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Gen VK Singh's silence on Myanmar strike speaks louder than words

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Kumar Shakti Shekhar
Kumar Shakti ShekharJun 12, 2015 | 20:44

Gen VK Singh's silence on Myanmar strike speaks louder than words

Defence minister Mahohar Parrikar and minister of state for information and broadcasting Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore may have made overzealous statements post Indian Army's hot pursuit in Myanmar, but one person who remained conspicuous by his silence on the whole issue was minister of state for external affairs and overseas Indian affairs Gen VK Singh.

Soon after the June 4 ambush in Manipur allegedly by National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang) [NSCN(K)] killing 18 soldiers of 6 Dogra regiment convoy, Singh tweeted condemning the incident and expressing solidarity with the families of the martyrs.

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But that is the last one has heard from him. There has been no word or tweet from him after para commandos of the Army conducted successful surgical strikes inside Myanmar on June 9.

Singh is generally known to be loud and clear in expressing his views, particularily on issues of national security. He was expected to comment on the army's rare hot pursuit - one, because he is a former chief of army staff and secondly, because of the portfolios he holds in the Narendra Modi government.

So, what is the reason behind Singh's reticence? Silence is the most perfect expression of scorn, said George Bernard Shaw. Is it because of Singh's uncomfortable equations with the incumbent chief of army staff Gen Dalbir Singh that he did not compliment the force which he had headed before taking a plunge in politics?

Singh did not congratulate the army for its successful Myanmar operations because if he had done so, the credit would have gone to Dalbir too. Singh perhaps did not want that to happen.

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There is a history and politics behind Singh's disdain for Dalbir, to the extent that it had heavily embarrassed the BJP government. In one of his tweets just about a year ago (on June 11, 2014), Singh disapproved of Dalbir as the army chief-designate.

In his capacity as the army chief, Singh had imposed a promotion ban on Dalbir for a December 2011 raid conducted on the house of a contractor in Jorhat, Assam, by a military intelligence unit. As lieutenant general then, Dalbir commanded the 3 Corps in Dimapur, Nagaland, and an army soldier had picked up a mobile phone of the contractor. The need to appoint the mandatory court of inquiry was bypassed by the imposition of a promotion ban on Dalbir.

As mentioned by Sandeep Unnithan in his piece in India Today on June 13, 2014, Singh's tweet was a reaction to an affidavit filed by the ministry of defence in the Supreme Court on June 4, 2014 (just a few days after Modi government assumed power on May 26) that termed his imposition of the promotion ban as "premeditated, illegal and extraneous". Despite Singh's scuttling attempts, Dalbir went on to take over as the army chief on July 31, 2014.

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According to the defence ministry's affidavit, one of the "extraneous reasons" for Singh imposing a promotion ban on Dalbir involved the family. The principal beneficiary of Dalbir being sidelined would have been Lt-Gen Ashok Singh, whose son Anirudh got married to VK Singh's daughter Yogja on April 29, 2013. However, Singh's lawyer Vishwajeet Singh had denied that the former chief was pursuing a personal agenda.

Singh's personal relations with Dalbir notwithstanding, one would be naturally curious to know the former army chief's views on a military operation which marks a major shift in the nation's defence forces strategy.

Last updated: June 12, 2015 | 20:44
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