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INDIA

The battered blues of the IAF

M ABDUL HAFIZ
THE plan postings and appointments in the government are seldom free from political sleaze and no more immune from its pressure. Over the years in a country like India, based on both democracy and rule of law the phenomenon has inexorably crept even into the services where the 'career' is vastly conditioned by the individual's linkages and political clout. Only professional proficiency is no more enough.
At least Air Marshal Manjit Singh Sekhon, the commander of Indian Air Forces (IAF) Southern Command thought that way and wrote a long letter seeking political favour from Akali Dal leader and former Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. On October 22, 2001, Sekhon wrote to Badal to use his (the latter's) clout with the government to get him posted to Air Force's prestigious Western command, considered a crucial step in further climbing up the ladder. Of seven IAF commands the Western Command is the most coveted one as it covers a large chunk of IndoPakistan border.
The timing of Sekhon's letter showed a measure of the sense of precision as a change-over in Western Command was indeed due SRI LANKA
by the year's end.
Unfortunately for Sekhon, his letter found its way the press in March triggering a crisis of sorts in the Air Force something the authority wanted to avoid at a time when the forces of India and Pakistan are on high alert on their respective border since 13 December 2001.
Nevertheless, Sekhon's letter invited swift action from the chief of the Air Force Air Chief Marshal Krishnaswamy as well as the minister of defence. Krishnaswamy immediately recalled Sakehon to Delhi and attached him to Air Headquarters pending an inquiry into Sekhon's matter with regards to his seeking political favour. Once the bonafide of Sekhon's letter was established the air chief coldly asked Sekhon to put in his papers for his 'moral misdemeanour'.
Air Marshal Sekhon's further attempts to gather political support from some of the cabinet ministers to bail him out ostensibly failed. Eventually he was shown the door by the defence ministry which is known to have advised Sekhon to quit quietly with his pension money intact. However, before putting in the resignation which was promptly accepted Air Marshal Sekhon wanted Krishnaswamy to take action against two other air marshals for taking political help to go
up the ladder.
With Sekhon gone the future of incumbent commander of the Western Command Air Marshal Vinod Bhatia with an allegation of crashing the LoC in February last is no less cloudy. Interesting, Air Marshal Sekhon, who was probing into February 19 incident in which an AN-32 Transport Aircraft piloted by Air Marshal Bhatia had crossed the LoC after being hit by a Pakistani missile while trying to land in Kargil, already confirmed Bhatia's blunder in a report to Krishnswamy. While the decision on Bhatia's transgression is being taken up by Air Headquarters the issue seems to have got complicated with Sekhon's ambition to replace Bhatia coming to light.
Bhatia's fate whether he gets off the hook through a simple reprimand for his error or gets transferred to a non-operational command is not much of a problem. The problems are with a number of questions that remain unanswered. Who, after all, leaked the letter of Air Marshal Sekhon? Was it consciously made public to put Sekhon's probe under cloud? Who are the two other serving Air Marshals to get promoted through political patronisation? In the meantime Air Chief Marshal A Y Tipnis
came in defence of Vinod Bhatia stating that no parallel could be drawn between the cases of Bhatia and Sekhon. Because, he feels that while one pertains to simple 'pilot error' the other concerns the question of morality and discipline of the forces.
A former Western air commander has however raised a pertinent question pointing to the deeper malaise the political interference with postings and promotions in the armed forces. According to him, Sekhon's letter to the politicians was a 'sign of our time' Sekhon's only crime was that he got caught red handed. From the time of Jawharlal Nehru who picked up an Army Supply Corp officer General Kaul to lead the Indian Army in 1962 Indo-China war to the sacking of Admiral Vishnu Bhagarat by the BJP government the politicians have been blatantly intervening in the Services 'exclusive matters'. A clear delineation of political authority and an exclusive area where the military is the ultimate boss is still pending in India like in many other developing countries of the world. Sooner this delineation is done, better will that be for the morale of the force concerned.
M Abdul Hafiz is a former DG of BIISS.