NEW DELHI – *Far away from the glitter of the modern world, in the barrendeserts of Central Africa, in an unfortunate and accursed country called“The Democratic Republic of Congo”, crawl some toddlers who call themselvesthe “**Children of The Peacekeepers*link*.”*
These kids whose parentage is a fact folded in mystery and ambivalence, arethe only remaining memories of a UN Contingent which once administered areign of terror in these godforsaken marshlands. The said contingent notonly transgressed the limits prescribed in the UN Charter but also recededto a level which at the least was an insult to the very concept ofinternational peacekeeping.
Rape of innocent women, abuse of authority became an every day routine inthe country which already had seen more than 3 decades of civil war.
Woes and Miseries, of these ‘Lesser Children Of God’ who by virtue of theirfate came at the receiving end of the “services” rendered by thiscontingent, piled up rapidly.
Horrendous stories of misdeeds became such a regular narration that theyattained the status of folklores which still continue to draw tears in manyeyes.
UN, for the first time in its history had to reprimand a servingcontingent and demanded adequate and stern action against the“culprits.”The demand in its very self was a sick and inconsiderate joke asthe referred-to “culprit”was the entire fabric of the then incumbentcontingent which included ranks and files alike.
Any meaningful and deserving action against the top brass of the contingentwas neither intended nor desired, all that was required of the reprimandexercise was an eyewash aimed at the international donors.
A farcelinkwasthus conducted and several junior officers and soldiers were sacrificed atthe altar of redemption. The senior lot and the persona- designata incommand was not only let off but later decorated for this “Praise WorthyPerformance.”
We talk of this 2008 deformed chapter of history today because the“contingent” we refer to was the “Indian Army” contingent of MONUSCO andthe man in-charge of this mission was the one who most recently gotpromoted to the four star rank of the Chief of The Army Staff of India“General Bipin Rawat.”
Bipin Rawat in addition to this assignment has many other feathers in hishat which played a vital role in the Super session of two senior Generalsof the Indian Army (In Terms Of Practicality Only 1 General Officer i.e.Lt. Gen. Parveen Bakhshi Was Superseded, The Other Gentleman Lt. Gen. P. M.Hariz Was Deemed To Loose The Battle In Any Case Owing To His Muslim Faith).
In the midst of 2015, a recently crowned “Modi Sarkar” proclaimed beforethe national / international press that, in response to an attack onthe 6th DograRegimentat Manipur which resulted in the death of 18 soldiers, across-border operation has been conducted inside the sovereign territory ofMyanmar. The operation which was very affectionately code-named “GoldenBird II” was publicized and flaunted with utmost zeal and valor. Foulmouthed Indian ministers and MPs brought to use all the oxygen in theirlungs to boast that this operation is tectonic shift in the geo-strategicrealms of the region.
The tectonic shift but proved to be a mechatronic drift when the Governmentof Myanmar within 48 Hours not only Rebutted the claims but also called thesame as Absurd. Very few know that man who in his capacity as a Commanderof the Southern Commandexhibited the audacity to publically lie in uniformand supplemented the concocted version of the political government was noneother than Lt. Gen. Bipin Rawat. It is most probably this selfless orrather shameless service which brought General Rawat in the eyes of theincumbent political masters.
General Rawat has also held the dishonor of serving at length in theresistive valley of Indian Occupied Kashmir. At different occasion and indifferent capacities Rawat commanded Infantry battalion, brigade anddivision. His last stint as the General Officer Commanding of the Baramullabased 19th Division is saturated with the most abhorrent negations of HumanRights.
A bird’s eye view, on the reports issued by various reputable organizationssuch as the H.R.W &the AmnestyInternational on the situation of HumanRights in the valley during the command of then Maj. General Rawat, willreveal that his was a tenure of tyranny and ferocity in which the massessuffered to their maxima.
General Rawat used his office and the men under his command to instill fearin the hearts of the locals and strengthen the grip of occupation forces byenhancementof existent oppression.
General Rawat also over saw the distribution of monetary bribes topoliticians in the valley, a fact later revealed by his then Chief and theincumbent state minister General V K Singh. Anyone with acute knowledge ofthe affairs prevailing in Indian Armyknows that the commanders who overseesuch fiscal distributions guarantee themselves with a luxuriouspost-retirement life. General Rawat was obviously No Exception.
Strategic Stability in South-Asia, which was once referred to by theerstwhile U.S PresidentBill Clinton as the “Most Dangerous Place On TheFace Of Mother Earth”, is to a large extent dependent on the situation&developments in India. With the advent of General Bipin Rawat India ingeneral and its military in particular must now embrace for an era filledwith malice, abuse, rapes and fictitious but daunting lies.BY: Anika Sheikh