Servicemen effectively tackled - mostly a self goal

I have been pondering over the ease with which successive governments have managed to take the armed forces and the ex servicemen ( ESM ) for a ride. It is now clear. The serving officers are kept in check by the agonisingly low chances of promotion. A slight assertive move by any and it is sure curtains for him. The same government allows IAS officers to have an association since their promotions are almost assured. The government also allows their own ministers to make anti-govt statements, since the government is dependent on some ministers and not the other way round. That takes care of the serving community. As for ESM, the community has committed hara-kiri by wanting to maintain its officer like behaviour in their dealings with the government. They like to retain their 'correct' image and are not prepared to be the street-fighter. This is surprising since they would surely be seeing the success rate of those who do so and the failure rate of those who, while in Rome, do not behave as Romans do. They pride themselves on holding all the correct cards without realizing that the game being played is chess. So the service community and the ESMs are destined to get an occasional crumb here and there, few and far between.

I today, You tomorrow

As an ex service man ( ESM ), I have analyzed the reason why the govt has managed to be so unfair to the armed forces and the ESM community. Whether it is the OROP, rank pay issue, table of precedence, ECHS facilities or the wherewithal available to the services, the govt gives them the bare minimum or less. It is not possible to give such treatment to any other organ of the state simply because of their nuisance value and their willingness to use it. The service community does not do so and that becomes the cause of its own undoing. The commuity is so tied down with the image of being ‘ good guys’ that it is ready to accept any degradation or financial loss just to keep that image alive. They are unable to see how this is chaining them. With such ingrained love for discipline and officer-like-behaviour, the community is the easiest to manipulate. The saying ‘ give a dog a bad name and hang him’ has become ‘ give the sufferer a good name, and ignore him’. The sad part is that the feedback of despair of the community gets blocked. The community is suffering today but the state and society too will have to pay the price one day. Ask not for whom the bells toll; they toll for thee and me alike.
The community is equally to be blamed for being so naive and indifferent.
‘ You fool me once, shame on you
You fool me every-time, shame on me’
Most of the civilians I have spoken to about our miseries, say, 'You guys are like a football asking to be kicked. All you ask for is to be addressed as ' Dear Sir ' while getting kicked.Who can resist such a temptation which has such a low price tag?'
Guys who know so much about man management, tactics and strategy can be so gullible in real life! This can make a good case study of ‘ psychology of military incompetence’, if ever an Indian version of Norman Dixon’s book is written.

Martyrs or unfortunate victims?

Just heard on TV that President Obama will pay homage to the martyrs of 26/11 during his Mumbai visit at hotels Taj and Oberoi.
Martyrs?
The word suggests that the tourists who died during the terrorist attack had laid down their lives willingly in order to save others. Not true. Also,I am sure their last moments were spent not reciting the national anthem but in cursing the police.
It is a fairly common occurrence. People who were simply victims are labelled martyrs. There are candle light processions for victims of murder and genocide.It is OK for family members and friends to pay such homage to the departed soul but why should bye-standers do so, beats me.
Another variation of this stupidity is the announcement made by the local people ( read - media ) every time terrorists hit a shopping centre. Lighting candles for the 'martyrs', the marketing association announces - 'This terrorist strike proves that the terrorists are getting frustrated. We will never let them win. Let us open the market tomorrow' ( Why lose money, old chap)
In fact, I find that the victims of Jallianwala bagh massacre were also not martyrs. They were killed, but were not martyrs. Helplessness does not add to martyrdom.
In the same series, I find it ridiculous to find three Indian embassy officials who died during the Kabul bomb blast were given Kirti Chakra. Do people know that Kirti chakra is equivalent to Maha Vir Chakra?
How does it matter? It matters for those who are really brave and are sidelined. It lowers the credibility of the award and that hits the real bravehearts unfairly.

Army career - Utilitarian approach or nobility personified

I hold the view that the Indian army is losing its effectiveness. Slowly,but surely. Bad organisational practices e.g. corruption and using the organisation ( read subordinates) to further ones career are on the rise. The question that confronts us is this -Why are officers not doing their bit to stop it? If complaining means curtains for their careers, so be it. If they expect their soldiers to risk their lives, why are they not ready to risk even their careers?

There are two views on this phenomenon.

1. View 1 - Abhishek Bachhan's movie ' Guru', can be used by OD (Organisational Dynamics/Development) practitioners to understand what goes on in organisations. The most instructive scene is towards the end when his company was charged with several financial misdeeds and he had to appear before some committee ( Roshan Seth as chairman ) to answer charges. Guru (enacting the saga of Sri Dhirubhai Ambani ), the controversial but eminently successful industrialist, says -
' I came poor to Mumbai to do business and found all doors closed. Some needed a kick ( unfair means ) to open, others needed a salaam ( chaploosi, corruption ) to open. I kicked the ones that called for a kick, I did salaam to the ones that asked for salaam. Because that was the only way to do business. And, as I said, I had come to Mumbai to do business. And now you guys say - This guy kicks too much, this guys does too much of salaam. Why so? Did you allow me any other way to do business'
In the same vein, officers join the army to make a career. If the only way to make a career is by foul means, how can you blame them for using those means. Just like the motivation for the businessman is to make more money and not to clean up the system, the motivation for the fauzi is to make a career and not to keep blowing the whistle.You set up a system where being honest pays and people will be honest.

View 2 - The army is a not a career; it is an institution. If fauzis also wish to be guided by market forces, they have no business to claim the high moral ground that they always do.

So, which of the two views seem right to you?

As for me, I see no need to choose between them. View 1 is a model of how humans/organisations work, View 2 is what the army would like things to be.