14 Corps Commander strikes deal with angry soldiers, defusing crisis — but hard questions remain
Forty-eight hours after troops of the Ladakh-based 226 Field Regiment staged a revolt against officers they said were responsible for the brutal beating of an enlisted man, the Army is facing hard questions whether its colonial-era institutions are generating a crisis within its ranks.
Men of the 226 Field Infantry marched through the town of Nyoma late on Thursday night, armed with rods and knives, seeking to hunt down five Major-rank officers they said were responsible for the brutal beating of Suman Ghosh — an enlisted man assigned as a personal valet.
The men also staged protests, using loudspeakers to shout slogans condemning the officers and raise nationalist slogans. The fighting left at least three soldiers — including the sahayak —injured.
Early on Saturday, highly-placed military sources told The Hindu, Leh-based 14 Corps Commander Lieutenant-General Ravi Dastane finally hammered out a deal with the soldiers — a deal which promises officers who used beatings against enlisted men will be punished, in return for the soldiers relocating to their base at Thiksey.
In New Delhi, the Army Headquarters described the clash — the worst of its kind since some units mutinied in 1984 — as “an incident of indiscipline,” not a mutiny. The Army has set up a court to inquire into the incident.
Officers, not Gentlemen?
Late on Thursday evening, after the 226 Field Regiment finished a firing-practice session with their 105-millimetre mountain guns in the Mahé range near Nyoma, witnesses saw a fracas break out. Major A.K. Sharma, one of the unit's officers, claimed his wife was insulted by the sahayak. A highly placed source at 14 Corps Headquarters told The Hindu that the officer's wife complained that Ghosh waked into her room without knocking while she was having a shower.
The sahayak, witnesses told The Hindu, was dragged into the Beacon ground near the range, and beaten up. Major Ankur Tewari, Major Kapil Malik, Major Thomas Verghese, Major A.D. Kanade and Major Sharma himself joined in the beating, documents seen by The Hindu say.
From the witnesses' account, it is clear the men of the 226 Field Regiment did nothing — until it became clear Ghosh had suffered significant injuries. Major Kanade, however, allegedly refused to allow the men to move Ghosh to a medical facility, perhaps fearing it would lead to an internal inquiry on his conduct.
The irate men then began arguing with the officers; witnesses say there was a heated argument, accompanied by some pushing and shoving.
226 Field Regiment commander Colonel Prasad Kadam intervened, reprimanding the officers for their conduct — only to be allegedly assaulted by the five.
The Majors, witnesses said, then fled as troops arrived, saving Colonel Kadam.
Fearing attack by other Army units, some men barricaded themselves inside the quarter-guard, housing the armoury, while others marched into the town shouting Bharat Mata ki Jai [“Long Live India”]. Major Sharma was captured and beaten up; the men moved him to hospital thereafter.
Early on Friday morning, Major-General A.L. Chavan, commander of the Leh-based 3 Infantry Division, arrived in Nyoma and began negotiating with the troops, promising them that force would not be used.
In a press release, the Army Headquarters insisted that Col. Kadam's injuries were “superficial,” but highly-placed military sources said he was still in a field hospital on Saturday afternoon.
Simmering class tensions
Earlier this month, the Army announced it was considering doing away with the colonial-era institution of the sahayak, or batmen as they were earlier known — trained soldiers who are assigned to serve as valets.
The 30,000-odd men serving as sahayaks are expected not just to ensure that their officers' uniforms are in order and their personal comfort is cared for, but ferry their children to school and help with their spouses' shopping.
The batman system was long abandoned in the British Army, from which India drew it; even Pakistan dropped the institution in 2004. In India, however, it remains in place — a major cause of humiliation for men enlisted to serve their country.
It isn't only the institution of the sahayak, though, that is a cause of friction: India's two-class Army, divided rigidly between sahibs and men, ill-reflects the social realities of the country today.
For its part, the officer corps is ill-equipped to deal with a changing world. In a recent article, scholar Srinath Raghavan pointed out that the Army recruits officers “at a much younger age than most other democracies.”
Colonial-era culture
Their subsequent in-house education submerges young men in the military's colonial-era culture, leaving them ill-equipped to understand the changed values and aspirations of the soldiers serving under their command.
“In the first decades after Independence,” a retired officer told The Hindu, “enlisted men came from backgrounds which led them to unquestioningly accept feudal attitudes and values. The officers were also products of the same feudal landscape. It doesn't exist any more — but the institutions remain.”
This is really ridiculous, well it is well known that officers in the
army use jawans for their self means. A jawan has to do pity works of
an officer,and for officers family. Even if he protests, his voice is
not heard by any of the elite ranks. This is one of the reasons why
our brave hearted jawans suicides. British has gone but still the kind
of colonial rule is going there, in most of the cases leave is not
given,quality of food is not good,no welfare schemes,has to work maxm.
hours. I request to the editor, please take an initiative in this
respect. Otherwise our jawans will have to face this agony in all the
times.
join the army - one and all. reduce the vacancies and see how the
officer corps become the ultimate and how every rule and regulation
gets followed. easier to comment than join eh??!!?? then please do not
take it as your birthright to comment on things not known to you. even
all vacancies for employing a batman or sahayak still exist and remain
existing even after so many years of indipendance. try and fill it,
and combatants will not do the tasks. let police do its duties
correctly, and army will not have to be called in time and again for
internal security duties.
- milnd
Indian Army comprising some 1.3 million men in uniform is the second
largest standing army in the world and second to none in valour and
discipline. If there has been a near riot situation in just one unit
comprising some 600 odd officers and men for the first time in the
other wise unblemished history of the Indian Army ,surely one can not
jump to the conclusion that there is some thing wrong with the whole
Army.
