Secret Classroom From Joel Comm: August 2012

NEW DELHI: The Army has been jolted by yet another shocking breach of discipline with a grim stand-off erupting between officers and jawans of an armoured unit after a soldier committed suicide at a military camp in the border district of Samba in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday morning.

This comes close after officers and jawans of an artillery regiment deployed in the Nyoma sub-district of eastern Ladakh had violently clashed with each other - which left the unit commanding officer, two majors and two jawans grievously injured -- in May.

The incident on Wednesday was triggered when the jawan, Arun V, who hails from Thiruvananthapuram, shot himself with his service rifle in the camp of the 16th Light Cavalry at Samba in the morning. He died on the spot.

Sources said "tension" between the officers and jawans of the 16th Cavalry had been "simmering for quite some time" without any corrective steps being taken. The suicide proved to be the tipping point. "Angry jawans then ganged up to surround the officers and their residences in protest, leading to a prolonged face-off," said a source.

The gravity of the situation and the "complete failure of command and control" was such that senior officers, including the commander of the Yol-based 9 Corps, Lt-General A K Bhalla, rushed to the spot to calm down inflamed tempers. All officers of the 16th Cavalry were subsequently moved out of their residences and attached to different messes as a precautionary move to prevent the trouble from escalating further.

There were even indications that two Army units had been rushed to Samba, which houses a brigade and the armoured regiment, to control the situation. The Army HQ in New Delhi, on being contacted, said a court of inquiry had been ordered into the incident but denied that there was any violent brawl between the officers and jawans.

"There was a suicide but no clash. Yes, the unit officers have been moved to different messes to ensure an impartial probe. The corps commander (Lt-Gen Bhalla) is camping in the area and the situation is under control," said an officer.

All this does not happen if the case is of a simple suicide. Incidentally, defence minister A K Antony on Wednesday told Parliament that as many as 1,018 soldiers had committed suicide since 2003, with the yearly toll regularly climbing over 100. Incidents of fragging (to kill or wound a fellow soldier) have also become a regular phenomenon in the 1.13-million strong Army.

A report by the Defence Institute of Psychological Research had earlier held that "perceived humiliation and harassment, over and above occupational and familial causes", at the hands of their superiors often serves as the final "trigger" for jawans in stress-related cases in the armed forces.

NEW DELHI: Team Anna on Thursday blinked in the battle of attrition with the government by announcing plans to end the indefinite fast Friday evening as it pitched for an alternative to the current political system.
Anna Hazare's announcement on calling off the agitation demanding Lokpal Bill at 5pm tomorrow came on a day when a group of eminent personalities, including jurist V R Krishna Iyer and former Army Chief Gen V K Singh, appealed for an end to the fast as the health of Arvind Kejriwal and two others deteriorated.
"We will end the fast tomorrow at 5pm," Hazare said at the end of an address in which he enunciated the civil society's approach to forming a political alternative.
The end to the fast also comes in the wake of the government's steadfast attitude in not engaging with Hazare and his team, a year after both sides were involved in drafting a law and Parliament adopting a "sense of House" resolution on passage of Lokpal Bill.
On the earlier occasions in April and August last year, the government appeared to have come under pressure from Hazare's protests which drew huge crowds in the capital and elsewhere.
The protest fast has been marked by low turnout, contradictory statements and levelling of wild charges against government and its functionaries. While Hazare refused to attack Pranab Mukherjee after he became President, his team members continued to level allegations against him.
Talking about providing an alternative to the current system, Hazare ruled out launching or joining a political party but asked people to come out with ideas on how the alternative can be provided.
"It is time for us to think of an alternative. We want a political alternative. But I will not launch or join a party. People should decide who should be given tickets and how to achieve that alternative system," he said.
Questions still remained as to what Team Anna would do regarding the political alternative and whether they would launch a party themselves.

Secret Classroom From Joel Comm

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Army officers, jawans face off again in J&K

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Team Anna to to call off fast tomorrow, pitches for a political alternative

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