Army chief General V K Singh has termed a newspaper report on the movement of two army units in January ‘spooking the government’ as ‘absolutely stupid’. He made the remark on Thursday in response to a question about the story -- which had appeared in The Indian Express on Wednesday -- during a visit to Nepal where he is attending a regional seminar on disaster management and humanitarian assistance.
The chief’s remarks came on a day when his host country’s Prime Minister, Baburam Bhattarai, hailed the role of the Indian Army and its values in an official bilateral meeting.
Dr. Bhattarai’s press advisor, Ram Rijhan Yadav, told The Hindu that when General Singh mentioned that the Indian Army operates according to ‘democratic values and principles’, the Nepal PM said that the Nepal Army (NA) too operated according to the same values. Dr Bhattarai, who is a senio leader of Maoists in Nepal, also acknowledged the training and exposure received by Nepal Army officers in India, and said this had helped the NA transition from a force controlled by the monarchy to being one under an elected government.
‘Nefarious aims’
Meanwhile, a new dimension to the troop deployment controversy emerged with The Week magazine releasing the audio recording of an interview it conducted with General Singh in early March, -- excerpts of which were published in the magazine on March 13 -- in which the Army chief expressed his apprehension that the normal movement of soldiers could be presented in a distorted way. “Even, let us say one of our corps or divisions or brigades exercise, somebody will say, oh! They did an exercise. It was not an exercise; they wanted to do something else," he is heard saying. “Now you will make a story out of it. There are lots of people who want to make stories these days for various nefarious aims, if I can put it like that.”
According to PTI, he had pointed to ‘people both uniformed and not in uniform, some civil servants, who had their own axis to grind…feeding all kinds of wrong things’. General Singh added, “So, you tell him (the journalist) something juicy, it comes on front page and nobody even looks whether there is any truth in it. It is already done. So, you have already thrown muck on somebody. There are lots of people who are doing that and I don't know what their motives are.”
Besides the Prime Minister Bhattari, General Singh met Nepal’s president, Ram Baran Yadav, deputy PM and defence minister Bijay Kumar Gachhedar, his counterpart, Nepal Army chief General Chhatraman Singh Gurung and other serving and retired army officers. Through his visit, his refrain, speaking in Nepali, was, ‘Whatever is good for Nepal is good for India.” General Singh also offered any assistance – training, weapons, and ammunition – that the Nepal government needed and sought.
Keywords: Army coup rumour, Manmohan Singh, Antony, government denial, Army-Defence Ministry spar, Army Chief V.K. Singh, Nepal visit
What Gen.VK Singh says about the media is true. They bring in some
juicy story, discuss it in print and visual media, and many people's
credibility is lost. And, no one to question the media. Also,
Gen.Singh should have known that when he used the media for his own
personal reasons, others too can use it, if necessary, to tarnish him
too. There are vested interests who want to confuse the govt and thus
halt our economic progress. And, we Indians are so corrupt that, we
will do anything if we can make some personal gain out of it. At the
same time, we speak against corruption.
I am surprised by the kind of comments that have been made on the article. Those who claim to be so knowledgeable have absolutely no idea about the way the army moves and trains. Then with great pompousness they go on to denounce the army saying that they should have informed the govt and the President about the move. There are more than five hundred major and minor units in the NCR (national capital region). Any kind of training involves a movement, as the army has to move from its peace locations and go to a hypothetical battlefield for training. More than five hundred units would mean that there is more than one unit moving at every day of the year. If the President or the govt has to be asked every-time a move has to happen then our army will keep sitting in the barracks. A mis-adventure in the capital does not require troops from outside. The capital itself has more than fifty units that can carry out the job if ever ordered.
I think by giving full freedom to press we have made a mistake, this is one of the fundamental rights imbibed in our constitution, the constitution must also provide the remedial clause if the fundamental right is abused. There is no doubt that media is doing an excellent job of bringing the truth out in open that a normal person will not otherwise know but at times it is irresponsible to the extent of building castles in the air or making out mountains out of mole hills as seems to be the case now for Army movement.
Chief having informed about possibility of such leaks! And this to a news magazine in March !! For a movement that was thwarted in January. Smells a rat here. If the Chief had indeed allowed such movements in Jan; was exposed before it reached Capital; got frightened if such a news went to media; approaches media and apprises them of possibility of someone letting out the story... eh! What is the government doing ? Ask the Chief to go on leave.. and order an inquiry.
I read all the major english-language-Indian-dailies with less and less
respect for their journalistic standards for objectivity and factual
accuracy, the exception being The Hindu. Inspite of an editorial shift
in recent years towards a more 'pro-establishment' line, which atleast
makes the paper less hysterical than the Times of India, why is The
Hindu lending credence to alleged army 'coup' rumours ?
