Indian Hindu

Indian Army in the dockWe in India, as a rule,are rather proud of our military,especially its land arm, the army.Many in the north-east region and those in Kashmir may not quite agree, but there are reasons for that attitude. For the rest of us, through the years, the force has been generally considered orderly and efficient, begetting trust by putting national security and welfare above its own.Which is why it is very painful to note the indictment by the United Nations Organisation, delivered by no less than the Secretary-General himself, of"prima facie evidence" regarding involvement of our men in sexual exploitation and child abuse in civil war-torn Congo, where close to 9,000 soldiers from here are part of the UN peace-keeping force. There have been charges earlier, too, of involvement in gun and gold smuggling, and of abuse of power, which the army has largely dismissed as untrue, except for a mild censure of three peace-keepers.Ban Ki-moon, the UN chief, has asked our government for the "maximum degree" of punishment if the latest charges are confirmed, and there should be no hesitation on this. Our own official probe has begun, and it is good that the Defence Minister has promised it will be both comprehensive and time-bound.Denial and a reluctance to dig deep is the usual response of any uniformed force to charges of this nature. The army has earlier —the latest such instance was only last month — claimed "vested interests" are using the media to "undermine" our forces in the Congo.It may be so, but this latest charge comes after a formal UN probe and our minister's promise must be credibly adhered to. There is the related question of the sort of command structure responsible for ensuring there is no room for charges of this nature. Or, indeed, of any sort of breach in professional functioning. Around 16,000 of our troops are serving in UN peacekeeping missions, the one in the Congo being only one of six. Peacekeeping in the wake of a civil war in an alien country and culture can be a great learning experience (our comrades in UN peacekeeping in the Congo are from Pakistan and Bangladesh), if the command structure enforces both discipline and sensitivity. Indians need to be reassured that this is indeed happening and that we aren't exposing thousands of our soldiers to the wrong sort of lessons. The probe should encompass this, and we await its findings.Sriram Savarkar ©Hinduism is more a way of life than a method of worship.Dharmo Rakshati RakshithahaIf you protect Dharma, Dharma will in turn protect you.Hindus, If people slap you once, slap them twice!