpearCorps.IndianArmy is given below with added emphasis:

This gentle appeal (along with the video in the Tweet/X) from the Indian Army itself displays the uncomfortable situation of the soldiers. They are sandwiched by the impotency of the government and, on the other hand the voices of the Human Right Activists, which they have already faced (or now facing) in the matters of Kashmir, are attacking the Indian Armed Forces for the infringement of human rights.

The reports on Jammu and Kashmir by the Amnesty International (banned in India by the Modi Sarkar) show the coercive measures taken by the Indian Army with documented evidences⤡. Earlier, in Manipur, there was a protest of the naked women with posters that declared, “Indian Army Rape Us”. Thus, the vexed Indian Army could not overdo or perform their duties to dismantle the Manipur conflict between the Kukis and Meiteis.

Cf. Nero’s Dine, Manipur is burning VIEW HERE ⤡

One can see many of such issues have been addressed in the recently released blockbuster: Jawaan (2023).

POST-SCRIPT:

If we are strongly supporting ahimsa or non-violence, a world without war or armaments, even we are against Coup d’état, why are we composing a text on Indian armed forces? The above text simply represents the contemporary sick ‘state’ of affairs within the truth-room of “normalization process”. Within the ambit of such Orwellian State, the use of doublespeak is inevitable: “offence” has become “strategic defense”; “Nuclear Deterrence” is nothing more than an apocalyptic suicidal attempt of nation states in the context of anthropogenic glocal heating (cf. “Nuclear Purana” VIEW HERE ⤡).

We must remember the Russell-Einstein Manifesto (1955) in this context.

At the end of the film “Prahaar“, one can see that a dedicated ex-army personnel Chauhan is sitting beside a window in a mental asylum (Cf. the almost last phase of Andrei Tarkovsky’s film, The Sacrifice in association with Michel Foucault’s magnum opus Madness and Civilization)– looking beyond. The next sequence that follows shows naked boys running towards army personnel Chauhan for engaging themselves in an army-training programme. Chauhan then commands them to follow his orders. With this, the film ends with a song of futuristic motivation.

When do we need soldiers? The simple answer is: at the time of war (external) and internal war (or “internal disturbances”/conflicts)– within the ambit of the nation-state. It proves that we are within the war-mongering society that needs the repressive state apparatuses along with ideological, hegemonic movies like “Prahaar“. The metamorphosis of bare boys (exclusion of girls is to be noted. What about the Rani of Jhansi regiment of the Azad Hind Fauz/Indian National Army?), who would be clad with the military apparel/uniform to resist the violence of the so-called “other”.

As we are against the war and armament, how can we receive this transformation of the kids to cogs in the military-industrial society? This violence and counter-violence reveals the truth of the structurally violent social formation. At the time of viewing the spectacle of this scene from “Prahaar”, we have forgotten the famous statement by Gandhi: “Eye for an eye make the whole world blind.”

Thus, we are reiterating the famous dialogue between Andrea and Galileo in the play “The Life of Galileo” by Bertolt Brecht:

Andrea (Galileo’s student): “Unhappy is the land that has no heroes.”
Galileo: “No Andrea, unhappy is the land that needs a hero.” (Scene 12)

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