Do you know how important the military is? If there was no military, there would be no United States of America. That’s right, it was an organised army that earned America its freedom from the clutches of Great Britain. If there was no organized military, Hitler would have probably wiped half the world off! Thus, organised military is the most important component of a nation’s existence and its sovereignty.
In fact, when the legendary Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw gave his ‘We Must Become Powerful’ interview post the May 18 nuclear explosion to Swarajya in 1974, he categorically remarked, ‘Whether an atom bomb is necessary or not, in this world if you want to be recognised, if you don’t want to be kicked about, you have to be powerful bother militarily and economically. A great deal of envy and fear follows from such might.’
Thus, military might is a pre-requisite to peace and prosperity. I know, it almost sounds oxymoronic and in a lot of ways, it really is! Thus, when Indira Gandhi remarked that India’s nuclear test was intended for peaceful purposes, she wasn’t kidding. She was simply reiterating the same sentiment echoed by Sam. After all, it isn’t a coincidence that Human history is remarkably written in blood, with the human race having only enjoyed a few centenaries of peace (roughly 300 years, to be precise). Thus, the importance of military cannot be stressed upon enough. If you want sovereignty; if you want peace; a strong military is indispensable.
Hence, military officers have a responsibility far greater than any ordinary citizen or politician. They are entrusted with the survival of an entire nation. Thus, when it comes to the men in uniforms, they don’t just have established channels of communication as part of protocol, they even have protocols concerning “what” and “to what extent” can things be communicated out into the open and “who” shall do that communication.
For instance, just like any other organisation in the world, the armed forces too have an entire department dedicated to public relations and responsible for communicating to the media. And only those officers are authorised to interact with the media. This is not done because the armed forces have secrets to hide or are above media-glare or are not answerable to the nation it serves; it is done in order to protect national security and in order to maintain the sanctity of office. [Note: This is why, all military officers are bound by the Official Secret Act of 1923.]
This is why, serving military officers should maintain a safe distance from media glare. They, after all, are not ordinary citizens and whatever they say or do is construed as the sayings and doings of the entire military. Thus, they have a responsibility far greater than anything anyone else has to bear.
In fact, imagine if the military officers too jumped on the bandwagon of popularity contests and media debates/debacles, who will be left to defend this nation when calamity strikes?!? I am sure, it won’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that we don’t need officers who are good with words, we need those who are good with weapons. After all, they ensure our nation’s existence, even as they give up their own! Thus, we don’t need our uniformed men in front of the media, we need them in front of our borders!
