THE INDIAN ARMED FORCES 

THE UNCONSTITUTIONALITY 

OF 

7TH CPC RECOMMENDATIONS AND 

GoI NOTIFICATION

Para 310 (1) of the Constitution :

"Except as expressly provided by this Constitution, every person who is a member of a defence service or of a civil service of the Union or of an all-India service or holds any post connected with defence or any civil post under the Union holds office during the pleasure of the President, and every person who is a member of a civil service of a State or holds any civil post under a State holds office during the pleasure of the Governor of the State".

Can any one, but the blind, fail to note the 

order of precedence laid down in the 

Constitution, in the above clause, which 

remains  unchanged to this day?

Every soldier takes an oath to defend the Constitution of India with his life. Each member of the GoI also swears to uphold the Constitution of India. While the soldier lives true to his oath, members of the GoI have,  invariably, trodded roughshod on the provisions of the Constitution, which gave pride of place to the Defenders of the Nation.

To the successive GoIs since independence, despite the unblemished and glorious record of service and achievements of the Defence Forces of our great Nation called Bharat, we are just disposables expendables, they have to protect the Nation against by continuously defrocking, degrading and dishonouring them, from generation to generation, except in the times of war, when a fake sense of nationalism makes them  remember the sacrifices of the soldiers.

Booting Down of Military Officers Since 1947.

Following every Indian Military victory, (1947- '48, '64 - '65, '71, '87, '99) : 
the Armed Forces have been systematically shoved down, further and further, in the Order of Precedence of Official Protocol. Today, as a result of the 7th CPC and the GoI's willful support of the former's recommendations: 
a highly skilled soldier, wielding sophisticated weaponry, standing as a bulwark against two enemies with nefarious designs, in the most inhospitable and forbidding terrains in the entire world  has, unbelievably, been placed below the Class 'D' 'chappal' wearing, paan chewing peons, pattering around in the central govt's offices.
                      SHAME, SHAME, UTTER SHAME
Immediate Pre And Post 1962. 
What Pt Nehru's lack of comprehension and the egoistic incompetence of Krishna Menon did to the Defence Forces of the Country, leading up to the disaster of 1962, is too well recorded to bear further description.  Suffice to say that the Defence Forces were forced to fight an unequal war, in unequal conditions, in a totally unprepared half clad, half fed state, in a terrain where they had never been before, the geography of which was not known in the absence of updated maps and against an enemy whose strength and locations were totally unknown. One of the finest Armies was simply overwhelmed ten to one, by an enemy who was well prepared, well equipped and operating in a terrain, well known to him.

The deplorable actions taken by the GoI immediately after the 1962 war, do, however, deserve mention for the Country to know :
the three Chiefs of Staff were put below the newly created Cabinet Secretary. Major Generals were demoted to a rank  below Director of the Intelligence Bureau.
It took the Armed Forces six long years to build up along our     Northern borders through sweat and toil, 24x7, to position themselves from where they could give a bloody nose to the Chinese across the Nathu La, when the latter tried to play mischief in that area in 1968.
Post 1965. 
For centuries, invaders from the West, had plundered, killed and subjugated Indians, but in 1965, the tide was reversed. Following the Military's stupendous show, with equipment dating WWII but possessing incredible honour, fervor and training in its ranks, against a better equipped enemy which boasted of much superior weaponry, supplied by USA : 
the Chiefs of Staff of the three Services were further downgraded below the Attorney General.

Post 1968. 
The Army's courageous show at Nathu La was duly rewarded by placing the Major Generals below the Deputy Controller and Auditor-General.

