Indian Army or “Modi Sena”

The degradation of Indian Army under the Narendra Modi-led BJP government – from being asked to clear garbage left behind by “godman” Sri Sri Ravishankar, constructing footbridges for railway commuters, or removing leftovers by trekkers in upper reaches of Himalayas – has hit another low where it is now described as “Modiji ki sena” or “army of Modi”. Against the background of armed forces personnel’s struggle for One Rank One Pension, disability pension, opening of Cantonment for commuters and real estate wheeler-dealers, refusal of government to concede Non-Functional Upgradation allowed for civil services among other irritants, to describe the Indian Army as “Modiji ki sena” sounds more like an insult.

Speaking at an election rally in Ghaziabad on March 31, the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath was reported as saying, “Congress people would serve biryani to terrorists, Modiji’s sena only gives them goli (bullet) and gola (bomb)”. Even by the low standards set by BJP for electoral discourse where abuse and lies are served in equal measure, this statement ought to upset the armed forces personnel since they are neither a private army nor a mercenary force whose services can be bought and sold. It is a professional Army, meant to protect the constitutionally established order.

The statement and phrase “Modiji ki sena”, referring to the Indian Army as a private army of Narendra Modi, was deliberate since it was uttered in the parliamentary constituency of Ghaziabad, from where former army chief VK Singh is standing. The gentleman, who is famous for coining terms like “presstitude” and equating a dalit child with a “puppy”, has indeed contributed immensely to promote a regressive discourse. Therefore, it may appear to Yogi Adityanath that army personnel have become “Modi bhakts”, just as the former army chief had become one.

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Besides, there have been a surfeit of statements by serving army commanders (and armed forces in general) who have taken politically partisan positions in favour of BJP, starting with current army chief Bipin Rawat, thus allowing the party of ‘pracharaks’ to start perceiving the Indian Army as their own possession, if not property.

Moreover, the manner in which BJP has milked the armed forces and their accomplishments for its own electoral use and purpose, or projected it as Narendra Modi’s achievement, calling the Indian Army as “Modi sena” was something almost expected, especially by someone like ‘Yogi’ Adityanath.

Before proceeding further, it is worth remembering that most jails in India serve only vegetarian food, of poor quality at that. The accusation of serving biryani is a ‘dog whistle’ lie meant to exploit and harvest Hindu sentiments for elections, at the expense of the Indian Army.

Another lie is that under Modi, the army got freedom to retaliate whereas previous governments dilly-dallied. Trouble with such claims is that Indian Army knows exactly what it was able to do and or not do under previous governments. Lt General (retd) H S Panag in his recent interview with NewsClick pointed out that the Indian Army annexed 12 sq kms of land in Kargil sector from Pakistani control under Congress rule, which remains unpublicised for variety of reasons. So, it’s not as though the army was denied or prevented by previous governments from taking retaliatory actions. The one thing that was not done was to rake this up for publicity campaigns which has, regrettably, opened the door to escalation and accidental war, that would be detrimental for the country.

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Above all, however, is the brazenness of it all when armed forces personnel have a list of broken and unfulfilled promises from the Modi Government. Major Priyadarshi in his interview to NewsClick recently shared contents of a meeting with Arun Jaitley and a delegation of ex service personnel, when he also held the defence portfolio. When the delegation reminded him of the pledge given by Narendra Modi to the serving and retired personnel, the then defence minister told the delegation that armed forces personnel should know that election promises are not meant to be kept. And soon when ex-service personnel went on a protest and raised their demand publicly, the Modi government let the police loose against them.

The fact that just last year the Vice Chief of Army staff had blown the whistle on the army’s lack of preparedness due to paucity of funds and delay in procurement speaks volumes of how Modi government has compromised defence preparedness. When the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Defence, headed by BJP member of Parliament, Major General (retd) BC Khanduri in its report condemned the government for inadequate allocation of funds for defence, he was soon removed as chairperson of the committee.

Later sometime in July, the Parliament’s Estimate Committee, headed by another BJP MP Murli Manohar Joshi, in its report critiqued the government by pointing out under-funding of defence. It said that in the “current geo-political scenario, a country the size of India cannot afford complacency when it is a question of defence preparedness.” In other words, they are trying to peddle a claim which diminishes the Indian Army by projecting them as an army of “Modi bhakts”, whereas in reality, the Modi government is busy undermining and belittling the army. Paradoxically, much before armed forces even trumpet their achievements, the Modi-led BJP government and its acolytes have been rushing to claim credit.

Although retired army chief VP Malik and former Navy chief Arun Prakash and others have dismissed this statement by “Yogi Adityanath and warned against such outlandish claims”, it goes without saying that one expects serving officers to warn the country men and women against such use and abuse of the Indian army. Such projections like ‘Modiji ki Sena’, i.e. as a private army of Modi, will only hasten the eroding of respect in which armed forces are still held in India.

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