My two paise on the Army chief age row in 10 sentences.

1.The Chief of Army Staff was definitely born on 10 May 1951, and the government knows it, but considering that the anomaly clearly hasn't kept the General from reaching the pinnacle of his chosen profession - and considering that few actually think the General is anything but upright - calling this an effort to "restore my image and integrity" is somewhat specious. 2. By predicating the age confrontation on the notions of honour and justice, Army chief General V.K. Singh is being decidedly disingenuous - he has never been short of honour, and the fact that he is Chief of the Army Staff means that justice has never been denied him in his career progression. 3. The Army chief has enjoyed the best that the establishment has had to offer, in terms of status, position, appointment and rank, and his deep selection to be Chief of Army Staff means that the country and establishment recognize his worth as a service chief. 4. Considering the tremendous good work General Singh has done for the army in terms of boosting morale and tidying up its image, the age row is pretty much all he will ever be remembered for no matter which way things go from here (akin to cricketer Chetan Sharma and Sharjah 1986). 5. The sense that the army is fully behind their Chief is patently false; A significant number believe the Chief has obsessed with the issue to the point of embarrassing the service. 5. The age row may not be about tenure, but it is definitely a manifestation of the internecine war between General V.K. Singh on the one side and his two predecessors - Generals JJ Singh and Deepak Kapoor - on the other. 6. The man squarely responsible for the confrontation precipitating into this embarrassing crisis is not the Prime Minister, not Pranab Mukherjee, but Defence Minister A.K Antony alone, considering that he was abreast of all developments at every step of the way but still chose dumbfounding incompetence, hubris and denial over alacrity, empathy and a sense of the larger dignity of the establishments under his watch. 7. The age row is no longer a technical argument, and hasn't been one for a while; but General Singh's concerns that the government speaks in multiple voices is shatteringly justified. 8. The UPA government, from decades of practice, believes it can buy General Singh's cooperation with postretirement positions and/or other services, but has underestimated the shrewdness of an officer who understands that any such pact would blow him clean out the water permanently. 9. The age row has vitiated the atmosphere in the Army ranks, polarizing the officer class, fuelling the wasteful expenditure of energies on gossip and intrigue, and providing an uncomfortable diversion to other ranks. 10. Ironically, no matter which way this goes, the one thing we can all be sure about is that both sides have lost any chance of "honour". Ak Anthony's undue emphasis on polishing his 'Holier than thou, cleaner than clean' image at every inconceivable ocassion, has resulted in a 'ZERO error' syndrome in his head. This results in INDECISION for fear that he may make a WRONG decision. And causes issues to drag on and on. The General put in a representation. The Army Act specifies that the higher authority must decide and respond to the representation (one way or another) within 90 days. AK Anthony sat tight on that...sometimes sending it to Attorney General, other times to Law ministry bureaucrats, or else to his own Def Ministry babus. Never did this politiician use his own head and say, 'Wait a minute, let me ask for his brith records, since he was born in a Military Hospital, and no in some hut in a remote village'. Or maybe he did, but was under pressure from UPA to let Gen VK Singh go, since VK has been known to come down hard on corrupt deals...and there are several lucrative contracts in the pipeline (Thats one line of thought, that is gaining increasing currency). AK Anthony likes to buttress his 'honest' image when it comes to ordering Army Officers to be court Martialed. The same AK Anthony says, 'Yes Madam, Yes Madam, As you wish Madam' when told to go out to the press and

make ridiculous statement supporting the view that...we will not reveal the names of people who have stashed billions away in Swiss account...because there are 'procedural issues'. Mr Honest is a loyal soldier when it comes to covering up his 'Boss'. Can you explain this: 'Ironically, no matter which way this goes, the one thing we can all be sure about is that both sides have lost any chance of "honour". What is this 'honor' you are talking about. The Government still has honor left? And the COAS will have lost chance to redeem 'honor' by going to court. So the 'honor' at the Government command is limitless. They have Ministers who stole away 1.5 lakh crore Rupees in ONE SCAM, and yet this government still has honor so blemishless as to be dented by a lawsuit by a General. And the general who has given long service that goes back over 3 decades, has such a small reserve of honor, in your eyes, as to get besmirched by the mere act of EXERCISING HIS CONSITITUTIONAL right to approach the court. (Unless the real news is that Gen VK Singh is attempting a coup. On the other hand, the General is exhibiting allegiance to the Constitution of INdia, and taking his case to the Supreme court per provisions of the law. What is dishonorable about the General approaching the court? Is the Supreme court a brothel that the General would commit a dishonorable act by appraching it?) Setu Madhavan
USA

