By
Maj
Gen VK Singh (Retd)
In
recent months, the Army India’s armed forces have been rocked by several
controversies. Of these, the most notable were the arrest of a former Chief of
the Indian Air Force and the appointment of the new Army Chief. Both events
have caused some consternation, if not anguish, in serving as well as retired
servicemen. There has been a spate of
articles and letters to editors of various newspapers and journals by veterans,
expressing their dismay and concern. In this article, I will deal only with the
second controversy, which concerns the appointment of the COAS, Gen Bipin
Rawat, superseding Lt Gens Bakshi and Hariz, who were senior to him. This was
only the third instance of supersession for the appointment of the COAS after
Independence, the earlier ones being in the cases involving Sant Singh and
Kalwant Singh in 1957 and of SK Sinha in 1983. Of course, there were instances
of the senior most person being denied the post by the simple stratagem of
giving an extension to the serving incumbent or a junior contender, ensuring
that the senior most person retires before the appointment falls vacant. This
is the method adopted to sideline Nathu Singh in 1953 and Prem Bhagat in 1974,
without resorting to supersession.
As is well known, General KM
Cariappa was the first Indian to command the Indian Army. On 15 January
1949, Cariappa succeeded General Roy Bucher, as Chief of Army Staff and
Commander-in-Chief, Indian Army. (The designation Commander-in-Chief was
discontinued, from 1 April, 1955). At
that time, Cariappa was the senior most Indian officer. However, very few
people know that Cariappa was the third choice to become the Army Chief. Had it
not been for the magnanimity and esprit
de corps displayed by his juniors – Nathu Singh and Maharaj Rajendra Sinhji
– Cariappa would not have become the C-in-C.
When
India became independent, on 15 August 1947, Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck
was appointed the Supreme Commander, and General Sir Rob Lockhart became C-in-C
Indian Army. On the request of the Government of India, several British
officers agreed to serve, for another few years, in critical appointments. On 1
January, 1948, General Sir Roy Bucher had taken over as C-in-C Indian Army. His
one year engagement was to expire in January 1949, and the Government decided
that he should be replaced by an Indian. At that time, the three senior most
officers were Cariappa, Rajendra Sinhji, and Nathu Singh. All three were
lieutenant generals, and Army Commanders. Rajendra Sinhji was a year
junior, but six months older than
Cariappa. Nathu Singh was two and a half
years junior, in service as well as age. Being senior, Cariappa should have
been the natural choice for the appointment of C-in-C, but this was not so.
The
first choice for the post of C-in-C was Nathu Singh. Sardar Baldev Singh, the
Defence Minister in the Interim Government in 1946, had informed Nathu Singh,
who was then just a brigadier, serving as Director Personnel Services in Meerut
that he had been selected to be the first Indian C-in-C, after
Independence. At a tea party held at his house, Baldev Singh conveyed this to
Nathu Singh, in the presence of several other leaders, including the premiers
of Punjab and the North West Frontier Province. He followed it up with a
letter, on 22 November, 1946, addressed to Nathu Singh:
Your letter of 21st
November has reached me. You have been selected and earmarked to be the First
C-in-C of India, with Command over the three Defence Services. This decision
has been arrived at, after the Muslim League joined the 'Interim Government',
and with the consent of all the Political Parties comprising the Government. It
is on the recommendation of the present C-in-C, and with the approval of the
Governor General, the Viceroy, and may be the HMG. The approval of the officers
senior to you does not arise.
Baldev
Singh also made it clear that after the 'Transfer of Power', the C-in-C would
be working under the Ministry of Defence. Nathu Singh is said to have declined
the offer, since he felt that Cariappa was senior, and the appointment should
rightfully go to him.
In
1948, the most serious contender was Rajendra Sinhji, who came from a princely
family of Gujarat. He had an impressive war record, and had won the DSO. The
reason for some people not favouring Cariappa for the coveted appointment was
that he was considered too strong and outspoken, apart from being 'anglicised'.
There was also some criticism of his fraternising with Pakistani officers.