What apparently went horribly wrong in this case is that there has
been a total failure of command. Things like this don't happen out of
the blue. There would certainly have been simmering of trouble in the
air and if the Commanding Officer was unable sense it or did not have
systems in place to sense it in advance, he is quite obviously unfit
to command. His subsequent bungling resulting in his being beaten up
by his own officers as reported in the press amply illustrates the
fact.
Severest action against officers and jawns involved including CO is
the only answer.
IMMEDIATE BANNING OF BATMEN OR SAHAYAKS — IN ARMY/PARAMILITARY FORCES
The Sixth Pay Commission had asked for disbanding the Sahayak in Army. General Singh’s recommendation is favoured by defence minister A.K. Antony who had promised earlier that he did not want to see soldiers functioning as “Personal Servants Of Officers”. The navy and the air force do not have such a system. The opposition to the recommendation has come not only from within the army but also from the bureaucracy. Even the recommendations of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee that has favoured banning the sahayak system have been ignored. The uniform is insulted every day. Despite this, Gen. Singh’s recommendation has been questioned because it goes against the “culture of the army”.
Recruiting a jawan for performing servant duties is not logical, since nation pays for it. Bureaucrats in the defence ministry are also assigned batmen from the army, these bureaucrats are also availing the Canteen facilities
Its so nice to see so many Indians uniting to bring down their army. Lets cut their facilities. Make the pays of officers & Jawans equal. It doesnt really matter that one in every 4 soldiers who died in Kargil was an officer while officers comprise less than 1% of army's strength. Who cares that it were the officers who personally lead the attacks. That it is the officers who hold the army together. Otherwise the army would just be an armed mob. Army is already short of 50 000 officers, another 50 000 wont make a difference. The country may go to hell! After all, even if Pak/ China invades, people of J&K, PB, Haryana, Raj & NE will suffer. We the people living comfortably in the metros of Central & South India, don't give a damn!
And it has been allowed to happen ; 'cose of one sided discipline ! India got its hard earned independence six long decades ago: but not the man on the street ! The colonial & feudal system remaining intact even to this day,however. For record purpose it is pertinent to mention that a good number of Soldiers (Now called Jawans!) are joining the ranks from well to do families ; many of them got educated from 'Public Schools',financially not bad because of the better living standard & the electronic media.The new entrants in the Officer cadre & the 'rankers have nearly the same culture ;education,society,life style, city culture,clubs ,etc .Today's Jawan is equally good ,if not better ;it being a different matter they may not be possessing the required level of OLQ ! Well to do families ,especially belonging to North-West India still like the services a lot .The Govt must look into afresh the known / hidden causes of such unwarranted simmering turbulence among the ranks demeaning the well known level of military Discipline,though sporadic outbursts causes lot of ripples; should be taken very seriously. The Govt is obliged to ensure that the officer class & ordinary soldiers enjoy good repertory; however the needed area of closeness be ensured; but not an the iron wall ! The overall training ,especially the ab-initio one,the benefits,the early retirement,life after retirement ,the common problem of children education,medical facilities & care free better living standard need close attention of the Govt of India. We have to ensure that all of the schemes /proposals issued from time to time reach the end user timely;don't gather dust on the files /papers ;perpetual follow up & their proper implementation without delays has to be followed up meticulously like any other Govt Dept ! Change of heart,towards lesser luckier must be given more attention . The men in uniform must be made to feel that they are considered pride of the nation,equally during service & retirement . Discipline must never be allowed to be compromised under any circumstances :all service personnel must remain under the mega umbrella of' DISCIPLINE all the time of their life;GOD bless India & its Armed Forces !
Class warfare, batman culture, revolt - all big words with just one problem - Didn't the army say the jawan beaten up by the officers was NOT a sayahak or batman?
Its know some writers for The Hindu have ideological issues with the Indian Army but putting out an article within a day or two of the incident and without all facts out reeks of sensationalistic and unprofessional attitude - not quite what The Hindu professes to preach. I would have thought The Indian Express experience of the so called coup should served as an warning to the 24/7 "damn the facts, lets print first" journalists.
The defence institutions r on degradation. Scams, Accidents, Tensions r now daily routine activity. The reason is not shortage of man power vs tasks but shortage of efficient manpower. The reasons & solutions are as follows : 1. Selection Process- SSB is opaque process. Merit declares unfit in name of old 1930's psycho test. Recommendation make below average Unfit guy to pass through easily. The whole process must be available on net so that candidates may see why has he been rejected or other is selected. Question sets must be randomly select in front of candidates with their signature out of big data base. 2. The Jawans must be permitted to appear Civil Govt Jobs, MNCs & Civil educational exams. They must be allowed to leave this slavery like organisation. Now it is not permitted irrespective of ur talent,aptitude & attitude. It is like Smuggling world where u can enter delibrately or unknowingly, u can not leave. No assitance of forum press,court,Human Rights Org Etc....Contd..
All u guys commenting. What wil u do when smone walks into d bathroom wen u wife is
takun a shower? Reward him? D sit was badly handeled bt 99% f self eespecting men wud
hv reacted d same way. Noone is forced to become a sahayak. Most soldiers volunteer as
it leads to them being close to officers. troubles started wen the Gandhi family stopped
recruiting 4m d martial classes & made reservations in d army 4 all classes. The british
ruled a quarter f d world. Clearly they knew how best to run an army. After 1857, they
realised tat the "higher castes" in india r nt suited to b soldiers, as they considered
themselves superior to officers & questioned all orders. A police force can run like that.
Army cant. Armymen including officers face brutal climate, sepration 4m family. Freedom &
democracy wil make men go mad & want to go back to their families. Army needs strict
discipline. Accepting pain rather than complainin is most imp soldier like quality.
