Headcount a threat to Army’s secular mindset
Saturday February 18 2006 00:00 IST
S Gurumurthy
‘‘I felt a tremendous sense of pride when, at an Independence Day function in Pune in 2002 (in the aftermath of the horrible Gujarat riots), Qutbuddin Ansari, the tailor from Ahmedabad who became famous as the face of that tragedy, told me it was the Indian Army’s timely arrival that had saved him and his family. In a choked voice, he said throughout his life he would pray for the success of the Indian Army. Many officers and men have told me how Muslims greeted the Army’s arrival by showering them with flowers. The Army’s impartial conduct in quelling riots is a matter of great pride to all soldiers.’’ So writes a proud ex-serviceman, Col (Dr) Anil Athale.
How was it that when the post-Godhra tempers ran high, the entire Gujarat society seemingly divided as Hindus and Muslims, the Army could remain neutral? Here is the answer: ‘‘It is no surprise to see a Mohammed Zaki commanding Garhwali troops or a Y N Sharma as commanding officer of the Grenadiers (which incidentally has Muslim soldiers),’’ says Col Athale. Not just that. ‘‘It is common for Zaki to conduct the puja on Janmashtami, celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna, or for Sharma to lead the namaz on Id Ul-Fitr after Ramzan,’’ he says.
Writes another ex-serviceman, Lt General V.R. Raghavan, ‘‘The Indian Army has Maulvis and mosques as authorised components of military organisations. Gallantry award-winners in all categories - including the Param Vir Chakra - have Muslims. In military locations, Mandir, Masjid, Gurdwara and Church are placed close together and sometimes share common space. In Siachen, the religious place first visited and last prayed at by officers and soldiers has all Gods under one roof. The Kaaba, Gods of the Hindu pantheon, the Virgin Mother and Sikh Gurus are content to live under one roof. There are no disputes there or elsewhere in the Armed Forces about numbers or quotas.’’
This is what the Indian Army is. This is how the Army men are proud of its character as a truly professional, secular institution. While pseudo ‘secular’ politics turns Muslims into mere ballot papers and privilege-seeking minority, the Army makes them martyrs for the nation like Abdul Hamid.
Raghavan says further, ‘‘As the soldier’s saying goes, ‘there are no atheists when the bombs begin to fall’.’’ So every soldier is a believer, not a godless secularist. So, a Hindu or Muslim, Sikh or Christian, recruited to the Indian Army is intensely religious, worships as his religion calls upon him to. Yet he owes his place in the Army not to his religion. He is not recruited because he is a Muslim; in fact, regardless of being one. That is what makes him a soldier, not a Muslim soldier. The Army reality is that one who is a soldier just happens to be a Hindu or a Muslim. Result: Indian soldiers, recruited without reference to their faiths, are as much protective of Muslims as they are of others. That is why the Muslims of Ahmedabad greeted the arrival of the Army with flowers.
Thus, in Hindu-Muslim riots, when the Army is called in it is always an issue. The Army’s arrival invariably stops the riots.
Will the Army’s trans-religious mindset survive if soldiers are recruited on the basis of religious quota? Obviously not. The reason is simple. If a Muslim is recruited as a soldier because his faith is Islam he knows he is a soldier because he is a Muslim, not a soldier who incidentally is a Muslim. Others too would see him as a Muslim-recruit and relate to him accordingly.
Still, the amorphous Prime Minister’s Office in the UPA government seems keen on the dangerous idea of quota for Muslims in Army recruitment. With that end in view, it had secretly asked for headcount of Muslims in the Army under the pretext of responding to the Sachar Committee on Minorities. The Army has given the details under protest, but has asked the government not to mark it to Sachar. The government first lied, denied it had not asked for headcount, but, finally, admitted it did. It now says it would not transfer the data to Sachar.
Could Manmohan Singh, with all his headaches, have been so irresponsible as to think of Islamic quota in the Army? Never. Is it then just a slip? Definitely not. The drive for this disastrous agenda seems to come from elsewhere. Its roots are in a secret, pernicious internal note circulated by Sonia Gandhi to the Congress party. Sonia’s note, according to CNN-IBN, says ‘‘Muslims have always been our natural allies. We must take steps to ensure them that they hold a special place for us.’’ If Muslims are her natural allies, what about others? The words ‘‘we must take steps’’ indicated the action that unfolded.
First a ministry for minority affairs; the second, headcount of Muslims, as a prelude to Islamic quota in Army; and the third, a law under way to undo the Supreme Court judgment on Bangladesh infiltrators and to regularise the infiltration. The Natural Allies-agenda is designed to dynamite India.
The Army’s composition cannot be made to mirror the matrix of the society without bringing in social realities and conflicts into the Army in return. The Army has to be insulated from social conflicts within, to be able to handle them outside.
This naturalised citizen of India from Italy seems to be seeking natural allies in India at the cost of the most stable constitutional institution, the Army. Muslims are made just pawns in this insidious game. The issue is pretty serious. Do we want riots in barracks, not just on the streets? Do we want Hindu-Muslim clashes in Army cantonments? No one born in India or has basic concern for India will wish the nation such a horrible fate.
