CDS AND BOGEY OF MILITARY COUP IN INDIA

WILL STRUCTURING OF CHIEF OF DEFENCE STAFF AND DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AFFAIRS FALL PREY TO BOGEY OF MILITARY COUP IN INDIA

 

We the people of India do solemnly resolve to constitute India….assuring the dignity of the individual and the unity and integrity of the Nation.

-        Constitution of India

General

Prominent strategic and military analysts within the country have expressed their views, from time to time, in well articulated critiques about the improbability of a military coup in India or rather of it being a non-issue. These thinkers have based their views upon critical aspects of most rigorous due diligence process followed for selection of the three Service Chiefs with inputs from multifarious security and intelligence agencies, armed forces to population ratio, plethora of intelligence and Para Military Forces, broad spectrum of regional representation, size and vastness of territorial spread of the country, strong democratic traditions of the nation and finally, but not the least, the historical track record of political aloofness of the armed forces. These all combined together should preclude any eventuality of a military coup.

However, the bogey of military coup continues to raise its ugly head from time to time and could play a vital background role in the staffing of Chief of Defence Staff and Department of Military Affairs, impacting their efficiency. 

To seek clear answers to this dichotomy, the subject at hand needs to be addressed from a broader perspective.

Statement of the Problem

The Constitution of India may be termed as a sacred legal, social, cultural and governance contract between the people of India and the people responsible for manning the governance structure of the country from time to time. A coup by the military would be an assault on the constitution itself. Whereas, there are ample institutional checks and balances in our governance system to prevent a military coup in India the subject continues to raise its head from time to time. This should logically lead our intelligentsia to search for answers to the following questions:-

What are the checks and balances for safeguarding the Constitution of India?

Are the armed forces of our nation a threat to the Constitution of India? Whether yes or no, are they the only threat?

What could be the broad spectrum of threats to our Constitution?

What is the historical perspective, since our independence, on the issues raised?

What could be the probable causes for raising the bogey of military coup time and again?

Checks and Balances for Safeguarding the Constitution of India

The Constitution of India has entrusted the Executive, i.e. the Government of India, with the task of ensuring the safety and integrity of the constitution against external as well as internal threat.

The Constitution has further laid down a fine system of division of powers and responsibilities between the three organs of state the Executive, the Legislature and the Judiciary thereby ensuring that no one organ of state becomes supreme and poses a threat to the Constitution itself.

This system is further buttressed by key autonomous Constitutional functionaries such as the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the Election Commission, and the Chief Information Commissioner. These constitutional functionaries perform the critical role of independent watchdogs on the functioning of the state.

The system is further subject to public scrutiny through a “free press”, an informal ‘Fourth Estate’.

Any attempt at disrupting these systems of checks and balances may therefore be construed as first attempt at subversion of the Constitution.

Military Threats to the Constitution of India

Nominally the President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. However the Government of India exercises control over its Armed Forces through the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The three Service Headquarters are not part of MOD, which is staffed by civil bureaucracy.

The three Service Chiefs exercise staff control only over their respective Service. The actual operational command over the troops vests with the C-in-Cs of respective Theatres. Thus, a ‘meeting of minds’ of a diverse body of key high appointments has to take place to enable subversion of the constitution by the military. The fact that all military personnel take an oath to safeguard the Constitution and also to obey only lawful command of their superiors further reduces the risk of such a ‘meeting of minds’ taking place. The existence of a plethora of security and intelligence agencies under the Ministry of Home to monitor against such an eventuality further obviates such an occurrence.

However, any system of governance is as good or bad as the people staffing it. Theoretically speaking, therefore, possibility of subversion of the Constitution of India by the Indian Armed Forces is as improbable or probable as from within the Executive itself.

The periodic threat perception of a military coup may therefore be traced to the ‘Us versus Them’ syndrome, the root cause of which lies in excluding the Service Headquarters from the MOD structure. Looking dispassionately, the most effective way of exercising control over the Armed Forces would be by integrating their Service Headquarters into an integrated MOD structure. This aspect, incidentally, has been recommended by almost all task forces created to recommend restructuring national defence structure to make it more cohesive.

Creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff, with his Headquarters, and a new Department of Military Affairs to be ex-officio headed by CDS is, hence, a step in the right direction. 

 

Broad Spectrum of Threats to our Constitution                 

Threat to the Constitution of India can be broadly categorized as emerging from external and internal factors.

·       External political, commercial and religious interests/entities by employing force or threat of use of force in conjunction with internal factors compliant to their interests. (The religious spectrum is intentionally mentioned as in the recorded history of mankind maximum casualties and atrocities have been inflicted in conflicts attributable to religious reasons.)

·       Internal political, commercial and religious interests/entities, in consonance with “committed”/compliant persona engaged in governance, through internal subversion.

Historical Perspective

Since our independence on 15 August 1947 there have been no recorded assaults or attempts to subvert the Constitution of India through a military coup by the country’s armed forces.

Imposition of “Emergency” in the late Seventies, with consequential growth of extra-judicial power centers may be deemed to be an attempt at subverting the Constitution of India. The role played in this act by the then elected political class in governance, duly supported by “committed”/compliant constitutional authorities and bureaucratic setup is all too well documented.

Overall six Acts passed by Parliament, from time to time, have been struck down by the Supreme Court, either in part or in full, for violating the doctrine of Basic Structure of the Constitution.

Various attempts, from time to time, in whittling down the autonomy and authority of constitutional organisations so essential in ensuring desired checks and balances vital for safeguarding the Constitution of India, have all emanated from the political class in power, duly supported by “committed”/compliant government functionaries.

The Indian military has consistently proved its apolitical nature over the last more than seventy years. Attempts at politicizing the military hierarchy, seen from this prism of history, would be tantamount to tinkering with a system which has stood the test of time.  “Committed”/compliant Chief(s) of the Armed Forces would increase rather than decrease the probability of subversion of the Constitution from within.   

 

Probable Causes for Bogey of Military Coup

India is a mature democracy. In no other mature democracy do we have this sorry spectacle where the integrity and loyalty of its armed forces is called into question time and again. The armed forces of the country are currently one of the few constitutional organisations “committed”/ compliant to the Constitution of India rather than to the political dispensation in power.

Under the given circumstances there is no tangible physical cause to explain the raising of the bogey of military coup. Some possible causes may be deduced as under:-

·       Psychological feeling of insecurity fed by the “us versus them” syndrome.

·       To mask real intention to weaken and hobble military hierarchy to make it more “committed”/compliant.

·       To divert attention from the dispensation that may be the real threat to subversion of our constitution.

Call for Dialogue

The integrity and safety of our nation is intricately linked to its Constitution and cannot be compromised with. Hence a serious and wide dialogue is called for to foreclose chinks, if any, in addressing threats to very fabric of our nation as we know it today.

The staffing of the newly created structures of CDS and DMA should be purely merit based and not be permitted to fall prey to bureaucratic machinations.