Is the Indian Army against civilians?

We all talk so high of armed forces personnel and we respect them for their service as service to the nation while just about everyone has a role to play in nation's development. Be it a safai karmachari to an electrical lineman to an underground miner to a bus or truck driver, etc. they are all serving the nation in their own way. But we still hold armed forces personnel in high esteem and clearly above the rest.

The fact is armed forces personnel are just doing the job what they are meant to do, trained to do and paid to do. As much as any other person just doing his job.

But when we look at some of the recent actions of armed forces personnel, they look like high handed, arrogant, insensitive and inhumane too. The armed forces personnel appear to be highly selfish and self centered. They look at civilians with contempt and treat them as inferior beings to have their way, even if it means that several lakhs of ordinary people are being put to great inconvenience and suffering.

Take the case of Secunderabad Cantonment roads closure issue. Just to live in colonial style in lavish comfort at the expense of ordinary tax payers, to play golf in peace and wale away their time in the name of recuperation in a peace zone, they have systematically closed one public road after the other, and now they are hell bent in closing other main and connecting roads acting as the lifelines. The very same roads which the common public have been using for over a hundred years now without any problem or inconvenience to army personnel or their installations.

It's the time the army officials understood that they are losing the respect from the ordinary civilians and the civilians are openly debating now and expressing their displeasure and disapproval as to some of their actions. The army officials need to know that they are there to serve and not to harass or inconvenience the common public. Afterall they are getting paid from the public money.

By S. Anoop Kumar,
The opinions expressed in this article are personal views of the author