The soldiers and the Chief!
ANN DESK/By: M S Nazki
The story of Indian Generals is great but one thing about General Manoj Narvane, I can say he has a big vision and that is, no army is better than its soldiers! The Indian Army has the greatest of them all!
-‘Precise reason as to why he was for the second visit within a fortnight!’
-‘ Of Some Consequence was a book written by General Sundarji and he had planned on writing 105 episodes of his life in the army and beyond. He was able to finish only thirty-five before he passed away. But the General left a legacy behind and one of the commandments was to be aggressive! Bullets are not required to kill a man, just human love is enough!’ General Narvane is from the same school of thought but the difference is to kill a fly you do need a hammer! And if it is required then it has to be on the head! Terrorism is a snake so a hammer blow has to land on head to decimate it!
-‘If the enemy parks himself at heights, just climb up and get the screws tightened on him. Wolves and Hyenas sit on hills but Lions on the hunt do not give them a chance! Pak soldiers were never given one! Kargil is still a big story which the fox Musharraf must have forgotten, we Indian soldiers have not’!
-‘Profession is a different thing, in uniform a person just looks majestic, strict and stern but at heart a soldier is a child! The message was familiar as to what General Manoj Mukund Narvane had to convey as he was in Jammu meeting soldiers on the LOC zone and on viewpoints with the top men. Land marks and degrees would have been perfect since that is what the men in uniform remember by heart!’
-‘Before I get to the script part of this story, let me tell you one thing, soldiers can sometimes make decisions that are smarter than the orders they’ve been given. This is what General Narvane knows the best! That is why within a fortnight it was the second visit!’!
-‘What is the next thing you need for leadership? It is the ability to make up your mind to make a decision and accept full responsibility for that decision. Have you ever wondered why people do not make a decision? The answer is quite simple. It is because they lack professional competence, or they are worried that their decision may be wrong and they will have to carry the can. Ladies and Gentlemen, according to the law of averages, if you take ten decisions, five ought to be right. If you have professional knowledge and professional competence, nine will be right, and the one that might not be correct will probably be put right by a subordinate officer or a colleague. But if you do not take a decision, you are doing something wrong. An act of omission is much worse than an act of commission. An act of commission can be put right. An act of omission cannot. ― Sam Manekshaw’ !
Now I need not tell who this great gentleman was. Evey officer passing out of the Indian Military Academy knows him. The man who won the 1971 war for India! Times have changed but the legacy remains the same as Army chief General MM Naravane visited forward areas along the LoC in Jammu region and was briefed on the ground situation in the region and ongoing counter-infiltration operations, officials said! This is the tabulation of the facts that happened on the ground:
* Army Chief General MM Naravane is on a visit to the Jammu region wherein he will be given an update on the security situation and operational preparedness in the Union Territory. He will visit forward areas and interact with troops and commanders on the ground.
*During the day, Naravane carried out aerial reconnaissance of the forward areas in the Jammu region. He was also briefed by the commanders on the ground on the prevailing security situation along the Line of Control.
* This is Naravane’s second visit to the region within 15 days. On October 19, Naravane had visited the forward areas in the Jammu region as well as the Line of Control (LoC) where the security forces were engaged in a fierce encounter with terrorists.
* In his Jammu visit then, Naravane had visited Bhimber Gali along the Rajouri Poonch axis where four soldiers were killed during an operation on October 14.
*The visit comes at a time when the security forces have undertaken a massive crackdown operation against terror elements in Jammu and Kashmir.
* The Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI) of the Indian Army tweeted. General MM Naravane COAS (Chief of Army Staff) is on a visit to Jammu region wherein he will be given an update on security situation & operational preparedness. COAS will visit forward areas & interact with troops and commanders on ground.
* In his first visit two weeks back he had visited the border districts of Rajouri and Poonch, where a massive operation to track down terrorists hiding in the forest areas of Mendhar, Surankote and Thanamandi has been going on since October 11.
* The operation started in Surankote forest on October 11, following the killing of five soldiers, including a junior commissioned officer (JCO), and was subsequently extended to Mendhar to neutralise the fleeing terrorists where another encounter took place on October 14, leaving four soldiers, including another JCO, killed.
* Rajouri and Poonch in the Jammu region have witnessed a rise in infiltration attempts since June this year, resulting in the killing of nine terrorists in separate encounters.
When it comes to Generals and soldiers of Indian Army let me tell you one thing as they set out on a mission, they start with a plan as related to the ground situation and they will invariably say in the debriefings that It’s delightful when your plans and imaginations come true, isn’t it? And also will add on with a chuckle, ‘that’s the worst of growing up, and I’m beginning to realize it. The things you wanted so much when we started off with the plan don’t seem half so wonderful when you get them implemented with the enemy on their knees! That is what an Indian Soldier and a General is, loves humans but enemy if nasty is not to be forgiven!
