Delhi is agog with the news that the elevation of Lt. General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Eastern Army Commander as the next Chief of Army Staff is imminent. This is despite the fact that there are allegations of serious abuse of Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) under the watch of Lt. General Suhag when he was earlier General Officer Commanding III Corps with Assam, Nagaland and Manipur as the Areas of Responsibility that are covered by AFSPA. The Army entity abusing AFSPA was the Dimapur based Intelligence Unit (IU) commanded by one Colonel Shreekumar reporting directly to Lt. General Suhag.
People like us are normally not concerned about these appointments and the persons selected for these top posts because though somewhat flawed, there is a reasonably well established process through which these high positions are filled. But when 'Line of Succession', an obnoxious feudal practice was brought into play in 2012 to appoint the present COAS (General Bikram Singh) and Eastern Army Commander (Lt. General Dalbir Singh Suhag) things changed and questions were raised.
I was one among those who raised questions when in 2012 General Bikram Singh was being appointed as COAS. Some of us 'senior citizens' had pointed out the fact that there were allegations of fake encounter against Bikram Singh (as Brigade Commander in J&K, an area covered under AFSPA c) pending in the J&K High Court seeking a Commission of Inquiry. Yet the appointment was rammed through and a plea in the Supreme Court fell on deaf years! What is worse, 'doctored' papers were presented to get the PIL in SC dismissed and despite efforts through RTI Act over the last two years Ministry of Defence and Cabinet Secretariat are keeping the 'fudged file' hermetically sealed! The mainline media, print and electronic, helped in this fraud by eminently twisting and spinning facts in an extremely distorted manner.
A similar game is being played out now with the UPA Government, which is virtually on its way out, us is making desperate moves to consummate the repulsive 'line of succession' by appointing the AFSPA tainted Suhag as the COAS before it demits office in about two weeks time. And Suhag is involved in AFSPA abuse of the worst kind as would be evident from the two events briefly narrated below:
Event One was in July 2011 when Col. Shreekumar's own Second-in-Command, Major Takula Ravi Kiran, wrote to the Brigadier General Staff of III Corps stating that on the 13th of March 2010, three Manipuri boys had been abducted and shot dead by Colonel Shreekumar's outfit. Two days later, their bodies had been exhumed from a temporary grave in Rangapahar and thrown into a river. These bodies had been subsequently recovered by the Assam police on 19 March at Lakhijan in Karbi Anglong, but at the time they had no idea about who the deceased were. Despite the evidence on record with the police both HQ III Corps and Eastern Command refused to act on this crime. Spin doctors say that in March 2010 Suhag was not commanding III Corps. It is irrelevant because when the gruesome crime committed by an unit under him was brought to his notice he was very much commanding III Corps and he should have acted swiftly.
Event Two was dacoity committed by the same IU in December 2011 when Suhag was very much the III Corps Commander. An armed party of fifteen soldiers dressed in battle fatigues under the command of Captain Rubina Kaur Keer, an officer of Col Shreekumar's IU, had raided the house of one Poona Gogoi, an army contractor in Jorhat, who was away in Guwahati. But all members of the family-wife (Renu Gogoi) and three children-were manhandled and tied up. On the orders of Captain Keer soldiers forcibly took the keys of the locked cupboards and took into possession a licensed pistol with thirteen cartridges, jewelry worth Rs. 6.5 lakhs and cash adding up to 1.5 lakhs. They also took away an assortment of items that included a laptop and four mobile phones. On Poona Gogoi registering an FIR with the police station listing all the items that had been stolen., III Corps handed back the stolen pistol, most items and the cash except the jewelry and cartridges. After that Suhag told the police that the matter would be dealt with by Army authorities and that they had no further jurisdiction in the matter.
Both these serious crimes have been committed in an AFSPA covered area by the IU under Colonel Shreekumar's command. Though the Colonel had denied being part of the raiding party, the police had accessed his mobile call records which clearly established that he was constantly in touch with Captain Keer before and after the raid. Shreekumar had a virtual free hand as he reported directly to Lt. General Suhag (Corps Commander) and Lt. General Bikram Singh (Army Commander) and was involved in various nefarious activities which included the flow of narcotics and a network involving vehicle thefts in Rangia district of Assam. Despite being posted in Dimapur, Col Shreekumar was mostly seen in Delhi doing hatchet work and assisting in the conspiracies and intrigues!
