The Boot Diplomacy

"Boot Diplomacy" is a real phrase, though the context of its use differs entirely from as illustrated in the recent episode which caused a dear union minister to smell leather.

Smelling leather happens to be a traditional Indian way to wake people up from epileptic seizures and in this episode it did have the intended political effect almost immediately. But I happen to be a non-political person (as has been drilled into me on account of my profession for past 24 years) and so the cause-effect for a particular political dispensation is not the subject of this discussion but what is interesting to note is that the "Boot Diplomacy" has a quicker response than even the RTI Act.

So is it the time to write the BOOT Act-2009 to make the sloth filled and malice inclined leadership to mend its way as regarding the armed forces of this nation?

This blogger has always been a faithful advocate of the non-violent, legal method of Booting out the non-performers which is through the vote- however there is no denying the shock value of a size 10 DMS followed by the quote-
" Yeh 2.5 Kg ka BOOT jab kisi pe padta hai toh veh uthta nahin uth jata hai"- Applause!!

Just take the strategic voting path for now- DO IT! (Cut it out- No I am NOT hinting at a size 10 Nike).

Also visit http://jaagorefauji.blogspot.com/ to learn the basics.

I hold no brief for one of the major national political parties, but it has at least mentioned our grievance in its menifesto. So go through it and maybe we can vote strategically and hope for the best.
The other way is to continue being a non-entity and hope that the crumbs will be tasty, if at all, they come our way! Good Luck.

You may be interested to learn from the past election statistics- There are a whole lot of parliamentary seats which were decided by wafer thin margins. The sitting incumbent will be willing to offer you the moon and his opponent- two of them!
Read- http://acepost.blogspot.com/2008/11/where-few-votes-matter.html
You are the citizens

Pillars of the Kashmir House

A few incidents, wherein senior army officers, in their official capacity, reportedly, ran foul of the majesty of law and were deemed to be in contempt of court, brings forth a long held apprehension that as the nation integrates the armed forces into the main stream, our senior functionaries will be blinded by intensity of the media glare and public scrutiny, akin to a rabbit, who tends to freeze to the spot, blinded by headlights of an incoming car .

In the recent incident, well not so recent, the DGBR (Not the incumbent) was found frozen to the spot for last 4 years. He has been found to have acted against the orders of the Gauhati High Court in not equating the SE(FG) with a full colonel. For those who have the opportunity to serve a tenure in the BRO as young subordinate officers, the strife and discord among the service and GREF oficers is amply evident as overbearing and invasive throughout the tenure.
A few naysayers would scoff, but rest assured they would be the ones who served in a Project headed by a service officer.

Coming back to the issue of the high court, (read the judgement here) or http://idse.org/judgement.pdf
(Do note the web address above- because this is from the other pillar of the corps of engineers, which may bring the (Kashmir) House down!)

You got to hand it to the hon'ble judge Roy at Gauhati. He was able to gather the intent behind the original govt notification of 2005 and sift through the ECM/ flares. Those officers who served in the BRO, circa 2005- did bring the issue of the Rajpatra (Gazette Notification) and the inner Shenanigans of the GREF clique to the attention of a few senior service officers. A layman could see the intent was to ensure that the GREF cadre officers were moved up one rank vis a vis their existing army equivalents without so much as 'by your leave' of the head of that organisation, the Director General.

The GREF officers could achieve this coup since they belong to the MoRT&H and not MoD. But the collective brasspot response was to put their heads into the ostriches’ nest. That the Notification was "only for the purpose of the Army Act", was obviously a lie floated for internal consumption. It would have been hilarious, if the matter was not this serious, that an order of the Government given in such clear language and adequately elaborated upon by the courts, could be handled such cavalierly.

IMHO, the release of this Gazette Notification in Feb 2005 was a watershed event in the history of disconnect between the armed forces and the civilian bureaucracy and along with the non compliance by the army in releasing the Muslim personnel data, (which alienated the politicians) should count as the two immediate precursors to the present 6CPC imbroglio, which has put armed forces at loggerheads with the executive.

Further, negligence of the kind exhibited in the above court case, sows sense of doubt amongst the judiciary and ultimately our masters, the common public! Surely we have a special army with bright, talented functionaries.

A Personal Aside-(From a verbal briefing by a BRO veteran!)
Remember, ye all youngsters
When under a GREF officer- the first rule of engagement is to make sure that you allow the colour of your uniform to morph into a dirty shade of khaki while at the same time scrub your inner-self so as to rid yourself of any vestige of Chatwodian principles and brotherhood of the armed forces. (Each one on his own, sir, and the most slimy, survives!).

Finally, as always-

'VOTE' to be relevent.Else continue on a wing and a prayer.

The last Refuge of the Scoundrel

For Starters:
Bravery, like beauty, lies in the eyes of the beholder.
And again like beauty, bravery can launch a thousand ships/ warriors.

The Ashok Chakra is the highest arbitrator of patriotic bravery in this country while we may consider the 'Miss India' title, its equivalent, where judging physical beauty.


IMHO, if we discount the unfortunate loss of life at Mumbai, the award of AC to the three police officers, can be counted as an exercise in political expediency whose equivalent would be an award of 'Miss India' title to Kumari Mayavati.


