AN ANNUAL ASSESSMENT
Assam’s Nalbari district, like the rest of the state, was under waist-deep water. The raging rivers rushing down from the mountains of Bhutan had engulfed lower Assam in a devastating wave of floods. People were hanging onto the rooftops and sitting on trees. In many places, it was impossible to see land. After two days of struggle with nature’s fury, the state administration was forced to call in the Army for rescue and relief. Within hours, the local army units, otherwise engaged in a counter-insurgency (CI) role under Operation Rhino, had fanned out to the interiors with their boats and medical teams; Air Force and Army helicopters were pressed into service to drop food and rescue people stuck in hopeless positions. Over the next fortnight, the Army along with the state administration, had not only saved many lives but had ensured that small diseases did not turn into an epidemic. Even for someone like me who had seen this happen with unfailing regularity year after year in Assam, the job done by the soldiers and officers that Monsoon season seemed like a Herculean task by any standards. And remember, the Army was—as it still is-- primarily engaged in a CI role in Assam; the people were by and large wary of the troops, if not downright hostile; the insurgents were still strong in pockets like the hardcore support areas of Nalbari and Tamulpur. And yet, the Army went in without hesitation, undertook flood relief and quickly readjusted itself. This is not an isolated incident. From Tangdhar to Machhilipattnam and from Bhuj to Tawang, the Army has come to the aid of the people across India during times of crisis. Hundreds of such stories abound in the Indian army’s journey in both War and Peace since Independence. From disaster relief in floods, tsunami, and earthquakes to rescuing infant Prince from a deep tube well and from quelling rioters in communal strife to being the last resort in internal counter-insurgency operations, the Indian Army is omnipresent. It is, what I call, India’s Brahmaastra (an ultimate weapon). The versatility, adaptability, selfless attitude and resourcefulness of the Indian Army has allowed it to be what it is today: Nation Builders.
A LONG, EVENTFUL JOURNEY
It has grown from a force of sepoys that served the East India Company in its early days to a thoroughly professional and apolitical force respected the world over.
But the makeover has come with tremendous hard work, sweat, blood and sacrifice. The origins were far from flattering though. Nearly four centuries ago, the British East India Company after its arrival in India, used Indian sepoys like a private militia, deployed primarily to protect its establishments and personnel. Later, the forces were reconstituted as the Presidency Armies of Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. In 1748, they were amalgamated under Major Stringer Lawrence who became the commander-in-chief of all the Company's forces in India. That arrangement continued for over a century until 1857 when the sepoys became conscious for the first time that they belonged to one country. Although the British succeeded in putting down the rebellion, they had to effect many fundamental changes in the structure of the force. As a first step, the Army was brought under the British Crown. A Viceroy started administering India. British officers were given the Queen's Commission, and the Indians the Viceroy's Commission, later known as Junior Commissioned Officers. In the late 19th and early 20th century, the British Indian Army participated in various campaigns in Africa, the Middle East, Tibet and other parts of the world and distinguished itself through its fighting qualities.
The early signs of these qualities were evident in the First World War. According to official figures, 36,596 Indian soldiers died Fighting in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East, during the First World War. Over 70,000 were wounded. Indians won 16 Victoria Crosses and 90 Military Crosses. After a stellar performance in World War I, it was inevitable that the demand to induct Indians as Commissioned Officers would begin to gain currency. Several prominent Indian political leaders like Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru, Madan Mohan Malaviya and Motilal Nehru pressured the British on this count. Grudgingly, they agreed to Indianise selected units of the Indian Army and also induct Indians in the officer ranks. To start with 20 seats were reserved for Indians at the Military College in Sandhurst in Britain. Those who passed out became King's Commissioned Indian Officers. Under pressure to Indianise the officer cadre, the British agreed to establish the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun in 1932.
CIVILIAN CONTROL OR BUREAUCRATIC COMMAND
The Army has also withstood systematic assault on its status from politicians and bureaucrats who are forever looking for ways to downgrade the military’s status. While the principle of civilian supremacy over the armed forces is well entrenched and understood in India, what is incomprehensible is the constant chipping away at the military’s standing. The nation as a whole and indeed the people at large have the highest regard and affinity for the men in uniform for the yeoman service they render in every conceivable situation, but most mandarins in the Ministry of Defence and some of the politicians do not have the same opinion and are repeatedly trying to run down the military without realising the immense damage they cause to the only available bulwark we have against any attempt to Balkanise India. As former Chief of army Staff, Gen. S. Padmanabhan says in his book, A General Speaks: Even after Independence, India’s political leaders found it convenient to keep the Army, Navy and the Air Force out of the ‘policy’ making bodies. The service HQs were left at the level that the British left them—that of being ‘attached offices,’ of the Ministry of Defence. Even at the level of Defence Minister and Service Chiefs, exchanges on major matters of Defence policy were few and far between…” Another former Army Chief, Gen. Shankar Roy Choudhury has observed: “It is… essential in the national interest that the armed forces are upgraded and updated on an ongoing basis, something which governments have been traditionally loath to acknowledge and undertake, the Indian government perhaps more so than others in this respect.
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