Reveal the real facts, minister

If civil service authority and political bosses go in different directions, finding fault with eachother, the victims will be national security and democracy. That they cannot get along well was evident in Admiral Bhagwat’s case. There are bickerings in the Navy; there was a near mutiny in the Air Force last year. It is common nowadays for senior officers to go to courts and seek refuge in `judicial activism’.

When I asked a retired admiral for his reaction, he said it was not in the interest of the country to comment on this and he wished everybody would adhere to that principle. “It is wrong to probe publicly and through the media who is correct and who is wrong,” he said. However, off the record, he said there is politics in the Navy and other services which has come into the open in recent years.

But, according to reports, the serving Chiefs of the Army and the Navy described the government’s decision as “unfortunate”, but no impropriety was found. Such reactions show the direction we are moving in and the present state of affairs in the services and the country.

Value erosion has taken placein every sphere in politics, in the services and in bureaucracy. Who is to be blamed for this, the media or the politicians? The advent of TV journalism, the mushrooming of many channels and the politician’s hunger and impatience to see and hear themselves on the small screen have assumed ugly proportions contributing to this degeneration. Bureaucrats are not any better. Bureaucrats and politicians soliciting TV coverage are common.

Admiral Bhagwat was bound to implement the decisions of the Cabinet and there can be no dispute about this. But was not the Cabinet, which took the decision to appoint his deputy, bound to consult him? According to the Navy Act of 1957, the opinion of the Naval Chief is mandatory. The Cabinet could have taken his advice or just as easily rejected it. Both the Naval Chief and the Defence Secretary were involved in this episode. The Navy Chief was dismissed but the Defence Secretary got a transfer to another ministry.

Should not the same yardstick be used to deal with thesimilar offence?Every development since the government’s decision to appoint Admiral Harinder Singh as his deputy has been discussed and commented upon in the media. After Admiral Bhagwat’s dismissal it has reached unusual proportions. Communal motives have been attributed to the government’s decision. They have an adverse effect on national integrity in general and the Naval service in particular.

After the dismissal of Admiral Bhagwat, the defence minister has come out with “revealing facts ” about the Navy Chief’s misconduct and wrong-doings. Admiral Bhagwat has denied these serious allegations. At the same time the defence minister has refused to institute an inquiry, a demand which was made by the most important ally of the ruling coalition and the main opposition party.In a matter that involves national security, the people have a right to know who is right and who is wrong.