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THE uniformed services in all democracies no doubt function under civilian authority, but that does not mean that those in temporary positions of power in government should treat them with discourtesy. Of course, when someone in uniform exceeds bounds and conducts himself in a manner derogatory to established authority, he has to be firmly put in his place. When President Harry S. Truman found that Gen Douglas MacArthur's behaviour towards him bordered on insubordination, he unceremoniously relieved the General of his command, even though the latter was extolled as a wartime super-hero and a legend by millions in the US. With that one act President Truman's own reputation as one who brooked no nonsense skyrocketed, and made his place secure as one of the greats to occupy the White House.

Then there was the occasion in the early years of India's independence, when on the ground of differences of opinion with some policies or directives of the Government of the day, Gen Thimmayya, the Army Chief, abruptly announced his resignation one fine morning without prior consultation with the Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Rightly piqued, Nehru, in memorable words, gently chided the General in the Lok Sabha, saying: "I cannot congratulate Gen Thimmayya for what he has done." The General deferred to the Prime Minister and promptly withdrew his resignation. Prime Minister Winston Churchill too, during the war, relieved the likes of Generals Auchinlek and Wavell from their commands shunting them to insignificant slots, and the military establishment, media and Parliament accepted his decision, coming as it did from one who was providing such magnificent leadership and knew every nuance of the operations.

But, India's Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes, nowhere matches their calibre and personality. Further, he is under a cloud following the Tehelka revelations, and his name is yet to be cleared. True, he has shown a degree of dynamism and commitment by personally looking into the problems and hardships of the Defence forces. Perhaps, no other Defence Minister has visited so many advance formations at high-risk and high-altitude locations and spent so much time with the troops. All this does not entitle him to be rude and boorish to the Chief of Army Staff, Gen Padmanabhan, by administering a public rebuke for "the cavalier manner" in which he "bandied about" the repercussions of a nuclear war with Pakistan. Mr Fernandes himself had been previously guilty of some unbalanced statements on China and about "finishing" Pakistan with a nuclear strike.

The decent thing would have been for him, if he felt the need to soften the General's remarks, to have talked it over with him in private and let the General himself clarify his observations at a suitable opportunity. The ham-handed treatment of Gen Kapil Vij also smacks of a lack of nicety and sophistication. There should be less bumbling at the highest political levels in handling such sensitive matters pertaining to the Defence establishment. Within every uniform is a human being of emotions and feelings.

B. S. Raghavan

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