Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Military, civilian, and political relations

The Tribune (India) has a piece by Rahul Bedi, When Military Officers Cosy up to Politicians.
The perilous penchant for tailoring operational missions to meet the ruling administration’s political demands has degenerated into a symbiotic, and mostly accepted, relationship between military officers and politicians. The latter use service personnel for political profit, while the soldier pursues career betterment and re-employment after retirement.
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In the process, the Army, in particular, has been turned into an instrument for permanent crisis management, deployed to contain insurgencies in the North-East, Kashmir and earlier in Punjab. Its role has been reduced to that of a better-trained, -equipped, -disciplined and more feared constabulary in olive green.
Are there any lessons to be learned?

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