Getting real

Maj (R) Navdeep Singh

Global Military Justice Reform contributor Major (Ret) Navdeep Singh has written this powerful and constructive end-of-year blog post about some deep cultural issues within the Indian military world. The entire post is important reading; here's an excerpt:

A few days ago, at an official gathering where I had a longish conversation with some highly competent officers of the defence services, certain issues that I speak of above, stuck me hard. One, that there is an extreme lack of understanding, knowledge and acknowledgement of contribution of other professions or services. Two, that the basic insight regarding our national institutions is lacking. Three, that there is some kind of a feeling as if only the military is serving the nation while all other professions are lax, dishonest or both. Four, that there is strong resistance to change and things have come to such a pass that attempts to impress are made not by the depth of learning or knowledge but by scratching the surface and flowery English.

How many of these observations describe conditions in your country?