Experts say Indian Army is among the most professional and apolitical military forces; talk of coups unheard of in India’s armed forces
Following the damning story in the Indian Express about the alleged movement of two key units of the Indian Army moving towards Delhi and the subtle hint dropped over an alleged coup attempt, Governance Now spoke to experts and asked them if the very idea of coup could be reality in a nation like India which boasts of a heterogeneous mix of troops, or whether the story was just one based on assumption and coinciding dates.

Retired Major General MC Nanjappa said, “This was just a routine training exercise that has been blown out of proportion. Two units, one mechanised unit out of Hisar and another unit from the Agra-based Parachute brigade were being moved to Delhi. These are routine exercises done to test the preparedness of our forces.”

Asked whether this could probably have been an attempt at conducting a coup, Major General Najappa said, “No chance. Never in my 37 years of service did I ever hear the word ‘coup’. Besides Indian Army is a heterogeneous, secular force and contains people from all over the nation who are loyal to the country and not a singular person.”

Stressing that the story was just published to gain some cheap publicity, the Major General added, “I think the authors were just trying to link the date of the exercise and the date of General VK Singh’s date of birth petition.”

Pravin Sahwney, editor of Force magazine, even went to the extent of questioning the intellectual capability of the writers of the spook story. “This is ignorance on the part of the media,” he thundered. “Senior journalists should know that a coup is impossible in a country like India,” said Sahwney.”Even if a senior officer desires a coup, it is a practical impossibility,” he said. Saying that our troops were a heterogeneous mix of people from all parts of the country, Sawhney clarified that “It is unlikely our soldiers will support a coup as they are taught to be loyal to their units.”Using the Kargil war as an example, Sahwney said “Our boys in Kargil died for their units, not for the senior commanders or the Indian Army. Loyalty and sacrifice for the unit is paramount in the Indian Army. Troops are one hundred percent loyal to their respective units.”

Stressing that in case of a coup, the army would not get the support it would require, Sahwney said, “There are no people from the forces in the defence ministry so support would be a major problem.”Pointing out that army was just one of the three services, Sahwney said, “Without the support of the Air Force and the Navy, a coup would be impossible. It is highly unlikely that the other two services would agree to a coup masterminded by an army man.”

Commodore Uday Bhaskar, former director of the prestigious institute for defence analyses and studies, said, “I am truly intrigued.”

Stressing that the Indian Army was one of the most professional and apolitical forces in the world, Cmdr. Bhaskar said, “I am concerned as the Indian Military is considered one of the most professional armies in the world.” Pointing out that someone was up to mischief, Cmdr. Bhaskar said, “Someone is playing games. Civil and military relations are inadequate in our country.”

Lamenting the fact that the developments in past week had been a very bad one for the army, Cmdr. Bhaskar said, “Last week has not been very flattering.”