West Bengal elections are over. During the last assembly elections Union Home Minister Amit Shah predicted 100 seats for BJP, which didn’t work out. This time he predicted minimum 110-seats for BJP and camped in situ for a fortnight overseeing extraordinary measures instituted. With BSF under him guarding the border, Shah promises no infiltration if BJP comes to power and that women can drive around safely at night. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh promises raising “Durga Squads” to protect girls!
A cartoon says it is easier to buy elected MLAs after the poll than to buy voters now, but strategists recommend pursuing both; speculation is BJP should eventually breach the 148-majority to form the government in the 294-member state assembly.
Amid the election tensions, comes news of knives being sharpened to backstab the military again, even as earlier wounds continue bleeding; read irrelevant Defence Secretary’s waffle in Parliament, plus deliberate ignoring judiciary ruling on disability pension and inadequacies of SPARSH (https://www.thestrategicperspective.org/op-eds/flagrant-government-apathy-towards-military/).
In an article published on LinkedIn, written by Lt. Gen PG Kamath, ‘Blood Tax on War Wounded Veterans’ (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/lt-gen-p-g-kamath-91607499_blood-tax-on-war-wounded-veterans-activity-7453787879715225600-bPG_/) points to a circular introduced in 2019 by the finance ministry restricting tax exemption on disability pensions and targeting those who opted for voluntary retirement rather than being invalidated out of service. This meant that some veterans started receiving tax notices on what was previously regarded as an exempt income. The circular issued by the Finance Minster contradicted the provisions of the Income Tax Act of 1961 and its earlier 1922 version. According to law the disability pension has had a longstanding tax exempted status. The SC of India intervened and paused the government circular, stating that an administrative circular cannot supersede the law passed by the parliament of India.
The detailed article, including Sitharaman waiving an unsigned Army HQ letter supporting her action, concludes she has lost out as the nation’s conscience keeper. We don’t want soldiers to take risks – do we? The narrative is moving but not for those with a rhino’s hide.
Sitharaman also has not favoured the Justice Reddy Commission report on One Ran, One Pension (OROP) for Armed Forces. The hubris raised was that the noises are by officers – whereas officers are merely 1% of the Armed Forces. To add salt to the would OROP was granted to all other services, including civilian defence employees and MES (https://indiandefencereview.com/orop-another-wild-goose-chase/).
Non-Functional Upgradation (NFU) allowance allows a government employee to receive higher pay equal to the higher promoted officer, even if not promoted. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has recently filed an affidavit in the SC against grant of NFU to the Armed Forces, retracting back on the promise of the Chairman 7th Pay Commission to extend NFU to Armed Forces. The affidavit cites significantly large financial implications; which reportedly is INR 1,800 crore annually. Compare this to INR 6,200 crore spent annually on advertisements (euphemism Jan Sampark) and INR 8-10,000 crore annually on freebies (euphemism Lok Kalyan) before any election, which are tip of the iceberg.
We may see more of this with Donald Trump’s photos on official American ID documents and passports. Besides, hundreds/thousands of crores are spent to purchase MP’s/MLAs, exploiting loopholes deliberately left in the anti-defection law. Is the excuse of large financial implications on NFU for Armed Forces aimed at dishonouring soldiers?
The Armed Forces are being systematically undermined – akin to China salami-slicing Indian territory; the spacing between denial of OROP and NFU is to obfuscate the systematic design to degrade and dishonour the Armed Forces; don’t mind politicians masquerading in military uniforms and photo-ops of putting sweets in soldier’ s mouths. The general impression created is that the Armed Forces are well off, but the true picture can only be seen if they are compared with other services, who are not only authorised OROP and NFU, but enjoy faster promotions and consequently better pay, perks, without restricted constitutional rights and putting their lives on the line. The difference favouring the other services is not huge, it is colossal. The Armed Forces are already placed below the Central Armed Police Forces, with the political hierarchy unaffected.
The manner in which NFU is being denied to the Armed Forces is succinctly described in an article written by an Adm. Arun Prakash (Ret’d) ‘The military awaits a fair deal’, published in Tribune India (https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/comment/the-military-awaits-a-fair-deal/). The unfair treatment to the Armed Forces leaves the military community with no choice except to approach the courts, but will and when will justice be delivered, if at all - aptly covered in a discussion that includes views of former Army Chief General VP Malik.
