We place below a copy of the letter, very ably and cogently
written by former CNS Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd), to the
Editor-in-Chief of
OUTLOOK magazine,
in his own defence and to clear his good name in the so called War
Room leak case, which is sought to be connected with the Scorpene
deal and LCdr Shankaran. The letter is timely and deserves some
serious analysis.
The War Room leak case is a passing malady that any Navy will
be able to handle, but it is what
ailed the Navy
at the top, such a fine service still, that
should concern the nation.
The CBI is still investigating the Scorpene submarine deal
and arms dealers are now being named for the first time openly. Lt
Cdr Shankaran, an absconder as Prakash admits in his letter, is
unfortunately his wife’s nephew and Shankaran was dealing in defence
sales and executed lucrative contracts for the Navy and became rich,
which is common knowledge. How big an arms dealer he was and why
despite being blacklisted he got contracts is a mystery and it seems
NHQ was warned about this. The media made full use of these facts.
Admiral Prakash’s letter makes interesting reading and as he says he
is now out of uniform and unfettered and availing this opportunity
to wash his hands off LCdr Shankaran.
We believe that Chiefs of Armed Forces should never be
fettered to tell the truth and defend themselves and the Government
must do all it can to ensure their point of view is always reflected
fully. Prakash did appear on TV often. In the case of the War Room
leak it was the Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who possibly on
advice of the Navy, publicly stated that there was nothing to the
case and he said so on TV too.
Concurrently CNS Arun Prakash had resigned in writing and
that set the cat among the pigeons, for aspiring Chiefs who were
only too eager to malign him to take his place. It was a comedy of
events. The Government should now learn a lesson. If a Chief resigns
and there is no disciplinary case against him he should be allowed
to go. At higher levels no one in the Armed Forces should be
considered indispensable. Uniformed personnel should not be treated
like politicians who resign for the sake of show. Hence when, what
the Defence Minister said was found to be untrue, the media led by
OUTLOOK went
to town. It is also well known that the Vice Admiral Bharatan, Vice
Chief of Naval Staff and earlier as Chief of Personnel, an Observer
officer (flight navigation specialist) handled the issue and therein
lies another story.
Two aviation branch officers began running a predominantly
surface ship and submarine Navy, like an aircraft –– and that is the
second lesson the Government must learn. Till the Indian Navy is
large enough and more mature –– the two senior most posts must have
a mix of specialisations, at least one must be from the surface or
submarine cadre –– as they are more familiar with what in Navy
jargon is known as the ’food tasting and bilge water’ parts, which
are what makes a Navy. We need not go so far as the Chinese, when
Deng Xiaoping ordained that till 2010 only submarine officers will
be considered for appointment as Chiefs of the PLN. This was because
Deng wanted Chinese submarines to ensure that the US Navy’s aircraft
carriers never came anywhere near Taiwan.
It is also a sad fact that in the late 80s the Navy to please
a Chief, abolished the vital Supply branch. This branch, which is
still valued in Navies that follow the Royal Navy pattern was
responsible to advise Captains and Admirals on matters of law, rules
and regulations and skillfully minded the Navy’s store. In the IAF
there are three branches that do the same job i.e. Accounts,
Logistics and Administration. The Navy opted for a Logistics branch
in lieu and no one was minding the store or advising the top after
that.
The unfortunate result was the use of Art 310 to dismiss the
War Room leak suspects and when they went to court and one turned
approver –– the war room the nerve centre of the Navy was sullied
and a sensitive Chief was upset. Unfortunately a fine officer and
gentleman, Prakash had to bear the brunt because the Buck stopped
with him. We have written much on the War Room leak and Art 310.
Arun Prakash was rated as one of the Indian Navy's best
fighter pilots, was awarded a Vir Chakra in the 1971 war, when his
Hunter Squadron (Black Panthers) operated in the Western Sector. He
was then on deputation with the IAF and the award speaks volumes for
the fairness of the Indian Air Force. Admiral Prakash was an aviator
with tremendous ability to write well, speak brilliantly and had
basic acumen, but from Nelson's time that 'eye for the sea' is what
Navies are made of. Nelson did it with just one eye and
Britain
won at Trafalgar and Nelson went down fighting. As a Captain,
Prakash commanded INS Vindhyagiri a Leander frigate, which became
the Western Fleet ship that three aviator Captains were sent in
succession to command to earn Fleet command reports before they were
pushed forward to become Admirals during the stewardship of Admiral
R Tahiliani, a fine aviator himself. Even as a Fleet Commander of
the Eastern Fleet Prakash did well but his glory was as Commandant
NDA. There is no denying that Aviators especially fighter pilots,
have buddymanism ingrained in them and so that was the time the
Indian Navy became aviation centric (Air Force seems to be resisting
a Helicopter Pilot being made the Chief) and the Command failed to
smell the rats that were playing in the War Room.
