[The (156) signatories include 3 former Army Chiefs, 4 Naval Chiefs and a Chief of the Indian Air Force (at sl. no. 1-8).
《We refer, Sir, to ***the unusual and completely unacceptable practice of political leaders taking credit for military operations like cross-border strikes, and even going so far as to claim the Armed Forces to be “Modi ji ki Sena”. This is in addition to media pictures of election platforms and campaigns in which party workers are seen wearing military uniforms; and posters and images with pictures of soldiers and especially of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, displayed.*** [Emphasis added.] We do appreciate that complaints by some senior retired personnel, including a written submission from a former Chief of the Naval Staff to the Chief Election Commissioner, have elicited a prompt response. Indeed a notification has been issued asking for an explanation from those responsible for these statements, including from the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. However we regret to state that these do not appear to have resulted in any substantive change of behaviour and practice on the ground. ... We hereby respectfully urge you to take all necessary steps to urgently direct all political parties that they must forthwith desist from using the military, military uniforms or symbols, and any actions by military formations or personnel, for political purposes or to further their political agendas.》] https://thewire.in/security/veterans-ask-president-to-urge-parties-to-stop-using-military-for-political-gains?fbclid=IwAR3TwAp14jDBs7RPDXmBUj84mXvuenS32UAACBIhyeXBSeDRTD2fmi0fzqo Veterans Ask President to Urge Parties to Stop Using Military for Political Gains Vets appeal to President Ram Nath Kovind as Commander in Chief "to ensure that the secular and a-political character of our Armed Forces is preserved". Veterans Ask President to Urge Parties to Stop Using Military for Political Gains "We believe that you will surely agree that any such misuse of the Armed Forces established under the Constitution of India and under the supreme command of the President of India, would impinge adversely on the morale and fighting efficiency of the serving man or woman in uniform. It could therefore directly affect national security and national integrity." Representational image: Jaskirat Singh Bawa, CC-BY-ND 2.0 The Wire Staff 10 HOURS AGO In an unprecedented election-eve letter of the kind India has never seen before in the seven decades since independence, over 150 armed forces veterans – including three former Army chiefs, four former Navy chief and a former Air Force chief – have written to the President and Commander in Chief to complain about the manner in which the ruling party is “taking credit for military operations like cross-border strikes, and even going so far as to claim the Armed Forces to be “Modi ji ki Sena”. The letter, made public on April 11, urged President Ram Nath Kovind “to take all necessary steps to urgently direct all political parties that they must forthwith desist from using the military, military uniforms or symbols, and any actions by military formations or personnel, for political purposes or to further their political agendas.” The Wire is publishing the full text of the letter below. § Honourable Shri Ram Nath Kovind President of India and Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi Dear Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji, We, the signatories, are Armed Forces Veterans who have served in the defence of our nation in various appointments, in peacetime and in operational and war zones over the past several decades. The apolitical and secular nature of India’s Armed Forces has been an article of faith for every soldier, sailor and airman. India’s Armed Forces have loyally upheld the democratic principle of civil control over the military. Their military professionalism on and off the field, combined with the devotion to duty in protecting India’s territorial sovereignty and national integrity, remains widely appreciated. The soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Armed Forces owe allegiance to the Constitution of India, of which you, as President of the Indian Union, are the legal custodian. It is for this reason that the President is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and we serve and execute orders at the will of the President and as decided from time to time by the Executive – that is, the Government of the day. You would be aware that those in active service (men and women of all ranks in the Army, Navy and Air Force) cannot speak out, even on matters which might affect their interests adversely, since they are subject to military law and are governed by the parliamentary Acts of their respective Service. However, we Veterans being in continuous touch with our own military fraternity, as also with serving personnel at all levels, have a ‘finger on the pulse’, so to speak. And it is for this reason that we write to bring to your attention, as the Supreme Commander of India’s Armed Forces, some concerns which have caused considerable alarm and disquiet among both the serving and the retired personnel of our Forces. We refer, Sir, to the unusual and completely unacceptable practice of political leaders taking credit for military operations like cross-border strikes, and even going so far as to claim the Armed Forces to be “Modi ji ki Sena”. This is in addition to media pictures of election platforms and campaigns in which party workers are seen wearing military uniforms; and posters and images with pictures of soldiers and especially of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, displayed. We do appreciate that complaints by some senior retired personnel, including a written submission from a former Chief of the Naval Staff to the Chief Election Commissioner, have elicited a prompt response. Indeed a notification has been issued asking for an explanation from those responsible for these statements, including from the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. However we regret to state that these do not appear to have resulted in any substantive change of behaviour and practice on the ground. With the General Elections round the corner, and given the prevailing environment where political parties and candidates seem to be acting in total disregard of the declaration of the ‘model code of conduct’, we fear that such incidents may only increase as polling day draws near. We believe that you will surely agree that any such misuse of the Armed Forces established under the Constitution of India and under the supreme command of the President of India, would impinge adversely on the morale and fighting efficiency of the serving man or woman in uniform. It could therefore directly affect national security and national integrity. We therefore appeal to you to ensure that the secular and a-political character of our Armed Forces is preserved. We hereby respectfully urge you to take all necessary steps to urgently direct all political parties that they must forthwith desist from using the military, military uniforms or symbols, and any actions by military formations or personnel, for political purposes or to further their political agendas. This communication is copied to the Chief Election Commissioner of the Election Commission of India for information and action. We, the undersigned, endorse the above. Yours Faithfully 1 Gen SF Rodrigues, PVSM,VSM 2 Gen Shankar Roy Chowdhury, PVSM,ADC 3 Gen Deepak Kapoor, PVSM, AVSM,SM,VSM,ADC 4 Adm Laxminarayan Ramdas, PVSM,AVSM,VrC, VSM,ADC 5 Adm Vishnu Bhagwat,PVSM,AVSM 6 Adm Arun Prakash, PVSM,AVSM,VrC,VSM,ADC 7 Adm Sureesh Mehta, PVSM,AVSM 8 Air Chief Marshal NC Suri,PVSM,AVSM,VM,ADC 9 Lt Gen Sanjeev Anand 10 Lt General KS Rao, PVSM, SC, SM, Arjuna Awardee 11 Lt General Mohan Ramdas 12 Lt General YN Sharma 13 Lt General Vinay Shankar 14 Lt General Prakash Gokarn 