A steep fall from grace hurts the most
“IC 196790Y Col Tushar Seth, Sena Medal (name changed) march in”, shouted the orderly officer at the top of his voice as we commenced the promulgation proceedings of the award of punishment to the officer being marched in. He was involved in a case of moral turpitude and had been tried by a Court Martial recently.
As the officer marched in and saluted the General, presiding over the promulgation parade, my mind went back to the decade-long association I’d had with him. As young officers we had braved the enemy shelling together at the world’s highest battlefield – Siachen Glacier. I was highly impressed by his intellect and daredevilry, and he proved his soldiering acumen when he was awarded the Sena Medal for taking the militants head on in the Kashmir valley. That we would meet in this setting was the last thing I had expected. It is never easy to bear the burden of one’s potential and dealing with success is sometimes harder than dealing with failure. A glad eye and his materialistic greed got the better of him.
The charges for which Tushar had been tried were read out along with the punishment awarded by the court martial. The accused was ordered to be cashiered and dismissed from service. The General one by one removed the badges of rank, medals, belt and other accoutrements from the officer’s uniform stripping him of all he had painstakingly earned in his two decades of career. A soldier lives and dies for glory, and here was this disgraced man being stripped of his glory. Tears rolled down his face. On being marched off after cashiering, the words ‘Colonel’ and ‘Sena Medal’ were conspicuous by their absence from the words of command. I had witnessed numerous ceremonies of promotions and investitures, it was the first time I was seeing something exactly the opposite.
I took him to a guest room after the proceedings where he changed into civil clothes and removed his olive green uniform for one last time. He was in a rage and cursed the organisation for being harsh on him for a mistake he felt was pardonable. He gave countless examples of politicians, bureaucrats and policemen who were let off lightly by law for offences much graver than his. He felt victimised and threatened to approach higher courts for justice.
I listened to him quietly because at times a patient hearing facilitates the catharsis of an aggrieved soul. Expressing my sincere sympathies, I tried to impress upon him that when the character of an army officer becomes a suspect, the men under his command will refuse to obey him in the most crucial phase of battle. There are no runners-up in war and the nation can ill afford any leniency towards soldiers who have lost the trust of their countrymen. He did not speak thereafter and neither did he appeal against the verdict in a higher court. The remnants of good character of a soldier were still alive somewhere inside him.
IT IS NEVER EASY TO BEAR THE BURDEN OF ONE’S POTENTIAL AND DEALING WITH SUCCESS IS SOMETIMES HARDER THAN DEALING WITH FAILURE