This seems not an aberration, but a systemic failure of the Armed forces to keep pace with changing social topology of the country. The whole concept of sahibs & sahayaks seems redundant in these modern times. Though discipline within the Army is one of the pillars on which it stands and survives, but at what costs. This incident seems certainly a failure of command in the unit and simmering tensions, within the unit, resulting in this fracas.Only transperency in such matters and action againsts those, responsible will lead to such cases being an exception rather than the norm. More importantly, in the larger context, understanding the needs of the soldier and understanding how to keep this happy and content, will ultimately result in lowering of occurences of such incidents.
I am extremely saddened to learn that this happened in Indian Army. First of all get rid of the institution of slave labour provided to all Officers. Why did the officer's wife leave the door open to the shower room whilst taking a shower? Was the sahayak expected to help her with anything, like putting soap on her?
Above colonial era is not limited to Army it is existing Navy also presently in progress and still continue in future. If u check 90%
officers in Indian Navy are from Ex-defense Officers families and they
will not allow any civil families mix up with them, they made closed
loop, because of this their father and forefathers thought them learn English and rule, these things are leading to much misbehaving cases
in armed forces. Fast acceleration in promotion Officers and unimaginable facilities leading them to behave like Britishers. Naval
Officers Qualities
1) Abusing language with juniors.
2) Play with their annual reports if they are not done personal work
3) Just physically present in Office and mentally present at Share
Market
4) make their surrounding residential are and office are as 5 star
comfort and the sailors at worst condition if any body turns up
just say u r comparing with me am an officer I can do anything really
am suffering since last 11 years in puddle
@ sahir. I like to disagree with your statement "Having a reactionary army chief like VK Singh-who put personal vindications before the inatitutions- does not help. Such elements should be weeded out right at the beginning ". Person like VK Singh or Army Chief can not reach at such position if is disciplined in his profession. If you look deeper in system, you will come to now that he did not rebelled because of his integrity, he did it because he was not given proper treatment for his position form shoddy 'Babus' or secretaries sitting in Defense Ministry. it has came to know recently that they bully army in almost all matters. When in practically it should be army whose voice be heard. He did not rebel for himself, he did it against Corrupt Bureaucracy and System. Current situation should be properly investigated and guilty should be brought in FRONT.
While civilians are repeated rebuked and told that we don't understand the military and therefore have no business to criticize it, the Army has no motivation to correct its mistakes and indeed has been unable to cope with today's 24/7 media and news outlets and growing public interest in the Indian defense establishment.
The entire military structure needs a desperate overhaul to bring it to 21st century standards of sensibilities. The culture of sycophancy, subservience and automatic promotions based on time served is utterly ludicrous in this day and age when performance matters. Further, caste based regiments and an aristocratic officer corps have not done any favors to the military.
Only the civilian authorities can enforce a change in the military as the military is complacent and set in its own ways and is loath to change the status quo. The time for civilians and the military to keep their distance has come to an end.
There has been a strong criticism on the culture of Sahayaks/Batman for the officers of the army. What is the other side?The proper'turnout of an officer whether on or off duty is an essential aspect in his career.This involves different combinations of dress,from the field to the office,to official/ social functions in the mess and clubs.An impressive turnout is half the battle won,in the scale of leadership,from his men to peers to superiors.In fact,this is stressed upon even from the trg days so much that any shortcoming in the turnout is punishable corporeally.Neither during trg nor as commissioned officers,can an officer attend to this need on his own,because it is time consuming and Hence the provision of orderlies at the stage of trg and Sahayaks later. However,it is a different question if enlisted Jawans be deputed to this task or alternately the units provide regimental civilian orderlies or if the officer be compensated and expected to make his own arrangements.
While I agree that the sahayak system is obnoxious, there are several officers who treat their sahayak well and as a member of their family. In this particular incident, it appears to be about a gang of 5 officers of the major rank who ran amok. Note that they beat the sahayak and their own CO. It was not about the officer corps beating the enlisted men.
Discipline is intrinsic to the functioning of an army. Allowing free expression of dissent will make our army non functional like our Parliament. What the 5 officers in this case did was very wrong and they deserve to be punished but that does not make the entire officer corps responsible. A officer did attempt to come to their rescue and was beaten up for it.
India has been in a state of proxy war for more than 3 decades and this has put a lot of pressure on the army - both troops and officers. These brave men who defend us are made to bow to the whims of corrupt politicians and this adds to the pressure and perverts the mind.
This incident should mark a revolution for the betterment of Jawans. First of all the Sahayak(Batmen) should be abolished as they are hired to be exploited by so called Officers in the name of serving country. The 30000 something current Batmen (Sahayak) should be assigned some other work which is actually related to serving the country not some officer's indolent exploiting spouses and the Officer's themselves. Secondly, their should be a restrain to the officer's power over Jawan as this is the only one incident which has came to light. Their are thousands of incident like this takes place everyday and in order to curb them we need some serious and urgent reforms. As i said there is a need for uprising by Jawans against the draconian powers being exercised by Officers.
All the comments and reactions are on the five Majors thrashing a sahayak.The fact that they also manhandled their CO,resulting in his hospitalisation,is much more serious and is courtmartialable,if proven. And the further spin to the episode is that the Jawans were further infuriated at their CO being manhandled by these relatively junior officers leading to the latter being chased by the Jawans to the point where they had to seek a hiding place elsewhere.Very deplorable indeed!