Now talking of politics and patriotism, a few months ago- prior to the 6CPC award, there was a lot of hullaboo on the blogs about the people of this nation sitting in towns and cities, not appreciating the sacrifices and patriotic acts of the army personnel. There were angry retorts that the servicemen are not the only patriots in the "sare jahan se achha" .


There can be no denying that patriotism is NOT a sole preserve of the armed forces and a common citizen, what to say, the common politician can be equally patriotic. However, talking of the later, did Samuel Johnson state so wonderfully (and which has been so often misunderstood) that-

"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel"

Sirs, Samuel Johnson later clarified that what he meant by the above quote was that a vested show of patriotism by politicians is the last resort of the scoundrel.

http://www.samueljohnson.com/qotw02q2.html#0630

Make no mistake, these awards are motivated, not with any noble aim of promoting a cult of bravery but by petty ulterior motive to draw votes.

Can you believe 11 Ashok Chakras in an year when the nation is not even at a (declared) war?

For sake of comparison, during 1971 Ops, the armed forces received a grand total of 4 Param Vir Chakras. There were 4 others at Kargil 1999, but then there were 7 ACs at Delhi 2002.

For those interested in records-

http://www.rediff.com/republic/2000/jan/28param.htm

Does the colour of blood change in this country with the uniform you wear, the place you serve at and the media interest you generate?

If our media has been bought out by sundry awards, foreign jaunts and gifts, then who questions the misuse of gallantry awards and petty shenanigans of these scoundrels?

We all believe that, in 1991, a capable financial wizard, caused a turnaround in the Indian economy. If memory serves me right, Sh Manmohan Singh, used to accept only Re 1 as his salary as Finance Minister in the Govt of India. This was an indicator of his commitment. However his actions as a PM, in the wake of 6CPC and now the gallantry awards episode are troubling. Because two things matter to a soldier- Izzat and the value of the indicators of the Izzat.

Here is hoping that the recent bypass surgery at AIIMS would have put his heart back at the correct place.

Else let's help vote this government out.

Together- We Can

It will be foolish to assume that after the happenings of the last couple of months, the GOM will be not clear about any aspect of our pay status vis a vis any other service of the govt. These gents can sell ice to an eskimo and to think that they require any further explanation on this issue will be surely living in a fools paradise.
In the past two months here, we have shown varied emotions to a singular problem- bewildered, scandalised, sanguine, hopeful, in denial, flustered, desperate, rebellious, hapless and even resigned....
I hope, for the sake of our training, we do not approach an operation with this variety. Remember to Vote sensibly and vote together so that we stay relevent to safeguard the izzat and future of services

In the coming general elections service pers have options to

A) Vote at their native place or

B) vote at their place of service

Take a constituency such as Dehradun, Pune, Chandigarh where reasonable No of Sevice pers have settled. Also these stns host large services establishments. Take a station with 20000 service pers posted . All be requested to vote for one common candidate, say 'X'. Now if this major stn is also the native place/ place of settlement to another 20,000 service pers and their families, All to nominate one single Indl as the nominee for their proxy vote. The indl is further instructed to vote for the chosen candidate 'X'.

We shall have a bank of 40,000 votes at these places. This is adequate to make these people sit and listen. Isrealies do it all the time. The question is Can we look ahead together or we expect alms from the ungrateful

PB-4 or Not

PB-4 or not.
army's got to vote
It keeps the leaders tight
It is our democratic right

One of nation's greatest institutions
Groans under sundry insinuations
blokes,get ready to fight
It is our democratic right

Vested Interests, aiming to shame
Maybe our own past antipathy to blame
But atleast now, see the light
It is our democratic right

It is a debilitating game
Don't be a beggar, lame
The future will be bright
It is our democratic right

PB-4 or not.
army's got to vote
It keeps the leaders tight
It is our democratic right.

Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored- Aldous Huxley

And now a time is fast approaching, where a group of citizens of the largest democratic country in the world, who feel that the decision by their democratically elected government is not just, consider taking in their hands, the only weapon allowed to them- a democratic vote at the ballots.

Whatever is our strength, we are more than a few. George Bush became the president by fewer votes than that which can be cast by a small cantonment.

Together we can be the change.

And PB4 is not central to this,but what is central is our izzat. It is the disdain and disrespect with which the ruling establishment has and is treating us.

No Sir, it is not the lowly baboos- my uncle is one midranking civil servant- but the top honchos and their political godfathers, who are planning this massacre.

I've not felt so disgusted and bewildered.

The POA
We got to exercise our power to vote, this time around. The future generations and our families will be thankful for the trouble we take today. It is Legal, honourable and elegant way of dissent.
So go and get yourself and your wife registered, also children if above 18, your bai and her husmband in your servant quarter. Be ready to cast your vote.
Further, KEEP ME POSTED.
Give me the strength of voters and the constituency these people shall be voting at. We need to develop a statistical database and analyse the constituencies where we can matter.

Also please also give your ideas on how shall this campaign be sustained.

Never give in.. never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.
Winston Churchill


Go ahead, Don't miss it. It may be our only chance.