Pride of nation or ‘Boru’ show? 

In The Island of Feb. 3, a concerned citizen’ calls the whole scene ‘obscene’. His language may be strong, but accurate. He ends by asking the question, ‘Am I the only one …?’ Certainly not, Sir!

Do we have crises on multiple fronts – fuel, energy, dollar, food, not to mention Covid – or not? Are the people trying hard to make ends meet? They are not in the mood to enjoy the ‘dancing in the streets’.

Covid:

The DGHS does not stop telling us to have the third jab and to avoid non-essential gatherings. There is a massive congregation of service personnel billeted in the VMD Park for the last week. Daily there are rehearsals where they mix with other performers. Social distancing is impossible in such situations. Is everybody tested for Covid? Would the DGHS declare these gatherings as ‘essential’? 

Fuel and dollars:

There are so many land vehicles and aircraft involved in this exercise, not just for one day but for the whole week. How many dollars’ worth of fuel is burnt in the process? Do we have a fuel and a dollar crisis or not? Why are we behaving as if we are swimming in the stuff? 

Relevance:

Judging by what is parked in the VMD Park, the might of the Army would be show-cased by parading a train of battle tanks and other assault vehicles on the day. Why? What is the relevance to the Independence Day? One could understand such show of force in countries where the independence came following a revolution or an armed conflict – France, Russia, China and so on. Gaining our independence had nothing whatsoever to do with the armed forces. It was achieved by peaceful and skilful negotiation by our national heroes of all three denominations, working as one. So, why do the Forces have to show off their ware on the Independence Day? Wouldn’t it be much better to use the day remembering and honouring the afore-said national heroes? 

This brings us to the more fundamental question: what is the point of our military in today’s context?

Existential justification:

The war was over 13 years ago! Currently, the Army has 200,000 regular personnel with another 40,000 plus reservists; 62 battle tanks (plus another 120 in reserve); 112 infantry fighting vehicles and 468 armoured personnel carriers.  What are they for? Whom are they going to be used against? Our own people? Unthinkable. A second LTTE insurrection?  If there is going to be one, it would be a failure of political leadership to ‘win the peace’. Against a foreign aggressor? India??  

This brings to mind JRJ’s response to a request by the Army Chief in 1987. The Army man said, ‘We have got the LTTE surrounded. We can finish them off for good. Sir, please give the go ahead to take them on’.  JRJ said, ‘I see. But can you take the Indian Army on?’ That was that.

So, this is all for the show and we are spending huge sums of money to pump up our ego and to feed our vanity. Personnel and equipment should be sufficient for peaceful roles domestically, peace-keeping roles overseas on UN missions and for training purposes; and all forces should be slimmed down accordingly.

We simply cannot afford the luxury of putting on ‘Boru Shows’.

 Dr Asoka Weerakkody