This is an isolated incident and need not be viewed in a manner that requires systemic change.The last such incident may have taken place over two and a half decades ago. It is imperative that the media is kept at bay as it would cause more problems by false and extreme reporting. The fact of the matter is that the Army has in place systems and procedures to deal with these incidents and also to avoid such incidences. One cannot compare the job of an Army Officer to that of his counterpart in civvy street. The Indian Army trains its officer class well. If such an incident had occured and the victim was a Jawan's wife, strict action would have been taken too. There is no class divide in the Army or in the Defence Forces for that matter. The army officer looks after every aspect of his men whether it is administrative, professional or emotional. Such stray incidents when they occur are dealt with in earnest and no external comments are necessary.Please stay off the Army.
We are making too much out of an isolated incident.There is no second word that sahayak system should be disbanded immedeiatley.What we are forgetting is the umpteen number of cases wherein the officers have given thier life to save the soldiers and soldiers to save their officers in the battle field.How can this happen if there is mutual disrespect and distrust? Yes there are black sheep in both the cadres.Take strict action against them but dont picture all the officers as arrogant villains.
The beating up of the orderly in Ladakh by the officers and the subsequent revolt by the men does not augur well for the future of our armed forces. The officers responsible for the ill treatment of the sepoy must be severly punished. To ensure that, the Court of Enquiry, ordered by the army, must be monitored by a civilian authority, as most of the time the in-house enquiries have resulted in letting of the guilty. No amount of argument can justify the continuation of the orderly system that treat men as slaves. The officer class enjoy unaccountable authority and discretionary powers which sometimes lead to its arbitrary and unfair use. It is high time that the men should be given their due rights. A proper grievance redressal mechanism should be set up which should be a purely civilian body. An Armed Forces Human Rights Commission should be established to look into the alleged human rights violations occuring in the armed forces. The present arrangements are woefully inadequate.
what do mean by Mr Tom Harding? Is that means army is run by only officers and these men does not have any role except doing personal officers personal chores? Like officers, men also earn their titles through hard work, courage and study.In fact these men have good formal education then their officers who cocoon themselves in NDA or Military academy. If u go by the statistics Most of the men are Graduated in Universites and their officers have never gone through University education. It is due to poverty in our country and due to lack of money these Jawans enter into Jawans cadre. Hence their pride in uniform and self respect should be respected. It is high time all British policies should be abolished and new laws according to the requirements of the Modern Indian Army in 21st century to be framed.Jai Bharat.
This is the beginning of the revoultion to come. what had happened in Leh is just a small rebellion against the atrocities of the Army officers on their men as a colonial legacy. The only difference before and after Independence to the Jawans in Indian Army is The white officers have gone and the blacks have come.These officers put themselves in the shoes of Britishers and uses their men for their personal chores like helping their wives, droping children, bringing vegetables, grocery, feeding their children, cleaning their house and many more. No army officer can deny this.An Independent Judicial enquiry on the atrocities of officers towards their men will bring about the fact. In air force the same personal chores of officers are done by separate cadre as NC(E)'S .Actually they were recruited by Govt of India to meet the requirements of Air force offices and Messes.It is time to save our jawans from exploitation otherwise like tigers t natthey might become an endangered species.
Dear sir,i totally agree with the proposition that the system of sahayak be abolished. we in the armed forces need to realise that the sahayak is also an employee of the same elite organisation which comprises the officer.he is not a personal servant of either the officer or his family. However the above-said incident is an isolated case of indiscipline rather than the mirror of army as an organisation. Army as a massive force has quite responsibly been dispatching its duties along the border and behind it as well. every organisation has its own share of good and bad. we cannot malign an entire organisation based on the behavior of a few unruly and in-disciplined elements. The concerned persons responsible for this highly undesirable anomaly should be brought to justice without delay as no-one can and no-one should take law into their own hands. being an officer means being disciplined enough to lead your men. the persons concerned here are
clearly undeserving of the posts they hold.
Does one remember during the World War II, Gen. George Patton of the famed general of the Third Army of US was made to apologize it front of this entire battalion. Reason: Gen Patton had slapped an US infantry man (equivalent to jawan in Indian Army) would was resting in hospital infirmary for shell shock wound. This was action and apology was enforced by none other than Patton's commander, Gen. Eisenhower who later became the President of the United States.
Advice to the Indian army, shed colonial era racist and bigoted stratification system. Treat enlisted men and women humanely and earn their respect.
Today, many jawans are well educated and unfortunately and due to scarcity of jobs are compelled to join services, where they are made to perform menial jobs like polishing the shoes, washing undergarments (of all members of the officers house), clean toilets, change nappies, accompany their children to and fro from school, serve guests at home and be a bartender, or an aide to the 'memsahib' etc., In order train and maintain a soldier, the government spends as much as a minimum of 50; 100k per month appx and these trained soldiers are humiliated and exploited as domestic helps at sahibs residences. Is it not inhuman and a national waste? While there is no concept of 'orderly' in western defense services, where professional commitment and ethos are valued at every level (from a Soldier to a General) , it is ridiculous that Indian army is following a system, which is discontinued even by Pakistan Army, where feudal setup is still prevalent in all institutions.
I had an opportunity to serve in the Army as a SSC officer 35 years ago and i left my dream career in sheer disgust of having to serve with a bunch of egoistic and self-centered officers. It is a surprise to me that it had taken so many decades for this mutiny to happen. While the nation tries to give its best in terms of pay and perks to all defence staffs and all Indians recognize and respect the supreme sacrifice men in uniform are expected to make in the face of any adversity, many Officers instead of serving the country as a matter of pride and with gratitude for generous perks they get, they indulge in variety of immoral and disgraceful activities. As a routine, they make absurd comparisons with accomplished professionals in different fields in civil life. Except for a fraction of officers serving in the technical areas, most of the army officers have very poor academic or professional qualifications.
