Members of defence force have unequivocally condemned the shocking statement made by an ex-army man, Major General SP Sinha, in a TV news channel debate. In a fit of rage, the General can be seen screaming horrific words of vengeance, “mautkebadlemaut (murder in return for murder)” and “rape kebadle rape (rape in return for rape)”. In a news debate on TV9 news channel where the topic being debated upon was the exodus of Kashmiri pundits, the Major General can be seen invoking the same sentiment among the audience members, as a woman from the audience stood in support of Sinha’s statements. While the moderator of the debate is seen trying to pacify the General and to shut him saying, condemning his statements, the General kept repeating the same deeply offensive statement, over and over again.
Retired defence officers are held in high regard in the society, and for a man who once held one of the highest ranks in the Indian Army to stoop so low also hurts the dignified and self-disciplined image of the Army. Many retired Army officers have distanced themselves from the statements made by Maj. Gen. Sinha in the debate, and one of them even called him a “loose missile”.
The clipping of the video is available in this tweet: https://twitter.com/imMAK02/status/1195958713531584512
Listen this Ex Army officer Major General SP Sinha.
He said “Balatkar ke badle Balatkar” (rape for rape) as a revenge for Kashmiri Pandit exodus.
He is openly supporting rape of Kashmiri women, such kind of filthy officers are protected under draconian Law like AFSPA. pic.twitter.com/GHaHFota1S
— Md Asif Khan آصِف (@imMAK02) November 17, 2019
Our take:While a lot of officers voiced the need for a code of conduct for retired personnel, many more feel that this would only amount to silencing dissent. India is a Constitutional Republic and all its Institutions –as the women and men who man them—are bound and sworn to this Constitutional Vision of Equality, Justice, Fraternity and Non-Discrimination. This includes its Armed Forces.
Army men are expected to conduct themselves with dignity and show a degree of self-discipline imbibedduring their years of serving. Imposing a code of conduct would only lead to unwarranted muzzling of voices, especially of those expressing dissenting opinions against a government of the country they served.A retired defence officer, just like any other person, ought to refrain from falling prey to majoritarian hate propaganda and more so, refrain from spewing such inciteful hatred from a public platform such as national television; given how common similar diatribe from loose cannon right-wing supremacists has become these days.
Incidentally such views are also violative of Sections 153a, 153b and 295 of the Indian Penal Code.