tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post3836171283382747321..comments2024-03-28T05:22:10.255-07:00Comments on Broadsword by Ajai Shukla - Strategy. Economics. Defence.: Generals, step backBroadswordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13076780076240598482noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-72824002697199815312019-05-14T05:33:57.503-07:002019-05-14T05:33:57.503-07:00And what good have Mattis and Powell done to US Mi...And what good have Mattis and Powell done to US Military Establishment. Hon'ble RM is not entitled to hand out certificate on bravado and good service. Look around and realise that those who could not raise voice while in harness can't do in LS either. The urge to serve is not born suddenly after retirement to make people join politics. If there is a will to serve then services are the best avenue. To say someone joined politics is to willingly befool self. We all know why someone joins politics. Neither BJP nor Congress has ever done any good for services. If there is no voice while in uniform then services are doomedAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-35748378216012803382019-05-10T16:57:02.776-07:002019-05-10T16:57:02.776-07:00They should join political parties & actively ...They should join political parties & actively participate in nation building.<br />You should instead write article on officers who have become Dalals and gaddahars like adm Ramadas.(can he be stripped off his rank & pension? ) Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-35387367524821282792019-05-06T21:18:42.448-07:002019-05-06T21:18:42.448-07:00@General Shankar Roychowdhury
Sir, the entire arg...@General Shankar Roychowdhury<br /><br />Sir, the entire argument of Ajay is should Military personnel not to get engaged in Politics after retirement. My arguement is from that point of view that then they should not be part of Rajya Sabha, Lok Sabha, hold any positions Like CM, Governor, etc. I was basically showing him a mirror that this has been happening since a long time and is not a new phenomenon and not related to particular new party in power.<br /><br />Personally, I think ex-Defence personnel from Generals to any other posts can add significant value to various organisations at different level. But, please be aware, that people and media will play politics in your name.Teewsbbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11558172919681765977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-72947462106302059262019-05-05T04:34:47.900-07:002019-05-05T04:34:47.900-07:00@ General Shankar Roychowdhury
A bi-partisan, or...@ General Shankar Roychowdhury<br /><br />A bi-partisan, or multi-partisan consensus aimed at bringing military expertise into the legislative process would be a welcome development. It does not involve aligning with one or another party while in service, or even after retiring.<br /><br />That would be perfectly in line with the dignity of a service chief, and not infringe upon the apolitical nature of his position.<br /><br />I wish political parties would reach consensus on this.<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />AjaiBroadswordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13076780076240598482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-16504854969374767462019-05-02T23:33:14.999-07:002019-05-02T23:33:14.999-07:00This is General Shankar Roychowdhury. Please note...This is General Shankar Roychowdhury. Please note that I was sent to the Rajya Sabha as a "consensus candidate" from my home state of West Bengal by the then State government (Chief Minister Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharya CPI (M) and Leader of the Opposition Mr Siddhartha Shankar Ray). I do believe that's how the Rajya Sabha system was intended to work.Shankarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15327650267168749260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-35552143853007409172019-05-02T11:00:09.072-07:002019-05-02T11:00:09.072-07:00Not only ex CEC, the ex Chief Justice of the Supre...Not only ex CEC, the ex Chief Justice of the Supreme Court - Ranganath Mishra was a Congress MP after retirement. That's how ridiculous it is with INC. this Congressi Ajay targets only BJPSatishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10797568358044088320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-36111382239899647282019-05-02T05:17:33.848-07:002019-05-02T05:17:33.848-07:00During the great debate in the aftermath of Pay Co...During the great debate in the aftermath of Pay Commision which you cooly avoided as the entire Service community was being humiliated, one of the arrogant high headed IAS asked, "where will it stop?". Well Colonet it has come here and it is not difficult to predict where it will stop.<br /><br />The Service community has been painfully forced into it by your ilk.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-28876513830163166102019-05-01T07:57:08.396-07:002019-05-01T07:57:08.396-07:00The Army veterans who have joined the BJP are Lt G...The Army veterans who have joined the BJP are Lt Gen JBS Yadav, Lt Gen R N Singh, Lt Gen SK Patyal, Lt Gen Sunit Kumar, Lt Gen Nitin Kohli, Colonel RK Tripathi and Wing commander Navneet Magon. <br />The Defence Minister Said “They are brave and have an academic background as well."<br />Lt Gen SK Patyal the senior of the seven entrants expressed gratitude "To us, the nation matters much above our personal family. Our Prime Minister and his ministers have taken great measures to improve our our Defence, For example, two defence corridors have been established, there is a focus on the manufacture of arms, ammunition and equipment. A major push was given to DRDO, to ordinance factory board and to the private industry."