150 military veterans write letter expressing outrage over use of armed forces for political purposes
Expressing outrage over the "use" of the armed forces for "political purposes", over 150 military veterans have written to President Ram Nath Kovind to seek his intervention in preserving the apolitical character of the services.
The letter, dated April 11, carries the names of eight former service chiefs but two of them - former Army Chief General (retd) S F Rodrigues and Air Chief Marshal (retd) N C Suri - said they have not signed it.
Former Army Vice Chief Lt Gen (retd) M L Naidu also said his consent was not taken before listing his name as one of the signatories. When contacted, several veterans, including former Army Chiefs Gen (retd) Deepak Kapoor and Gen (retd) Shankar Roy Chowdhury, acknowledged writing the letter. Chowdhury said the letter was written expressing sentiments of the military veterans on an important issue. The veterans said they chose to write to the President, as he was the custodian of the Constitution as well as the supreme commander of the armed forces.
Referring to Rodrigues and Suri denying signing the letter, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman called the allegations "fake". "It is absolutely condemnable that names were mentioned without taking permission," he said.
The letter cites several examples of the military being used for political purposes, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath referring to the armed forces as "Modiji ki Sena" and the display of images of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman at political events.
What the letter says
'We refer, Sir, to the unusual and completely unacceptable practice of political leaders taking credit for military operations like cross-border strikes and even going so far as to claim the armed forces to be 'Modi ji ki sena'. This is in addition to media pictures of election platforms and campaigns in which party workers are seen wearing military uniforms and posters and images with pictures of soldiers and specially of IAF Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, displayed. It could, therefore, directly affect national security and national integrity. We, therefore, appeal to you to ensure that the secular and apolitical character of our armed forces is preserved'
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