FROM A GROUP OF VETERANS TO OUR SUPREME COMMANDER April 11, 2019 Honourable Shri Ram Nath Kovind President of India and Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi Dear Shri Ram Nath Kovind Ji, We, the signatories, are Armed Forces Veterans who have served in the defence of our nation in various appointments, in peacetime and in operational and war zones over the past several decades. The apolitical and secular nature of India's Armed Forces has been an article of faith for every soldier, saiior and airman. India's Armed Forces have loyally upheld the democratic principle of civil control over the military. Their military professionalism on and off the field, combined with the devotion to duty in protecting India’s territorial sovereignty and national integrity, remains widely appreciated. The soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Armed Forces owe allegiance to the Constitution of India, of Which you, as President of the Indian Union, are the legal custodian. It is for this reason that the President is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and we serve and execute orders at the will of the President and as decided from time to time by the Executive — that is, the Government of the day. ‘You would be aware that those in active service (men and women of all ranks in the Army, Navy and Air Force) cannot speak out, even on matters which might affect their interests adversely, since they are subject to military law and are governed by the parliamentary Acts of their respective Service. However, we Veterans being in continuous touch with our own military fraternity, as also with serving personnel at all levels, have a ‘finger on the pulse’, so to speak. And it is for this reason that we write to bring to your attention, as the Supreme Commander of India's Armed Forces, some concems which have caused considerable alarm and disquiet among both the serving and the retired personnel of our Forces. We refer, Sir, to the unusual and completely unacceptable practice of political leaders taking credit for military operations like cross-border strikes, and even going so far as to claim the Armed Forces to be “Modi ji ki Sena’. This is in addition to media pictures of election platforms and campaigns in which party workers are seen wearing military uniforms; and posters and images with pictures of soldiers and especially of Indian Air Force Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, displayed. We do appreciate that complaints by some senior ratired personnel, including a written submission from a former Chief of the Naval Staff to the Chief Election Commissioner, have elicited a prompt response. Indeed a notification has been issued asking for an explanation from those responsible for these statements, including from the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. However we regret to state that these do not appear to have resulted in any substantive change of behaviour and practice on the ground. With the General elections round the comer, and given the prevailing environment where political parties and candidates seem to be acting in total disregard of the declaration of the ‘model code of conduct’, we fear that such incidents may only increase as polling day draws near. We believe that you will surely agree that any such misuse of the Armed Forces established under the Constitution of india and under the supreme command of the President of India, would impinge adversely on the morale and fighting efficiency of the serving man or woman in uniform. It could therefore directly affect national security and national integrity. We therefore appeal to you to ensure that the secular and a-political character of our Armed Forces is preserved. We