Of Camp Killings and
Suicides in Army
By Yoginder Kandhari
WE are witnessing an alarming increase in the
incidents of killings and suicides by soldiers
inside security forces' camps. Such a scenario
does not augur well for overall health of the
security forces especially so for the armed
forces of the country. Recent cases of suicide
by Capt Kohli, an incident made murkier by
doubts raised about the veracity of official
version of the cause of her death, and that by a
woman officer reinforce the belief that there
definitely is more amiss in the army than what
meets the eye. Instead of diagnosing the
problem, the political masters, army top brass
and the media have deflected the core issues by
debating and harping upon problems which are
mundane and do not portray the real causes
leading to such tragic incidents. Day in and day
out, we hear about incidents of soldiers gunning
down their superiors and colleagues in arms. The
fact that this malaise within the army is not
restricted only to combat zones should indeed
raise heckles in the top echelons.
Unfortunately, all inquiries into such incidents
follow a doctored course leading to foretold
conclusions. The core issues always remain
unaddressed thus leading to more such tragic
incidents with an uncanny regularity.
Army has been working under conditions of
extreme stress for too long a period now. There
is a mismatch between civilian perception of
organizational stress and the actual
implications such a condition has on army as an
organization. Terms and conditions of army
service steeped in autocratic mindset and backed
by archaic rules and regulations are not at all
in tune with the realities of social order
obtaining now. Political masters do not wish to
change anything within the army for fear of
losing this 'magic' wand to exploit internal
disorders, like insurgency situations, communal
or class conflicts, to their own political
advantage. Even bureaucrats manage to ensure
that armed forces remain stifled under their
toes to please their political bosses and at the
same time satiate their exalted egos by
commandeering generals to report.
Most army chiefs have been too eager to please
their political masters and retain powerful
bureaucrats on their side to gain plum post
retirement assignments at the expense of
organizational good. For about two decades now,
almost seventy percent of the army is
perpetually engaged in internal security duties.
Nothing worthwhile has so for been done to
improve conditions of service except for
implementing General A.V. Singh Commission
recommendations which have, in fact, only caused
army to bloat around its waist, of course with
attendant professional procrastination.
Such a situation is of Army's own making. It has
not made any efforts to bring in changes in
keeping with the demands of time. That precisely
is the reason why army continues to limp with a
shortage of about thirty thousand officers till
date. These days, it is quite common to find
officers perpetually employed in counter
insurgency operations since their posting
tenures alternate between their parent units and
Rashtriya Rifles battalions in the same internal
conflict zones. When the concept of raising
Rashtriya Rifles was initially mooted by the
central government, in wake of outbreak of
insurgency in the Kashmir Valley, the then Army
Chief is believed to have given an assurance to
the government that the proposal would be put
into shape within fifteen days from within the
army's own resources. One can grant him that
such a stand then was in national interest and
Army Chief could have acted no differently than
what he did, yet, one fails to understand why
even subsequently no thought has been given to
provide for additional manpower, especially in
officers' cadre, for this force. Shortage of
officers thus got compounded thereby increasing
the dissatisfaction within this cadre. In this
backdrop why should youth join army especially
when numerous other lucrative career options are
available? Opening the doors of army to women
was one good option to offset this shortage.
Unfortunately, such an option has been poorly
planned and messed up as a consequence .Not-
with-standing the apology tendered by the Vice
Chief of Army, of course under immense pressure
from women's groups, his comments about
desirability of having women in the armed forces
reveals the actual bias prevalent in the Army.
Rather than concretizing it as option to reduce
the shortage of officers and consequent
reduction in stress levels within this cadre,
such irresponsible statements only complicate
the issue further. In such a situation work
pressures are bound to increase which in turn
trigger a steep drop in efficiency. Since
operational matters get precedence over all
other issues in army, effective man management
is the first causality of any drop in
efficiency. All these killings and suicides
inside army camps are a manifestation of this
neglect.
Inability of Army's top brass to stand up to
political pressure often translates into awkward
operational demands of the field commanders
especially in insurgency situations. This
pressure percolates down the line as illogical
operational diktats which one can question only
to one's peril. One is reminded of numerous
instances wherein such diktats, bereft of
tactical logic, cost the amy dearly in terms of
cold murder of young and enthusiastic officers
and men at the hands of militants. Without going
into the details, one is compelled to allude to
the killing of two young and dedicated officers
and three other soldiers in cold blood by
militants in Rajawar area of North Kashmir in
1994. They were launched on an operation which
was tactically untenable and doomed to fail ab
intio. Here the field commander was keen to show
results to his superiors. These young heroes
died unsung. This incident was hushed up with
connivance of all up the channel. Such instances
often lead to a psychology of desperation in a
regimented routine. It only rubs further salt
into wounds when people with such heinous
attitudes are let free.
Camp shootings are mostly resorted to by other
ranks who normally feel done in by poor
management in units. JCO rank was designed to be
an important cog in unit management.
Unfortunately, present day JCOs do not measure
up to this task. It may be pertinent to mention
here that authorization of JCOs in units was
doubled as a consequence of cadre review of
persons below officers' ranks which was
implemented about two decades back. Due thought
was not given to this exercise before
recommending it for implementation. In fact, it
was a classic case of knee jerk reaction by Army
in wake of nationwide police agitation then.
Increase in authorization of JCOs in units lead
to inexperienced men joining this cadre and such
a situation continues till date. JCOs are
intended to be problem solvers and not to be
mere messengers between officers and men- a role
they are increasingly performing these days.
Hence the distance between men and officers is
ever increasing which creates barriers to
effective communication. Camp killings are a
result of this gap in communication between
officers and men. Recruitment of capable young
men directly into JCO cadre could well be an
answer to this problem. Army seems to dither on
this proposal. This step would not only help in
improving unit management to desirable levels
and relive officers of routine administrative
burden thereby reducing their stress level but
would also provide a pool of trained manpower to
make up the deficiency in officer cadre to some
extent.
There is a general drop in moral standards in
Army. Corruption, both moral and material, is
rampant. Exposes highlighting issues like fake
killings for gallantry awards, acts of espionage
involving soldiers, illegal sale of petroleum
products & canteen stores etc. are beamed on
electronic media day in and day out. This
disillusions the rank and file no end. Mostly
only senior officers are caught in such scams,
whether by coincidence or for greed, thus
reducing the esteem of this echelon in the eyes
of men in uniform. Army needs to spare a thought
for its men burdened with domestic problems and
working in exacting conditions of combat in an
atmosphere vitiated by indifferent man managers
and with only corrupt superiors to look up to.
Such a situation is bound to drive anyone to
despair and camp killings or suicides are
compulsive consequences thereof. Army needs to
refrain from justifying such a trend by drawing
parallels with civil society. Army as an
organization is a different ball game all
together. Unchecked deterioration in moral
standards in army, especially in face of a
saturated internal conflict scenario, would cost
the nation dearly in none too distant a future.
Army has to put in a lot of effort to repair the
damage caused to it. Killing sand suicides
inside its camps are symptoms of a sick
organization. These incidents should serve as a
wake up call to all those who matter lest it may
be too late to retrieve the situation.
Source:
Kashmir Times, June 30th, 2006
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