Here's a letter with several bonafide concerns and comments , from a dear dear friend, which I am posting alongside my reply to her. Sumita is a doctor by profession but actively involved with several social welfare programmes.Please find my reply to this letter attached below...

From: "Sumita Basu" Sent: Wednesday, November 02, 2005 11:16 AM

Subject: Hi from Sumita

Dear Jaya,

Wishing you and your family a very HAPPY DIWALI. Read a few articles from your blog and was truely impressed. Hope I can take the liberty of making a few honest comments. First of all,I understand the deep> anguish that the army wives undergo when their men areout there in the frontline fighting to keep the country safe. And kudos to those men ( and women)who are doing a wonderful job. At first when I was younger I used to cry seeing the plight of the war widows andtheir children and I truely used to take pride in our military, specially during the Republic day Parade(which was our only exposure to them). Now as I maturedI started thinking-is it really necessary for so much anguish and heartbreak that you people undergo? Is it really necessary for your men to go to war at all? So much senseless waste of valuable life! And who are wefighting against? Can't we forever find a solution which will make wars redundant? Can't we hold a referendum in Kashmir and decide once and for all what the Kashmiri people want? Afterall Kashmir was annexed to India after coercion and we have violated the United Nation Security Council resolution. In the face of the world we are as much a perpetrator as Israel on Palestenian land. And is it really necessary to have a standing army of 1.2 million specially if there is a war , an infantry will be no match in today's time of missile warfare. Like I said in my article "India ranks a miserable127th in the United Nation Human developement index". Don't you think we need to seriously divert the much required fund to alleviate poverty and illeteracy which are our real enemy? I think now is the time to take steps...

FOR SO MANY OF YOU WITH SIMILAR CONCERNS HERE IS MY REPLY:

Is it really necessary for so much anguish and heartbreak that you people undergo?

The anguish is not about the men going to war. Like anyone else anywhere else in the world these men are doing a job – perilous it is but so is mining , deep sea fishing and flying etc…The anguish of bringing up children in remote areas with limited amenities are also common to most of the families where men stay away from home for months on end…

Is it really necessary for your men to go to war at all?

In a Utopian world the answer woud be NO…there is no need for power struggle at all. However with scarce resources and overgrowing population, economic survival hinges on national security, i.e. a nation should be able to pursue policies to the best interest of its citizens without external influence. In the real world if India cannot protect itself physically it will not be able to take decisions in the best interest of its citizens. Iraq despite being the second largest proven oil resources in the world has had their children dying for the last 15 years, because they were not able to protect their national interests. Unfortunately security has a price tag.

And who are we fighting against? Can't we forever find a solution which will make wars redundant?

Article 2(4) of the United Nations charter outlaws aggression by nation states except in self defense. However in the intervening 5 decades the world has seen more than a thousand wars .Most of these wars, whatever be the justification, can be traced back to conflict of economic interest. They say that in Africa unless it is oil or diamond at stake they don’t go to war. The next wars as you know will be fought probably on water.


Can't we hold a referendum in Kashmir and decide once and for all what the Kashmiri people want? After all Kashmir was annexed to India after coercion and we have violated the United Nation Security Council resolution.

The UN resolution on Kashmir asks for a plebiscite in the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir; however the conditions stipulated the pull out of Pakistan (from their positions in 1948) which Pakistan refused. Today the plebiscite is irrelevant because unlike Kashmir the demography of Pakistan occupied Kashmir has been changed beyond recognition and the original conditions don’t hold true anymore. As for the proxy war waged by Pakistan it is not losing of Kashmir that is in question. Today even if we give away that 140 by 70 kms to Pakistan, it will probably disintegrate , given their inter provincial rivalries. It is the flood of religious fundamentalism which would be difficult to stall.

And is it really necessary to have a standing army of 1.2 million specially if there is a war, an infantry will be no match in today's time of missile warfare.

Duhet’s theory of war states that it is the air and air alone which will win wars of the future. As yet even the most industrialized nations of the world are not close to proving that. The infantry in whatever form will always be the final word in the battlefield. And who’s do you think will fight the increasing war against terrorism?

Somewhere in my blog you will find what the army does when it is not fighting a war and you will realize this huge force is silently involved in nation development which a lot of people choose to forget. All along the western northern and eastern borders it is the army and army alone which provides succor to the people (courtesy them there are availability kerosene and ration) and a wherever the army isn’t playing vital role (like in Dandakaryana and Chhatisgarh) the civil administration has ventured either.


India ranks a miserable 127th in the United Nation Human development index”. Don’t you think we need to seriously divert the much required fund to alleviate poverty and illiteracy which are our real enemy?

Do you realize if the army wasn’t there would be an additional 1.2 million would probably be going hungry or looking for a job, illiteracy proliferating, bad health and indiscipline mounting? Instead these men are being educated and disciplined, their families are well looked after, with excellent welfare measure providing all kinds of vocational training and assistance to even war widows. The problem has never been funding, just implementation. We even volunteered to help the Katrina ravaged New Orleans. Did you know that of the fund allotted for development work less than 14 paise per rupee reaches the ground? In the Army at least there is a lot of accountability. Everything happens on record time and great precision. In this country of 1 billion at least the families and extended families of the 1.2 millions are looked after…isn’t that of some consolation?

Finally I have a few questions:

• IN THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT UNTIL THE PEOPLE STOP MANUFACTURING WEAPONS CAN WE REALLY HOPE TO BE AT PEACE?
And also

• SINCE THERE ARE LAWS GALORE AGAINST CRIME CAN WE HOPE TO DO AWAY WITH THE POLICE SOMEDAY?