Whenever he visited Pakistan, he stayed with his erstwhile colleagues, and they
did the same when they visited India. This naturally raised hackles in certain
quarters, and led some people to even doubt his nationalism. Fortunately,
Cariappa's merit and seniority along with the support of his colleagues won the
day. Rajendra Sinhji also declined the offer, in deference to Cariappa, who assumed
the coveted appointment on 15 January 1949. After almost 200 years of British
rule, an Indian had finally assumed command of the Indian Army, and to mark
this historic occasion, 15 January became the official Army Day, in India.
Cariappa
retired after exactly four years, on 14 January 1953. At that time, the three
Army Commanders were Rajendra Sinhji, Nathu Singh, and SM Shrinagesh. Rajendra
Sinhji should have retired three months earlier, but was given an extension,
probably in order to enable him to succeed Cariappa. Due to a new rule,
promulgated in 1950, officers retired after four years in command, and when
Cariappa retired, he was only 53 years old. In fact, Rajendra Sinhji, though a
year junior, was six months older than Cariappa. Nathu Singh was junior to Rajendra Sinhji by
a year and half, but almost three years younger in age. Eventually, Rajendra Sinhji
was appointed the next C-in-C. Nathu
Singh retired on 1 February 1953, exactly 15 days after Cariappa retired as
C-in-C of the Indian Army. He did not grudge the promotion of Rajendra Sinhji,
who succeeded Cariappa because of the extension given to him. But he did feel
that the denial of an extension to him was unjust. If he had been allowed to
serve, he would have automatically succeeded Rajendra Sinhji, when the latter
retired, in March 1955.
The
first supersession in the appointment of the COAS occurred in 1957, when KS Thimayya
was appointed to the post. The COAS, General SM Shrinagesh, was due to
retire in May 1957 and there were several contenders for the post. Sant Singh
and Kalwant Singh were from the same Sandhurst batch, having passed out on 29
January 1925. The other two were KS Thimayya and PN Thapar, who had also passed
out from Sandhurst together, on 4 February 1926. Thimayya had been placed 15th
in order of merit, while Thapar was 18th. Hence, he was technically senior to
Thapar. However, the most important factor was Thimayya's impressive war record
- he had won the DSO, was the only Indian to have commanded a brigade in WW II and
had proved his worth during the J&K operations in 1947-48, as the captor of
Zojila and the savior of Ladakh. The others did not have any notable
achievement to their credit. As expected, Thimayya was selected for the top job
in the Army, and on 8 May 1957, he was promoted to General, and took over as
the COAS. He superseded Sant Singh, who resigned, as well as Kalwant Singh, who
decided to continue.
When Thimayya became Army Chief, he was only 51 years
old. It is interesting to reflect on the turn of events, if the Government had
decided to give the job to Kalwant Singh or Sant Singh, both of whom were
senior to Thimayya. Perhaps Thimayya would have had to wait for two or three
years, before he was promoted to the rank of General. The maximum tenure of the
Chief and Army Commanders was four years, though Rajendra Sinhji was the Chief
for just two years and four months, while Shrinagesh had exactly two years.
Hence, Thimayya would have risen to the appointment of Chief in May 1961, if
not earlier. In the event, Thimayya as well as Thorat, who was the Army
Commander in Eastern Command, retired in May 1961, because of the four year
rule. If they had not retired in 1961,
would the 1962 conflict still have gone the way it did?
Though it was not a case of supersession, the denial
of the post of COAS to Lt Gen PS Bhagat, VC, in 1974 had created ripples in the
Army. The Army Chief, General GG Bewoor, was due to retire on 11 April 1974.
(At that time, the retirement age for the Chief was 58 and 56 for Lieutenant
Generals). Since Bhagat was to reach the age of 56 only on 13 October 1974, he
was almost certain to become the next Chief, being senior most. But the
bureaucrats in the Defence Ministry had other ideas. Having dealt with an
intractable Chief like Sam Manekshaw for four years, they did not want another
strong Chief on their hands. However, by now Bhagat had become immensely
popular, and his supersession would have had wide ranging repercussions. So
another ploy was thought of. Due the extension granted to Manekshaw, Bewoor's
tenure had been reduced, and he had been Chief just for a year and half. To
compensate him, it was decided that he should be given a year's extension. This
would ensure that Bhagat would retire, as a Lt Gen, without technically being
superseded. In July 1974, Bhagat accepted the appointment of Chairman, Damodar
Valley Corporation (DVC). He did not resign, and proceeded on his new
assignment as a serving officer. He
died soon after wards, on 23 May 1975.