Indian Army has two distinct training schools, One where officers are trained and other where ordinary Sainiks are trained. The cadres though have forced mixing (reservations based on EBC/ SC/ST etc)the attitudes of the past continue. One possible way is to generate an intermediate school of techno trained personnel. Another way could be to do away with 'officers' perks like Sahayaks and drivers. Drivers could form a pool rather then personal attachment to the officer. Army Vehicles may not be allowed beyond cantonment to ferry wives and children. For this a common facility can be created. We see lot of army vehicles in personal city-use flaunting traffic rules, misbehaving with common citizens and shop keepers. For such vehicle drivers (and their Mams) local police just does not exist.
What one must realise is that the army is a complicated yet fickle institution. It has to be instilled in every man to follow the orders of his superior. Yes, there is a hierarchy and yes, there is inequality. But this inequality is essential. How else do you think can a man be conditioned to give away his life for a greater plan that he does not quite comprehend? The army consists of lakhs of men that need to be kept occupied. Not too many of them are well educated. People come straight out of villages, to serve their nation. But well, there isn't much that you can do to serve the nation during peace time. Yet, one cannot afford to have an idle force of lakhs. Menial jobs are a must, then. Some of these jobs are demeaning, yet they have to be done. What alternatives lie? Those who harp on about the lack of dignity must offer alternative options. Merely crying hoarse about human rights violations wouldn't help anyone.
Excellent article. Thank you THE HINDU. I've been to my cousin's army camp.. He is a Lt.Colonel or something and I was amazed to see the helpers he had for doing all sorts of house hold works and wondered, how come soldiers are doing all those menial jobs. Time to get rid of it..
Yest its brutly truth that officers & theirs families using sahayaks as paid servant. which should never be done. its shameull i am requesting to media please help army man to stop it.
After graduating from a medical school in 2002 and aspiring to become a psychiatrist I started as a psychiatry house officer in a big multidisciplinary charitable hospital in Calcutta. Soon after, I began to notice soldiers and BSF personnel presenting in significant numbers almost daily. They had different difficulties but they told me of widespread discontent of the system among the non-officer ranks. The environment seemed claustrophobic and disturbing. It did not take me long to realise that they questioned the system. I understood that some of that was unavoidable, such as living away from the family for months. They also actively avoided treatment at the command hospital.
What concerned me was that in the event of war or other disturbances
these are the men we would have to rely on.
I am not sure if the higher echelons are aware of the need for psychological well being of our jawans. But if Sachin Tendulkar needs a mental conditioning coach, so do our army personnel.
It is indeed a sad incident to occur but surely can be taken as some thing rare and not as some thing to ring alarm bells . After all the army and its men are a slice of the nation at large and where you have much serious issues being swept under the carpet, the least one should accept is the necessary action being taken from within the organisation. No point jumping and screaming hoarse. After all , one must understand that making derogatory comments on an institution which has not got tarnished much above the others , does not alter the fact that there is a huge shortfall in the availability of officers in the army . Corrective action to ensure intake nees to be thought of simeltaneously much before booting out the indisciplined .
One swallow does not a spring make for all to preach maladies which they themselves would never like to be int o by joining the organisation .Let them be
The incedent,took place in thursday evening, is the rarest to rare incedent that come into light.The incedent of such kind are taking place on the daily basis in these triservices.The exploitation of pbor's is not only of their human right but also they deprived basic needs like qulity of food provides and so many.This battman service to the army is the worse replica of democracy.It is in reality a british colonial pratices that follows today in army wherease british already abondand this heneous practice,even pakistan left it in 2004.Through this selfrespect of jawans used to crushed by elite group in army.This is the correct time that this inenthical practice to be hammered.In this i request to the hindu paper to take this as a nationwide issue so that government can do something better for transparancy.Jai hind.
Its an sensitive issue which links with morals of our whole defence force and its serving men.let the whole issue away from hyperbole of media reports.Dealing with such an issue for just gaining of TRPs or banner headlines may harm only us,also will provide a clear ground for our enemy who is watching our each and every single activities.I urge the whole media to be careful in dealing with such sensitive issue because its a matter of our national security,our lives,and our stable economics.
thanks
As a British Army officer; there is a reason and purpose for having batmen.
The officers are trained to take high risks & endurance defending the country. Such performance comes with a supportive structure. While the British army may have done away with the title of batmen, the duties are being done now without the name. Officers earn their titles through hard work, courage and study.
Let us not taint the entire cadre of officers due to the misgivings of a few. It is these very men who defend India.
Institutions created in the past for a different purpose and time frame need to be upgraded to the level of competency suited to the present or forcasted future to keep up to the times.
We live in a competitive world where big or small institutions need to adapt themselves and prepare themselves for the future. Only companies, universities, institutions and countries which create systems which are future ready will survive in the long run. History is replete with examples of failures due to institutional deficiencies. We should use this as a wakeup call and modernise. Like China we need 3 modernisations to meet coming challenges.
Modernise the Weapons.
Modernise the Training
Modernise the Systems.
The need is urgent and as of yesterday. Failing we all pay the price, each one of us whether we are in the army or not. I hope I have done my part of duty by giving my comments. I promise to be proactive in every such forum and pledge myself for the cause of upgrading Indian Army.
Revolt is a serious word. I hope "The Hindu" double checked the facts before using that word.
either you change with yourself or time will change you! The officers of Indian Armed forces are facing a peculiar situations, the changes are enshrined in the hands of officers. They have been such a pull-through that they aren't able to synchronise themselves with the positive changes occuring everywhere in the society. The officers enlisted at the age of teenagers and moulded into an immature warden of colonial practices of slavery based on hatred. They are trained to hate their own men whom they supervise, as if they are foreigners. Thanks to the amount of seceracy accorded to the Armed Forces on the name of national security the misdeeds of officers in the Defense is out of public purview, else the system might have changed decades back. They are now being forced to change from within. Any forceful change is not good for the morale of the organization, but alas! the people assigned to bring change has reduced to be an eununch! God help this slavery system! Though there is a limit!
