Reflections

Yet again, our nation has been shocked by a heinous terrorist attack – at Pulwama, martyring more than 40 of our brave CRPF personnel in the prime of life. My heart – numb with shock, can only pray to the Almighty to give strength to their families in this dark hour. Let us, before we analyse our options, spend a minute to think of what these families have lost; with grief in my heart, to those braves, I can only say : shat shat naman … may you Rest In Peace! MOVING AHEAD In this terrible hour, let us do our best to keep calm. This does not mean I recommend inaction; rather, let us allow our Government-   it is an excellent Government – to do its Job. Give them time and space to deal with the terror on their own terms. I do not advocate we forgive and / or forget; just that we remain calm, and confident that our Government is there to respond and deal with this . Building vocal pressure towards any particular response method – there are plenty of options {look below}...

PAY COMMISSION AND THE ARMED FORCES This is a topic I came across when I got a Whatsapp forward of an NDTV Discussion on the 7 th Pay Commission and its impact on the Armed Forces – given in the Video clip below. This was a discussion anchored by Barkha Dutt, and featured an Ex Army Chief, A former Finance Secretary, A Senior Retired Police Officer, several other middle level Armed Forces Officers and political representatives of two parties. A very high quality discussion, this featured decently presented pros and cons form both sides of the debate very fairly, and yet, the contents were worrisome. { 7th Pay Panel Puts Police At Par With IAS, Soldiers Say 'Blatant Discrimination' } ; The debate, or dissatisfaction of the Armed Forces {as per the media video above}, is around the 7 th Pay Commission Recommendations in terms of some allowances – Hardship Allowance, for example in comparison to the other services, and parity with other services, among other ...

I normally prefer to pen my own articles, with original content. I further regard Whatsapp forwards with a very leery eye, and consider them worthless. But, just this once, I am breaking both my self-made rules.The below article was received by my from a retired soldier, someone I know well; and struck me to the core of my being. After reading it, my only feeling was of immense shame at the way we treat our soldiers. I have not tried to verify the facts as stated in this article; I am not competent enough to get into the intricacies of Defence Pay Systems and Procedures; I know nothing of those matters. I do know this – I, for one, would have absolutely no problems if Defence Personnel were paid much more. Further, as regards the statements of comparison with Civilian cadres-    I repeat- I am not competent to analyse. But, to me, it seems logical the there should be parity at the very least, or greater pay given the soldiers face bullets and risk to life. But again...

I normally carry my own articles and analysis; for the first time, please read an article on Business Standard on the Defence Forces {Business Standard} , which is self-explanatory, and is a factual analysis. This is a small attempt from my side in educating the people, at least those who may not be aware. The genuine needs of our Defence Forces cannot be put off; having said that, it is equally true that we are a developing country, and funds are always going to be extremely scarce.  But does that mean we spend historical lows on defence in percentage terms? I am sure the Government can find space in the budget for a better allocation to the genuine needs of the security forces. I understand the difficulties faced by the government, and am not stating the Government doesn't want to; they have to make some difficult choices in the governance of the nation, and are a democratic government. They have to meet the needs of a diverse set of requirements, all of whic...

This book review is dedicated to the Indian Armed Forces, and its brave personnel, who sacrifice their all for our nation... THE GARUD STRIKES BY MAJOR MUKUL DEVA {Retd.} The True Story Of The Officers and Men of The 4 Guards And Its Indomitable Commanding Officer - Lt Col Himmat Singh {later, Lt Gen Himmat Singh PVSM Retd}. The 4 Guards were among the first units to enter Dhaka during the 1971 war. This is their true story and history - told by the people who created the aforesaid history! Lt Col Himmat Singh Major V Uppal Major Chandra Kant Major S.P. Marwah Major I. P. Kharbanda Major A. S. Chouhan Major V. K. Dewan Captain Surinder Singh 2nd Lieutenant B. B. Midha Guardsman Nahar Singh And many others...  This is their story... embellished, teased out and filled out by the skill of Mukul Deva, himself an ex-Army Major... The narrative is controlled by Major Mukul Deva {Retd}, and is a deeply moving and brutal account of the war as seen th...