hereby respectfully urge you to take all necessary steps to urgently direct all political parties that they must forthwith desist from using the military, military uniforms or symbols, and any actions by military formations or personnel, for political purposes or to further their political agendas. This communication is copied to the Chief Election Commissioner of the Election Commission of India We, the undersigned, endorse the above. Yours Faithfully, (*Signed *) 1 Gen SF Rodrigues, PVSM,VSM 2 — Gen Shankar Roy Chowdhury, PVSM,ADC 3 Gen Deepak Kapoor, PVSM, AVSM,SM,VSM,ADC ‘Adm Laxminarayan Ramdas, PVSM,AVSM,VrC, VSM,ADC ‘Adm Vishnu Bhagwat,PVSM,AVSM ‘Adm Arun Prakash, PVSM,AVSM,VrC, VSM,ADC ‘Adm Sureesh Mehta, PVSM.AVSM ‘Air Chief Marshal NC Suri,PVSM,AVSM,VM,ADC Lt Gen Sanjeev Anand Lt General KS Rao, PVSM, SC, SM, Arjuna Awardee Lt General Mohan Ramdas Lt General YN Sharma Lt General Vinay Shankar Lt General Prakash Gokarn Lt General Vijay Oberoi, PVSM, AVSM, VSM Lt General MA Gurbaxani, PVSM, AVSM Lt General RK Nanavatty, PVSM, UYSM, AVSM Lt General R K Gaur, PVSM Lt General CA Barretto, PVSM Lt General ML Naidu, PVSM, AVSM, YSM Vice Admiral Madanjit Singh Vice Admiral DB Kapila, PVSM, AVSM, VSM Vice Admiral A Britto, PVSM, AVSM, VSM Air Marshal Vir Narain, PVSM Maj Gen AK Shukla Maj Gen PC Panjikar, VSM Maj General KM Bhimaya Maj General Jose Manavaian, AVSM ‘Maj General Shiv Dev Singh Maj General Mohan Singh Maj General Harsha Kakar ‘Maj General Rajendra Prakash, VSM Maj General GH Israni ‘Maj General Anil Sawhny, AVSM Maj General 1JS Dhillon Maj General Kshitin Pandya, AVSM Maj General TK Kaul, PVSM, AVSM, VSM Maj General ML Malik Maj General SG Pitre ‘Maj General SG Vombatkere, VSM Rear Admiral Shankar Mathur Rear Admiral Sudhir Pillai, NM Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak Brig A. A Ramchandani Brig UPS Pathania Brig Vinod Raizada Brigadier VHM Prasad Commodore C Jayaraj Commodore Rajan Mathew, VSM Commodore R Rahmathullah Commodore G Kailath, AVSM, NM, VSM Commodore Dinabandhu Jena Commodore Jal Postwalla Commodore PC Gulati, NM Cmde MS Chana Air Cmde Sanjay Sharma Col Bharat Haladi Col Sanjeev Choudhary Col Krishna Prasad NG Col Mukesh Trehan Col RP Suhag SQEVI SP EBAOGRRDRRRR RAR OEY SE EE ELGERENRPPRNNRaS = aan aaa LSSSISHLSSILSSSLSSRSESLS SSL SRLSSLSBBNSRRSRVBSaIaaRGNicoeraas 62 Col Pankaj Fotedar, VSM 63. Col Vivek Mathur 64 Col Arun Hariharan 65 ColKN Singh 66 Col DM Sharma 67 Col Shantanu Majumdar, 68 Col Gurpinder Singh 69 Col Ramnik Khanna 70 Col Abhay Prasad 74 Col Abhi Chatterjee, 72 Col Manmohan Singh 73° Col. Rajiv Kanwar 74 Col Bharat Kumar 75 Col Jayadev P| 76 Col, Sujit Dutta 77 Col. Lal Kesavan 78 Col. Melwyn D'Souza 79 Col Sanjay Ditwaria 80 Col. K S Kambo| 81 Col Shashi Thoomas Kilo 82 Col K Kataria, SM 83 Col MK Keshwar 84 Col Manish D Kachhy 85 Col. Aparjeet Nakai 86 Col CMS Babu 87 ColRS Singh 88 Capt (IN) HPS Sodhi 89 Capt (IN) Rakesh Kumar Prabhakar 90 Captain (IN) S Prabhala, VSM 91 Capti(IN) Sandeep Kapoor 92 Group Captain Ashutosh Srivastav (Retd) 93 Gp Capt Rajinder Abrol 94 Gp Capt D. V. Shukla, 95 Gp Capt Philips Jacob, VM 96 Gp Capt Satvinder Singh 97 Gp Capt Deepak Mundade 98 Gp Capt MS Sadanand 99 Ltcol Arvind Kumar Singh, 400. LtCol MS Kanwal, VSM 101 _LtCol Sajan Moideen, 102 Lt Col Muruganantham 403 LtCol Ved Prakash Sharma 104 LtCol_R Pankaj 105 LtCol Shantanu Rishi 406 Lt Col Sanjeev Kumar Gupta 107 LtCol SPS Panwar 108 Lt Col Neeraj Sharma 109 Lt Col Shantnu Rishi 440. Lt. Col. Gagan Khanna, DE 441. LtCol Satish Chari 112. Lt. Col Akash Sachan 113. Lt. Col PP Singh 114 LtCol Sandeep Chandorkar 445. Lt. Col. SS Nath 116 Lt Col JS Pati 417 Lt Col Amit P Mathur 118 Lt Col Jagjit Singh Judge 419 LtCol RP Shankar