General Bipin Rawat: The only Army Chief in history who was reprimanded at UN Mission over Force rape charges
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ISLAMABAD - Far away from the glitter of the modern world, in the barren deserts of Central Africa, in an unfortunate and accursed country called “The Democratic Republic of Congo”, crawl some toddlers who call themselves the “Children of The Peacekeepers link.”
These kids whose parentage is a fact folded in mystery and ambivalence, are the only remaining memories of a UN Contingent which once administered a reign of terror in these godforsaken marshlands. The said contingent not only transgressed the limits prescribed in the UN Charter but also receded to a level which at the least was an insult to the very concept of international peacekeeping.
Rape of innocent women, abuse of authority became an every day routine in the 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 their fate came at the receiving end of the “services” rendered by this contingent, piled up rapidly.
Horrendous stories of misdeeds became such a regular narration that they attained the status of folklores which still continue to draw tears in many eyes.
UN, for the first time in its history had to reprimand a serving contingent and demanded adequate and stern action against the “culprits.”The demand in its very self was a sick and inconsiderate joke as the referred-to “culprit”was the entire fabric of the then incumbent contingent which included ranks and files alike.
Any meaningful and deserving action against the top brass of the contingent was neither intended nor desired, all that was required of the reprimand exercise was an eyewash aimed at the international donors.
A farce link was thus conducted and several junior officers and soldiers were sacrificed at the altar of redemption. The senior lot and the persona- designata in command was not only let off but later decorated for this “Praise Worthy Performance.”
We talk of this 2008 deformed chapter of history today because the “contingent” we refer to was the “Indian Army” contingent of MONUSCO and the man in-charge of this mission was the one who most recently got promoted to the four star rank of the Chief of The Army Staff of India “General Bipin Rawat.”
By: Anika Sheikh
