The mainline media version of my article has appeared in India's Hindi business daily Business Bhaskar (http://business.bhaskar.com/article/government-is-making-a-mountain-out-of-molehill-2767797.html)
The head of one of the world's largest and perhaps most disciplined armies has approached his country's supreme court to get the government to set its records straight on his birth.
It's becoming abundantly clear that, on the issue of Army Chief General VK Singh's date of birth, the government has successfully created a large mountain of controversy out of what should not even have been a molehill to begin with.
All that was required was that the erroneous entry that advanced his year of birth from 1951 to 1950 should have been corrected in the records of the Military Secretary's branch. The school matriculation certificate is considered the authentic birth certificate; no other certificate or book of entry supersedes that except, perhaps, the certificate issued by your municipality or equivalent.
That is why the issue should have been closed in 1966 itself when the UPSC (the Union Public Service Commission) sought and received his clarification that his year of birth was not 1950 (as submitted in his application of 1966, but 1951 (as recorded in his supporting document, the matriculation mark certificate). In 1971 again, Singh submitted the matriculation certificate to the Adjutant General's MP5 branch, which is the army's official record keeper.
So, if not 1966, then the matter should have been closed in 1971.
But, no. In 2006, The Military Secretary informed Singh that their records show his year of birth as 1950. The correspondence on record indicates that the Military Secretariat could have rectified its records but chose not to.
It's entirely coincidental that the Military Secretary's branch holding the age records was then headed by Avadesh Prakash, who was found guilty on three counts by the army court in the transfer of 71 acres of land adjacent to the Sukna military base in West Bengal. The action against Prakash was initiated by Singh when he was heading the army's eastern command.
The government is unleashing a formidable line-up of constitutional experts to take on the general. There's some talk of taking the general being sacked and taken to task for 'alleged' indiscipline. We can look forward to the Congress's spokespersons taking on all and sundry on the TV channels. In short, the government appears to be hunkering down for a bruising fight with its top army commander.
What explains the government's obstinacy and refusal to see reason? Has it lost its marbles? The BJP has reportedly chastised the government for its 'failure', 'inefficiency' and 'not showing statecraft'. Other political observers have speculated on the absence of will, capability and leadership in the government.
But that's too simplistic. Manmohan Singh and his ministers do not lack education, intelligence, or political savvy. The government has shown itself to be stubborn and strong-headed on issues such as Indo-US nuclear treaty or on the populistic MNREGA or the food security bill.
The government's stand on General Singh is being seen as a precedent; it's actually another example of a dangerous trend—of contempt and an absence of respect for domestic institutional protocol and etiquette, the common thread that links the Indo-US Nuclear Treaty, CWG, 2G, Ramdev, Anna Hazare, Adarsh, FDI, Jaitapur, Kudankalam, and General Singh, among others.
This government has accepted the huge risk of choosing a bureacrat's whim over the pride and honor of India's top soldier. All because of a single digit!
