Soldiers must be higher than bureaucrats. Because when all fail, army steps in whereas bureaucrats have no achievements
I got a chance to visit the Bhima-Koregaon “victory pillar” in Koregaon, in Maharashtra, commemorating the British East India Company victory over the Peshwa of the Maratha Confederacy on January 01, 1818, and ensuing rule of the British East India Company in nearly all of Western, Central and Southern India.
Every day, on my visit, I go to the victory memorial in Koregaon. A long pillar in bright stone is the main attraction, river Bhima that flows close to it. I’d like to swim in it but the water was very dirty like any other Indian river so almost forbidden. Near the village are the same old poor villagers and their mud houses which are painted with the names and pictures of their caste leaders.
The brutalities were worse than Jallianwala Bagh. Colonel Dyer only gave the order in 1919 at Jallianwala Bagh.
On the walls of the memorial which is painted with the names of great Bhima-Koregaon victories. Who was defeated at Bhima-Koregaon? The Indians. Who were the 1st Regiment of Bombay Infantry, Mahars, British East India Company, Captain Francis Staunton, and other British officers fighting for? The Indians.
The “victory pillar” gate proudly announces the year of the victory January 01, 1818, more than a century and a quarter before Independence. Who did the 1st Regiment of Bombay Infantry, East India Company mercenaries, Mahars and Captain Francis Staunton and other British officers shoot, bayonet and mine and blow up on that date? Other Indians.
The brutalities were worse than Jallianwala Bagh. Colonel Dyer only gave the order in 1919 at Jallianwala Bagh. The killing was done and triggers pulled by the Gurkhas of Gurkha Rifles, and by the soldiers of the Baloch Regiment.
This is an ugly truth. I am not revealing any secrets. I say that till August 14, 1947, the soldiers loyal to the Crown of England renamed itself a nationalist Indian army and a nationalist Pakistan Army, the next morning. We Indians, especially the Hindus have no history before that of a nationalist army, unlike, Muslims and Christians.
He had a treaty with a group of Indian soldiers and then they disarmed and deceitfully had them massacred. He used this deceit because he was scared of their fighting skill.
There are mentions about the fighting and warfare tradition of the Hindus or the Indians that goes back at least 2,500 years. The first Greek historian Herodotus mentioned that Indians at the battle of Plataea in 479 BC were hired by the Persian king Xerxes. The Indians fought heroically, though the battle was won by the Greek alliance, and the Persian king Xerxes lost.
Eulogizing this tradition, Urdu poet Ghalib, who died in 1869, said proudly: “Sau pusht se, hai pesha-e-aba sipahgari,” meaning our family profession has been soldierly for a hundred generations. The world has great respect for the Indian soldier’s capabilities. Indians taught the European gorilla, bayonet, and trench fighting.
The flattering biographers of Alexander the Great, Arrian, Quintus Curtius Rufus, and Plutarch, mentioned that the greatest general has to use treachery to defeat Indian soldiers. This action stained the greatness of the conqueror. He had a treaty with a group of Indian soldiers and then they disarmed and deceitfully had them massacred. He used this deceit because he was scared of their fighting skill.
I have seen in India this respect mounted to reverence. Now, I have seen, it is almost a new cult of army worship in the country. Fauj (army) and faujis’ (soldiers) are above criticism. The nation cannot listen to anything against the army.
People are upset with the subsequent Union governments because they have changed the rules which lower an Army officer’s ranking with a bureaucrat of similar rank. Soldiers must be higher than bureaucrats. It is a well-known fact that when all fail, army steps in whereas bureaucrats have no achievements.
The same harassment was there with one rank, one pension. They had to wait for this for decades whereas the schemes benefitting the vote banks are approved and implemented in a day. Almost more than 40% of all central and state funds are grabbed by these vote banks. I have seen this national sentiment that serving and retired soldiers must get better salaries, pensions, and benefits than the bureaucrats. Their contribution is much higher and more necessary. Now, they are all the time on the battlefield.
A retired soldier has to commit suicide over OROP although the Aam Aadmi Party announced Rs 1 crore to the family of the soldier. Even family members of controversial deaths like that of Akhlaq, Tabrej, Pahalu Khan, Rohit Vemulla, etc; are showered with monetary help and jobs but at the death of a soldier, I have never seen such aggressive and competitive bidding over the bodies of a soldier. Why? Because the politicians are making a nation in which vote banks and controversies are more important than the death of a soldier.
However, the nation thinks differently. It wants all of us must pay constant and unconditional obeisance to our army. We sleep comfortably because our soldiers are awake. This is an accepted unquestioningly.
It is because of this reality we need a strong army. The government has very rightly spent Rs 59,000 crore for 36 warplanes for the defence forces. Some disruptive elements criticized this deal. We cannot because this purchase is an act of nationalism. In the 1971 Bangladesh war, we used fighters in combat and bombed the enemy very heroically.
We need more warplanes. We are always at risk of war. We are always not only surrounded by external enemies but inter enemies have also become big threats. Naysayers ask, who are we going to war against? It is an irrelevant question. The Army must be strong and care first so that we can sleep and our boundaries are not further shrunk and encroached and I won’t have to celebrate the defeats.
Note:
1. The views expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of PGurus.
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Bhima-Koregaon is a modern example of divisive politics at its best. The incident in which British (East India Company) mercenary army comprising Mahars became victorious over the Maratha Peshwa rulers. This victory of foreign rulers is celebrated by the leftists as the victory of of the oppressed as Mahar was represented by a lower caste over the ruler Peshwa who belonged to a higher caste. The irony must not be forgotten as the same group was plotting the overthrow of Central Govt and killing of PM Modi who belong to a relatively lower caste group in the prevailing caste order. The leftists and Ambedkarites who are supposed to be fighting against casteism are not ashamed to align with the then mercenary army of the British rulers just because they belonged a lower caste and use it as a weapon against the Govt and the country.