Writer’s email:
guru@gurumurthy.net
S Gurumurthy
‘‘I felt a tremendous sense of pride when, at an Independence Day function in Pune in 2002 (in the aftermath of the horrible Gujarat riots), Qutbuddin Ansari, the tailor from Ahmedabad who became famous as the face of that tragedy, told me it was the Indian Army’s timely arrival that had saved him and his family. In a choked voice, he said throughout his life he would pray for the success of the Indian Army. Many officers and men have told me how Muslims greeted the Army’s arrival by showering them with flowers. The Army’s impartial conduct in quelling riots is a matter of great pride to all soldiers.’’ So writes a proud ex-serviceman, Col (Dr) Anil Athale.
How was it that when the post-Godhra tempers ran high, the entire Gujarat society seemingly divided as Hindus and Muslims, the Army could remain neutral? Here is the answer: ‘‘It is no surprise to see a Mohammed Zaki commanding Garhwali troops or a Y N Sharma as commanding officer of the Grenadiers (which incidentally has Muslim soldiers),’’ says Col Athale. Not just that. ‘‘It is common for Zaki to conduct the puja on Janmashtami, celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna, or for Sharma to lead the namaz on Id Ul-Fitr after Ramzan,’’ he says.
Writes another ex-serviceman, Lt General V.R. Raghavan, ‘‘The Indian Army has Maulvis and mosques as authorised components of military organisations. Gallantry award-winners in all categories - including the Param Vir Chakra - have Muslims. In military locations, Mandir, Masjid, Gurdwara and Church are placed close together and sometimes share common space. In Siachen, the religious place first visited and last prayed at by officers and soldiers has all Gods under one roof. The Kaaba, Gods of the Hindu pantheon, the Virgin Mother and Sikh Gurus are content to live under one roof. There are no disputes there or elsewhere in the Armed Forces about numbers or quotas.’’
This is what the Indian Army is. This is how the Army men are proud of its character as a truly professional, secular institution. While pseudo ‘secular’ politics turns Muslims into mere ballot papers and privilege-seeking minority, the Army makes them martyrs for the nation like Abdul Hamid.
Raghavan says further, ‘‘As the soldier’s saying goes, ‘there are no atheists when the bombs begin to fall’.’’ So every soldier is a believer, not a godless secularist. So, a Hindu or Muslim, Sikh or Christian, recruited to the Indian Army is intensely religious, worships as his religion calls upon him to. Yet he owes his place in the Army not to his religion. He is not recruited because he is a Muslim; in fact, regardless of being one. That is what makes him a soldier, not a Muslim soldier. The Army reality is that one who is a soldier just happens to be a Hindu or a Muslim. Result: Indian soldiers, recruited without reference to their faiths, are as much protective of Muslims as they are of others. That is why the Muslims of Ahmedabad greeted the arrival of the Army with flowers.
Thus, in Hindu-Muslim riots, when the Army is called in it is always an issue. The Army’s arrival invariably stops the riots.
Will the Army’s trans-religious mindset survive if soldiers are recruited on the basis of religious quota? Obviously not. The reason is simple. If a Muslim is recruited as a soldier because his faith is Islam he knows he is a soldier because he is a Muslim, not a soldier who incidentally is a Muslim. Others too would see him as a Muslim-recruit and relate to him accordingly.
Still, the amorphous Prime Minister’s Office in the UPA government seems keen on the dangerous idea of quota for Muslims in Army recruitment. With that end in view, it had secretly asked for headcount of Muslims in the Army under the pretext of responding to the Sachar Committee on Minorities. The Army has given the details under protest, but has asked the government not to mark it to Sachar. The government first lied, denied it had not asked for headcount, but, finally, admitted it did. It now says it would not transfer the data to Sachar.
Could Manmohan Singh, with all his headaches, have been so irresponsible as to think of Islamic quota in the Army? Never. Is it then just a slip? Definitely not. The drive for this disastrous agenda seems to come from elsewhere. Its roots are in a secret, pernicious internal note circulated by Sonia Gandhi to the Congress party. Sonia’s note, according to CNN-IBN, says ‘‘Muslims have always been our natural allies. We must take steps to ensure them that they hold a special place for us.’’ If Muslims are her natural allies, what about others? The words ‘‘we must take steps’’ indicated the action that unfolded.
First a ministry for minority affairs; the second, headcount of Muslims, as a prelude to Islamic quota in Army; and the third, a law under way to undo the Supreme Court judgment on Bangladesh infiltrators and to regularise the infiltration. The Natural Allies-agenda is designed to dynamite India.
The Army’s composition cannot be made to mirror the matrix of the society without bringing in social realities and conflicts into the Army in return. The Army has to be insulated from social conflicts within, to be able to handle them outside.
This naturalised citizen of India from Italy seems to be seeking natural allies in India at the cost of the most stable constitutional institution, the Army. Muslims are made just pawns in this insidious game. The issue is pretty serious. Do we want riots in barracks, not just on the streets? Do we want Hindu-Muslim clashes in Army cantonments? No one born in India or has basic concern for India will wish the nation such a horrible fate.
Writer’s email:
guru@gurumurthy.net
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