Sacrifice for nothing.

In today's TOI the former Chief of Army Staff, Gen VP Malik laments that nothing was learnt from the Kargil conflict which has gone down in military history " as a saga of unmatched bravery, grit and determination ". In March 1999, just 2 months prior to the conflict Gen Malik wrote to the then Defence Minister, of coffingate fame," The army is finding that major acquisitions get stymied for various reasons and a feeling of cynicism is creeping in. By and large, the prevailing situation is that nothing much can be done about the existing hollowness in the army. By denying essential equipment, the armed forces would gradually lose their combat edge..." Yet 13 years after victory at Kargil with the sacrifice of 527 soldiers the army still lacks modern air defence systems, night vision equipment and its tank fleet is short of critical ammunition. Why are our armed forces so neglected when we are surrounded by hostile countries like Pakistan and China with heavily armed forces staring across our borders? The Naresh Chandra task force on national security says," The professional heads of the three services, charged with the command of the armed forces and responsible for national defence as well as conduct of war, have neither been accorded status nor granted any powers in the edifice of GOI ( government of India ). They are excluded from the apex structure and are to be only ' associated ' with the policy formulation process." What the committee is hinting at but cannot specifically name is the dark shadow that controls our government and perverts every aspect of our lives. This is the hated Indian Administrative Service which lurks in the dark behind politicians, knows every rule and department of the government and actively assists politicians in looting the country. This way it not only enriches itself but, by controlling politicians, also controls other services such as the armed forces, the foreign service, the police service and every civil service to the people such as land registration and setting up businesses. Since independence our soldiers have suffered heavy casualties because of poor equipment and tasted the bitter poison of defeat against the Chinese in 1962. Cariappa begged for 24 hours to get rid of the mujahiddin from Kahmir but Nehru wanted to play at the UN, Lal Bahadur Shastri signed away all our gains in Tashkent and Indira Gandhi returned 80,000 Pakistani soldiers for nothing in the betrayal of the Shimla agreement. Still, even after the Mumbai attacks, we go on " bended knees " to talk peace with Pakistan and have recently announced the resumption of cricket matches. The traitors just want to maintain status quo so that they can keep their iron grip on power. So what if our soldiers die or the country suffers.