General Story:

Sept. 12/2011: This is another side to the national character. A story that, in some ways, has not been a complete surprise though different. With all that the country has been reading about or watching lately, the Army tale is a little amusing. The tone of the cry to stick on to his job (a job, it has to be remembered) for another 10 months on the part of the Army Chief of India General Vijay Kumar Singh is in tune with the ambient atmosphere prevailing in the country. It would not be considered wildly off sync to expect from a person who manages to become the topmost boss of probably the 2nd largest army of the world that he tell the truth in at least as personal a matter as his date of birth!

That it has been allowed to develop into a public issue is even more surprising. The parties involved in the feud are the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and the General inpidually. The history of this story might have several twists and turns and many unknown angles. No sane person could deny that fact. However, whatever points have come to public domain are hilariously obscene and definitely sad for the nation. A clear and simple review of all the stories carried

by the media across the board shows that (a) the Adjutant General's record holds a date of birth as 10 May 1951 (b) Matriculation certificate holds the DoB as 10 May 1951 (c) However the Military Secretary Branch Record shows his DoB as 10 May 1950 (d) these dates, to be unearthed, were accessed through the Right To Information Act (e) Some 20 Congress Members of Parliament had met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to demand this General be retained for another year at his post (f) Defence Minister Antony has informed Rajya Sabha that the General had earlier accepted promotions based on his 1950 date of birth as recorded in the Military Secretary Branch Record and a few more such blatant tidbits.

First, how did the year 1950 crop up in the Military Secretary Branch Record which is in charge of appointments and promotions in the Services? A simple explanation could be that the '50 date must have been supplied by this man himself while joining the service. It may also be presumed that he would have said the truth at that young age. Its funny but true. Many parents in India used to always get their wards' dates of birth botched. Thereby guaranteeing a longer period of government job because the actual retirement age gets pushed back. This used to be usually done in the Matric certificate stage as that is the first

official acknowledgement of age as well as the basic foundation of education. Our General story fits in and like how.

Second, who was it who asked for the DoB of the General from his Matric certificate under the RTI Act? The applicant would have mentioned a reason for seeking the information and that reason must have satisfied the Army's Information Officer so much that he was tempted to give away one of the most personal data of the Chief himself. Transparency and honesty must be appreciated here. However, by this fact not only the General's wish list DoB came to official attention, it also emboldened him to raise his voice to demand for a longer tenure.

The story unfolds in such a sordid manner here onwards that it would hurt any sensible citizen of this country. Now there is another funny twist. A few people, all civilians, when asked about how they would have reacted in the General's shoes said they would have had a similar view as him. They argue simple. Parents did lie. Many would probably be still doing it with the kids. It's a socially accepted fact in many families of this nation. The General should get the benefit of his parents' misdeed. In all this they forget that the Army Chief himself has goofed up and worst-got caught. He, like his parents, could have proved his glorious ancestry by bluffing about his real date of birth at the very beginning when he had applied to join in the Army. He need not have mentioned 1950 anywhere in his self filled application forms. Today that lie would have been complete. And next, had that been the wrong year, he should not have accepted his twin promotions which resulted in his reaching this exalted apex position. This way or that, the General should have been consistent with one of his stories. The problem is with lying. If you tell the truth and relax, no further complications arise. With a lie, you have to always remember where and what you had lied

about. This situation has reached such a level that to save his own image and that of the Army, the General should step down from his post of his own accord prior to his retirement age. Better still, right now. 

That is the general story.