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Monday, July 31, 2006

BOUNTY HUNTERS by P K SINGH

This is an interesting article , by a dear friend of mine. It reflects the sad,gradual change that has come about in the army ethos over a period of time.It has too fallen into the trap of PROJECTION in the wake of rising competition all around. When YOU HAVE TO BE HEARD TO BE SEEN , you have little choice really.Butfor a few unscrupulous one this will always lead to disastrous games of backstabbing, lying and cheating to hog the limelight.It's reality today which we must accept and face up ... sad but true.Enjoy readingthis and leave your valuable comments too..


In a way, it was heartening to see the media shift its attention from Mumbai and politicians to rush to cover the plight of a little boy who fell down an open tube-well shaft By Indian media standards, it was ‘breaking’ news. Undoubtedly too, it must even have captured public viewing interests on television, but to make it the main news item for almost three days, that too by all Indian TV channels, was a bit unexpected. Surely, there is a yardstick to categorizing news as ‘breaking’ or for that matter, allocating unlimited air time; but, if Prince’s story was anything to go by, Indian media seems to have struck rock bottom in media intellect, when there was so much more happening all over the country and the world. A friend involved in live media coverage, explained this phenomenon as ‘bhed chaal’ (how sheep blindly do what the one in front does) where neither channel wants to get left behind … channel popularity votes are all that matter.

Interestingly, it was the grabbing of media limelight by the Army, which was as intriguing as the ‘breaking news’. Such large numbers of military men, so many senior Army officers; was it some kind of an anti-terrorist operation? That was the first impression one got when one switched on a news channel. To realize that it was a humanitarian act of rescue of a hapless child was heartwarming, but the scale of the operation was what confused the viewer. Did it need so many hands and minds to conduct this operation? By any reasonable reckoning, it should have taken a handful of men and one or two officers to do the job, with the civil administration providing the cordon and other services, then why such a ‘top-heavy’ congregation?

It needs to be understood that the promotion system is extremely pyramidical and competitive in the Army, where ACRs (confidential reports on performance) and gallantry medals are the main yardsticks for assessment. At each level of his career, an officer gets two to three years to prove his capability, before he is considered fit for the next higher rank. To get convincingly ahead of the ‘pack’, a medal of gallantry can do wonders for his career. It is here that the media comes in:. A good job done in full view of the nation could well earn a gallantry medal (remember the ‘Timber Trail’ cable car rescue by Army coommandos?) It may be mere conjecture, but this appears to be the likely explanation for the trend of ‘bounty hunting’ through the media, that seems to have become the hallmark of any act of ‘aid to civil authority’. No surprise then that many a gesture of aid to civil authority turns into a media event; with some luck, a mega event like ‘Prince’.


The Indian Army has been engaged in numerous acts of aid to civil authority ever since its inception. The scale of this activity is stupendous, by any standards. The actual value of most projects being hundreds of times more important than ‘Prince’, but often unknown to the public at large, due to lack of media coverage. The true committed soldier will simply do his duty and receive his satiation through the feelings of love and gratitude of the affected people. The PR department does its job of projecting the Army’s image to the world, but this new breed of ‘bounty hunters’ is definitely disturbing. The media notices some of them, others ‘get’ the media to notice them; sometimes it goes of well, at other times it ‘misfires’; sometimes orchestrated, at others it just happens; at times the ‘effect’ is achieved, but at times the reverse occurs. The falsified encounter in Siachin, ended in a court martial, the fake encounters in the Valley will see more heads roll, but what of the innocent lives lost? What of the morals involved? These are but some manifestations of this media phenomenon.

The men in OG’s are but mere mortals, some content with simple soldiering, others charged with a fire of ambition burning in their belly. Some get the opportunity to be noticed, others create it. Quick to learn from example and eager to emulate from styles of leadership; it does not take them long to realize the value of a media-centric approach to success. If each calamity brings our politicians and administrators, lucrative opportunities of easy fortune (from relief or development funds), perhaps there’s no harm in the military man seeking his bounty through the media, or is there? So, instead of a proud parent holding his rescued child affectionately, if one witnessed a ‘two-star’ general on page one of the national dailies and in the ‘breaking news’ on TV, proudly holding young Prince, perhaps very soon a medal will be pinned to his chest, as proof of the gallant act of bravery and courage in providing ‘aid to civil authority’. Welcome to the new breed of real-politik soldiering.


MRS PK SINGH

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