General VK Singh turning into a loose canon

[Ray]

Very strange to say that when CPO strenth has risen to be 2.5 times that of the Army. In recent times only they have raised more than 300 battalions.
Following Kargil committee report the GoM had recommended bifurcation of internal security and External threats. Consequently, there is a full fledged Internal Security Division in MHA.

So does Army come into internal thraet management when a sizable chunk of Indian resorces is being spent on CPO for this purpose?

Why the clamour to deploy Army in Naxal areas?

If Army is deployed as the last resort then why should there not be special provisions such as AFSPA?

There are enough people (may be like you) who would like Army to be blunted everywhere but MHA will raise further 300 battalions in the name of internal security.

The game should be straight. Those responsible who are given such huge money be held accountable. Why Army ??

Is not it ?? Then where do Gen VK or Vikram fall into it.

I wonder how it is strange.

Let us see the bareboned issues.

The basic doctrine governing the use of the armed forces is contained in the following:

􀁺 Instructions on Aid to the Civil Authorities by the Armed Forces, 1970.
􀁺 Manual of Indian Military Law, Chapter VII.
􀁺 Defence Services Regulations—Regulations for the Army, Chapter VII, paragraphs 301 to 327.


There may be recommendations on the bifurcation of the Internal and External threat and the GOM may have in principle or otherwise acted on the same, but the issue is that if indeed such was the resolve, then the rules and law should have been changed and also fresh instructions given. But that obviously has not been done, or else why should Chidambaram, who was most recently the Home Minsiter, want the Army to operate against the Maoist?

I fail to understand what you mean by people like me 'want the Army to be blunted.

Apparently, either you have not understood my post, or you are being odious in your J'Accuse

If you had read the post, you would have noticed my sentence – If one look at the Maoists, Khalistan, NE, Kashmir, then all that are political problems or even a social or religious problem and not really a military problem.

In short, they are not military problems, and instead are political, social or religious problems.

I go on to qualify with in that post to say:

And yet each threaten the territorial integrity and the sovereignty of the Nation!

Therefore, the State has to act to ensure its entity and the peace and law and order and make safe the other law abiding citizens who have to be Constitutionally protected.

The rationale is that territorial integrity and sovereignty is at stake, one cannot be Nero to fiddle while Rome burns. And if the Govt wants the Army to act, it has to act. Or do you feel that the Army should stand as a bystander and not act just because the Central Police Forces are incapable to dousing the fire. That there is much to be desired of the Central Police Forces is not for the
Army to quibble about, it is for the Govt to do its duty.



As far as the other issue that you raise connected to my being keen to 'blunt' the Army by allowing the MHA to raise 300 more battalions, and yet not make the Central police forces act against COIN and internal security when they are 2.5 times larger than the Army and accountable, I reckon it have not read this post of mine (reproduced below):

Killing own people does not mean that when used for Internal Security or COIN, people will not be killed. It means wanton and needless killing is a big No No. And hat the Army should be used as the last resort when there is internal disturbances since it is basically an instrument of the Govt to combat foreign aggression and not for quelling internal strife, which is the task of the Police and the Central Police Forces and that is why we have so many huge Police organisations, which otherwise, prima facie, appears to be 'ration paro-ing' (consuming ration and doing fanny adams!)

Indeed Maoist can be taken on by the Army. However, it has become fashionable to use the Army for every task that the Police and Central Police Forces should be trained and motivated to do.

Internal Security is the Army's secondary task and not the primary task. Internal Security is the Primary task of the Police and the Central Police Forces.

It will be observed that the Army is used in COIN in areas which are on the Frontier, be it the NE or Kashmir. This is because the insurgencies in the areas close to the frontier can be a threat to the guarding of the frontier itself!