WHY SHOULD OLD SOLDIERS FADE AWAY?
By
Lt Gen Vijay Oberoi, PVSM, AVSM, VSM
General Douglas Macarthur, a very famous General of the Twentieth
Century, who served his country, the United States of America, with
dedication and élan for over half a century, both in peace and war, had
made a famous speech on 19 April 1951, to both houses of the Congress at
Capitol Hill. This was on his return from Japan, after his dispute over
policy decisions with the President of the United States and after he
was relieved of his command on 11 April 1951. It was a momentous speech,
quoted extensively throughout the world, but this piece only focuses on
one sentence of his long speech, which stated that ‘old soldiers never die, they only fade away’.
Although General Macarthur did tremendous service for his nation, I am
afraid he did considerable harm, albeit inadvertently, to the armed
forces of India, because of this sentence in his speech. The sentence
was soon picked up by our redoubtable bureaucrats (mostly of the ICS
variety at that time) and it was given the desired spin, including
de-emphasising the word ‘old’! The result was that the political
leadership, the media and even the intelligentsia became convinced that
it was the best option for retired soldiers, irrespective of their age,
who must quietly ‘fade away’. It may be recalled that these were the
days when many nations were becoming independent from their colonial
masters in quick succession. Unfortunately, many of these newly
independent nations were also falling prey to military coups staged by
some elements of
their armed forces. Hence, this ‘fading away’ appealed immensely
to these elites of the nation and they did everything to perpetuate
such thinking. No one bothered to find out the circumstances under which
General Macarthur had included this sentence in his speech. Let me
enlighten everyone.
Macarthur’s life as a soldier had covered 45 years of the history of
the US Army, from the Civil War, through the Indian Wars, to World War I
in Europe. He rose to the highest appointment in the U S Army in the
1930’s and was thereafter appointed the military adviser in the
Philippines. During the Second World War, he was appointed commander of
US troops in the Pacific theatre and under his command the war in the
Pacific was won. Macarthur was 65 years old when he presided over the
fall of the Japanese Empire in Tokyo Bay on 02 September 1945. After the
war, Macarthur became military governor of Japan, overseeing its
occupation and reconstruction. With the outbreak of the Korean War,
General Macarthur’s Far East Command became responsible for the conduct
of the war in Korea, on behalf of the United Nations. General Macarthur
was
dismissed by President Truman in the midst of the Korean War. When he
returned under a cloud and made his famous speech, he was over 71 years
old.
For General Macarthur to include this line in his speech had a lot of
meaning. After all, he had served the nation in many a battlefield and
in many complex situations and had come out unscathed and with glory.
For a person like him, who had seen it all, done everything, ‘fading away’
had a lot of meaning, especially at the age he was then. However, is
that really applicable to the officers and men of the armed forces of
India, who retire at much younger ages and who have the bulk of their
lives ahead of them? One should also factor in the increase in longevity
from what it was in 1950 and what it is today. That being the case, how
can these soldiers’ ‘fade away’ or more appropriately, why should they ‘fade away’?
On account of the spin given to the famous line, either intentionally
or by default, the bureaucracy managed to eliminate a fair chunk of
aspirants to the limited number of post-retirement opportunities
available to retiring government employees. The result, in real terms,
is that while practically every bureaucrat who retires gets an assured
plum job in a government appointment, personnel of the armed forces are
left high and dry! This is obviously grossly unfair, especially as the
bulk of the appointments do not need any specialization, only
administrative acumen. In this field, the officers of the armed forces
are perhaps as good if not better than their bureaucratic counterparts.
They are also honest, which should perhaps be the biggest qualification
in our corruption ridden country. However, this piece is not about jobs,
but
about a phenomenal amount of talent going to waste, because of lack of
vision and deeply ingrained attitudes amongst the elite of our country.
Unfortunately, the senior hierarchy of the armed forces of the early
Fifties, i.e. soon after Independence, was of a different mould than
what they are today. They mostly came from aristocratic families, from
the upper middle classes or from the landed gentry. They had joined the
armed forces for its adventurous life, their love for the outdoors or
for the dignity and respect which the donning of the uniform brought and
not as a vocation or a job. Consequently, they were not looking for
another career after their stint in the armed forces. Hence, this line
from Macarthur appealed to them too. After all, ‘fading away’
does sound theatrical and has a touch of melancholia about it. The
result was that very soon everybody expected all veterans of the armed
forces, irrespective of their age, rank or financial condition, to ‘fade
away’ quietly to some obscure corner of the country, in the so-called retirement mode. This must obviously change.
The soldiers and officers of the armed forces of India retire at
extremely young ages. Our jawans retire in their Thirties, our junior
commissioned officers in their Forties and the bulk of our officers in
their Fifties; instead of fading away, what they need is a second
career. As opposed to them, all bureaucrats retire at the age of sixty
years and perhaps the bulk do not need a second career. Yet, the reality
is that no bureaucrat who wants to continue working for the government
need be disappointed, as adequate numbers of slots are earmarked, ready
and waiting for them and they are loath to part with any of them. The
result is that either the veterans of the armed forces are left to fend
for themselves or are encouraged to ‘fade away’.
Luckily, there have been exceptions. I recall that when Lt Gen S K
Sinha, the then Vice Chief of Army Staff had resigned, following his
supersession by General Vaidya, the media and the elite of the country
had gone to town praising him for doing the so called ‘fading away’
act. In actuality, all he was doing was that he was showing dignity and
character in a highly adverse situation. He had no intention of ‘fading away’.
Within a few years, he was back in action, whether as our ambassador to
Nepal or being the Governor of Assam first and now of J&K. He
continues to serve the nation even today.
My intention of writing this piece is to urge all soldiers, young and old, not to fall into the trap of ‘fading away’
and wasting their considerable talents doing nothing or in
inconsequential and infructuous endeavours. While in service, you served
the nation with dedication and loyalty and sacrificed your comfort for
the safety and security of the country. Your contribution to
nation-building has been unmatched. You need to continue in this vein
even after retirement, so that you continue this process of
nation-building, albeit individually now as opposed to the institutional
framework in which you operated earlier. We unfortunately, lack a
cohesive institutional underpinning for the veterans, but your
continuing love for your country and for your countrymen must not get
constrained by the lack of a coherent and vibrant
organization or the machinations of some spin doctors, whose sole aim
has always been to feather their own nests, by any means possible.
My bottom line to all my comrades in arms is not to succumb to the ‘fading away’
syndrome, but to continue with the soldier’s dharma, which has always
been ‘karma’; your salvation and that of the nation lies only in this
small but potent word.
No comments:
Post a Comment