What is happening in this country?

'The Indian Express' Newspaper
dated 04th April 2012

By Nebil Nizar

''The January night Raisina Hill was spooked: Two key Army units moved towards Delhi without notifying Govt''- This was the lead news in Indian Express Newspaper dated 04th of April 2012.

India woke up with Shock and Disbeleif. I asked myself 'What is happening in this country?'


I would like to take a time travel to 1968, i.e three years before the 1971 Bangladesh war which made him a national hero, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw was suspected of planning a coup to topple the Indira Gandhi-led government. Sam Manekshaw: "Mrs Gandhi called me to her office. She was very worried. 'Everybody says you are taking over. When are you taking over', she asked,"

Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with General SHFJ Manekshaw

''My daughter when she comes from convent sings the nursery rhyme, 'you mind your business, I mind mine. You kiss your own sweetheart, I kiss mine'. I do not interfere with politics and politicians," Manikshaw told Gandhi during the meeting. This was disclosed by none other than Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw  in an address at an IGNOU convocation. 
General Manekshaw also asked Mrs. Gandhi not to let the people and the country start thinking that he was going to do the same what General Yahya Khan had done with Pakistan. 


Indian Army is daily in news these days, but for the wrong reasons. Army Chief age issue. Followed by the news that Home Ministry has turned down the Army Headquarters’ recommendation (subsequent to the events of January 16/17) to appoint Lt Gen. Choudhary as D-G Assam Rifles, the paramilitary force it controls. A.K Antony's Office bugged by Army. Then comes, Army Chief's Bribery allegation in Tatra Truck deal. Then, Confidential letter written by General Vijay Kumar Singh to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is out. Last to this line is news of a troop movement. 

On 02nd March news flashed ''Antony's office 'bugged', Defense Ministry orders probe''. On 05th March 2012, fog started to disappear, cat was finally out of the bag, Army understood the person behind this salacious and malafide stories, Lt. Gen (Rtd) Tejinder Singh, ex Director General of Defense Intelligence Agency. 

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh
with the three Service Chiefs. Photo:PTI 

On March 26 2012, The Hindu reported 'I was offered a bribe of Rs. 14 crore, says Army Chief'.  While making a statement on the bribe allegation in the Rajya Sabha on March 27 2012, Antony named Lt Gen (Retd) Tejinder Singh as the person who offered General VK Singh a bribe of Rs 14 crore for clearing the purchase of sub-standard vehicles.

Who is Lt. Gen.(Rtd) Tejinder Singh? Lt. Gen.(Rtd) Tejinder Singh was the ex Director General of Defense Intelligence Agency.and who has been earlier questioned on the purchase of the 'Of the air Monitoring System', without sanction by the technically empowered committee. This officer has also been an allottee in the controversial Adarsh Housing Society in Mumbai. Writing in The Sunday Guardian, Madhav Nalapat claims, citing unidentified sources, that Lt. Gen. Tejinder Singh, who stands accused of fronting for Tatra and offering Gen. V.K Singh a bribe, is connected to at least one upcoming politician. Tejinder Singh, he writes, “operates in tandem” with a retired Major and his son, “both of whom are well-known” to Home Minister P Chidambaram’s son Karthi Chidambaram. Subramanian Swamy too has pointed to connections between the “triumvirate” of Tejinder Singh, the retired Major, and Karthi Chidambaram. 

Supreme Commander of Armed Forces Smt. Prathiba
Devisingh Patil pays her respect at Amar Jawan
Jyothi along with the three Service Chiefs. Photo: AFP

A.K Antony is known for his honesty and integrity. When the news of a scam in Defense hit the headlines, Shri Prakash Karat, General Secretary of CPI (M), called a Press Conference, he made it very clear that something is rotten in the state of Denmark but he do not think that Antony will take money, that is the trust of an opposition leader in Antony. A.K Antony may not be a good administrator but you cannot call him Corrupt. A.K Antony when he assumed office as Defence Minister warned of strict action against corruption in defense. He also assured zero tolerance to corruption in defence contracts. 

When I spoke with J Gopikrishnan (Man who exposed 1.76 Lakh Crore- 2G Spectrum scam) about Army Chief age issue, he said that General Singh, who heads the world's second largest standing army is a man of Honesty and Integrity. He added that he strongly suspect Arms mafia behind the controversy going on.  Senior defence officers, including former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, thinks that the Chief of Army Staff was the target of a politicians-arms dealers nexus. 


Manufactured and planted stories are having a single agenda: ''Remove Defense Minister A.K Antony and Army Chief General Vijay Kumar Singh from their respective seats. I do not need to say WHY. Everything is clear from the above paragraphs. The Great Indian Circus will get over the moment both of them quit.''

High Voltage drama continues...

(Nebil Nizar is a student at Government Law College Thiruvananthapuram, University of Kerala)