...Under MMS there is no field of administration left un-eroded in
moral standards.PCommon men are suffocating due to the increase in
prices of essential commodities. Judiciary is also threatened . Mega
scams like 2-G have surfaced eating nation's wealth. Those responsible
openly wander around the country . When innocent lankan Tamils were
massacred this Government was a mute. Honest General Singhji is being
targeted . Now , even there is indiscipline in Armed Forces ,that too
near Chinese border. Government is compromising with terrorists like
kasab. Only IAS ,IPS and politicians are happy God save India.
Days are gone in which the soldiers were not much educated. Now-a days, enlisted men are equally educated as officers. It is high time to stop the 'sahayak' system. In Airforce and Navay, sahayak system is not there. Then why should it be in Army. When the question of discipline comes, it should be applicable equally to all ranks irrespective of Officers or Other Ranks.Hope, the concerned authorities wll show the good wisdom to get away from the colonial system of sahayak forthwith.
Officers in the armed forces are living with such a draconian practices that they treat their juniors with inhumane manner. The slave practices continue in emergent Indian armed forces. Men are slaves, while officers are imperial king there. the onus was on officers to change the colonial practices, they failed, however. The defence matter is placed in indian secret act, which entails 3/4th majority on the floor of the parliament to carry out any meaningful amendments. Seeing the special priviledges accorded to the defence officials on the name of national security, they disappointed the country. The heinous crime commited by them is wrapped and packaged smartly and they are kept deep down from public purview, which never can see the day light. But a day will come people will realise, there was something big fishing into the garb of secerecy accorded to defence system. A complete mistrust and treacherous people, they are not deserving to command their men, how can nation be protected.
This is the major difference between army and the other two service. Navy and Air force services are more technical. Hence the PBORs are more educated and atleast 95 % of the PBORs do not do the shayak type of duties to their officers. Their self respect and egos are not hurt much. Even they get better job when they leave from service. Army just cant afford to have this sort of colonial system still in 2012.They have to go modernised and be a fit and lean fighting machine. The group of officers bashing the jawan is also not acceptable. The good ladies of officers also need to behave themselves
the many more systematic revolts are yet to come, which have potential to jolt entire defence system of the country. Indian Armed forces are practices despicable colonial practices meant to demeean indian sepoys. The current armed forces are governed by the 1861 defence act, framed post 1857 sepoy mutiny, to quell any further incidents. The act is such a repulsive that history is witness india never met any such revolt even under the britishers after that. The country became indipendent but the practices continue. The defence offieceres treat their men like a slave in most of the cases. The men are out of bound from most of the places exclusively meant for officers. In Navy alone, whicch's is very small in strength, men are deliberately not availed accomodation. The officer-in-charge harrases their men on regular basis. Their is a volume of incidents that never seen the ray of light, which normally occur in the Armed forces. Believe it or not, the Indian Armed forces will explode a day
With increased power there has to be a great sense of responsibility.
If it is left uncontrolled, it turns them alike criminal.India is one
country and one family specially when it concerns the Defense matters.
The feudal/ colonial systems must be reviewed and changed. Same
countryman cannot be forced into slavery in the name of discipline.
Discipline is one thing and slavery is another. Discipline can very
well be maintained without hurting the morale and self esteem. The
true leader is he "who knows the path, who shows the path and who goes
the path". A true leader should be able to win the heart of the
follower. It is not an isolated case. Such colonial practices must be
stopped and let every member of the Armed Forces be allowed to live
with honor and pride. Sahayak system must be stopped with immediate
effect. It is a Free Nation. We must workout a new ways of maintaining
discipline. Without following the British system we must develop a
system which is progressive and yet Indian.
i solute those army men who shown guts to teach superior lesson of colonial legacy which was transferred by nehru,whole intellects said at that time, it is not democracy but replica of english system which we inherited to continue the draconian rule,traditions and mindset,after 65 years majority of people are made to run just for simple procedure by socalled megistrate ,commision and army is not aloof for junior staff that are treated like out cast in their own mess,it is better oblish this system and make our whole feudalist class self reliant and take care their own manuals job,,armymen have herrorful stories to tell about their intrection with families of officers indiosyncracies
Shameful ! These officers should be immediately taken to task. What were the wife of a major doing in a field posting area ? Why did the officers take to beating the sahayak. It were they who were carrying along their wives and a sahayak is not supposed to be expecting a bathing woman in a field posting camp !
Anyway, there is a bigger question. How come in recent years the integrity and the discipline of the forces has shown an alarming fall. Having a reactionary army chief like VK Singh-who put personal vindications before the inatitutions- does not help. Such elements should be weeded out right at the beginning
It is a microcosm of India.
Caste ridden society.
I am not sure how many of you have been to wellington in Coonor, The
Nilgiris. I live near that area and many times I have witnessed shoddy
treatment of trainees and jawans by their superiors. I spoke with one
of those Jawans who couldn't stop complaining about the food, lack of
holidays, bad behavior etc. I tried to console him saying his life is
more exciting and more valuable to the country than mine. I hope it
helped him. It is common when you pass via wellington, especially when
you are driving through to see over zealous / pompous officers blaring
their horns and even abusing you for not giving them way. I would like
to state that India belongs to the people of India not the army or
politicians.
This feaudalism permeates all aspect of Indian society. The call of the day is therefore to abolish the system of having batmen . Recruitment should also be at one level -the lowest. People can go ahead from that level > There should be no officers and men divide.
This should also happen in administration. The elitist IAS, IPS etc should be screpped.
