Truce reached on keeping debate out of public eye

New Delhi:  An uneasy truce prevailed between ruling and opposition lawmakers in parliament yesterday after tempers flared over a letter to the prime minister from army chief V.K. Singh apparently highlighting serious shortcomings in defence matters. Government and opposition benches eventually came around to the consensus that public debate on the issue was best avoided in the national interest.

After two adjournments on Gen. Singh's letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh highlighting the shortage of arms and ammunition at the army's disposal, defence minister A.K. Antony clarified in the Upper House that the government was committed to strengthening the armed forces and that the procurement process was under strict monitoring.

Opinion divided

Political opinion on the fate of the army chief however remained divided, with parties like the Janata Dal-United (JD-U) and Samajwadi Party (SP) demanding he be sacked, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made it clear it did not support the demand.

"These issues cannot be an issue of public debate... publishing the contents of secret communication cannot serve our national security," Antony told the house when it reassembled after the two adjournments.

Antony earlier consulted the prime minister, home minister P. Chidambaram and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee

Opposition MPs agreed that the issue should not have come out in the open.

BJP stand

Agreeing that the issue should not be raised publicly, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley asked for assurance on the "integrity" of the procurement process.

"While I agree we will all have to exercise utmost restraint and not make it issue of public debate... across the media, too many pieces of information which disturb us are coming with regard to procurement process," Jaitley said.

Communist Party of India-Marxist's (CPI-M) Sitaram Yechury, Janata Dal-United (JD-U) leader Shivanand Tiwari and several other opposition leaders also agreed that public debate on the issue was a serious concern.

Opinion was, however, divided on the future of the army chief.

Janata Dal-United leader Shivanand Tiwari was the first to demand the general's sacking. "This is a matter of serious indiscipline, the army chief should be sacked... if we don't take an action, it can become a bad tradition," he said.

Echoing him, Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav told reporters outside parliament that "responsibility should be fixed and strict action should be taken. If Gen Singh is responsible, he must be sacked and jailed".