Secular Army

Independence Day is here again. Goes off without much ado in Pune, and other parts of the state, but in some parts of the country it is often a major achievement.

At some cost to the egos and pride of those of us who travel, sure. But then, face it, at least we can travel freely within India. Barring the odd natural or man-made disaster. How many other countries can make this simple statement?

Which is pretty much par for the course. Those of us who have travelled to other countries and lands where democracy, freedom and independence are considered by the rulers to be elements unfavourable to the masses, will cherish the "My India, Independent and Free" sentiment at any cost. Having worn a uniform in the past myself, I am aware that the brunt of this cost is borne by those who wear it now, but then again, who can forget a retired soldier like the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, an erstwhile Army Chief himself, standing ramrod straight in civvies, without blinking or wavering as he delivered his speech at Srinagar one Independence Day a few years ago as bombs went off metres away from his dais?

So, in the first instance, this column urges you to salute or at least recognise all those who wear or wore a uniform and did their duties and then went back to their barracks so that we could all continue to also celebrate our Independence. We do not have to look too far, next door with most of our neighbouring countries, to see how the uniforms have themselves deprived the rest of their citizenry from basic freedom. We, in India, do not have even the faintest clue about what this deprivation means.

And one of the prices we pay is that in Delhi and other places it has come to mean a season of very high and intensive security. The speech given from the ramparts of the Red Fort by the Nation’s democratically elected leader now goes way beyond symbolism because it is the declared aim of for some people who simply can not tolerate the governance we provide to ourseleves. They would, to put it bluntly, wish to rule India by force. Political leanings to the Left, Right or Centre, religious fundamentalism or otherwise, the aim is the same - grab the right of the people to elect (and throw out) leaders at regular intervals.

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So what role did the armed forces, non-colonial-police ofcourse, have to play towards achieving Independence for India from the British?

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Well, the role of the Indian National Army (INA) has never really been given the due credit it deserved. One acknowledged reason for that is the simple fact of life that much of the INA was composed of other-ranks and officers drawn from the Indian Armed Forces. It would be quite delicate for historians and military chronicles to record this because, fact is, these were largely "native" soldiers and officers left to fend for themselves and abandoned by the retreating Allied forces. No more place on the boats fleeing Singapore, Java and Sumatra.

History is full of examples where the armies stayed loyal to their regiments and formations but switched flags and causes based on messroom supplies and who paid or did not pay them. This, unfortunately, does not fall into neat little chapters in history books written by and for politicians. So that was, sadly, the end of the INA. What happened to its leader will remain under a cloud that is not just over South Asia, but also stretches from Portugal to Formosa to Japan and thence to the USSR, with ripples that extend to UK and the US.

The big ticket was that, other than the regular forces, the INA was the one truly secular body in India in those day.

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With the Indian Armed Forces, which also were till 1947 secular across pre-Partition India, we were and are luckier as a Nation. Because the Armed Forces in Independent India remained secular.

Remember, the Great Plan at the time of Partition aka Independence was that India and Pakistan would share their Armed Forces segregated on religious grounds but under common British Commanders. At the same time, the recently victorious Allies were busy setting up their representatives in countries as diverse as Ireland, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Phillipines, Iraq, Iran, Taiwan, Korea, and wherever else their spheres of influence prevailed. Take a closer look at many of these countries and their recent histories.

So. There is much validity in the theory that the departing Colonials hoped that newly Independent countries would soon lapse into puppet territories, to be milked dry for oil and other wealth. Religion would be one weapon. That Jinnah’s instructions for the introduction of religion as a litmus test for remaining in the Pakistan Armed Forces at the inaugural ceremonies in Karachi on the 14th of August 1947 was part of such a dream was visible very soon.

That this did not happen in India is probably the best contribution made to Independent India by those who wear uniforms. And for what it is worth, which is a lot, it is a great contribution to Independent India that those who do not wear uniforms and may be communal themselves, made sure that those in uniform remained secular, too.

And they get together on the 15th of August every year, in the one big show where politicians and armed forces meet on common ground, to re-affirm this every year.

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