The government’s decision to ask the army to construct FoBs in a crisis situation cannot be faulted. However, it must remain a one-off engagement; more the exception than the rule.
Finally, a note of caution: civic action should aim to supplement the efforts of the civil authority and not replace it. Equally importantly, the primary role of the army must remain undiluted. Being the last bastion of national defence, the army cannot fail the nation. As warned by Hugh Hanning, civic action must not be construed as substitution of warfare by welfare.
Employment of Army in Aid of Civil Authority
The military is one of the most ancient, vital and hierarchy based of all human organisations. Most social scientists consider it to be the nerve centre of the state. In the ancient scripture Sukraniti, the relation of the military to the state has been compared with that of the mind of the man. It is the most potent instrument available to the state to safeguard national security and create an effective deterrence in the minds of potential adversaries. Being the last bastion of national defence, it cannot fail the nation.
Although the primary role of the military continues to be ensuring national security, a number of other roles are also emerging for the militaries of late. Quite understandably, this role-assignment is country specific as every country has to countenance a different geo-political-strategic environment. In the case of developing countries, militaries’ role appears to be extending to non-military fields and non-traditional areas. Therein military is employed as an agent of order, efficiency and social change through its active participation in socially beneficial programmes. In many countries, military is viewed as a major modernising force. Moshe Lissak goes to the extent of calling military to be irreplaceable as a nation builder in his well-known book ‘Military’s Role in Modernisation’.
This role-expansion of the militaries in developing nations has been evoking interest amongst the policy makers, political scientists, sociologists and military leaders. Further, the impact of undertaking non-military functions on regular basis has been a cause for concern for many. They fear adverse effects on military’s functional character and degradation of its ‘professionalism’.
Role Assignment to the Indian Army
As with other armies, the role assigned to the Indian army can also be categorised under the following two broad heads:-
a) Military Tasks
In addition to defending the nation against external threats, it is also called upon to counter insurgent movements that pose grave internal threat. Insurgency is an armed insurrection against a legally constituted government and covers the complete spectrum from initial subversion to final guerrilla struggle. Although military action is an essential element, an effective counter-insurgency operation has to be based on an integrated politico-military response. Indian army is tasked to bring the level of violence down to levels wherein conditions become conducive for the initiation of political process.
b) Non-military Tasks
These are generally of two types – designated tasks and non-designated tasks. Aid to civil authority, as mandated under India’s statutory laws, falls under the category of designated tasks. When called upon to respond, the army has to provide assistance. It can neither decline nor has any discretion in the matter. On the other hand, non-designated tasks are those which the army undertakes of its own volition in larger national interests. Thus, they are voluntary in nature and are collectively referred to as military civic action programmes.
This article deals with the employment of Indian army on non-military tasks i.e. in aid to civil authority and military civic action activities.
Aid to Civil Authority
It needs to be reiterated at the outset that aid to civil authority means assisting the civil authority in the performance of its functions and not replacing it. Defence Services Regulations (DSR) lays down the tasks that can be entrusted to the army in aid to civil authority and they are as follows:-
a) Maintenance of Law and Order
Indian society is beset with dissentions. After centuries of deprivation and exploitation, disadvantaged segments of the Indian society demand an equitable distribution of resources. Popularisation of socialistic ideals has also raised their hopes. When the dissenting groups lose faith in the fairness of the system, they resort to agitational means. Every agitation inevitably results in violence. Law and order becomes the first casualty. Furthermore, India is witnessing the new phenomenon of political terrorism, wherein a dissident group uses violence to coerce the authority into acceding to the political demands of the perpetrators. As political terrorism draws sustenance from foreign sources, it is inevitably controlled by anti-national elements.
Although law and order is a state subject, politicisation of police forces has rendered them incapable of maintaining law and order. Additionally, they are inadequately trained, ill-equipped and poorly led. Inability of police forces to counter the tactics employed by disruptive elements results in frequent summoning of the army to maintain order.
b) Maintenance of Essential Services
There are certain services whose efficient and uninterrupted functioning is essential to the nation or the society at large. The army with its large pool of highly disciplined and trained manpower is often summoned to run these essential services in times of labour trouble. As essential services are vital to the basic infrastructure which contributes to the general well being of the society, labour strikes in them are invariably declared illegal by the government. The army is often asked to run the affected services in order to prevent striking workers from holding the society to ransom, whatever be their grievances.
During the railway strike of 1974, the army manned electrical and telecommunications services and even operated locomotive sheds. The Assam agitation of 1980 saw workers of the oil company striking work and even damaging pumping machinery. To prevent damage to the oil pipeline due to the freezing of residual oil, army soldiers undertook the task of repairing the machinery and pumping oil. In 20 days, troops reactivated the entire system and achieved the pre-strike pumping rate of 3,700 kilolitres per day.
Although seeking assistance of the army to maintain essential services helps the society at large, many experts question the advisability of employing soldiers to break strikes.
c) Assistance during Natural Calamities
A disaster is a major calamity and invariably results in widespread death, destruction and devastation. Common natural disasters are floods, cyclones, hurricanes and earthquakes. Disaster relief includes all measures and activities which help minimize the effects of a disaster and thereby prevent loss of life and property to the maximum possible extent. The army with its pool of trained manpower and equipment constitutes an important component of the governmental effort to ameliorate the sufferings of the disaster-affected people.
The most common feature of all disasters is the loss of human life. Disaster relief entails rescue of trapped personnel and their transportation to safe areas. Restoration of damaged means of communications and broken down essential services requires considerable effort. At times, temporary bridges are required to be constructed to reach the affected areas. Provision of food supplies and medical aid assume critical importance.
Due to frequent floods and cyclonic storms in the Indian peninsula, disaster relief has become a major commitment of the Indian army. Tsunami of 2004 was one of the deadliest natural calamities in recorded history. The armed forces were employed to provide relief to the disaster-hit areas and restore damaged services.