An Army wife’s prayer

You, VK Singh, are a game changer.

You are trying to change the ongoing game that certain ethically compromised people, including some in uniform and retired ones, have been playing for over a decade.

You are trying to ensure that the military Institution is given its due space as a loyal, intensely devoted organ of the country, while choosing to remain under civilian control as it should be, in any democracy.

You are a cleanser. The nation has failed to clean up even the Ganga, but you are cleaning up the Indian Army from where it needs to be cleansed – at the top level.

You are aware, as are many of us, that the moral fibre, professionalism, patriotism and spirit of the Army lies intact at the levels where these are actually required – our troops and junior and middle level officers – who comprise over 90% of the Army.

They spend their professional lives away from Delhi – Thank God.

The grass roots level of the Indian Army, and retired ex-servicemen like us, are with you.

May you continue to have the strength and courage you have already demonstrated in ample measure. You will need a good supply of both for future threats from those who have made India their Jagir. You need the blessings of all of us.

India is not known to honor the brave. Thankfully, now it is learning to do so. The Internet and modern technology will help people express their support for you. Most of the million plus soldiers and an equal number of ex-servicemen will rally behind you.

The rest of India, sick, tired and angry about the state of the Nation, will also rally behind you.

All honest politicians and bureaucrats, cutting across party lines, and hopefully some legal luminaries, will also start speaking up.

The rest are parasitical chameleons who will change their colours accordingly.

Democracy will be better served, the governance of our country will improve and the nation as a whole will gain.

Your clarion call is a historic sign among others for a bright future for India. Civil society will get a further boost to change the rot in the system. Let things get worse, if only to become better.

Did not some ancients predict that 2012 will be the beginning of a tectonic change for the better?

Rogues, beware! Your time is up! Correct yourselves or go visit dhams in the Himalayas.

In fact, stay on there as Himalayan caves are better than jails! India is no longer your sole property. Once all of you are sorted out, India’s external threats will be easier to handle.

Do not dare to stand between India’s rot of today and the very bright, glorious future.

(About the author: Chhanda Mukherjee, wife of retired Major General Dipak Mukherjee, is a proud patriot who likes to voice her opinion on Army issues. Major General Dipak Mukherjee (retd.) was an Infantry officer who has taken part in the 1971 war. He also commanded a battalion in Sri Lanka, a brigade in J&K during the Kargil conflict and a Division of counter terrorist forces. Chhanda has done MSc in Botany and BEd.  She is a teacher.)