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Govt’s mistrust sparked coup fears: Ex-DGMO
The controversy over the alleged unauthorized movement of troops towards New Delhi in January 2012, when the then Army chief General V K Singh was dragging the government to Supreme Court over his age row, was a result of distrust and misconception, Lieutenant-General A K Choudhary, who was then the director general of military operations (DGMO), has said.
While asserting that the movement of the two “small” troop units was part of a “routine” exercise, Lt-Gen Choudhary, who retired a few weeks ago, however, admitted the incident did perturb the highest levels of government.
“There was misconception or there was perceptional difference or there may be was distrust (between Gen Singh and the government)… (But) the possibility of a coup was unimaginable,” he said, summing up the atmosphere that developed after Gen Singh got into a standoff with the government over his date of birth. While he claimed he was born in 1951, the official records accepted by the government showed that it was 1950.
Asked about the controversy rearing its head once again, defence minister A K Antony on Friday reiterated that the movement of the two Army units — one of paratroopers from Agra and the other of mechanised infantry from Hisar — was a “routine training programme” and there was “nothing wrong in it”.
The minister rejected Lt-Gen Choudhary’s claim that there was any “trust deficit” between the government and the Army. Both Antony and the PM had earlier dubbed media reports, which insinuated that the government got “spooked” since it thought a coup could be in the offing, as “alarmist” and “absolutely baseless”.
But Lt-Gen Choudhary said the then defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, who is now the comptroller and auditor general, summoned him around 11 pm on January 16, just hours after Gen Singh had moved the apex court, to ask him to send the troops back as the government at the highest level was “worried”.
The former DGMO said he knew about the movement of the Hisar unit a day earlier after a senior colleague called him, alerting about concerns of intelligence agencies. Lt-Gen Choudhary said he had ordered this unit to halt and turn back.
The government did get a “little excited” about the “normal” troop movement, which was “uncalled for”, but immediately “understood” after he explained the matter, Lt-Gen Choudhary said.
Gen Singh, on his part, said certain sections of the media were determined to portray the sequence of events as a coup in the making by him. “It was a routine exercise and only a fable of a sick mind can imagine anything else,” he said, adding that a “senior bureaucrat linked to a Chandigarh think-tank” was behind the “plot to tarnish me”.
“What pains me most is that in their bid to tarnish me, they have denigrated the only institution which thinks of the nation first,” he posted on Facebook.
But expressing concern over Lt-Gen Choudhary’s remarks, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said though the government faced trust deficit in all sectors, distrust with the Army was never comprehended. “The distrust between the government and the Army is a matter of serious concern. Army protects the nation. If this type of reports come, it is a matter of serious concern,” he said.
National security advisor Shivshankar Menon, however, dismissed any talk of distrust between the Army and government. “I don’t see there is distrust. How can I comment on something that I don’t see. Because I am a civilian, I work very closely with the Army every day. I don’t see that,” he said.
Govt’s mistrust sparked coup fears: Ex-DGMO | idrw.org
The controversy over the alleged unauthorized movement of troops towards New Delhi in January 2012, when the then Army chief General V K Singh was dragging the government to Supreme Court over his age row, was a result of distrust and misconception, Lieutenant-General A K Choudhary, who was then the director general of military operations (DGMO), has said.
While asserting that the movement of the two “small” troop units was part of a “routine” exercise, Lt-Gen Choudhary, who retired a few weeks ago, however, admitted the incident did perturb the highest levels of government.
“There was misconception or there was perceptional difference or there may be was distrust (between Gen Singh and the government)… (But) the possibility of a coup was unimaginable,” he said, summing up the atmosphere that developed after Gen Singh got into a standoff with the government over his date of birth. While he claimed he was born in 1951, the official records accepted by the government showed that it was 1950.
Asked about the controversy rearing its head once again, defence minister A K Antony on Friday reiterated that the movement of the two Army units — one of paratroopers from Agra and the other of mechanised infantry from Hisar — was a “routine training programme” and there was “nothing wrong in it”.
The minister rejected Lt-Gen Choudhary’s claim that there was any “trust deficit” between the government and the Army. Both Antony and the PM had earlier dubbed media reports, which insinuated that the government got “spooked” since it thought a coup could be in the offing, as “alarmist” and “absolutely baseless”.
But Lt-Gen Choudhary said the then defence secretary Shashi Kant Sharma, who is now the comptroller and auditor general, summoned him around 11 pm on January 16, just hours after Gen Singh had moved the apex court, to ask him to send the troops back as the government at the highest level was “worried”.
The former DGMO said he knew about the movement of the Hisar unit a day earlier after a senior colleague called him, alerting about concerns of intelligence agencies. Lt-Gen Choudhary said he had ordered this unit to halt and turn back.
The government did get a “little excited” about the “normal” troop movement, which was “uncalled for”, but immediately “understood” after he explained the matter, Lt-Gen Choudhary said.
Gen Singh, on his part, said certain sections of the media were determined to portray the sequence of events as a coup in the making by him. “It was a routine exercise and only a fable of a sick mind can imagine anything else,” he said, adding that a “senior bureaucrat linked to a Chandigarh think-tank” was behind the “plot to tarnish me”.
“What pains me most is that in their bid to tarnish me, they have denigrated the only institution which thinks of the nation first,” he posted on Facebook.
But expressing concern over Lt-Gen Choudhary’s remarks, BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said though the government faced trust deficit in all sectors, distrust with the Army was never comprehended. “The distrust between the government and the Army is a matter of serious concern. Army protects the nation. If this type of reports come, it is a matter of serious concern,” he said.
National security advisor Shivshankar Menon, however, dismissed any talk of distrust between the Army and government. “I don’t see there is distrust. How can I comment on something that I don’t see. Because I am a civilian, I work very closely with the Army every day. I don’t see that,” he said.
Govt’s mistrust sparked coup fears: Ex-DGMO | idrw.org