Soldier's God

07-28-2003, 10:44 PM

Colonel Neeraj Bali, SM
As a serving army officer, I never stop marvelling at the
gullibility of our countrymen to be provoked with alacrity into
virulence in the name of religion. I have never heard the
word 'secular' during all my service -- and yet, the simple things
that are done simply in the army make it appear like an island of
sanity in a sea of hatred.

In the army, each officer identifies with the religion of his
troops. In regiments where the soldiers are from more than one
religion, the officers -- and indeed all jawans – attend the weekly
religious prayers of all the faiths. How many times have I trooped
out of the battalion mandir and, having worn my shoes, entered the
battalion church next door? A few years ago it all became simpler --
mandirs, masjids, gurudwars and churches began to share premises all
over the army. It saved us the walk.

Perhaps it is so because the army genuinely believes in two
central 'truths' -- oneness of god and victory in operations. Both
are so sacred we cannot nitpick and question the basics.

In fact, sometimes the army mixes up the two! On a visit to the holy
cave at Amarnath a few years ago I saw a plaque mounted on the side
of the hill by a battalion that had once guarded the annual Yatra.
It said, 'Best wishes from -- battalion. Deployed for Operation
Amarnath.'

On another instance, I remember a commanding officer ordered the
battalion maulaviji to conduct the proceedings of Janamashtmi
prayers because the panditji had to proceed on leave on
compassionate grounds. No eyebrows were raised. It was the most
rousing and best-prepared sermon on Lord Krishna I have ever had the
pleasure of listening to.

On the Line of Control, a company of Khemkhani Muslim soldiers
replaced a Dogra battalion. Over the next few days, the post was
shelled heavily by Pakistanis, and there were a few non-fatal
casualties.

One day, the junior commissioned officer of the company, Subedar
Sarwar Khan walked up to the company commander Major Sharma and
said, "Sahib, ever since the Dogras left, the mandir has been shut.
Why don't you open it once every evening and do aarti? Why are we
displeasing the gods?"

Major Sharma shamefacedly confessed he did not know all the words of
the aarti. Subedar Sarwar went away and that night, huddled over the
radio set under a weak lantern light, painstakingly took down the
words of the aarti from the post of another battalion!

How many of us know that along the entire border with Pakistan, our
troops abstain from alcohol and non-vegetarian food on all
Thursdays? The reason: It is called the Peer day -- essentially a
day of religious significance for the Muslims.

In 1984, after Operation Bluestar there was anguish in the Sikh
community over the desecration of the holiest of their shrines. Some
of this anger and hurt was visible in the army too.

I remember the first Sikh festival days after the event -- the
number of army personnel of every religious denomination that
thronged the regimental gurudwara of the nearest Sikh battalion was
the largest I had seen. I distinctly remember each officer and
soldier who put his forehead to the ground to pay obeisance appeared
to linger just a wee bit longer than usual. Was I imagining this? I
do not think so. There was that empathy and caring implicit in the
quality of the gesture that appeared to say, "You are hurt and we
all understand."

We were deployed on the Line of Control those days. Soon after the
news of disaffection among a small section of Sikh troops was
broadcast on the BBC, Pakistani troops deployed opposite the Sikh
battalion yelled across to express their 'solidarity' with the
Sikhs.

The Sikh havildar shouted back that the Pakistanis had better not
harbour any wrong notions. "If you dare move towards this post, we
will mow you down."

Finally, a real -- and true -- gem. Two boys of a Sikh regiment
battalion were overheard discussing this a day before Christmas.

"Why are we having a holiday tomorrow?" asked Sepoy Singh.

"It is Christmas," replied the wiser Naik Singh.

"But what is Christmas?"

"Christmas," replied Naik Singh, with his eyes half shut in
reverence and hands in a spontaneous prayer-clasp, "is the guruparb
of the Christians."

07-31-2003, 04:15 PM

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Jai Ramji Ki!

Dear Friends:

After reading this article, I once again wonder whether the rejection of the
first British proposal of making India a British dominion, a mistake or not.

Here is my reason: Hindus and Muslims never lived as equals in India before
independence. Muslims were the rulers of India before the British. And they
fully expected to return to power and continue to rule over the Hindus.
Bahadur Shah is one example, Jinnah is another.

Perhaps as a British dominion, Hindus and Muslims in India could have had a
weaning period (before becoming fully independent), an opportunity to live as
equals, before being thrown to the unsettling events soon after partition. The
deep scars of partition have still not healed.

Regards,

Dhruba.