The Court of Inquiry ordered by the then Eastern Army Commaned, Lt. General Bikram Singh was an eyewash and deliberately meant to protect Suhag as would be evident from the fact that it was headed only by a Brigadier rank officer. This was premeditated because being directly responsible for the IU, Suhag should have been the first person to answer for its illegal actions. The CoI was obviously orchestrated which is evident from the fact that despite clinching FIR and evidence the accused could get away on some technical ground or the other. The murder charge was also hushed up despite the fact that Major Kiran wrote again to HQ III Corps giving lucid narrative as to how the tripple-murded took place.
Despite this shielding former COAS General VK Singh, besides directing stringent action against the culprits, issued a Show Cause Notice (SCN) on 19-05-2012 to Lt. General Suhag and simultaneously placed him under a Discipline and Vigilance (DV) Ban. The SCN brought out lapses noticed by the then COAS for not handling a Unit placed under the Corps Commander's direct command in a professional and appropriate manner and also for not following up on certain other complaints sent earlier through HQ Eastern Command.
Despite this and much against Rules, MoD appointed Suhag in the acting rank of Army Commander w.e.f. 01.06.2012 even before he replied to the SCN and its detailed processing on merit. What is worse, as soon as he took over as Army Chief Bikram Singh got the DV Ban on Suhag lifted in an illegal manner. This was done without proper investigation and due application of mind only to make Lt. General Suhag a regular Army Commander against the vacancy kept unfilled for over15 days.
Though the present Eastern Army Commander (Lt. General Suhag) and COAS (General Bikram Singh), both products of the obnoxious 'Line of Succession', tried their best to hush up the whole thing the Court of Inquiry led to Court Martial. In December 2013, the Court Martial concluded its deliberations and ordered the dismissal from Service for Havildar Sandeep Thapa. Colonel Shreekumar was given a severe displeasure while Captain Rubina was given a reprimand along with Havildar Bhupen Hatimuta and Havildar Jeevan Neog who got severe reprimands.
Despite the harrowing facts narrated above, a criminal petition pending in the Guwahati High Court and Civil Appeal in the Supreme Court, MoD is proceeding with the appointment of Lt Gen Dalbir Suhag as the next Chief of the Army Staff obviously due to extraneous considerations. The recommendation of the defence ministry though will have to be approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
It appears that behind the push by the UPA Government in its dying days to install Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag as the next COAS, is the powerful Arms Lobby which has billions of dollars at stake.This has been brought out by Dr Subramanian Swamy's on his letter to the President requesting him to stop the UPA from hastening next Army chiefs appointment for extraneous reasons. President has sent this letter to the Prime Minister, for consideration and action. But, obviously acting under the orders of their powerful masters. MOD and the UPA spin-doctors are at it again, blatantly suppressing heinous AFSPA abuse, trivialising facts and spreading lies and canards lies that cannot stand up to the most basic scrutiny.
Sometimes the truth is a bitter pill to swallow especially when we as a nation are betrayed by our own. All the moral grandstanding comes to naught when the Army's top two officers, under the UPA and PMO's protective shield, stand accused of being accessories to murder and dacoity in the AFSPA covered areas. This blatant alleged acts weaken the very purpose of AFSPA, which is meant to protect our soldiers from false cases, and not something to be used by the top brass in pursuing an agenda of their own. Will the former Army chief, General VK Singh and his band of supporters, ridiculed and attacked by the spin doctors of the UPA, be vindicated after all.
MOD and the government, are already lying through their teeth. Lt Gen Ravi Dastane's Civil Appeal hearing in Supreme Court has been curiously shifted from 2 May to September rendering his case meaningless. The Jorhat incident is being brushed aside as being a case of a junior NCO stealing a cell phone, while Major T Kiran, the whistleblower in the Manipur killings is under virtual arrest with the Army desperately trying to get him to retract his statement.
The question is whether Army is being politicised or criminalised. If so by whom? The jury is out.
[Writer is a former Army & IAS Officer]
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