<br />Lt General Sunit Kumar said “ Under the leadership of Modi the vision looking forward for the Army has been extraordinary, there has been much progress in every sphere, under Modi the Army is capable of taking on any enemy”.<br />Lt Gen JBS Yadav, said, "I would like to thank BJP and its national president Amit Shah who have honoured us by making us members of the party. We retired officers must give to the country what we gave to the Army" He thanked Amit Shah for this honour he had bestowed on the veterans and said that under Modi, India’s defence was in safe hand, and the Army was more that capable of fighting a war on several fronts.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-6330697112521038272019-05-01T02:59:30.065-07:002019-05-01T02:59:30.065-07:00Sir Richard Dannatt went into the House of Lords b...Sir Richard Dannatt went into the House of Lords but he will be remembered by how passionately he defended the welfare, training and proper equipping of soldiers while he was in the Army.<br />Our constitution should have been crafted that every service chief have a tenure at the Rajya Sabha. Some would go even further and reserve ten seats in the Rajya Sabha for the armed forces. <br />But we would certainly do not need any McMasters and Mattises too emerge from this pool these are the worst examples to choose. So I would say no thanks , to mad dog Mattis.<br />But perhaps a Sam Manekshaw, or a HS Panag or a Hooda would fit the bill. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-91887266609272906832019-04-30T11:43:10.217-07:002019-04-30T11:43:10.217-07:00General K. V. Krishna Rao governor of North Easter...General K. V. Krishna Rao governor of North Eastern States in 1984<br />General Sunith Francis Rodrigues governor of Punjab from 2004 to 2010<br />General Shankar Roychowdhury member of Rajya Sabha<br />General JJ Singh who became the governor of Arunachal Pradesh in 2008<br />Captain Arminder Singh the current CM of Punjab<br />Hooda who has done everything to align with Congress other than to join them.<br /><br />Please don't leave the above names out due to the political spectacles you are wearing and supporting. If you say they shouldn't be in politics post retirement, then they also shouldn't hold positions like a Governor because that tells me they were aligned to the powers of the time hence rewarded. Interpretation is a funny thing, 2 and 2 can be 4 or 22.Teewsbbyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11558172919681765977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-7422169556085894162019-04-30T11:02:56.075-07:002019-04-30T11:02:56.075-07:00Very well said Kanan. The fact that its ok foe ex ...Very well said Kanan. The fact that its ok foe ex CEC to join congress but soldiers not to join Bjp speaks volumes of the authors own bias. Sad that these propagandists claim to be journalists Sid Thorathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02001975282125575284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-4324726369107340282019-04-30T10:56:35.605-07:002019-04-30T10:56:35.605-07:00Ask yourself. You are not Holy than others. Your s...Ask yourself. You are not Holy than others. Your support for the Congress well party is known.Satishhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10797568358044088320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-24989254331229151742019-04-30T09:39:04.703-07:002019-04-30T09:39:04.703-07:00Kannan, my thoughts exactly. Shouldn't Col Shu...Kannan, my thoughts exactly. Shouldn't Col Shukla step back from some of the politically charged articles he has written in the past - esp. on Rafale non-scam?<br /><br />Regards,<br />ManneMannenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-85594736412490858512019-04-30T09:36:22.222-07:002019-04-30T09:36:22.222-07:00Surely you mean the John McCains and Colin Powells...Surely you mean the John McCains and Colin Powells are more likely to emerge from the BJP cowshed rather than their stables, all my bets were off when I heard the BJP candidate and intellectual Pragya Thakur speak on cow medicine, how can anything useful to the army emerge by association with this mob.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-67703028074455795892019-04-30T09:16:28.478-07:002019-04-30T09:16:28.478-07:00Britain has to be brought in poster Kannan, becaus...Britain has to be brought in poster Kannan, because the Indian army is patterned after the British army, however the Indian army has undergone this peculiar indianisation since partition. I have heard of Generals with three stars on their golf umbrellas, there is a picture of a General climbing onto an army mule to inspect a mountain battery with three stars branded on to the bottom of the mule.<br />One former army chief had a entire battalion of guarding the Delhi golf club whenever he played golf.<br />Another chief had a large escort in peacetime, this the armed cavalcade disrupted Delhi traffic and he was advised by government to stop.<br />I may remind our chiefs that Field Marshal Von Rundstedt during wartime and inspecting units close to the Russian front, had only his pistol and the driver of his car with a machine gun under his seat for protection similar to the other German generals. A former Indian Army officer General Montgomery had only his Jeep with a armed driver as escort for protection during during the invasion of mainland Europe.<br />The senior British officers were referred to as Burra Saibs, but our Indian generals have made themselves into the new Mahrajahs within their commands.<br />Where I agree with you poster Kannan above - the worry is the lack of intellectual heavyweights like General Sunderji there must be something bloody wrong with the selection process to produce such mediocrity.