Army veterans have heavily come down on the decision of the Army headquarters calling it ‘idiotic’, ‘foolish’ and ‘ridiculous’ to finalize a code of conduct for retired officials who have voiced their opinion against either the oppressive policies of the government or its top brass, The Telegraph reported. The Army is reportedly planning to get all serving officers to sign an undertaking to adhere to the code of conduct or ethics after retirement.
Lt Gen. Ashwani Kumar, former army adjutant general who retired last week, had told a TV channel on Saturday that the army headquarters was working on a code of ethics for retired officers.
While the decision is not final yet, since the Navy and the IAF will have to be consulted too, it is also not clear if any violation of the code of conduct would bring in statutory punishment or not.
The Print reported that the Army Act covers only serving officers and veterans are outside its purview. While they continue to keep their ranks after retirement, their actions come under the Indian Penal Code.
Speaking to the publication, an officer said that no veterans had been considered in the matter and that the discussion had only happened at the level of serving officers.
Another move to crush dissent
The plan to gag the voices of veterans is coming to the fore after some retired officers have openly criticized the policies of the government. The top brass of the right-wing government who is not good at handling criticism has not welcomed any unpleasant comments saying that they tarnish the image of the forces.
A veteran who didn’t want to be named told The Telegraph: “This ridiculous move is a response to veterans’ criticism of government and army policy over the past two-three years.”
He added, “Any such code would be an attack on our fundamental rights. They need to change the Constitution for that and pass new legislation in Parliament. This is a foolish idea and will never see the light of day.”
In the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls, over 150 army veterans had written an open letter addressed to the President, the supreme commander of the armed forces, expressing their anguish over the efforts of the politicians to claim the credit for the cross-border strikes and also reducing the esteemed armed forces to ‘Modijikisena’. They had also criticized Army ChiefBipinRawat’s politically peppered statements on Pakistan and China.
Not just this, veterans have been critical of several other aspects related to governance and security. In the past year, the defence ministry’s order to reopen cantonment roads to the public and the move to make disability pension tax free only up to a limit, were all criticised by veterans.
Many retired veterans tweeted against the decision.
If a veteran commits a crime, lodge an FIR & punish him. Where is the question of a code of conduct coming in this? In any case is it legally binding? https://t.co/75oIHsD47L
— Brig V Mahalingam (@BrigMahalingam) November 4, 2019
As stated yesterday, I am not angry on watching the serving General’s interview, only saddened. However, I must share here that there have been times when Ministers Late Mr @manoharparrikar, Mr @rajnathsingh & Ms @nsitharaman have done what senior military staff should have done+ pic.twitter.com/6kutzXcHrF
— Navdeep Singh (@SinghNavdeep) November 3, 2019
ECHS failing. CSD failing. AWHO failed. VETERAN INTERACTION non existent. At least in Chennai. Code of conduct for veterans? Is this a joke?
— Palepu Ravi Shankar (@palepurshankar) November 4, 2019
How shallow can an organisation get? Army has given one more reason to the ‘youth’ to NOT to join forces. Rather than burning lane yards are destroying mediocrity Army wants to gag retired officers. This code of conduct will not be worth more than the paper it’s written on. pic.twitter.com/Wo7J6tdHD9
— @ColSanjayPande (@ColSanjayPande) November 5, 2019
We think Major General S SChohansaid it best when he said –
We are free citizens of India. The code of conduct in a democracy which is applicable to other citizens, applies to us also. We value it too. Jai Hind! ??
— brigtejinder (@brigtejinder) November 3, 2019
The Hindutva, right-wing, fascist, government has time and again tried to crush dissent – right from activists to celebrities. Had it been left to them, the Freedom of Expression would not have existed today. It is now left to be seen if they will be successful in stripping the loyal officers of their right to say what they feel. Will the veterans be up in arms or will they forever be silenced?
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