Lt Gen H S Panag (retd)

Interesting read – more of comments than the original story that lambasted the parent stock ! Moral of the story :
From the peons to the top most beraucrats and political Netas practise these ennobling features that you accuse us of, then why single us out ?
It is alright, to close one’s eye, let us keep enjoying the same privileges that you also did, lest we open up those large cans containing worms that you left behind.
We must have our own dhobi ghat to wash our linen and that should be out of bounds for civilians.
Of morality and ethics – one should confine it within specified class and our conscience should not be muddied by the domestic use of combatant troops. Poor soldier , when he meets his mom and dad back at the village can always claim that he is fighting the enemy at the border in the defence of motherland while your wife makes him wash her pet dog !
O.K. we will not call him Ordly., we will make him Sahayak and of course on the T.V.panel make him our “Buddy”, doesn’t it look decent ?
Even a Rahul has become aware of the disparity in the food served in officer’s mess and Soldiers ‘, “Oh ! the nutritional value is same though choice of dishes may vary” is good advocacy. We can use terminology to explain.
Getting soldiers attached to nearby units where a batch mate is commanding for assisting a separated family is an age old trick that should remain sealed !
Lastly, those that have benefited from this corrupt system should not possess the gumption to expose us to deprive of the same.
One repeated exception that a retired General must keep all his orifices closed because, while in service he did not do any better , of course is partially an accepted truth.
Jai Hind, Jai Bharath Mata.

Common man, you need to stop putting forward your crap views time and again. No wonder nobody likes you in the army itself and also I can understand why your first wife decided to run away with another officer.

Absolutely right General Panag. This reminds me that Sardar Patel sanctioned, post facto, the loot and rape of Hyderabad by such high ranking officers as Gen. Choudhury.

The author has compiled all instances over the last over 30 yrs and painted a picture of gloom and doom. There are bad people, ldrs and led, and there are good ppl. And good ppl enormously outnumber bad ones on any day and that is how the systems run effectively. And when it comes to leader, it is not just ‘daal’ which counts, the quality of ldrship is very very important. One wonders how all saintly wisdom dawns upon some ppl only after they cease to enjoy the perks and privileges of power and authority. Perhaps the author could enlighten readers as to why he was removed from Command of operationally sensitive northern army midway.

Holding the military to higher standards of ethics and morality would be the right thing to do. But ponder if you must, the depravity of the ‘boss’ , the political executive being held to very low standards of ethics and those subordinate being asked to behave like ‘maryada purushottams’. When was the last time the Armed Forces flinched or took years to bring erring soldiers to justice. When was the last time a bureaucrat was chargesheeted for misdemeanor or corruption. The Armed Forces are doing fine. Do not blow up isolated cases which are in any case proceeded against, as the new normal. The massive majority of the Armed Forces still take pride in their Country, their Regiment and their comrades. Jai Hind.

Excellent article, it conveys the sentiments of vox populi and should not be taken as a criticism but a timely reminder to the Officers and men of the services that they are held in the highest esteem by their country men.

Upon reaching the rank of Brigadier, Officers consider themselves to be proprietors of all they survey!
No wonder they strut around like proud roosters!

Writer carries a poor reputation amongst service personals… mainly because of his own whims and fancies…

Gen Panag won’t have enjoyed combatants at his home as helping aid. I am very convinced with his integrity and moral turpitude . Is he ..????
I believe he can do better than demeaning present day army post retirement if he is jobless.

When the author was in position of calling the shots how many things did he improve?
None!
It’s easy to point mistakes later on.

It is becoming the habit of retired officers to wash their dirty linen in public. If you have followed these cheap tricks in your days dies not mean that every serving officer today does this. Its ridiculous.

But sir, I wonder why werent these points brought out while you were still in service….
Why did it take u the tag of “Veteran” to being out these issues…!!!
Things weren’t much different even then… I am sure…

And who are u adressing these issues to..??
The indian media..??
What do u expect… A media trial of all the generals of the armed forces…???

I am certainly not in support of the malpractices.. but I think we should stop this practice of washing the dirty linen in public….!!! For gaining popularity on the behest of own fraternity…..

Sir tragedy of Indian Army is all Generals start preaching once they retire. During your service, to how many of your Seniors you stand and didn’t follow sycophantic customs..You would not have because u never pointed out to your subordinates when it was done for you..

Rarely a general is gifted to organisation who walks his talk. You definable was not the one.

Indeed, it’s a sad fact that army standards have fallen so low as to cause a loss of respect for n pride in the force that had always inspired the youth to aspire to be a part of it. The onus lies on the officers to display exemplary qualities with regard to self-discipline n ethics.

General Panag is taking a holistic view, putting onus of fair conduct solely on Army officers. He has conveniently overlooked root cause of this malaise. Use of apolitical institution by politicians for their personal goals.
Also are legislators n bureaucrats not supposed to demonstrate integrity and honesty? Why leaders themselves not set up self examples?
Only one part of state can’t be expected to uphold all the values all the times..

Did author do anything to stop all these such alleged activity under his command. We all get wise when we hang uniform. Easy to preach .