<br /><br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-26505503490252058382019-04-30T08:35:41.844-07:002019-04-30T08:35:41.844-07:00Ajai Shuklas articles illustrate how our Generals ...Ajai Shuklas articles illustrate how our Generals have tolerated civil interference and have an unhealthy subordination to politicians of whatever party in power.<br />But what are the implications when an officer joins a political organisation like the RSS secretly at the beginning of his career and then declares his allegiance on retirement. <br />In the IPS there have been Directors General of state police who have disclosed membership of the RSS on the day of retirement.<br />When politicians exercise their power to promote Defence chiefs out of turn, what’s to stop an officer believing that secretly joining a political organisation helps in furthering his own promotion?<br />We read the RSS leader Nirmala Sitharaman in the capacity of Defence Minister, de facto Boss of the armed forces inducting seven senior military veterans into the BJP at a public function, how many of these officers were RSS men already while on active duty? <br />Shukla is right when a former Army chief and other retired senior retired generals join the BJP, the moral barrier between officers and active politics will decline.<br />Unlike Britain and America, the Indian Army is docile and subservient to politicians via our civil service and the army has insignificant influence over government policy - our army unlike most countries, is not outspoken enough to be a strong lobby group in favour of its own interests.<br />The primary interest of all professional defence forces must be preparedness to face external enemies, the Indian Army interest has been repeatedly ignored by politicians as pointed out in the past by the author of the above article.<br />Not so with Pakistan - the Pakistan army remains a professional and well disciplined army and like the Indian army inherited its traditions from the British, but when national security was threatened by civil policy, the army conducted a coup although this caused it to get corrupt later. <br />In Britain if a future socialist prime minister like Corbyn is elected - and proposes doing away with Trident or gets Britain out of NATO, their army will have none of that, they will organise a powerful lobby and protest, including speaking out in public.<br />Our own Senior Generals need to speak up, timidity is not the tradition they have inherited- they must protect the interests of the Army while in service not in retirement.<br />Joining a political party at retirement does not help, it only helps those politicians responsible for the Army being “degraded, starved of resources and devalued in relative precedence” I have not seen General VK Singh actively lobbing from the RSS for Army modernisation<br />In this context it’s encouraging news that Gen Hooda has not joined any political party but has produced a defence strategy document.<br />It will be interesting to see what our present chief’s (who was promoted out of turn) political affiliations are.<br />This current army chief has been ineffective towards modernisation and structural reform of our antiquated army - he has not strongly protested budget cuts or inefficiency/corruption in procurement and other injustices by politicians.<br />Many are waiting to discover the current Chiefs political affiliations when he retires.<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-71677449428543092652019-04-30T04:37:38.695-07:002019-04-30T04:37:38.695-07:00Ajai, how much of this is coloured by your own po...Ajai, how much of this is coloured by your own political position? I am in partial agreement, especially with the worry that the forces are being bought into the political discourse needlessly and the EC should be more 'Seshanesque' to bring this behaviour to heal. However, to bring in the needless example of Britain (an also ran power), totally out of context, makes little sense. We need our John McCains and Colin Powells and from the looks of it they are far more likely to emerge from the BJP stable rather than INC which seems to be moving further left by the day and even otherwise (ref. RaGa on Hindu terror in Wikileaks). <br /><br />It is a different matter that the BJP doesn't seem to make use of these riches of talent in providing executive guidance to accelerate defence reforms. This lack of conviction in reforms across all spheres is the major failing of this government, not some flaky intolerance nonsense, much less fascistic tendencies.<br /><br />I will end with 2 points:<br /><br />1) How is a clutch of generals joining any political party worse than MS Gill joining the Congress after retirement. Will all elections presided over by him as CEC be suspect in your eyes?<br /><br />2) The bigger worry is the lack of intellectual heavyweights in the general staff (retired or otherwise). Where are our McMasters and Mattises? We still seem to produce shoddy work that is an anti-thesis of what general staff means, much less integrated commands. If the conventional intellectual contribution still believes the next war will be on two fronts and the 3 armed forces will fight in a mostly independent fashion, we will have rivers of young blood on our hands.Kannannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726844009873922462.post-15094335398366544252019-04-29T20:16:56.646-07:002019-04-29T20:16:56.646-07:00and in USA .. so many Presidents and Senior Member...and in USA .. so many Presidents and Senior Members. WhsWha ur algorithm for comparison plzSahana Rhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14058081551014375580noreply@blogger.com