Unless we do that soon, India will face severe turbulence!
When I had highlighted the issue of Army Men trained to Defend the Nation are used as "house hold"helpers many asked me to STOP writing about things i "Do Not Know ".History is created so that we do not REPEAT what we made wrong in the past.One of the (leaked) portions in the "Legendary"" Henderson Brooks Report to the late P.M was the DISCONTENT among the lower rank soldiers against their officers who were 'USING' them as household workers.It is Unfortunate that this "tea cup"rebellion has ONCE AGAIN highlighted the issues.Unless we Respect our selves we will not be able to respect others.
"No pain No gain " as the saying goes. we as a human beings makes
mistakes but the question is what can we learn from it and take measures
to prevent such incidents in future. I beleive the army will take the
necessary step to punish the guilty and make necessary reforms to avoid
such incidents in future.
The following chores are done in the Army by the sahayaks (helpers), who are trained soldiers:
1. Cleaning officers boots
2. Putting together their uniforms
3. Tending to kitchen gardens
4. Fetching groceries from market
5. Dropping and picking up sahab's children
6. Dancing to the whims of "memsahab" (that is what officers' wives are referred to)
7. Becoming a waiter when there a house party. Serving tea and snacks to guests
8. Some officers when they go to field areas, still manage to get a sahayak to live with their families living in peace stations
The list is endless..
Any self-respecting soldier would be humiliated to do such things. If they do not cooperate then officer will write a bad Annual report for the soldier. Such cases were bound to happen. Hats off to the JAWAN for copping it up for so long! But not anymore..Officers treat this as their perks i.e. natural part of their being an officer. I dare any Army officer who can refute the above points.
All is not well in Indian Army-These are tips of the iceberg of problems in our Army..The problems begin from day of joining the academies.Low quality officer cadets,Toppers opting for "SERVICES" [ASC,Ordnance etc] to make money instead of "ARMS" [Infantry, Armoured etc].Result is- often second grade officers lacking even Basic Officer like Qualities get command of vital Batallions,Regiments, Brigades, Sub-Areas etc.Also,wifes of Officers & their Children squeeze extra work from Orderlies & are Overbearing towards Jawans.Deep Corruption & Commercialisation in Army units-Contractors,Middle men,Property dealers,Arms manufacturers & their representatives freely roaming in Army units & often helping careers of Pliant/Co-Operative Commanding officers etc. In most Army units the Jawans get Substandard rations & the Military Canteens are also not free of corruption.Army rations,Petrol,diesel,Parachutes,Snow boots,even weapons are freely sold in Black market in Bazaars outside Army units.
"Earlier this month, the Army announced it was considering doing away
with the colonial-era institution of the sahayak, or batmen as they were
earlier known — trained soldiers who are assigned to serve as valets."
... Finally.
This is one of the many such cases. Too much power with few officers is not good for Indian defense system.
This sends a serious signal to the country as a whole, since the only institution left in the country still retained discipline as an essential element in its role. Without going merits of the case, future is bleak ,as already law makers of our country clearly exhibiting everyday ,that citizen can no longer look towards them to set up example for discipline as an essential element for the growth of democracy on the day of 60 yrs of such a rule.I think a time has come this country abolish strike/dharna/violent demonstration should be put down with firm hand. Persons earning more than Rs 10,000/month[the figure should be revised based on cost of living]should be bared from right to strike
This is all due to the colonial way of the white man being
separated from the local soldier. Today the officer and the men
come from the same class of people and thus the soldier feels
insulted if the old differnces are maintained.IF HE IS TREATED AS
ONE OF THE FAMILY AND ONLY ASKED TO LAYOUT THE UNIFORM AND GET IT WASHED BY THE DHOBI he will not mind it. Even if he is asked to guard the home if the officer goes out he does not resent it. What they resent is when they are asked to perform duies by the families of officers.
The system of sahayak should be stopped immediately. The soldiers are recruited for defending the country and not for taking care of the personal needs of officers. These soldiers are also educated and are well aware of their rights. Making them do the work of a servant is degrading. It will give rise to frustrations and anger in the minds of these soldiers. The proverbial story of a last straw on the camels back is very relevent here. News of such incidents spreads fast and can trigger of similar events at other regiments. The Army HQ and Govt should react fast and solve the problem from the root.
This is a habbit not left by British, but by this present government which treats all Indians as third class servants and brings social divide by introducing caste and religious divide in the our Army.
The inhuman practice which is a legacy of the conditions practiced by
British in 18th and 19th century should be done away forth with. The
army officers are paid enough money to seek help to take care of their
uniforms and other comforts as is done by army officers world over and
the civilian officers in India as well. The more dangerous is the two-class army system.....i dont think it can go on in 21st century. Alas, it also exists in our civil services....on one side are Government servants who come in Gr A services directly and the rest all are on the other side......there are different sets of promotion rules, service conditions, in house training, cadre movement and what not. This is certainly the malaise of our non performing and non delivering civil service.......Corruption is a curse......it is more important to see how it has crept into the system and what can be done to remotivate the oficials to concentrate their focus on work. An impartial and fair system is a must....
An article that bears the mark of some research. Yes, Indian army has more feudal
structures. Armies can't function without hierarchies, pecking order and authority. But our army is less professional and more feudal in structure. Time scale promotions and helping out cronies and sycophants have resulted in people of good calibre quitting the army and seeking positions elsewhere in the private sector.
1. Sir, sahayaks/batmen are not only employed for the job like ferrying officer's children to school and helping their wife for shopping but are also exploited for the jobs of a maid which is regarded as below dignity for a educated and highly trained professional soldier.
2. Sir, the important question here is how come the major's wife was allowed to stay with him in such a field unit located in forward terrain where other soldiers are not permitted to carry their spouses?