15 Lt General Vijay Oberoi, PVSM, AVSM, VSM 16 Lt General MA Gurbaxani, PVSM, AVSM 17 Lt General RK Nanavatty, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM 18 Lt General R K Gaur, PVSM 19 Lt General CA Barretto, PVSM 20 Lt General ML Naidu, PVSM, AVSM, YSM 21 Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh 22 Vice Admiral DB Kapila, PVSM, AVSM, VSM 23 Vice Admiral A Britto, PVSM, AVSM, VSM 24 Air Marshal Vir Narain, PVSM 25 Maj Gen A K Shukla 26 Maj Gen PC Panjikar, VSM 27 Maj General KM Bhimaya 28 Maj General Jose Manavalan, AVSM 29 Maj General Shiv Dev Singh 30 Maj General Mohan Singh 31 Maj General Harsha Kakar 32 Maj General Rajendra Prakash, VSM 33 Maj General GH Israni 34 Maj General Anil Sawhny, AVSM 35 Maj General IJS Dhillon 36 Maj General Kshitin Pandya, AVSM 37 Maj General TK Kaul, PVSM, AVSM, VSM 38 Maj General ML Malik 39 Maj General SG Pitre 40 Maj General SG Vombatkere, VSM 41 Rear Admiral Shankar Mathur 42 Rear Admiral Sudhir Pillai, NM 43 Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak 44 Brig A. A Ramchandani 45 Brig UPS Pathania 46 Brig Vinod Raizada 47 Brigadier VHM Prasad 48 Commodore C Jayaraj 49 Commodore Rajan Mathew, VSM 50 Commodore R Rahmathullah 51 Commodore G Kailath, AVSM, NM, VSM 52 Commodore Dinabandhu Jena 53 Commodore Jal Postwalla 54 Commodore PC Gulati, NM 55 Commodore MS Chahal 56 Air Cmde Sanjay Sharma’ 57 Colonel Bharat Haladi 58 Col Sanjeev Choudhary 59 Col Krishna Prasad N G 60 Col Mukesh Trehan 61 Col RP Suhag 62 Col Pankaj Fotedar, VSM 63 Col Vivek Mathur 64 Col Arun Hariharan 65 Col K N Singh 66 Col DM Sharma 67 Col Shantanu Majumdar, 68 Col Gurpinder Singh 69 Col Ramnik Khanna 70 Col Abhay Prasad 71 Col Abhi Chatterjee, 72 Col Manmohan Singh 73 Col. Rajiv Kanwar 74 Col Bharat Kumar 75 Col Jayadev P I 76 Col. Sujit Dutta 77 Col. Lal Kesavan 78 Col. Melwyn D’Souza 79 Col Sanjay Dilwaria 80 Col. K S Kamboj 81 Col Shashi Thoomas Kilo 82 Col K Kataria, SM 83 Col MK Keshwar 84 Col Maniish D Kachhy 85 Col. Aparjeet Nakai 86 Col CMS Babu 87 Col RS Singh 88 Capt (IN) HPS Sodhi 89 Capt (IN) Rakesh Kumar Prabhakar 90 Captain (IN) S Prabhala, VSM 91 Capt(IN) Sandeep Kapoor 92 Group Captain Ashutosh Srivastav (Retd) 93 Gp Capt Rajinder Abrol 94 Gp Capt D. V. Shukla, 95 Gp Capt Philips Jacob, VM 96 Gp Capt Satvinder Singh 97 Gp Capt Deepak Mundade 98 Gp Capt MS Sadanand 99 Lt col Arvind Kumar Singh, 100 Lt Col MS Kanwal, VSM 101 LtCol Sajan Moideen, 102 Lt Col Muruganantham 103 Lt Col Ved Prakash Sharma 104 LtCol R Pankaj 105 Lt Col Shantanu Rishi 106 Lt Col Sanjeev Kumar Gupta 107 Lt Col SPS Panwar 108 Lt Col Neeraj Sharma 109 Lt Col Shantnu Rishi 110 Lt. Col. Gagan Khanna, DE 111 Lt Col Satish Chari 112 Lt. Col Akash Sachan 113 Lt. Col PP Singh 114 Lt Col Sandeep Chandorkar 115 Lt. Col. SS Nath 116 Lt Col JS Patil 117 Lt Col Amit P Mathur 118 Lt Col Jagjit Singh Judge 119 Lt Col RP Shankar 120 Lt Col NM Saksena 121 Lt Col Raghawendra Singh 122 Lt Col Shamsher Manhas 123 Lt Col DN Yadav 124 Lt Col Janak Raj Vatsa 125 Lt Col Rakesh Mehrotra 126 Lt Col Rajeev Rattan Kotwal 127 Cdr MCV Jose 128 Cdr KC Mahesh Giri 129 Cdr Sam T Samuel 130 Cdr Joji Tom Mundakel 131 Cdr S Manrai 132 Cdr P Pattanath 133 Cdr HS Dabas 134 Cdr Soumya Datta 135 Cdr SA Rawool 136 Cdr Sandeep Kumar 137 Cdr RK Srivastava 138 Cdr Shailesh Jain 139 Cdr Sati Taneja 140 Wg Cdr Gopal Taneja 141 Wg Cdr Sanjay Bishnoi 142 Wg Cdr Nilesh Gandhi 143 Wg Cdr Rajiv Gupta 144 Wg Cdr Sudhir Kumar Virulkar 145 Wg Cdr SK Chopra 146 Wg Cdr Sanjay Nijai 147 Wg Cdr Kuldeep Mathur 148 Wg Cdr SK Nair 149 Wg Cdr Prashant Karde 150 Maj K J Singh 151 Maj P Sirur 152 Maj Priyadarshi Chowdhury, SC 153 Sqn Ldr Narendra Prasad Uniyal 154 Capt Sandeep Shekhawat 155 S/ Lt. (IN) RC Jain 156 Lt HS Ahlawat Note: The hyperlinks in the letter to events referred there have been added by The Wire and are not part of the original letter. Image credit: Jaskirat Singh Bawa, CC-BY-ND 2.0 -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