Sir sorry to have a slightly different view point… recently had the privilege of enjoying hospitality in army messes as a serving Col…the guest rooms allotted were in shambles.. defunct ACs, termite, cockroaches, leakages signs…what not… surely you never faced these issues from being a Brig onwards…pehle woh toh sahi hona chaiye tha…taking a moral high after hanging up of uniform is ohh so convenient…by tbe way the same situation is in our flats…all facilities are for top brass only and this is an uncomfortable fact

One thing from Group as also Individual psychology, is certain. And that is a top-level rot in an organisation cannot be reason to punish rank & file. If our bureaucracy keep sheltering errant General Officers due to political pressures, it means actively fostering a benign and “ethically weak” organisational culture.
To make all military personnel, serving and retired suffer for the follies of a few unscrupulous officers, it to put it mildly, STUPID ! Just another example of military incompetence and vertebral bankruptcy.

Instead, follow the example of the Captain of the Carrier of the Royal Navy. Sack those who misuse privileges. The more senior the rank, more severe should be the retribution.
Show resolve ! Don’t do CHEAP POLICING of the Indian Military. It has a TERMITE EFFECT on its foundation.

In that case, we should also talk about the innumerable favours that General Panag himself pulled from the military establishments at Wellington, TN while his son was attending Lawrence School at Lovedale nearby. Those would be grounds enough to have sent the General packing from service long back. Hypocrisy and shamelessness at its best.

Well such incidents are the reality of Indian Armed Forces especially the Indian Army where a lot of corruption is going on but nobody is eager to put a step forward and try to stop these incident. Many officers misuse there powers and mostly the Sahayaks suffer the consequences. Take the case of Augusta Westland scam where the chief of Air Staff S P Tyagi found guilty and the case is still going on and on

Dear sir, do you remember the labrador puppies your better half sold in udhampur when you were army cdr. We do, so kindly don’t give advice.

Why should only armed forces be the conscious keepers of the country? What about civilians at highest positions? Are they rightfully allowed to abuse powers?

there will b bad apples and their always hav been. Only aspect which differentiates us from the other organisation and departments of the country is that here action is taken against them. We need to be ruthless internally but I can’t understand what would be achieved by writing this on the net. Should have done something when u were in the army no point trying to wash dirty Linen in public that to if there is any.

Gen panag all these moral value lessons were needed even when you were working hard for higher ranks.where was your councils that time.Didnt you use sahayaks? Openly defaming an organisation publicly just for bit of fame will question your integrity as well.could have been better if the views were directly shared with AHQ at appropriate level.

Forget about the military, Police in India use official vehicles after after duty to private and personal work and sometimes use their drivers to carry their official dress upstairs to the apartment and bring also down to vehicle while going for work . It is a Shame ! Look at US President he holds his Own umbrella and Russian President put petrol for his Own vehicle ,Here you treat this people like gods , Indiam mentality should change, we are 100 years behind because of this !

About 12 years ago, a very very senior army commander and his wife flew in an army helicopter. The general officer was travelling from Delhi to Nabha to attend his school reunion (On official duty, no less!). While the General and the lady sat in the first helicopter, the reserve helicopter flying behind was full of shopping bags of exclusive, premium international brands. IMHO, it is highly unlikely that the General and his wife had time to have gone shopping in Delhi. They had come straight from Udhampur, after all. But what do I know…

Incidentally, the same General managed to get seniority amongst the top 10 allottees in the then much anticipated AWHO Sect 20 project, Dwarka. THROUGH A SUPPOSEDLY RANDOM COMPUTERISED DRAW, amongst some 18,000 plus applicants. He was also in the managing committee of AWHO that time ( though there may not be a link between the two). I remember that list because I was in the last 1000. Talk about random.

Sir, I agree with most of what you said except One thing. The fall in standards is not new. That Oak was felled by your generation, and even before that. Please take the blame.

Atleast today’s generation knows when to quit gracefully before they become absolutely corrupted by the system. Only aberrations misuse the privileges these days. Corruption today, thanks to the stringent procedures, transparency and digitisation, is much much less. I agree that you saw a much more darker system, but then you were very much a part of it. Did you genuinely focus at rectifying it, or just worked towards creating your own image?

Baat niklegi to fir door tak jayegi. Author is acting milky white. Maybe has a short memory or only has capability to judge and criticize others but can’t see own follie’s. Does he need to put all this across through the Media. Is he being paid for this ? Maybe penning a letter to the Chief will not have same effect. Total all surviving ex Chiefs of the three Services, Army Cdrs and equivalents. Then if they all decide to put their views across via the Media what a grand spectacle that would be. People would enjoy at Def Ser expense, Media will get its daily masala, sales, adverts, TRP’s and Eyeball’s but what will the Def Ser gain. Have one ever read such an Article by an Ex Chief Seretary or DGP or even some Neta Ji about their own Set Ups. After doing so much, sacrificing so much, with most no of dedicated, honest, hardworking cadre still why it is always the Def Ser in the firing line since advent of Social Media. Maybe everyone can’t bear a relatively clean shirt on Holi or want to instinctively spit pan on a cleaner than others clean wall or maybe just to remain relavant. Apna ho ya paraya sab hi pechey pad gaye hain. Itna morale to militants aur terrorists ney bhi kabhi down nahi kiya hoga. Apno ki bat bardasht nahi hoti gairo ki to goli bhi seh jatey hain. Dont wash dirty linen in public. By the way Gen Sahib is Fond of Dog’s and always kept many at any one time. Who paid for tgeir upkeep is another matter altogether for Mr Clean Pants.

It the people that make a country. It will be as good or as bad its human resource. Don’t expect anything else, whether its the politicians, military or others. The politicians and military personnel are also people like u and me.