Creation of History In 1971. 
The brilliant path breaking war was fought  by the Indian Armed Forces to, forever, be engraved in golden letters in the Annals of Military History, creating a new Nation and forcing the entire Eastern Army of Pakistan to surrender 'en masse', resulting, for the first time since WWII, in 93,000 PsOW on our hands. The reward ? 
double demotion for the three Service Chiefs, who were booted below the Comptroller and Auditor-General, (Who was previously below Lieutenant Generals). 
The Lieutenant Generals were pulled below the Chief Secretaries, who were previously ranked lower than Major Generals.
Even though the creator of Military History was, unprecedently, made a Field Marshal, he had to die in penury, unheralded and unsung, utter;y neglected by the GoI, in a small Military townhip, tucked away in the Nilgiri hills. 

Return of IPKF in 1987
Our brave soldiers were sent as saviors, but finally were made to return almost as fugitives, despised by our own, while the GoI looked on unconcerned, causing deep hurt in the psyche of the soldiers, both serving and retired.

The Saga of Kargil
The History of the perfidy of Pakistan Army, has been described by their own Chief of Air Staff, who retired just before the operation. Even Musharraf himself has subsequently boasted about it as his brilliant manoeuvre. And yet, the Indian Armed Forces, against all odds, in heroic battle after battle, suffering heavy casualties of all ranks, threw the enemy out of each and every forbidding peak, over looking to vital road artery to the forward areas of Laddakh and the Kargil town itself.
The Indian Army sacrificed over 500 of its young braves in  the median age of 20 - 35 yrs, winning 4 PVCs, 9 MVCs and 27 VCs. 
While the body bags were still being received from the high altitude battle fields, the 'Coffin Gate' had already been enacted by some honourless perfidious politicians.
While a Naval Chief had already been cursorily dismissed from service while the Operation Vijay was on the anvil, the architect of the stupendous victory, Gen VP Malik, recognised the world over for his excellent leadership, has been left to lead a quite incognito life at Panchkula, unheralded and unrewarded by the GoI.

While the soldiers keep laying down their lives for the defense of the Nation in war after war, in skirmishes after skirmishes with the enemy at the inhospitable and forbidding frontiers, What does the GoI do? Sample :
Referring to a highly decorated ex Defence Chief,  the RM of the Country, during his speech in the Parliament says, "Woh Chote loag haen" (They are small people).
Soldiers are no big deals. They are mere employees of the Govt, paid to do their job.

Against both the despicable utterances, the World is yet to hear even a whimper from a grateful Nation.

Let the Nation know that an Indian soldier is not a mercenary and does not lay down his life for the money he is paid, but for the defense of his Motherland, for the honour of his 'Paltan', for his own honour and dignity and most of all for the camaraderie he has with his brother soldiers, either side of him, whom he cannot let down, as they charge the enemy in the face of hail of enemy bullets from the front, without the victims name on them and bombardment from above.

A soldier who trains hard and goes in to battle whenever required for the defense of his Nation must be secure in his mind that he is an honoured member of the society, his future, once he hangs up his boots is secure and in the eventuality  of him not returning from the battle field, his family's future is secure too. 

The present govt won elections and came to power with moral support of the soldier, both serving and the veterans, based on the tall promises, now proven to be fake 'Jumlas'). Countless 'Revaries' were stage managed, all most all of which have turned out to be the same.

To an honour bound soldier, fake and deliberately broken promises are sacrilege. The Nation and its Govt must look after the soldiers' interests, with a heart and mind matching the ones the soldier goes to the battle field with in defense of the Nation.

Soldiers never had to fight for their rights but pushed to the wall from where he can be marginalised no further and into the abyss, from where he can go no deeper, he would know how to fight his constitutional battle too, albeit constitutionally. 

The soldier, today, is crying out to his fellow citizens and to the law makers to free him of the burden of unfair treatment, so that he can devote all his energy to defend the Nation unhindered by worry of ,"What will happen ....? ".

A time has come when he can take it no more. It is for the GoI to sit up and take note that this 'playing with fire' cannot go on any more. the end of the road of the soldiers' patience and forbearance has been reached. The GoI cannot create a smoke screen of unending committees and commissions to deny the soldier his RIGHTFUL PLACE in the Nation and his RIGHTFUL COMPENSATION.

                 The time is now, now, now