Armsgate

The tehelka.com expose has ripped the veil of secrecy surrounding the procurement process in New Delhi's Ministry of Defence. The entire decision making chain, political leaders to the military officers, have allegedly been shown to be corrupt or prone to that failing. It has already claimed its first casualties among politicians and officialdom, and the fallout is sure to spread as such deep rooted malaise cannot be confined to the few who are exposed. A stiffer price could be paid due to delays in force modernization that was set in motion after the Kargil war. After the Bofors scandal in the 1980s the entire process ground to a halt and its effects continued to be felt a decade later. The real victims of the expose may well be armed forces - further delays in the selection of Advanced Jet Trainers for the IAF, carriers and aircraft for the navy and artillery for the army. Long overdue upgrade programs are also likely to be severely hit. The Bofors scandal dragged on as the Prime Minister at that time was personally involved and subsequent governments were reluctant to indite him. It is now incumbent upon the Prime Minister  to act forcefully and clean up this mess and restore confidence in the process. Previous scandals were confined to the political and bureaucratic classes. This is the first major scandal with direct links to serving officers, and has the propensity to erode the public trust unless decisive steps are taken. An interesting sidelight is the reaction to the expose. Everyone now admits that they knew all along something fishy was going on, yet what did they do in their individual capacities? Taking a long view, this has demolished the 'clean' image of the BJP just as Bofors destroyed Rajiv Gandhi. The Army’s reputation has taken a beating and the service needs to take drastic step to clear its name. The other services could also be effected. Could all these goings on explain the delays in procuring urgently needed hardware? Were pilots’ lives at risk while the AJT was being delayed in order to satisfy the rapacious hunger of the decision-makers? Can we now expect IGMP products to be inducted - the Trishul, Akash and Nag? Indeed what impact will this have on GoM reports on defense and intelligence reform? In the end, transparency has to be brought into the process of defense procurement. This is also perhaps the opportune moment not only to restructure the defense establishment, but also to reform the manner in which political activity in India is financed.