Coup in the largest democracy of the world? India going the Pakistan way? 'Impossible',
'Operationally not viable', 'Absolutely stupid', 'Alarmist', 'Absolutely
baseless'— cried dignitaries at the topmost level, military experts and
journalists belonging to various groups and channels all over the
country. We said a few days back bizarre happenings in a country
ruled by a weak coalition are bound to continue...it has continued.
The morning cup of tea yesterday was definitely not at all
a pleasant experience for the high and low of the country as they looked disbelievingly at a national daily newspaper. The story covered the full front
page of the newspaper. The story was supposed to be a scoop that supposedly
spooked the Raisina Hill for a monstrously possible coup. The story, kept under
wraps for more than two months for the sheer implausibility of it, reported
happenings on the night of January 16-17, 2012 concerning troop movements
towards the national capital Delhi.
Two units of the Indian Army—mechanized infantry battalion from Hisar (Haryana)
and elite Parachute Brigade from Agra—started
marching towards Delhi
on the night of January 16, 2012 without notifying the Defense Ministry or the
Government. Morning on that fateful day General V K Singh—Chief of Indian Army—filed a
petition in the Supreme Court against the Government on his date-of-birth
dispute.
The story went on saying that the troop movements sent the
power corridors into a tizzy and frantic efforts were made to halt the
movements. The story cited shockingly poor Government-Army relationship and high-level
corruption lobbies as the main reasons for such unfortunate situation of a
near-coup in the country. The newspaper stood by it story despite all the
negative reactions to it mentioning highly credible sources.
Bizarre! But
why—the common people may ask. Well, in our country nobody starves for reasons
or justifications as if democracy has endowed it all on them. Opportunities are
bountiful for the interested, particularly at this juncture.
And who? Guesses
are not that difficult to make. India
has been a country of vested interests and lobbies. They resent any attempt to
change the system, they resist any righteous movements, they make it a policy
to malign right-minded honest individuals and they oppose or try derailing any
attempt to prosecute the corrupt. Like the middle agents rob the farmers of
their rightful dues every season, brokers move around in power circles to grab
the lucrative supply contracts in various departments and institutions. One may
very well imagine the immense possibilities in such a huge and strategically
important institution like the Indian Army. The Army Chief having a clean image
and trying hard to free the system of corruption is bound to face the most
horrendous resistance. Therefore, such lobbies can go to any extent to
discredit the patriotic Indian Army and malign the Government-Army
relationship.
Only one thing
is becoming very difficult to accept. How could a group or a lobby—whatever the
power or clout it enjoys—take the most prestigious national newspaper on such a
monstrous ride?
What’s next?
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