Sixty years since independence and slavery in one or the other form goes on in our country. Whether it's the varna system and dalits, or the army officer and his 'batman'. It's deeply shameful that the limited financial resources of our country are spent on army officers and jawans who take the law into their own hands. Are the beacons of discipline no more than uniformed-thugs going for eachothers necks?
Iam really pained by reading news about our beloved army these days,
they are appearing repeatedly in dailies for wrong reasons.
The sahayaks are generally misused by the officers and especially their wives and children.The officers need help but not their families. Something needs to be worked out. Otherwise, an accidental incident, may turn out too sour.
Sad. But truth should comeout.
Decipline is the first priority for Military officers,why such orderly
sysyem is still existing.As well some ordinary citizens can work as
servants at the cost of respective Military officer family cost.Be proud
to be in Military and we all salute you provided you are good.
I read this news in Times of India and I did not understand anything most probably because they themselves did not know what they are writing. Thanks for this clear news.
I have always thought India as a nation is not fully independent
unless we get rid of the British built systems and institutions.
British built this system back in 19th century to serve their purpose (ie, exploit their colony) but we Indians kept their systems and even boasts about our so called 'superior' Westminster systems and institutions. But the truth is even British abandoned their archaic system after world war II but we kept ours intact. Why should we keep the 19th century British systems (be it Army or Railways)? Why can’t we take inspirations from our own ancient history and create unique modern Indian systems? Why should we continue to use terms like 'regiments', 'majors', colonels etc? Why can't we use 'Akshouhanis' and "senapatis' instead? As India changes and the generation that grew up with British submissiveness slowly wither away, this is the time for a new generation of confident young Indians to make changes and create a new India.
Caste, color and language (besides religion) divide the people. The army is often
presented as a happy exception. These kind of incidents unfortunately point to the
'poison rising to the head'.
It is sad what has happened, but it is also wrong for the Valet. Officers taking this into their own hands is natural human instinct.
But the fact that all his (Valet) buddies got together and staged a revolt is surprising. For them to do that, there has to be other reasons. This incident is not the whole, its just the tip.. it needs to be investigated from psychological point of view too of both officers and the infantry men. If they can not handle the stress while deployed, how can they handle it when in war?
These British colonial era culture should be banned in army.This is
21st century.This kind of culture is holding India backward.In any
case the jawans must be disciplined and proper action should be
taken against the major.
This revolt should be taken as a serious warning to indicate the presence of deep problems in the regiment, To a large extent Indians often ape the British traditions without thinking. Today,s India is a republican democracy and lowliest soldier should be treated as a citizen as good as a general in his patriotism to the nation. He is not a mercenary. Officer has no right to beat another soldier no matter what. Soldiers need to be inspired, .and be respected. One should conduct a through investigation and any person who is guilty of not behaving in accordance with the high standards of the Army must be punished and an example be made. Otherwise, there will be problems ahead.
Another example that we Indians are not thinking on our own. Why are we
using this term District Collectors?. Colonial ear, their main job was
to collect tax. But, we still call them collectors. If these institutions can linger on even after 65 years its a shame.
It is being intermittently debated if the Army has made the right move in accelerating time bound promotions in the early stages to make the officer-cadre more attractive. Earlier, the rank at Commission was a 2Lt ,,followed by Lieut,Capt - these ranks covered 13 years- then Major for about 5 to 6 years before the first rank by selection to Lt Col. A Major then was quite mature with 13 years of gradually increased responsibilities and close association with the men over these years.Today,the 2 Lieut rank is shelved,further ranks accelerated and one is ranked a Major in 5 years time with practically little experience of understanding the men. Is it possible that a hypedrank before the officer is ready leads to such aberrated behavior,not as just individuals but as a class,as in the present case?The report that five Majors beat up a sahayak on one side( 'the comfort and the welfare of your men come first,always and evertime'),and their own CO on the other seems to say 'yes' to this.
Indian armed forces jawans still facing a greater humility from the so called elite group called officers.....officers are provided with huge draconian powers in the name of discipline ...als jawans are the greatest suffers in the armed forces ....these so called elite officers always undermine jawans and their capabilities ....this is the rarest picture of the time that has came into light, thousands of incidents of exploitation on jawans takes places in tri services on daily basis......it is unfortunate that though britishers left india long back but the indian armed forces are utterly implementing their polices to promote exploitation of jawans....tonnes of policies, official and unofficial ,ethical and unethical are framed to curb the voice of jawans against thier rights ...even the top brass of the tri services are resisting the power sharing among the jawans making the implementation of promotion policies the worst of all times...i hope this incident will bring and putforth a true picture of sufferings of jawans....let the truth come out....army should stop this evil practice and let the officers do their job on their own...we will be very thankful to the hindu hoping it will bring the real realities of officers and jawan conflict.
This is a great insult to our democracy as well as the traditional
armoured force. Rule and regulations should change as per change of social and economical changes of our society. if our DA changes every six month but in i hope still army runs with the english rules or british rules so that should change time to time other wise some where there may be create a great revolution that may not be control in future.
How can one extrapolate a single incident into something that tarnishes the entire 1.3 million strong Army. By the logic similar to one propounded in this article the entire male population of India are rapists because of the number rapes taking place in the country? Astounding, but false.
This serious anamoly can't continue in a democratic country; this is not any more the british raj or the mughal empire. Officer corps of the armed forces consider themselves superior to all civilains and also the rank and file jawans. The golf games, glittering mess, subsidised CSD, free schooling and medical, and a system of orderlies with numbers going up as one gains more stripes and stars- these are creating this class structure. armed forces payscale has gone up significantly. Now its time to withdraw all "class" perks.
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