Indian army needs no introduction. We all have love, respect and admiration for our soldiers and the Indian army as a whole. As we all know, Indian army has a long and glorious history. Therefore, it is difficult to talk about everything in such a limited space. Still I have tried to touch all the main points and also have tried to speak my heart out. I hope you will be able to appreciate my efforts and the essays.
Whenever I think of Indian army (I also wanted to become a solider), I become happy. I feel, we are lucky to have such an institution of which we can really feel proud.
A common person knows very little about Indian Army because maximum of the things are classified. Still there is sufficient information in public domain.
In the following Indian Army essay, I have tried to put all that information here and also have given my view point. I hope following essay on Indian Army will be appreciated and liked by you.
Indian armed forces are divided into three parts – Indian army, Indian Airforce and the Indian Navy. Indian army is the land-based unit, while Indian Airforce deals in air defence and Indian Navy is the naval unit. Our Indian army is the second largest in the world with about 1.23 million personnel on active rolls and another 9.6 lakhs in reserves.
Indian army is mainly responsible to protect the country against land based attacks. It also lends a helping hand to other agencies in dealing with terrorism, tackling emergency situations in the country and also rescuing people in case of natural calamities like flood, earthquake etc.
The current chief of army staff (COAS) is General Bipin Rawat (as of 2018). As Indian army is very huge, it is divided into regiments. Some important regiments are Punjab regiment, Madras regiment, Rajputana rifles, Sikh regiment etc. It also has its own intelligence unit, known as “Military Intelligence” or “MI” in short.
Indian army before independence (under British rule) had participated in World War I and II. After independence it has also fought many full-fledged wars like the Kargil war (1999), Bangladesh liberation war (1971), India -Pakistan war (1965), India-China war (1962) and first Kashmir war (1947). Besides these, Indian army has also handled some smaller conflicts like Siachen conflict (1984), Operation Polo (1948), India-China conflict (1967) etc.
There is no doubt that our Indian army is one of the best armies in the world.
Introduction
Asking about the importance of Indian Army in India is like asking the importance of heart in a human body. It would not be wrong to say that there would be no India without Indian Army. It is the backbone of the country. It is also one of the few institutions left in the country which could be considered as completely neutral and reliable. If any thing goes really wrong in the country, we look at the army for solutions, be it riot control, counter insurgency, fighting terrorism, fighting Naxalites and even getting medals in international sporting events.
Importance of Indian Army
The main role of the Indian army is of course defending our country from external and internal threats. It has proven its mettle many times. After independence it has fought five major wars and has also handled many smaller conflicts successfully. It has fought wars and won even when enemies had superior weapons.
For example, in 1965 Pakistan had Patton tanks (gifted to them by America). They were considered invincible at that time. India did not have anything that could match those Patton tanks. Still Indian army was able to defeat Pakistani tanks in the battle of Asal Uttar.
Havildar Abdul Hamid single handily destroyed six Pakistani tanks with his jeep mounted recoilless rifle and died trying to destroy the seventh. For this he was awarded with India’s highest military honour – the Param Vir Chakra. It is believed that Americans came to India to know the method and equipment by which their invincible Patton tanks were destroyed. It is believed that India refused their request.
Indian army also had successfully handled many riots, for example Godhra riots, 1992 Mumbai riots, 1984 riots etc. It is currently also tackling terrorism in Jammu & Kashmir and in some north eastern states.
It’s also a very good employer. Currently it has about 1.23 million persons on active rolls while another 9.6 lakhs in reserves. It has also produced many notable sports persons who have brought laurels to our country. Some of them are Milkha Singh, Rajya Vardhan Rathore, Vijay Kumar, and Major Dhayan Chand etc.
Conclusion
Indian army is one of the best forces in the world. It has the ability to handle any external and internal threat. Overall, we can say that Indian Army is the soul of our country.
Introduction
If you pick a person, randomly and ask him birthdays of film stars, politicians, sports persons etc. There is a good chance that he/she will be able to tell quite a few but if you him/her that, “when and why is Indian army day celebrated”? There is a good chance he/she will have no answer.
The problem is that, we have taken so many things for granted. One among them is freedom/security. We have taken for granted that someone is always deployed to guard our borders while we sleep in our cosy homes or there will be someone to take the bullets of the enemies and terrorists for us.
Indian Army day
I think the occasions like Army day, Republic day etc are of course day’s celebration and jubilation but I think we must also introspect on these days. Why everyone wants to become a doctor, engineer, lawyer etc but very few of us wants to become soldiers.
As far as celebrations are concerned, Army day is celebrated formally in New Delhi at “Amar Jawan Jyoti”, India Gate every year on 15th of January. The day was started celebrating from 1949 through various activities like Military Parade, cultural programs, etc. It is also celebrated at all army establishments. Some schools and social organisations also celebrate army day.
The day is celebrated to commemorate the appointment of our first army chief, Lieutenant general K.M. Cariappa. The story of his appointment is also very interesting. The story goes something like this – Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was having a meeting with senior army personals and cabinet ministers. He suggested that the post of first army chief should be given to a British officer because Indian officers have no experience in handling such a post.