The
second and most well known instance of supersession occurred in 1983, when Arun
Vaidya was appointed COAS, superseding Lt Gen SK Sinha. In January 1983, Sinha
was posted to Delhi, as Vice Chief of Army Staff. Since there were just six
months left for the COAS, Gen Krishna Rao to retire, and Sinha was the senior
Army Commander, it was assumed that he would be the next Chief, and his move to
Delhi only served to reinforce this impression. After he took over as Vice
Chief, Krishna Rao indicated that since Sinha would be taking over from him in
a few months time, all other Principal Staff Officers should work through him,
so that he was kept fully in the picture. During the next five months, Sinha
and Krishna Rao worked closely, and everyone took it for granted that Sinha
would step into Rao's shoes when he retired.
On
29 May 1983, Krishna Rao informed Sinha that the Government had decided that
Arun Vaidya, who was GOC-in-C Eastern Command, would be the next Army Chief.
Sinha was taken aback, and told Krishna Rao that he would be putting in his
papers soon. Rao tried to dissuade him, but Sinha had made up his mind. He
returned to his office, and after dictating a letter of congratulations to
Vaidya, wrote out his application for premature retirement, which he handed
over to the Military Secretary the same day. The announcement of Vaidya's
appointment as Army Chief was made on the radio in the afternoon, but it was
only next morning that the newspapers carried the story. Most of the papers had
it on the front page, and along with the news of Vaidya's appointment, also
gave the news that Sinha had resigned.
Though
Parliament was not in session, some MPs button-holed R. Venkataraman, the
Defence Minister, in the Central Hall, and questioned him on the reasons for
Sinha's supersession. When questioned by the Press, he refused to comment on
his supersession, and said that as a disciplined soldier, he had accepted the
decision of the Government. The Press asked him if he felt that appointments in
the Army were being made based on political considerations, and whether it was
his family's proximity to Jaya Prakash Narayan which had been responsible for
his supersession. Sinha declined to be drawn into a controversy, and requested
the Press to keep politics away from the Army. Next morning, Sinha's statement
in the meeting with the Press was prominently reported in all newspapers. His
stating that he had chosen to fade out of the Army, accepting the decision of
the Government to supersede him, and his reference to Arun Vaidya as a dear
friend and a competent General won him many admirers. It created a wave of
sympathy for him, in the Army as well as among civilians, most of whom felt
that he had been unfairly treated.
A
few days later, there was a joint statement in the Press, by six prominent MPs,
which included Charan Singh, Jagjivan Ram, L.K. Advani, H.N. Bahuguna, George
Fernandez and Dharam Vir Sinha. They severely criticised the Government for its
interference in the professionalism of the Army for short term political gains,
and praised the dignified reaction of Sinha, at his supersession. They demanded
a debate in Parliament, on the subject, in the forthcoming session. When the
House met, the members tried to raise the issue. However, in the Lok Sabha, the
Speaker did not permit a discussion on grounds of security. In the Rajya Sabha
also, the Chairman disallowed a debate, leading to angry exchanges between the
treasury benches and the Opposition, some of whom quoted the instance of
Thimayya's resignation, and the debate in Parliament that followed.
As
would be apparent from the instances quoted above, supersession in the
appointment of the Army Chief is not a new phenomenon, but rare. In the last
seventy years, there have been just three instances. There have been a few
cases where deserving candidates were denied the post by subterfuge, through
extensions of tenure. In a democracy, where the armed forces are under
political control, this is unavoidable and should not cause consternation.
(The above instances have been taken
from my book titled LEADERSHIP IN THE INDIAN ARMY – BIOGRAPHIES OF TWELVE
SOLDIERS, published by Sage, New Delhi, in 2005)
21 Jan 2017
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