It is ironical that while the author has accused the BJP of having “learnt the fine art of firing from the soldier’s shoulder”, it is he who has used the strong shoulders of the soldier to fire his missiles at the political party (“ > Rise of the garrison state ”, Oct. 19). The author appears to have fallen victim to hearsay. First, the Indian soldier does not want to be worshipped, he only wants civilians to understand the difficult conditions under which he is operating. Second, the author has somehow concluded that the military has a “fragile morale”. A military with a fragile morale could not have time and again defended India’s sovereignty from external aggression. Morale has been wrongly linked to the subject of military infallibility. Third, he has opined that “what we need are more professionally trained soldiers, not infallibility…” While continuous improvement in training is always desirable and pursued, it would be futile to educate an academic about the serious business of practical military training in the icy mountains of Siachen, the daunting deserts of Rajasthan, the wild jungles of the Northeast, or the treacherous mountains of Kargil. Fourth, the author has warned against “fixation with the Army” and says “our neighbouring country is still suffering for having made that choice”. While in Pakistan, the choice was made by the military and dumped on their political system, in India the armed forces have always been happy with soldiering in consonance with our democratic political system.
Last, the Indian military is characterised by martial pride. There is no need for anyone to massage its ego, because there is none.
M.S.S. Krishnan,
Secunderabad
