the GOOD,the BAD, & the UGLY

With the recent upheaval over the rot within the Army,there has been not one but many instances in which Army officials have been caught on the wrong  foot trying to follow up their vested interest at the cost of the honor and respect the uniform commands.Is this something that has suddenly sprung up in the 1 million strong force or is it something that existed since a long time but has come to notice of the ignorant public only in recent times?

Well, in the army and it's rigid system of traditions, it is always  taught that one should not question authority but follow it without any thought whatsoever. Well the Indian Army exemplifies this principle at every level of it's hierarchy. Though sometimes questioning authority becomes necessary.In words of Lt Col K H Wenker "A mature soldier can come to an obedience that is morally autonomous and yet refuse to participate in immoral group activity; the mature soldier could decide if he has a moral obligation to obey. Such a decision relieves the tension between moral autonomy and obedience because each person makes his own decision."This is probably the part that is lacking within our force because people especially among the officer ranks tend to do whatever is required of them by their seniors regardless or whether it is morally right or wrong because questioning authority has never been part of our dictionary. There are though few people who do try to raise their voice against the mis-doings of the seniors but as the fact stands'When in the jungle,don't roar against the lion,or you are sure to end up dead'.

The entire corruption scenario revolves around shameless Brigadiers,Generals on one side and ambitious young officers on the other who are looking up at a bright future.These ambitious souls are willing to stoop down to any level to impress their bosses.As a result of this,'' i scratch our back,you scratch mine' principle comes into play.Thus,we are witness to senior officials squandering away funds to make sure that golf and gardening continue to be part of their lifestyle post retirement.

On one of the occasions when a Commanding Officer pointed out to the senior officers about the constant demand by the brigade commander for money out of the unit's Supply funds,not only the Colonels earned the wrath of the brigadier, but also ended up being wrongly charged of mismanaging funds and eventually was  court-martialed,discharged from service and imprisoned for a year.It was after a number of years that when the concerned officer took his case up in the Armed Forces tribunal that  the court decared the GCM void as it was partial and charges were baseless.But then the harm was done as the AFT can't really compensate you for those years of hardships that you didn't deserve .