The politician and the soldier: Is there political courage to review the flawed Agnipath scheme?

Honest and acknowledged mistakes always make better soldiers. Contrary to the widely held perception of infallibility (especially with the recent air of manufactured jingoism) that civilians often attribute to the Armed Forces, no other institution introspects about its operations, procedures or even doctrines more dispassionately, truthfully, and ethically. Beyond the penchant for Bollywoodising the Indian Soldier with “How’s the Josh?” type rah-rah, there is a stark difference in reel-life and real life.

Every soldier from the top to the bottom studies a range of situations to understand what went right, and more importantly, what went wrong and could be done better. This results in labouring over sand models, training modules, physical exercises entailing full formations to validate various assumptions, doctrines and preparedness. This leads to constantly being in correction/updation-mode, where a decision made earlier is put through the brutal test of reflection and evaluation, to rectify, if required.

Within the institution, a more sobering appreciation of sifting the wheat from the chaff exists. Even operations like the fiasco of say the Indo-China War (1962), or the spectacular outcome of Indo-Pak War (1971) are deciphered and discussed threadbare. The overall and contrasting picture between 1962 and 1971, notwithstanding, there could be instances of operational brilliance to...

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