This refers to Army Chief General V.K. Singh's letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh saying the country's defence preparedness is suffering because of the Centre's indecision. I would like to recall an incident from Tamil history, when King Thondaiman declared war on King Adhiyaman to demonstrate the might of his armoury. Avvayar, the minstrel in Adhiyaman's court, offered to broker peace. She went to Thondaiman and praised his shiny new weapons in contrast to the blood-stained weapons of Adhiyaman, waiting to be repaired. Thondaiman was shrewd enough to realise that he was inexperienced and dropped the idea of war. How intelligent were our rulers and advisers, who could implicitly convey a thought. I wish our gentlemen at the helm, bickering over the state of affairs in the army, would take a cue from our ancestors in governing the country.
That said, I am pained and anguished to hear that my country does not have the best of weapons to protect itself against its enemies.
Sudharsan Rajagopalan,Chennai
Information on the defects in the capabilities of the armed forces should not be in the public domain. It is important to investigate who leaked the Army Chief's letter to the media. As far as Gen. Singh's action is concerned, he is right in apprising the head of government — the Prime Minister — about the shortcomings which may affect the country. Although people may raise questions about the timing of the letter, are not the contents of the letter more important?
As a defence expert, I can only endorse what is out in the media. In fact, the situation may be worse than what has been reported. One cannot hide such shortcomings from the enemy, however much our politicians may try to fool us. Gen. Singh and the Defence Minister are equally responsible for the alarming situation and the escalation of tensions between the army and the Defence Ministry. Both of them should resign immediately.
Col. Ashok Kumar Singh,Noida
More shocking than the contents of the letter is that the top secret document is in the public domain! Who is responsible for this? Someone once said civilians who argued about the procurement of arms without knowing the difference between the bore and the caliber of a gun are big bores without any calibre. But now we see people of great calibre making national defence a subject of gossip.
K.R.A. Narasiah,Chennai
Imagine a wartime situation in which our missiles do not fire properly, army trucks do not run to capacity, and electronic equipment does not work — our security will surely be in peril. Damage done to the economic and political system can be undone; but the damage to security can never be restored.
I always marvelled at the army's majesty as its trucks rolled down the Rajpath during R-Day celebrations. Imagine my shock on hearing that the equipment used in the army is substandard.
T. Harish,Mysore
The Indian Army has fought not only wars but also insurgencies successfully. It has a glorious record of helping people in times of natural disaster, controlling riots and in peace-keeping missions abroad. How, then, can the letter written by the Army Chief be believed? Gen. Singh's action of making public matters concerning national security after losing the date of birth battle with the government lacks grace. The government should investigate the leak of the confidential letter and punish those responsible for it.
Baikadi Suryanarayana Rao,Bangalore
That Gen. Singh broke the protocol and wrote a secret letter to the Prime Minister about the poor state of affairs in the army is strange. The crisis triggered by the letter and the Army Chief's allegation that he was offered a bribe of Rs.14 crore pale into insignificance when compared with the media coverage of the reported threat of resignation by General K.S. Thimayya during Jawaharlal Nehru's time.
Malaya Krishnamurthy,Visakhapatnam