One of the army personnel present their, objected to this and said that, “as we also don’t have the experience of leading a nation, so we should appoint a British person as our first Prime Minister.” After hearing this, Nehru realised his mistake and asked the person that would he like to become the first army chief? On this he suggested the name of Lieutenant general K.M. Cariappa who was also present there and thus he became the first army chief.
Conclusion
It’s high time, we should mend our ways and start giving real respect to the soldiers otherwise a time may come when there will be no one to defend our motherland.
Introduction
I wondered as a kid, as to how is the life of a soldier. I assumed that it must be a bed of roses as opposed to mine which was like hell because I had to go to school, finish homework, learn answers, appear in tests and exams and had no time to play. On the other hand, I felt that a soldier just has to move around here and there in his smart green uniform with his gun. The problem is that, even many grownups also feel the same, not realizing how wrong they are. Maximum people think that its like a regular 9 to 5 job but this is far from reality.
Army life
I used to tell my dad that I would also like to become an army officer like him (he served in the Territorial Army as a junior commissioned officer). When asked, “why I wanted to become an army officer”? My reply was, “I would get a gun and a strong stick and with that I would beat up the bad guys”. On this my dad used to laugh loudly.
Now I realize how wrong I was. The reality is that, it is one of the toughest working environments and definitely not a bed of roses. I got some idea of the work environment of the army from the media but I soon realized it was half-truth. The only way by which I could get the real information was by talking to the real “Faujis”. Luckily my dad and some of his friends (who also served in the army) were more than willing to share their stories.
He told me that their training days were quite tough because the new environment was quite different from the civilian environment which they were used to. In civilian life 6 o’clock reporting time means 6.15 or may be even 6.30 but in army 6.00am means exactly 6.00am. My dad and his colleagues got punished many times for coming late. The punishment was usually quite difficult. Normally it was running with full gear for miles or something like that.
After morning P.T, physical endurance training started and that continued for few hours. Instructors were normally considered villains by most of the trainees. Once my dad and his colleagues were denied water after a ten-mile run. Their reaction was as expected. They had jokingly wished to kill the instructor then.
There were theory classes after that. Evening time was play time. Cadets used to play all type of games including football, volleyball, basketball etc. Dinner was a formal affair. They made so many friends there. Time passed like that and the training of my dad finished.
He got posted at many places but there was one posting which according to him was the toughest. For that he even got a gallantry medal.
Conclusion
My dad says that if you want a routine life then army is not for you but if you want to be pushed to your limit and want your life to be little adventurous then you must join army.
Introduction
There are very few institutions left in the country for which it can be said that country will cease to exist if these institutions fail. Indian army is one of them. Many institutions in the country which were supposed to remain neutral and impartial (let’s not name them) got corrupted but in all these years somehow Indian army has managed to remain neutral and impartial.
Role of Indian Army towards Country
All institutions of the country contribute towards nation building. It’s like the various organs of a body which perform in synchronization. It would not be wrong to say that Indian army is like the heart of a body. If it stops, the whole body (nation) stops. There are many roles which the army plays. Some of them are discussed below.
We all know that Indian army is our first line of defence. It has defended us from many foreign attacks (5 major wars and few other minor conflicts). It is also helping other agencies in dealing with terrorism, insurgency, law and order, riots etc. Its professionalism and secularity remains unquestioned.
This is why it’s a unifying force. When our country got victory in Kargil war, the whole country (I mean every one, irrespective of caste, religion creed, sex) celebrated. The only other thing which has this kind of effect is cricket, I suppose. Indian army has persons from all religions. It does not discriminate on the basis of caste, religion, sect etc. This is why it’s a unifying force.
The tag of “Mr. dependable” cannot go to any other agency according to me. This is because when every thing fails, Indian army does not. There are so many examples which can be quoted in support of this argument. Apart from its core duties, it is asked to perform many other duties for example riot control. When police and other agencies are unable to control the situation then Indian army is called and till date they have a 100% track record. Some important riots which the army controlled were, Sikh riots, Mumbai riots, Godhra riots etc.
In natural calamities like flood and earthquakes, Indian army is called because other agencies lack the coordination and training which Indian army has. Even in sports, we depend on Indian army to bring medals in international sporting events like commonwealth games, Asian games, Olympics etc. Some of the best sportspersons like Milkha Singh, Rajya Vardhan Rathore, Vijay Kumar, Dhyan Chand, Jitu Rai, Ram Singh Yadav are from army background.
It is said that, lucky are those who get selected for Indian army. It is now-a-days considered a very good employer because of the salary and perks which it gives. It is one of the largest employment providers in the country.
My dad used to say this thing and I strongly agree with it. He said, “dear, what you learn in army training is definitely useful in army career and also remains very useful in civilian life”. There are so many persons in civilian life who are doing very good because they had served in the army or had military training at some point of time. What is taught in a military school is not taught anywhere else.
Conclusion
In the end I would like to say that we are lucky to have an institution like Indian army at our disposal, without which we could never have survived. Long live India and long live Indian army…Jai hind.
Related Information:
Speech on Indian Army in upholding the Security of the Nation