No other case has besmirched the image of the army as much as the Adarsh case. During the ‘breaking news’, media went berserk tarnishing the character and military reputation of retired service chiefs and other senior commanders. The complete officer cadre of the services was projected a bunch of unscrupulous and greedy characters. It was alleged that a piece of defence land meant to rehabilitate Kargil-widows had been misappropriated by a few service and defence estate officers through falsification of records in order to construct a residential building.
Although it was a simple case of a few officers forming a society to seek allotment of land from the state government, the media chose to call it 'Kargil for Profit' scam and insisted that Kargil-widows had been swindled out of their entitlement by devious officers. Worse, the Defence Minister and the Chief of the Army Staff repeatedly asserted that the land belonged to the defence ministry and vowed to take action against the wrongdoers. It amounted to an implied admission of culpability of the officers involved. The media attack was so vicious and unrelenting that every serving and retired officer felt hurt, slighted and let down.
Some sane voices were heard during the follow up ‘coverage phase’. However, many channels decided to continue with their misplaced tirade against the service officers. Every group discussion castigated the army leadership for falling standards. Retired service chiefs were called land sharks and equated with land mafia. As is its wont, AHQ failed to clarify matters to let the truth be known.
Multiple enquiries and the court case have revealed many astonishing facts. The defence ministry has admitted in an affidavit submitted to Mumbai High Court that it has no record of the land in question to prove ownership. It has also accepted receipt of a letter from the state government in 1964 declining transfer of Block VI Backbay Reclamation to the defence ministry. In addition, state government has repeatedly claimed ownership of the land in the state assembly and justified its sale to Adarsh society.
Where does the case stand now? If the defence ministry has no records to prove ownership of the land, why were the top defence officials misleading the country? On what grounds has the army ordered enquiries? What is its locus standi to question purchase of land by a society from the state government? As regards grant of environmental clearance and other sanctions, it is purely a matter related to civilian governance and is being investigated by the civil agencies. It is time media initiates ‘closure phase’ and hauls every single authority that alleged misappropriation of defence land before its viewers. They should be asked to explain reasons for making false claims and denigrating the officer cadre.
FINALLY
Military leadership is very conscious of its public standing and highly sensitive to unfair character-assassination. Undoubtedly, there are some black sheep and they must be given exemplary punishment.
Three suggestions are offered here. One, it should be obligatory for the media to carry out an introspection through the ‘closure phase’. It should have the moral courage to correct itself. In the process it will gain credibility for itself. Two, retired service officers, who are called by the electronic media as ‘experts’ for discussions should apprise themselves of the rules and facts of the case beforehand. They should advice restraint till enquiries unearth the truth. Tendency to pass condemnatory comments without adequate knowledge must be curbed. AHQ must keep the environment informed of true facts of the case. It must realise that unwarranted media attack on serving and retired officers dents the image of the army as an upright institution.
Finally, media coverage of Sukhna and Adarsh cases over the last two years have caused immense pain to all serving and retired officers. Both the media and AHQ have let them down. They have been made to feel small in front of other segments of the society. It is unfair to look for scams where none exists. Reputations once lost are very difficult to redeem
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