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Army officials irked at I-Day security arrangements

Kavita Bajeli-Datt in New Delhi

Security paranoia surrounding the Independence Day celebrations at the Red Fort on Wednesday has led to heartburn between the police and the armed forces.

A decision by the police and Special Protection Group to bar personal aides from accompanying the service chiefs to the Red Fort ceremony to be attended by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has irked the armed forces, according to well placed sources.

According to military tradition, a personal aide accompanies a service chief to all official functions. These aides range in rank from captain to brigadier in the army and to equivalent posts in the other services.

At the Independence Day function, the chiefs, accompanied by their aides, greet the prime minister after he enters the historic monument to unfurl the Indian flag and address the nation.

But for the first time, this long-standing tradition has been put aside by security agencies as part of measures to secure the monument when Vajpayee addresses the nation for the fourth year in a row.

In another significant break with tradition, the security agencies have barred the heads of the ceremonial departments of the three services from receiving the prime minister on his arrival at the Red Fort.

The chiefs of the ceremonial departments are accorded this honour, as they are responsible for overseeing all arrangements for the Independence Day ceremony.

These departments are also responsible for arranging ceremonies like the Republic Day on January 26, receptions for visiting heads of state and foreign dignitaries as well as state funerals.

Army officials are extremely hurt at the decision of the security agencies to do away with what they consider part of their tradition and ethos.

"After all, a service chief is a service chief and their aides have the highest level of security clearance," said a senior official at Army Headquarters who did not want to be named.

"To bar such officers from the Red Fort ceremony on security grounds is ridiculous."

Army officials also said they were upset at the 'rude' behaviour of policemen posted at the Red Fort.

"You have junior police constables frisking army officers who are in uniform and already have requisite passes and special identity cards issued for being part of the preparations for Independence Day," said one officer.

"It is the police's job to provide security. But they should not insult us or be rude to us. After all, we are fighting for the nation. This is not done," the officer said, not wanting to be identified.

But this is not the first time that armed forces officials and the security agencies have been at odds over arrangements for official functions.

Last month, security agencies argued with army officials over a minor security matter during the run-up to ceremony to mark Kargil Vijay Divas.

The security agencies wanted to do away with the horses used by the army as part of a wreath-laying ceremony at the Amar Jawan Jyoti.

Mounted infantrymen are part of such ceremonies, but the SPG said horses could pose a threat to the prime minister. The armed forces were able to retain the horses after a protracted debate with the security agencies.

"They dictate terms in the name of security. They forget that we have traditions and have to follow particular conventions for conducting functions. How can they treat us so shabbily?" said an army officer involved in organising the Independence Day ceremony.

Indo-Asian News Service

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