We look to
OUTLOOK’s reply and hope the magazine and its editor in
chief are man enough to admit that it is not the personal character
of Admiral Prakash that they attacked but the maladies in the system
that led to the war room leak case.
The text of Admiral Prakash’s letter:
Sh. Vinod Mehta,
Editor-in-Chief,
Outlook Magazine,
AB-10, S.J Enclave,
New Delhi 110 029.
Dear Shri Mehta,
I have suffered a sharply focused and vicious campaign of
calumny mounted against me personally, by your magazine through the
medium of lies, half-truths and concocted material for the past one
year. I have had to maintain public silence because I was in
uniform, I was the head of an Armed Force of the
Union and also
because many of the issues you could raise with impunity were sub
judice in courts of law and my lips were sealed. In any case,
you have deliberately and consistently refused to publish all
rebuttals, rejoinders or denials issued by the MoD or myself.
It was my sincere hope that after devoting (an unprecedented)
15 issues to attacking the good name and reputation of a senior
officer of the Armed Forces, you would have the decency to allow me
to spend my retirement in peace. This fond hope has been rudely
shattered by your issue of
18th
December 2006 in which you have not only published my photograph,
but also some thinly veiled aspersions in continuation of your
earlier attempts at character assassination.
You are very well aware that every single issue in this
particular article (as also in earlier ones), that your magazine has
been desperately trying to sensationalize, is either the subject of
a case in the Delhi or Kolkata High courts (in many of these cases
you and your magazine have been called to account too), or is under
investigation by the CBI. As the Director CBI assured me a few weeks
ago, Ravi Shankaran “cannot vanish into thin air” and the Bureau is
confident of nabbing him sooner or later.
It is thus just a matter of time before the complete truth
(if that is really what you are interested in) relating to these
issues comes out either in the courts of law or by the exertions of
the country’s highest investigative agency. However, by continuing
to raise these issues in your magazine and by trying to destroy
lives and reputations of people by insinuation and innuendo, you are
either placing yourself above these instruments (by becoming
investigator, judge, jury & hangman) or are a plain sensation
mongering yellow journal.
As far as I am concerned, my conscience is absolutely clear
and my actions throughout have remained in strict accordance with
the high traditions of the Armed Forces. If indeed there has been
wrongdoing, as you allege, I have no part in it or knowledge of it.
Yes, I do wish I could have selected better and more upright
relatives, but like every other Indian, mine are also inherited (in
this particular case, by marriage).
The pointed, cunning and devious manner in which this
campaign has been consistently waged against me by your
correspondent (who felt bold enough to publicly predict my demise on
31st
March 2006) is evident from the CBI statement quoted by him in the
article.
The statement as quoted says: “it has been reliably learnt
that Ravi Shankaran’s mother, Mrs. Malti Shankaran, is the sister of
the wife of ex-chief of naval Staff, Admiral Arun Prakash”. Since I
have this court document with me, I would like to bring to the
attention of your readers the diabolic, malafide and sinister intent
which has made him omit the rest of the text which states: “The
investigation so far, leading to the filing of two charge sheets has
not revealed any incriminating act on the part of Admiral Arun
Prakash with regard to this conspiracy.” I presume this line got
missed out because it is not sensational enough.
It was in this very spirit of vindictiveness that you have
deliberately suppressed the various MoD press releases issued from
time to time, especially if they did not suit your agenda (whatever
it may be). I am not a politician, a businessman or socialite;
therefore your motives in pursuing this sustained agenda of
specifically targeting me are dubious in the extreme, (the rest of
the media appear to agree). Since you have caused enough damage to
my professional reputation and peace of mind, I am now asking you to
“cease and desist”. Stop playing God and let the Government of
India, the courts of law and the investigating machinery take their
own course. I am sure that you will survive the marginal fall in
sales that may result.
I sincerely hope that some residual spark of courage,
journalistic ethics or plain decency will inspire you to publish
this letter with text unaltered and (since sixteen issues of Outlook
have already had their say) without adding your comment.
For whatever it is worth, I am endorsing a copy of this to
the Press Council of India.
Sd/xxxxxxxxx
(Arun Prakash)
Admiral (Retd)
Clement Town,
Dehra Dun.
12th Dec
2006