India cannot have a Military Leader for the obvious reasons.1 12 million proud soldiers are no match to 120 crores indisciplined populations . 2 1000 political parties 3 1000 top corrupt bureaucrats
and 100 selfish star generals within the system.The only solace ,for the armed forces if there is a coup, free supply of drinks and boiled eggs for a week
On a lighter vein,the issue or rather the non-issue is similar to what was going through Dhoni and his men during the English and the Australian tours.Defeats after defeat,senior-junior slurs,Sehwag-Dhoni-Gambhir undercurrents.Question is,what ails Indians?
I expected Hindu to be more responsible. A hypothetical statement
made by the army chief especially in the context of many misleading
reports has been blown up as foreknowledge. By this token every
apprehension of all VIPs will become intelligence, of course, post
facto and the media, especially the TV can be busy collecting their
ad revenues.
Army is better known for fighting war against enemies and incredible humanitarian service during calamities.Public always nurtures brilliant perception regarding military with an attitude of nation building under a democratic government.When the political system of the nation is passing through rough weather the apprehension of public much stronger than the apprehension of army chief.Public do not like to see instability at centre nor they will prefer an alternative government by army people.
NDA feared emergency! UPA feaared Coup! People longed for good hope by any means.Present system managed and controlled by political parties are too bad for the Country.All are corrupt but varies only in degrees.But there is a feeling for a spring to crop up,as the people are fed up with the prevailing corrupt system at all levels.
As per our constitution The President is the Supreme commander of
the allied forces.So she must be fully aware of the normal movements
of the forces by air,water or sand.For the past few months are reading
news about these forces some in court halls and others in air and
water.Now the latest through print media and the controversies
around them should be known to the President first.It is reasonable for the citizens to hear from her first hand about these and also her
assurances the normal Admis about these.She must give broadcasts
as and when needed,instead of reserving 15 th aug or 26 th jan for
addressing the Nation.
We have two egoistic people in a very responsible position who have
taken the country to the brink of a catastrophic situation which I
never dreamt will happen in our motherland - Its NOT the "coup"
(Indian people will never tolerate such a foolish misadventure ever),
I meant such a prolonged tension (in public) between the Civil and
military leadership! giving fodder to some jobless, irresponsible
journalist to churn sensational blunders. Media has an equal
responsibility like our judiciary to protect our constitution.
There is not much we can do about the politicians atleast in the near
future. But what is the problem with this General? Why is he making
such controversial statements in the media? Is this the right forum?
Has he taken his DOB issue so personally that his ego has blinded him
so much he does not care about our country's stability and dignity? I
am pretty sure that I am not the only person in this country who would
like to ask the Gen this question
JAI HIND!
Any given Day Reputation of Indian Army as an Institution is unmatched by any journal/NewsPaper/Daily/NewsChannel(oops!! Vested Interest Channels who operate for lobbyists money). I would Question an Indian Express/The Hindu/Times of India Credibility before Questioning Indian Army's Credibility. Specially in times when government is trying to muck anyone who opposes it with help of news channels and certain news papers. Especially after seeing Shekhar Gupta's Interview where he was on the defnesive instead of keeping his head high(as he claims to have journalistic facts). This is clearly Arms Dealers + Politician Nexus trying to muck up Army Chief(for Tatra and Army chief Age issue)...and they dont care if Indian Army's Integrity is being questioned.
Strangely Politicians+ Bureaucrats are Pushing for a tainted person to be Next Chief of Staff( who had claimed fake encounters). I wonder what else is on the cards.
People lost trust on all political parties in India. The IPS honest officers killed in MP and get transferred in AP. People lost faith(because 162 MPS are criminals and haveing serious allegations of rape and murder and same case with MLAs too) in democracy esepecially poor, lower/middle and upper middle class of India. People of India, welcome it, if Army takes over PMO and Presidents offices in India and let us experiment the Army rule in India.
Every point raised by IE was rebutted by the Army and the MoD. Every but
one, that is. If the movement of units was indeed a routine affair, why
did the govt ask for police roadblocks to be set up when informed by
intelligence of the movement of the units? Might be it was a panic
attack at Raisinia Hill, but this fact hasn't been explained. It doesn't
look like a coincidence. it might even have been an attempt by the govt
to discredit Gen Singh and the Army in general.