What posterity will remember General VK Singh for should be the least of YOUR worries. Leave it to the General to decide how he wants to be remembered. Most Indians have no clue, or are least bothered, about who their service chief is. Stop worrying about such specious things. What a person will be remembered by should NOT come in the way of that person's judgement when deciding to seek judicial redressal for a grievance she or he believes she or he is suffering. What is this? 'The age row is no longer a technical argument, and hasn't been one for a while;' What is 'technical argument' about a date of birth? Date of birth is not a 'nuclear reactor' or a 'engine turbine' to have technical arguments about. The date of birth is recorded in the hospital the person was born in. The school leaving certificate also mentions the date of birth. What is 'technical argument' with respect to date of birth? Unles you are referrign to 'DNA/paternity test' to be conducted on Gen Singh's father to confirm if he indeed is the father. So far as I know such 'technicalities' are not a part of the issue. Atleast not yet! But that is the only way I can see 'technical' being mentioned in the same sentence as 'Date of Birth' confusion. Stop using unnecessary phrases 'technical argument' to make your thoughts look 'important'. And this? The age row has vitiated the atmosphere in the Army ranks, polarizing the officer class, 'fuelling the wasteful expenditure of energies on gossip and intrigue,'... 'Fuelling wasteful expenditure of energy on gossip'? Is that your biggest worry? That people are spending time and energy discussing this issue. Are you suggesting that a citizen who occupies an important position should NOT approach the courts because that cout case will be discussed by the public (military personnel included), causing them to lose energy discussing/gossipping this issue? Wow! You are right about a few things. The man to blame is AK Anthony, in the way this NON ISSUE has been brought to this situation. He got ensnared by babus in the Defence Ministry. The moment he began bandying about lines like 'Line of succession will be impacted', it became clear that he was speaking the babus' language. For the record there is NOTHING called 'line of succession' or 'succession plan' in the Army. 'Line of succession' is ONLY used in case of Royalty where individuals from a particular family are entitled to ascend to the throne. In India we have had one General die in harness (General Joshi died while in office), and we had a 'smooth transition'. What happened to 'LINE OF SUCCESSION' then? Is this a banana republic? If the President dies, there are provisions for transitioning the office to another individual, as happened when President FA Ahmed died in office. Ditto for PM,and evey one else. Why this 'nonsense' about 'LINE OF SUCCESSION' will be disturbed? If the Date of Birth is 1951 (and birth documents at

the hospital where he was born, show it as 1951) then so be it. Any consequential benefits and relief that accrues to the General, should be given, regardless of any impact to the so called 'LINE OF SUCCESSION' (which is actually a euphemism of UPA government for 'We want Lt General Bikramjit Singh to be the next Chief of Army Staff, and Gen VK Singh would get his tenure extended to 2013 if his real date of Birth is accepted by teh Supreme Court. That would cause Lt Gen Bikram Singh to retire, and our UPA plans would get upset). Setu Madhavan
USA exoticbronze@gmail.com January 19, 2012

You should have stopped at the second comma in the first sentence itself: "The Chief of Army Staff was definitely born on 10 May 1951, and the government knows it"! Period. That is all there is to this story. That is all that the Supreme Court will ask, confirm, and pass a judgement. The General was NOT born in a hut with no official documentation of birth. The General, whose father himself was an Army Officer (LT Col), was born in Military Hospital, Pune. The birth is documented, and records exists, and IS AVAILABLE to the government, or ANYONE ELSE with a pea sized brain who wants to have a look at it. If the dispute is about someone's date of birth, there is NO POINT in getting into anything else. MS branch Vs Adjutant General branch. MOD Babus and incompetent Netas. Birth Certificate available with the Hospital in Pune. The school leaving certificate documents the year of birth as 1951. END OF STORY. Judgement time! For the rest of your '2 paise' statements... Your statement that since he has been occupying the position of Army Chief, he has been given enough honor, and there is no merit in him talking about this issue being about his 'honor'...well is disingenuous on your part! It does NOT mean that if a person has been treated with honor all his career and was made the Army Chief, now therefore he loses any claims to fight for his 'honor'. Individual honor is that individual's perception. Just because he made it to the COAS, does not guarantee that every action thereafter during his tenure undertaken by the babus or netas unquestionably will be ABOvE BOARD. What is this? 'The sense that the army is fully behind their Chief is patently false; A significant number believe the Chief has obsessed with the issue to the point of embarrassing the service.' How does it matter? ARe you saying that an Army Chief can only approach the courts if and only if every person of the 1.15 million strong army is behind the chief? What ridiculous statement is that? If that is how this issue is to be decided? Maybe the Army Chief should poll the entire army and then pass a judgement that since the 1.15 army is behind him, the dt of birth he decides stands! Do you think before you write anything that comes to mind? The General has followed provisions in the Army Act to redress a grievance, and having exhausted official channels has approached the court. The Army Act does NOT state that the entire Army must be behind a soldier before he can go to court. Even if the entire Army was NOT supporting the General, it is the General's prerogative to approach the courts, after having exhausted the official channels to redress his grievance. And this: '4. Considering the tremendous good work General Singh has done for the army in terms of boosting morale and tidying up its image, the age row is pretty much all he will ever be remembered for no matter which way things go from here (akin to cricketer Chetan Sharma and Sharjah 1986).' So what? If an Indian citizen wants to exercise her or his constitutional right to seek judicial remedy, that citizen can, and should, irrespective of what one Mr. Shiv Aroor thinks that citizen may be remembered for. That holds true even if that citizen happens to be the Army Chief or the Cabinet Secretary. Well possibly the Army Chief may be remembered for taking the Govt to Court and getting a landmark

judgement from the Supreme Court? Possibly war breaks out and the Army does a stellar job and defeats China? Possibly a natural calamity happens and the Army does a wonderful job? Possibly it disgraces itself in all these scenarios. Who knows, none of us has seen the future? Setu Madhavan
USA exoticbronze@gmail.com January 19, 2012

I considered you as a sensible level headed person but I have to take back my statement as I have not read anything more preposterous and outrageous as this article.Casting aspersions on such an upright and valiant officer like Gen.V.K Singh was downright indecent and to find some jokers appreciating your point of view was all the more amusing. Regarding your inane views Mr. Setu Madhavan has very cogently and strongly rebutted them and I fully agree with him on this.Were you trying to be smart by writing such a puerile article.The entire blame falls only on this imbecile Govt. who have proved to be thoroughly incompetent.Could they not find a better person as Defence minister than Antony who is nothing but a disgrace. rajendran