The 1993 Vohra Committee, headed by then Home Secretary NN Vohra, was instituted to investigate the nexus between politicians, bureaucrats and criminal syndicates in India. The Committee, which included top officials from India's key intelligence and investigative agencies, in its report submitted in October 1993 outlined the criminalization of politics; bureaucrats and politicians continuing to thrive prioritizing votes over national interests and administrations deriving arrogance from this nexus. It said that if the findings were made public, many governments in India would fall. The strength of the deep state obviously left little scope for course correction. That was 33 years ago and in the 18th Lok Sabha (elected in 2024), 251 out of 543 members (46%) have declared criminal cases against themselves.
NFU to Armed Forces was favoured by the then Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar but not by the first CDS General Bipin Rawat.
— Colonel Mukul (@Warrior_Mukul) April 27, 2026
Rawat favoured government takeover of cantonment lands and curtailing disability pension to Armed Forces. If disability pension is wrongfully claimed, such individuals should be probed and action must be taken. One does not disarm a unit if there are two cases of fratricide. Shouldn’t the DG Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) who wrote to the Defence Secretary alleging misuse of disability benefits explain what he did about it throughout his service in the Armed Forces, including when heading the Army Medical Corps as DG (https://www.firstpost.com/politics/fact-or-fiction-abuse-of-disability-benefits-by-defence-personnel-must-be-thoroughly-probed-3060566.html)?
There is speculation that the serving Major General who signed the affidavit to deny NFU to the Armed Forces was under orders from the military hierarchy to do so. But he had the option to attach a note of dissent, which he did not. His motivation perhaps was witnessing the three veteran Generals currently serving as Governors getting the appointment after paying obeisance to the RSS chief in person, in particular the one who got it almost immediately after hanging his uniform, with whom he is in touch.
Why is the ‘Agnipath Scheme’ applicable only to the Armed Forces, not to the CAPF, police or any other organization (https://www.instagram.com/reel/DXjWvQIkTJM/?igsh=MWlvOXN3c3YybjQ4bg%3D%3D)? The excuse is always financial – in the fourth largest 4-trillion economy, giving China bilateral trade benefit to the tune of USD 100 billion plus annually, and plans to double the strength of Parliament and State/UT assemblies? Ranked 151 out of 180 countries in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index, we are blind to the plight of youth who are sole bread winners of their family. Agnipath has helped the UK establish The King's Gurkha Artillery (KGA) in April 2026. Induction of Nepalese in China’s PLA could be next.
Questions are being raised as to why the military is not taking a stand about NFU. Other than the supine military hierarchy, the general accusation is holding the bureaucracy responsible for undermining the military. But the counterview is that in the current environment, no department, agency, autonomous or independent can do anything without PMO's permission.
The current CDS, General Anil Chauhan says we don’t need a written national security strategy (NSS) – his logic being Israel doesn’t have one. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled the ‘Defence Forces Vision 2047: A Roadmap for a Future-Ready Indian Military’ in March 2026; formulated by the HQ IDS under the CDS. Can we work such a roadmap, facing a collusive multi-domain China-Pakistan threat without an NSS?
Our approach to national security remains apathetic (https://www.thestrategicperspective.org/apathetic-national-security/). The indigenous regional navigation system ‘NavIC’ is a failure. The consistency of failure is pathetic and should not be ignored, which probably is at multiple levels – policy, synchrony of teams, execution, potential sabotage. The government’s deal with Starlink, which was already adopted by Bangladesh, has its own security implications. Terrorists and criminal groups have already begun exploiting Starlink technology to maintain high-speed, secure communication in remote areas where traditional networks are not available. The portability and lack of dependence on local infrastructure make it a double-edged sword. Groups like Jama’at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM) and ISWAP are already using Starlink for real-time battlefield coordination and to evade security forces in regions like the African Sahel. Also, Islamic State-affiliated units are using Starlink-enabled uplinks to upload high-quality recruitment videos and maintain encrypted messaging channels.
Finally, what should the Armed Forces look forward to? Court battles can continue endlessly – looking at the battle for NFU fought over the years by intrepid warrior veteran Colonel Mukul Dev. Very little improvement is likely, be it SPARSH, regular recruitment or whatever. Meanwhile, Op ‘Sindoor’ and other operations will continue to be eulogised to show that the government means well for the military.
The author is an Indian Army veteran. Views expressed are personal.
