Indian Guns with Roses

“I want to eliminate ‘kills’ from army’s vocabulary”, General Joginder Jaswant Singh roared.

General J.J. Singh, the new army chief, who took over as the chief of the army on Monday, seems to make a transition in the Indian Army. At present, when the insurgent prone states cried foul against army atrocities and youths were thrown out of running train by the army personals and cease fire is going on in J&K, the announcements from the new four star general are very important. The image of an army personal with a pinpointed carbine towards the people and readiness to trigger and the feeling of the people getting intimidated is not only present in India, Iraqis have worst experience in this regard. The first Sikh army chief’s effort to scrap this image of army is worth watching. He will award the army troops not on the basis of kills or captures of so called insurgents but after inspecting the reports of local civic authorities like superintendent of police and the head of the panchayat.

WHAM, Winning Hearts And Minds, which was much talked about in the senior army circuit seems to be declared publicly. General Singh, the 22^nd occupant of the office, himself made the statements may be too early in his tenure, but the people of those insurgent prone states will be relieved a lot if the statements will be reflected in actions by the army personals.

At the same time General JJ can’t be underestimated for his winning capability. When he was the company commander in J&K he used the guns loaded with roses and frequently meet and address the common people and listen them to win their confidence.

Along with his announcement about reviewing the reduction in army troops in high altitudes he also wants to reorient priorities to the technological upgradation of the information systems, intensive use satellite communication. His aim is to transform the Indian army into 21^st century futuristic battlefield with mechanization of logistics and extensive use of IT.