Veterans must organize themselves The Statesman 14 Nov 17
The veterans’ agitation over OROP at Jantar Mantar, in its initial stages was a success, as it compelled the government to act and announce its release. It gained national sympathy when police targeted decorated veterans on pre-Independence Day 2015. It forced a senior police officer to come to the site and apologize for police highhandedness. Post the OROP announcement, many veterans felt that the agitation does not merit continuation as the government had fulfilled a part of its promise, leaving only those who believed in the movement to continue at Jantar Mantar.
Between the initial release and the present, immense water has flowed under the bridge impacting both, the veteran and the serving. There have been a series of actions by the bureaucracy, supported by the government, to degrade the military’s status. As per service protocol those in uniform are denied the right to complain or project perceived wrongdoings, in public domain. Morale is impacted, but kept away from the public eye. Hence, it is the voice of the veterans which would support them in their battle for rightful equality.
No bureaucracy can function without tacit support of the government. This is more so in India, which as a rising superpower, keeps the armed forces subservient to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), rather than amalgamating it. The MoD visualizes service HQs as its competitors and seeks to downgrade it, desiring greater control over its functioning. Ironic but true, the Indian armed forces are probably the only one of its kind in the world, expending more energy, battling its own internal bureaucratic enemies, than external threats. The battle is not for ensuring national security, but for one-upmanship.
The forcible eviction of protesting veterans’ from Jantar Mantar was possibly done under government directions. This is evident as there was a near complete media blackout. It left the veteran community angry but also at a loss, with limited alternate options to continue the protest. Ram Lila Maidan, the proposed venue for future protests, involves high costs and would be away from the limelight, serving no worthwhile purpose. Secondly, the national veteran leadership, which led the OROP battle, is facing internal strife and dissension and is also being accused of turning political as against the apolitical stature of the armed forces. Thus the government did succeed in breaking the back of a protest which had regularly embarrassed it.
Simultaneously, it is known that every government only acts under pressure, mainly on vote banks. Veterans and the serving together can impact vote banks in multiple states, but have never been exploited. This government gained maximum support from the military community post its veterans’ Rewari rally in 2014, which is one of the reasons for its mass success. The opposite was Punjab. On coming to power, it has been acting in the reverse, including implementing a half-baked OROP.
The present environment being created by the government needs a strong veteran community to support the serving. Some anti-military actions by the government against the serving include unilaterally seeking to lower the military’s status by re-evaluating equivalence, battling its own in courts to deny them Non-Functional Upgradation (NFU) and in many cases even family and war casualty pensions to widows. It has refused to grant Junior Commissioned Officers (JCOs) an increased Military Service Pay (MSP), cancelled entitled rations for officers and is seeking to impose civilians in service HQs to further impact the functioning of the armed forces.
Its anti-veteran actions include a poorly implemented OROP, way below what it had itself promised. Its delay in releasing the Reddy committee report, post its submission a year ago. Most importantly, the government has failed to ensure that the percentages of reserved vacancies earmarked for veterans, released under central government orders, for Central Armed Police Forces, PSUs, central government offices and banks are made available to them. It has never instructed states to ensure the same, such that even BJP run states are ignoring veteran quotas.
Simultaneously, they have taken political advantage of armed forces operations, surgical strikes and anti-militancy, as also tasked it for undertaking actions to assuage local anger against the state governments under the BJP. These include compelling them to build foot over bridges in Mumbai, provide medical support during doctors’ strike in Rajasthan and clear garbage where others refuse to move. These shortcomings, impacting morale of the serving and veterans, need to be projected to veterans and armed forces supporters.
The next major veteran versus government battle is the 2019 general elections. Hence, the veterans need to re-organize and restructure their organization to be ready well before, thus making the government aware of their power, compelling it to act. The present central committee based in Delhi, which though had produced results, including OROP, but now splintered and ineffective, needs to be reconstituted at local levels.
For effective results, only state level apolitical veteran committees, with representatives from maximum rural areas, from every service and rank structure, employing social media as a tool of communication, can spread the word far and wide. The main organization at Delhi may be able to help in setting up the committees, but should not intervene in its functioning.
Veterans can organize themselves and have always remained united when it is necessary. There are unlimited veteran groups on social media, which can be exploited to create local organizations. There could be minimum of meetings and speeches, unlike the initial agitation in Delhi, with social media alone spreading the word. It would very soon strike the government, compelling it to act, well in time.
The Bonus agitation of the early 1920’s had shaken the US government. The same can happen in India only if veterans unite. Creating an effective veteran organization is the need of the hour. While the Delhi group can impact the centre as also gain media coverage, the same at state levels can impact vote banks. With 2019 as the target, veteran leaders need to start thinking out of the box. It is only the veterans who will and must support the serving in their unending battle for survival against their own bureaucracy.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army