I have been reading a lot about the muslim census in the Indian Army. I am usually not the one to react to the politics going around in our country but this is plain ridiculous. I am horrified to learn that the UPA govt has set up Sachar Committee in order to compile statistics on the number of muslims serving in the Army. This decision was made on the basis of a book by an American citizen, Omar Khalidi in his book "Khaki and Ethnic Violence in India".
Khalidi is an independent scholar and a staff member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A simple search in MIT website will tell you that Mr Khalidi is Collections/Reference Librarian for Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture. Now his domain is totally different and he is talking on some thing else. Its like Mao talking on democracy!! Just because his brother could not make it to IAF, he is out there accusing everyone. Its a known fact that IAF is a tough place to get in. Anyhow, in his book he makes a point that communal riots in Indian history have been a result of ethnic composition of the armed forces. He specifically blames the under representation of muslims in the army as the main reason for ethnic violence. Col. Athale makes a strong argument against this here. Bharat Rakshak has a good review of Omar's book here.
Having grown up in an army background, I have strong opinions on this issue and I couldn’t help myself from writing something about this. I see this as yet another tactic of the government for minority appeasement (in this case Muslim appeasement) and vote bank polictics. What upsets me the most is the fact that this time the Netas have pulled the Indian Army in this political muddle. Having seen army closely, I can vouch for the fact that no discrimination takes place among the army men. Every army headquarter has a temple, gurudwara, church and masjid. All the festivals are celebrated with equal enthusiasm by the families of army men.
Patriotism does not come from religion. Its the pride of belonging to India that makes each of our armymen ready to lay their lives for the country. To demonstrate my point I would like to share a personal experience. When I was in secondary school we were taught about the origin of caste system. I was not aware of my caste then, so I asked my dad, a staunch OG (Olive Green), about it. He replied and I quote “Since we fight for our nation, we are the warrior class”. I will remember those words throughout my lifetime.
Soldiering is a special trait, which is no cast, creed and religion specific. Every country wants their army to be the best choosen on their capability but not on any other basis. War is a serious matter fought with sweat and blood requiring supreme sacrifices. Army is not some PSU employment agency as some Netaji’s in India think. You cannot make a quota and just fill in the posts with anyone who applies for the job.
Reluctance of the Army to carry out the head count on religious grounds, more than other Services is understandable. Unlike Air force and Navy, Army is a manpower-oriented organisation where collective courage, cohesiveness in thought and deed, brotherhood and morale is very important. To nurture this, Indian Army has fantastic heritage that almost makes it invincible. It is not uncommon in the battalions to find fourth generation soldiers serving with knowledge that their fathers and grand fathers have also fought in the same regiments and earned glory. A soldier fights and dies for the Izzat of his Battalion first and then the country. Indian Army has done the wisest thing by retaining this heritage. It is because of these foundations that the Indian Army is the most uncorrupt and respected of all the organizations that we have in our country. Even during the riots, people trust the army uniform regardless of the religious beliefs of the person wearing it.
Let’s not spoil the only non-corrupt ‘national organization’ that we have by mixing the poison of politics with it. It’s my sincere request.
Khalidi is an independent scholar and a staff member of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A simple search in MIT website will tell you that Mr Khalidi is Collections/Reference Librarian for Aga Khan Program for Islamic Architecture. Now his domain is totally different and he is talking on some thing else. Its like Mao talking on democracy!! Just because his brother could not make it to IAF, he is out there accusing everyone. Its a known fact that IAF is a tough place to get in. Anyhow, in his book he makes a point that communal riots in Indian history have been a result of ethnic composition of the armed forces. He specifically blames the under representation of muslims in the army as the main reason for ethnic violence. Col. Athale makes a strong argument against this here. Bharat Rakshak has a good review of Omar's book here.
Having grown up in an army background, I have strong opinions on this issue and I couldn’t help myself from writing something about this. I see this as yet another tactic of the government for minority appeasement (in this case Muslim appeasement) and vote bank polictics. What upsets me the most is the fact that this time the Netas have pulled the Indian Army in this political muddle. Having seen army closely, I can vouch for the fact that no discrimination takes place among the army men. Every army headquarter has a temple, gurudwara, church and masjid. All the festivals are celebrated with equal enthusiasm by the families of army men.
Patriotism does not come from religion. Its the pride of belonging to India that makes each of our armymen ready to lay their lives for the country. To demonstrate my point I would like to share a personal experience. When I was in secondary school we were taught about the origin of caste system. I was not aware of my caste then, so I asked my dad, a staunch OG (Olive Green), about it. He replied and I quote “Since we fight for our nation, we are the warrior class”. I will remember those words throughout my lifetime.
Soldiering is a special trait, which is no cast, creed and religion specific. Every country wants their army to be the best choosen on their capability but not on any other basis. War is a serious matter fought with sweat and blood requiring supreme sacrifices. Army is not some PSU employment agency as some Netaji’s in India think. You cannot make a quota and just fill in the posts with anyone who applies for the job.
Reluctance of the Army to carry out the head count on religious grounds, more than other Services is understandable. Unlike Air force and Navy, Army is a manpower-oriented organisation where collective courage, cohesiveness in thought and deed, brotherhood and morale is very important. To nurture this, Indian Army has fantastic heritage that almost makes it invincible. It is not uncommon in the battalions to find fourth generation soldiers serving with knowledge that their fathers and grand fathers have also fought in the same regiments and earned glory. A soldier fights and dies for the Izzat of his Battalion first and then the country. Indian Army has done the wisest thing by retaining this heritage. It is because of these foundations that the Indian Army is the most uncorrupt and respected of all the organizations that we have in our country. Even during the riots, people trust the army uniform regardless of the religious beliefs of the person wearing it.
Let’s not spoil the only non-corrupt ‘national organization’ that we have by mixing the poison of politics with it. It’s my sincere request.
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