Lieutenant Samuel Kamalesan was recently in the news, as his petition against his dismissal from the army was rejected by the Supreme Court. Being a veteran, we have attended countless services in the temples, gurudwaras, churches and mosques over the four odd decades, while one was in the service of the nation. Frankly as a youngster in the unit, all these religious parades, as they were referred to, was not something one looked forward to eagerly, barring the gurudwara, where the attraction was the ‘kadha prasad’, (the mouthwatering ghee dripping ‘halwa’), and sure enough some of us would even volunteer to help in the distribution as at the end, there was a chance that we would be rewarded with an extra helping. Fresh out of the academies, most of us had just about bid farewell to the teenage, still adolescents at heart and many of our immature actions left our seniors in no doubt about that. While sports fields were fun, the religious worship routines were not, especially if it went on for too long, as the priest/granthi /maulvi invariably made it a point to instil all the scriptures laden sermons onto the gathering.
Many an articles have been written about the true secular values of the Indian Armed Forces, where mutual tolerance is not just for display, but actually practised. The Muslim Commanding Officer performing ‘aaratis’ in the unit temple, or the Hindu Commanding Officer observing ‘roza’ with their muslim troops, no wonder the expectation from each officer was that they would follow this healthy tradition religiously, which almost all of us did voluntarily, some may have followed the diktats grudgingly, but none ever refused to toe the line. Perceptions matter, the troops must be convinced that we are with them in thick and thin.
Let us understand the nuances of secularism, then I think we will be better placed to comprehend this seemingly harsh action in its correct perspective. I feel as a nation, we haven’t really assimilated the true essence of being ‘secular’. The Western definition is, ‘separation of the state from the church’, i.e. the state should not be a theocracy. Merely absence of a singular religion as the official formal religion of the state may qualify strictly as per the definition, but in India ours is a deeply religious society which is also a multi religious one, we defined secularism as ‘tolerance’ for the other religions. The term ‘tolerance’, has a negative connotation, i.e. we may or may not approve of the other’s faith, but are forced to live with it, in other words, we simply tolerate it. Hinduism professes, ‘ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti’, meaning the truth is one, the wise express it differently, thus accepting everyone’s version, not merely tolerating it. The moment, we start accepting this as a fact, there is no dichotomy in our minds. By observing the regimental traditions, we are honouring the unit and the men both. There is never an embargo on anyone following his personal religious beliefs in his/her own time, i.e. individually one can go to the church or mosque, observe fasts or follow any other practises which are mandated by their religion. Collectively, we take pride in following the unit traditions, which may or may not be religious, it is here that friend Samuel committed this blunder. The act of refusal of a lawful command is a punishable offence and this was not by omission, it was by commission, hence it could not have been ignored. Unfortunately, the usual suspects in the civil world, who are troubled by the decision, and are raising the bogey of majoritarianism, are barking up the wrong tree. As there are countless number of cases where, non Muslim officers have been observing roza voluntarily in solidarity with the troops, as mentioned earlier. The true religion of a soldier is the “naam namak nishan”, the ‘izzat’ of the unit, this is not understood by many in the civil world. Religion of the officer is that of his unit. My earnest request is, let the armed forces be, please leave them alone and please do not vitiate the environment in the units by unnecessarily looking for controversies. Such actions need to be nipped in the bud.
14 thoughts on “RELIGION IN THE ARMED FORCES”
The name of the villain is radicalism . Across faiths it has decimated more humans than any war .
It rears it’s head again and again and hence the relevance of the term tolerance .
Wrll written piece but this topic is incendiary, and is best avoided or taken head on . No half measures . Somehow I feel , the next 30 odd years will be rather tough for our nation …..
Very well articulated!
Hi Suyash…Congratulations!
India’s civilisational ethos, rooted in Indic thought, emphasises acceptance rather than mere tolerance of differing beliefs. This is reflected most clearly in the armed forces, where cohesion, discipline, and unit honour override individual differences. In our military, faith is respected privately, but unity is practised collectively. Societies that reduce identity to narrow notions of nationhood or exclusivity often drift toward division. The soldier’s true religion remains duty, discipline, and the honour of the unit.
👍
Very well said. The word tolerance has a negative connotation.
I shall modify the word “accept” with the word “respect”. This implies that I respect your faith and values. I may or may not agree or accept but I respect you.
The word respect makes you humble in your approach.
I am a Christian officer, have accepted Jesus as my savior just before joining NDA. The Lord made me command a unit with Brahmins and RAJPUTs. I believed and still believe in two tenants
A. Its your life that speaks and not the religion or faith. In the current environment all can see through you.
B. There is a distinct difference in attendance and participation. I attended all what was expected of me; however refrained from participation. The bottom line has been Respect.
Suyesh, like always you cover the current ongoing issues very well. Always look forward to reading.
Tolerance surely has a negative connotation to it. We are a culture from Sarva Dharma Sambhaav. As an atheist but cultural Hindu, I will be blunt on this by saying, if a religion believes in Us vs Them, that religion will find it difficult to be compatible with the ethos of Bharat. Abrahamic faiths will have to go through the process of finding that philosophical ground in India where the concept of Us vs Them is diluted. Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadamnti (One truth stated by wise in many forms) is the cultural foundation of India. If an Army officer can have a mindset where they are not willing to accept & respect the rituals of their own soldiers, it somehow also reflects that the tenets of the religion itself needs reforms. And we should not shy away from saying such things. There is something in the land of India which makes it a shiny beacon of acceptance when it comes to many philosophies, religions, and theologies.
I applaud you Brig. Suyash for taking the issue head-on and pointing out the flaws in thinking of the concerned officer.
The religion and पंथ are not the same. Religion is universal.
Very well written,as usual.
Clearly a case of values clash between those of the gentleman in question and those of the Indian Army. Glad that this difference in values got detected early and addressed.
So strong was this gentleman’s conviction that he chose to stand against the grain. Lets salute him for that. In the same breath, lets also applaud the Indian Army and the Supreme Court for upholding the exemplary expectation of character from an officer.
One also wonders whether this dichotomy between the gentleman’s religious integrity vis a vis the sublime version expected by the Indian Armyn, was noticed in our famed SSB system? Was it missed, or glossed over, or is just not detectable? What needs to, and can be done in this context? I am guessing someone is processing this end too.
Suyesh as always you have written it so well. Follow your heart and respect everyone..same is the principle for religion. Indic tradition accepts all faiths. Soldier has to respect the traditions of the unit. As an offr you are duty bound…to shout the battle cry of the unit…no matter what your religion is because your faith is soldering…
Great write up Sir. Very well covered.
I was always made to believe that my Blood Gp is OG+ and so is my religion, and I never ever dreamed of or felt anything beyond that throughout my trg and service.
Warm regards and best wishes Sir
Absolute pleasure reading Sir. Our concept of celebrating ones faith in Sarv Dharma Sthals, parades like MMG Mandir, masjid, Gurudwara or MMC (Church) are beyond many’s imagination.
Best regards
Court has taken correct action. The sub went wrong in selecting him
not Sub but sub
Very well written Suyash!