Congress leader Sandeep Dikshit’s comment likening the army chief to a “goon” was denounced by the government. BJP demanded an apology from party chief Sonia Gandhi and accused the Congress of “consistently” shaming and demoralizing the army. I don’t support Congress leader’s statement but, somewhere first time in the history of India, even army chief is made to talk politically by his masters. BJP is slowly hijacking esteemed institutions and converting them to puppets. This has happened so rapidly in last three years and seems unbelievable. They have been shown post retirement dreams and literally kept mortgaged. Anyway, there is no point in demoralising our own army.
Mr. Dikshit, a former Congress lawmaker and the son of former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, has apologized after using the words “Sadak ka goonda (street goon)” for Army Chief Bipin Rawat. The minister said, “Ours is not a mafia Army like Pakistani army which makes statements like goons on the street. It looks bad when our Army chief issues a statement like a sadak ka goonda. The comment made to a journalist, generated outrage and widespread criticism. The news has grabbed headlines and generated good TRPs too. Congress leader at least said once what he had to say and apologised too, but media is reporting and naming the abuse again and again, which is even more shameful. Congress has distanced itself from Mr. Dikshit’s comments.
Bipin Rawat was also compared with British General Reginald Dyer, who achieved notoriety after ordering the Jallianwalla Bagh massacre of 1919. The comparison had appeared in an article published in the CPM mouthpiece “Democracy”, which has party Chief Prakash Karat as its editor. The BJP has condemned the comparison. Academician Partha Chatterjee, who had penned the piece, wrote that the Army chief, by commending Major Leetul Gogoi’s action of using a civilian as a human shield in Kashmir, “let down the high professional standards in the Army”. Chatterjee’s article appeared days after General Rawat, in an interview to news agency Press Trust of India, said the Army was facing a “dirty war” in Jammu and Kashmir which has to be fought through “innovative” ways. He had added that the main objective of awarding Major Leetul Gogoi, when a Court of Inquiry was finalising its probe into the incident, was to boost the morale of young officers operating in Jammu and Kashmir.
The British General had ordered firing at a crowd of protesters at Jallianwala Bagh, a public ground in Amritsar, on April 13, 1919, in which 379 people were killed. Though, action was taken against him by the army, he was hailed as a hero in Britain. The Congress leader was apparently referring to General Rawat’s statement defending an army officer’s decision to strap a civilian to the front of his jeep as a “human shield” against stone-throwing protesters in the Kashmir Valley.
Rawat was commissioned into the 5th Battalion of 11 Gorkha Rifles on 16 December 1978, the same unit as his father. He has vast experience in high altitude warfare and ten years of counter insurgency operations. He has commanded a company at Uri, an infantry battalion in the Eastern sector along the Line of Actual Control at Kibithu, 5 Sector of Rashtriya Rifles (Sopore) as brigade commander, 19 Infantry Division (Uri), III Corps(Dimapur) and GOC-C Southern Command (Pune). He has also held staff assignments which include an instructional tenure at Indian Military Academy, Dehradun; General Staff Officer Grade 2 at the Military Operations Directorate; logistics staff officer of a RAPID in central India; Colonel Military Secretary and Deputy Military Secretary in the Military Secretary’s Branch and Senior Instructor in the Junior Command Wing. He has also commanded MONUSCO (a Multinational Brigade in a Chapter VII mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo) where he was twice awarded the Force Commander’s Commendation. He assumed the post of General Office Commanding in Chief, Southern Command on 1 January 2016 and assumed the post of Vice Chief of Army Staff on 1 September 2016. On 17 December 2016, the Government of India designated him as the 27th Chief of Indian Army Staff, superseding two more senior Lt. Generals, Praveen Bakshi and P M Hariz.
Within two weeks of deployment in the DRC, the Brigade faced a major offensive in the East which threatened not only the regional capital of North Kivu, Goma, but stability across the country as a whole. The situation demanded a rapid response and North Kivu Brigade was reinforced, where it was responsible for over 7,000 men and women representing nearly half of the total MOUNSCO Force. Whilst simultaneously engaged in offensive kinetic operations against the CNDP and other armed groups, Rawat (then Brigadier) carried out tactical support to the Congolese Army (FARDC), sensitization programmes with the local population and detailed coordination to ensure that all were informed about the situation and worked together in prosecuting operations whilst trying to protect the vulnerable population. This hectic period of operational tempo lasted a full four months and during this time Rawat, his headquarters and his international Brigade, were tested to the full, across the operational spectrum. His personal leadership, courage and experience were pivotal to the success that the Brigade achieved.
In June 2015, eighteen Indian soldiers lost their lives after being ambushed by terrorists belonging to the Christian-extremist National Socialist Council of Nagaland in Manipur. In response, the Indian Army responded with cross-border strikes by 21 Para (Special Forces) under the operational control of the Dimapur-based III Corps which was then headed by Rawat.
