International
Army chief retires after controversial tenure
Army chief retires after controversial tenure
Agencies/New Delhi
| Outgoing army chief General V K Singh leaves after inspecting a farewell guard of honour in New Delhi yesterday |
The head of the Indian army retired yesterday after a stormy tenure in office that included a series of public spats with the government, amid speculation he may enter political life. General Vijay Kumar Singh took the government to the Supreme Court in January in an unprecedented dispute over his retirement due to confusion over his date of birth. Singh lost his lawsuit, in which he sought to remain in his post an extra year, after the court upheld the government’s stance that his birthday in official records was May 10, 1950. Singh, who at 62 has reached the mandatory retirement age for his job, maintained he was born on the same day a year later and that a transcription mistake had been made in his records. The dispute caused discomfort in India, which prides itself on the armed forces deferring to civilian oversight.
| New army chief General Bikram Singh |
“All I would like to say is that I want to be remembered as a soldier, as somebody who has tried to uphold what the army stands for,” Singh told a defence ceremony on Wednesday in the western city of Pune. “There is no misunderstanding between the ministry of defence and us.” Newspapers have regularly suggested that Singh has political ambitions but he has declined to outline his future plans. “I don’t know at the moment, I will decide after retirement,” he was quoted as saying earlier this month when questioned by reporters. Singh, known as an anti-graft campaigner, embarrassed the government in March by alleging that he was offered a $2.8mn bribe in 2010 to fix a supply contract, a complaint which was not followed up by the authorities. In the same month, the media published a leaked letter from Singh to the prime minister complaining how India’s tanks lacked ammunition, its air defences were “97% obsolete” and elite forces needed essential weapons. Also yesterday, Singh expressed “concern” over murder allegations against officers of an army intelligence unit under the Dimapur-based 3 Corps in the northeast.The 3 Corps is commanded by Lt Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag, against whom Singh had issued a show cause notice citing “abdication of responsibility” by him in taking action against his Corps Intelligence and Surveillance Unit (CISU).Suhag is in contention to become the army chief in 2014. But for that to happen, he first needs to be promoted as army commander later this year. With the show cause notice and a resultant discipline and vigilance ban imposed on him by Singh, his promotion is now in doubt.The alleged murder of three civilians came to light after a major in the CISU wrote a complaint to Singh seeking action against the unit’s officers.After he was accorded a ceremonial send-off, the outgoing army chief told reporters that he had received the complaint and had forwarded it to the headquarters for suitable action, but no probe was carried out into the charges.The incoming army chief, General Bikram Singh, is a low-profile career soldier who is expected to prioritise repairing relations with politicians and modernising the army’s outdated equipment. Hailing Bikram Singh as a “capable” successor, V K Singh said he was “confident” the new chief will “perform his duties in the interest” of the army.Bikram Singh’s appointment came after an intricate vetting process in the wake of an allegation that he was involved in a fake shootout in Kashmir and an intelligence check on his family members.He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy and the Indian Military Academy. He also attended the US Army War College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania.