Controversy over Lt General Praveen Bakshi’s address snowballs

Is there a move to ask Lt General Pravin Bakshi, the eastern command chief of the Indian army whose seniority was overlooked by the Government last month while appointing General Bipin Rawat, junior to him, as COAS (Chief of the Army Staff) to put in his papers?

While there is no official confirmation, the Government, claim sources, is embarrassed over Lt General Bakshi’s no-holds-barred address to his Command by way of a New Year’s message. The address purportedly delivered on video speaks largely about a conspiracy against him to deny his elevation as army chief.

While Lt General Bakshi, on leave till January 29, has seven more months before he retires, the Government appears worried at the fallout of his address. The fact that both the video recording as well as the transcript of his address has been circulating on websites and among defence personnel (National Herald has not been able to independently verify their authenticity), officials hold, is a matter of concern.

Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Friday told newsmen that he was certain that if Lt General Bakshi had some issues, the Government would address them. He also revealed that both he and Lt General Bakshi had reached out to each other and that the latter had agreed to attend the meeting of commanders to be held at the Indian Military Academy, Dehradun on January 21.

But an evidently bitter Lt General Bakshi, the seniormost Lt General before the Government appointed the new COAS, if the transcript of his address doing the rounds is indeed genuine, seems in no mood to resign till he clears his name.

The unusually candid address contain details which hint at it being genuine. And it spares neither the media nor the veterans and some people within his own Command. While the Lt General does not blame the Government directly, he clearly does not think very highly of babus who give credence to anonymous letters sullying reputation of people.

NH culled the most significant parts of the address to make sense of the snowballing controversy.

• I am completely in agreement with the political decision taken by our government. It is a political decision and we shall abide by it. There is no reason to question it, to dissect it in the public domain…

• People of our own fraternity, our veterans, have used this as an opportunity to come on the electronic media and dissect, talk about four serving Lt Generals, drawing their merits and demerits in the public domain. In my personal opinion, I think that was in very very poor taste. I sincerely hope that better sense prevails in the veterans

• When I was in Delhi and going to meet the honorable Raksha Mantri, I found, on the TV channels,'General bakshi seeks meeting with RM'. I'm very grateful to the honorable Raksha Mantri for having deftly side-stepped the issue including his interview yesterday, NewsX I believe, and brought out, in a very sophisticated manner, what needs to be put out in the public domain. He said, there is no controversy on this. He rightly said, yesterday, that from the day of the announcement, he wanted to get in touch with me but somehow he did not get through to me. The defence secretary spoke to me and mentioned that the honorable Raksha Mantri would like to speak to me and I called on the Raksha Mantri, and we had a very good one-on-one with nobody else.

• Let me make it absolutely clear gentlemen, no favours were asked, no favours were given. No commitments were asked no commitments were given. I don't think that's a soldier's way of doing things. So there is nothing on the horizon, which I am looking, seeking.

• I think some things need to be kept out of it( Media)…they are in it for TRPs they may be opinion holders but matters of the armed forces, my opinion, they are looking only at sensational or negative (news) to be brought out there is very little constructive reporting within is somebody taking a bribe? Somebody getting court-martialed? It makes a huge splash and in the present case, they would like some sensational news to go out.

• Those of you who watched the TV, I think, some days back, one anonymous letter was flashed one of the news channels also that letter I am aware of the truth in that context. But then there was not one anonymous letter, there were many written over a period of five to six months talking about my functioning as eastern army commander and making certain allegations.

• The letter which I have, led me to believe, that there was somebody from my command who was talking, who was giving information, lending credence to the information, assisting t them, in fact, this letter is somewhere around the 29th of June, but, since they did not know the facts, they tended to make things up, and that is where they tended to make mistakes. Mistakes like I had a memorandum of understanding with Mahindra and Mahindra and I had called General Shami Mehta, who got the Mahindra group here and then I called some of my commanders here and made them listen to them, hobnob with them.

• I have never met him (General Shami Mehta) till he retired, I just didn't know him; he has nothing to do with Mahindra which had come as part of a CSR project with the full knowledge of the army headquarters and the DG for making a shelter for the students. General Shami Mehta had nothing to do with it he was not even present, he was not part of the MoU which was just a simple MoU signed with Mahindra and Mahindra.

• It is absolutely true my three predecessors had averaged an expenditure of only (Rupees) 3-4 crores in there tenure this is a verifiable fact it was adversely commented upon by CAG which asked 'why give army commanders special powers if (money) is not spent?'

• Rs 50 crore was allotted to me this year, having spent it, I asked for 75 more crores, having spent it, I got Rs 25 more crores and as I talk to you today, 85 crores I have spent from an average of my predecessors of 3 crores.

• The fact that an investigation was ordered by the CDGA, which went to the CGDA Guwahati and people found out where (items) were purchased from, were those agencies in any way connected to me and they came up with nothing. And I was not concerned. Because the CGDA investigation got it in writing, nothing was addressed to my headquarters and I brought it to the attention of the outgoing chief that such a thing was happening, and it was incorrect, but nothing came out.

• But why I am not resigning I want to get to the bottom of who was behind this whatever seeds of doubt are lingering in whoseovers minds have to be clarified. By resigning, I will be running away from the b and that is not in me how can I be your army commander if I were to run away for no personal fault of me.

The bullet points above are unedited excerpts from the transcript, which can be read in full here