We need the army but can we trust the generals?

An army is essential for the protection of the nation but how far can you trust the generals. Over 200 girls were kidnapped from a school in northern Nigeria 5 weeks ago by Boko Haram thugs and its leader, Abubakar Shekau threatened to sell them as sex slaves or as wives if his men were not released from prison. Despite repeated atrocities the Nigerian army seems totally incapable of defeating a band of few hundred men. Because the army is ill equipped, morale is low, soldiers are poorly trained and not paid for months. Nigeria is an oil economy so why does the government not spend a few millions to upgrade it? That is because the civilian government is more afraid of its army than it is of Boko Haram. Nigeria has a history of coups and memory of Sani Abacha is still fresh. He plundered $4.3 billion from state coffers and his wife, Maryam was caught trying to fly out with 38 suitcases, stuffed with cash. After saying repeatedly that they would stay out of politics General Prayuth Chan-ocha has staged a coup in Thailand. Former Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, her sister and brother-in-law have been detained. Her brother Thaksin was deposed in a coup in 2006 so it is not surprising that politicians, especially in developing countries, are deeply distrustful of their armies. The Congress government panicked when on 16 January 2012, 2 army units moved towards Delhi. On the same day the then army chief Gen VK Singh had moved the Supreme Court to change his date of birth and this was cited as the cause for alarm but it could have been due to fear in the Congress after Gen Singh refused a bribe of Rs 140 million to cover up the Tatra trucks scam. The irony is that time after time Indian soldiers have distinguished themselves by sacrificing their lives to save the country only to be betrayed by the politicians who chose to give away all the gains for nothing in return. Mistrust of the generals was probably the reason why our army was kept deliberately untrained and ill-equipped in 1962 and were slaughtered like sheep by the Chinese. Till today the Henderson-Brooks report is kept hidden to save Nehru from blame. Despite a hostile Pakistan to the west and China to the north the army is denied a joint Chief of Defense Staff who will coordinate all the branches in a joint operation. The Pakistani Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif has had to take permission from the generals to attend Mr Modi's swearing in ceremony. The memory of being deposed in a coup in 1999 after failing to stop Musharraf from landing at Karachi Airport must be fresh in Sharif's mind. So can we trust the generals? In India we definitely can. It is the politicians who are shifty.