Playing with soldier’s lives (English Version) Rakshak News 09 Oct 19
http://www.rakshaknews.com/vishesh/why-play-with-soldiers-lives
Playing with soldier’s lives (English Version) Rakshak News 09 Oct 19
The basic premise on which a soldier, irrespective of rank, operates is that he trusts that his organization, superiors and establishment will care for his family in case something happens to him. Hence, he always places his life and limb at risk. The bedrock of the army is faith and trust. This is equally prevalent in operations as also in inhospitable terrain where a soldier is expected to serve.
Most tenures of an individual in the army include not only counter insurgency operations but also locations where health is impacted due to climate and terrain. Such regions exist all along Indian borders, whether they be the northern or eastern. There have been more casualties on the Siachen Glacier for reasons other than enemy firing, in recent times.
Despite such adverse weather and terrain conditions, soldiers are required to remain deployed all through the year to ensure national security and deny advantageous heights to the enemy. Pulling back from posts in Kargil, during winters, gave Pak the opportunity to infiltrate and occupy the heights, while regaining them cost immense lives. Soldiers are deployed all through the year on posts which remain cut off for months in a year and are dependent only on aerial resupply.
In inhospitable terrain, especially where expert medical help is distant, evacuation is also difficult and time consuming. There have been cases of personnel not being evacuated immediately due to multiple reasons including weather. In a recent case, a young officer leading a patrol in counter insurgency operations in extreme terrain, died of a heart attack.
Since his death was due to a heart attack, despite being in an operational area and involved in counter insurgency tasks, pension authorities of the MoD stated that his dependants are not entitled to ‘liberalised family pensions’, which was the norm till the present. Absurd, but true. The reason being quoted is a decision from the supreme court.
As per media reports, the Supreme Court in this specific case, was provided with a letter of 1972, quoting it as existing government authority, thus influencing its decision. Those who presented this letter to the court, ignored a subsequent Army Order of 1985, which states, ‘Casualties occurring while operating on the international border or line of control due to natural calamities and illness will be treated as battle casualties for financial purposes.’
In an incident two years ago, based on a newspaper report, Nirmala Sitharaman, as the defence minister, intervened to ensure that the widow of a Shaurya Chakra awardee, who died in an explosion in an ammunition depot in the Kashmir valley got their dues. The family’s case for liberalised family pension was denied by the defence accounts department stating that the death occurred due to a fire and not terrorist operations, despite the soldier dying fighting the blaze and saving others.
The MoD has never learnt. Their negativity flows from the fact that their personnel have never visited or operated with the army in such hazardous terrain and hence are unconcerned. Post George Fernandez, who sent erring defence ministry officials to either Siachen in winters or desert posts in blazing 50 degrees C in summers, for their delays and irresponsible behaviour, no other defence minister has done so. It has only emboldened those who sit in airconditioned comfort to block authorized pensions to deserving veterans.
Simultaneously, there is a letter of appreciation written by the Raksha Mantri to the family of a soldier whom he met while visiting Siachen. Is it logical that while the Raksha Mantri writes to the family of a soldier operating in adverse terrain, praising his service to the nation, the ministry under him projects wrong details to the supreme court and seeks to impact rightful dues of families of soldiers who lost their lives due to adverse climatic conditions?
How inconsiderate can the Indian bureaucratic system be? Can the nation treat those whom they send to serve in remote and inhospitable areas with such callousness? Is the defence ministry, the caretaker of the armed forces, so ignorant that it presents data to the supreme court without verifying facts? Can the supreme court on being informed about the reality, haul those who were responsible for such lapses? These are questions, the defence ministry needs to consider.
The first step should be taken by the defence minister himself. He should, apart from hauling his ignorant staff, stop all such court cases and order a review. The individual behind presenting the wrong authority to the supreme court should be summarily dealt with. Simultaneously, the defence minister should order the grant of rightful dues caused by presentation of incorrect details to the apex court. Families of soldiers who lost their lives due to medical conditions in extreme weather conditions should not be made to suffer.
Why have we come to this pass? The MoD works in separate boxes, unwilling to amalgamate and operate as a team with service HQs. The result is that with no service representatives, bureaucrats within the MoD continue with their charade of caring for the armed forces, while projecting their own rules and regulations.
Mentally torturing families of soldiers and denying them their rightful dues is a crime and those behind it should be hauled to court for criminal negligence. Unless there is a national outcry such callousness would continue unabated and innocent families made to suffer and approach courts for justice.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army