dear editor,
Nowadays, Army baiting is becoming the order of the day. The recent episode that two units of the army moved towards delhi is causing a lot of hue and cry. Needless to point out that by exercises alone during night, winter,summer rain and fog etc. would alone provide army the required perfection, which is an endless process. After the 1971 war and creation of new nation in the east,Fd Marshal Manekshaw(then general) was addressing the newsmen and in the course he stated that after independence there was an option for the armed forces either to go to pakistan or remain in India. Sam said he preferred to stay with india. One of the reporters asked him what would have happened if he had opted to go to Pakistan. He replied very jokingly thet pakistan would have won the war, but even this small joke invited advice from the then defence minister Mr jagjivan Ram that he should desist from jokes of this type. During 1984"Operation blue star" one of the units assuming wrongly that Harmandir sahib in amristar was destroyed in mutiny. This was put down immedietly by other units of the army. Patriotism prevailed over the brotherhood in army then. The sikh unit was then disbanded and the soldiers were rehabilitated. Our country is surrounded by small nations, where the coup by military is not a surprise.,our army maintains a high tradition of not interfering in the administartion. Even after the government and the defence minister had repeatedly expressed full confidence in our forces, the resort to throwing mud on the patriotic people is continuing, thanks to our democracy. Let us refrain from this, lest the Army is demoralised.
Army Chief Gen V. K. Singh has every right to deny that there were political overtones to the troop movements so much talked about in the last two days. But he shold realise that this is a free country and we have a free press. A press report however wrong according to him and to a large section of the people besides being unpalatable to him should not be denounced in the way he has done. For him to say that the Indian Express report shows that people were unnecessarily trying to throw muck at the government and the army and add that they need to be taken to task is not proper at all. In a democracy this is not done.
It is hightime that Govt should order a CBI probe into the nexus between the arms lobbyists and some of the unscrupulous print and TV media and expose them. Now a time has come for the Indian people to boycot such "third-rate" media.A majority of electronic media are misusing their independance&autonomy.They are hell-bent to tarnish the reputation of the present Army Chief and Raksha Mantri.This non-sense has to stop.The media keeps telling that the Army-MOD relationship is at the lowest. I would say that the credibility& neutrality of the print&electronic media( Hindu excluded ) is at the lowest.
If our country fails, it is because of media and not because of politicians!
My God! Do I smell a coup conspiracy (foiled of course) Doesn't sound
good the news coming up these days
Our Defence Establishments are NOT autonomous bodies
independent of Government's hegemony. The movement of battalions should have been informed to the Chief Secretary
Ministry of Defence.
All this matter is cooked up news which makes us angry.Try some cooked
up news that will make u laugh at site satiresofindia
Please stop sensationalizing army chiefs affairs and focus to pressing problems of the
country. Even covering this as news when corruption sweeps the country is ridiculous.
Please put focus on where it belongs.
Gen Singh seems to be one of the most confused person in the universe right now. When we think he is going to do it and stand against corrupt governmet/politicians suddenly there are maky steps taken back. I don't know how the Army under him feels I would have been very unsure of trusting him.
I think he is just working towards personal gain.
As for politicians , I don't think even one MP is clean.
So, I don't trust either PM SIngh or Gen Singh but we have to live with it.
As a citizen I and many more like me would like shoot the idiots , given a chance.
The story build on some facts about the movements of Army around the Capital is mischevous and should outrightly be condemned. This is a black spot on journalistic behaviour of a known national daily. The people have full faith in the patriotism of the India Army and we believe that taking advantage of the timing ,the paper has concocted an unbelievable story.We believe the government as also our patriotatic Army Chief,who have taken timely step to rebuke the news.Enough is enough.It may damage the morals of patriotatic Indian Army.We condemn the news in strongest possible word. Please stop it.
I am intrigued while trying to connect the dots. Such a massive movement of Army, thai too
very close to Delhi and no citizen has reported seeing the army on the roads. While
movement of even one truck by Army needs so many clearances how an unit managed to
move without logistic support, money for diesel, food etc if the movement was not
sanctioned by the Army? And who ordered the movement and why the Government or the
Army ordered a probe if the article is right? Who commandeered the units ? What about the
communication during the units' move? Anyone has them? Why no one is saying anything
against the article and if the news item is incorrect why no action taken against the
newspaper? Is it that we have become so emotionless that anything and everything is
ignored and not respected at face value? Have we lost our sensitivities and care nothing?
The story may be exaggerated or sensationalised or even completely wrong. But the bitter truth is that Indians are fed up with corruption at various levels and may like to have a change. At the end of the day, nobody can go hungry to bed ---- the new taxes are unbearable and even if the "devil" promises to give a corruption-free government, Indians may welcome it. Anyway, this story is a timely warning.
This is Democracy at the highest.A journalist CAN ask a Direct Question to the Chief of Army Staff while he is attending a seminar in a foreign country about the movements of troops and Paramilitary- insinuated as an attempt by him to create mischief. Can a Newspaper state that the "Panicked"Govt.ordered the erection of "Barricades"by the Delhi Police to thwart an Armoured Regiment. We have ONLY that much RESPECT to the Armoury we have and to the Veterans who braved Land Mines and most adverse weather in their ACTUAL OPERATIONS against the Enemies-that also decades ago.The more one read the report the more we feel SAD about the UNDERESTIMATING of the People of the country by Experienced and hitherto respected journalists.
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