The world's third largest army is grappling with growing concerns of indiscipline and insubordination within its ranks. Over the last three years there have been six reported incidents of clashes between officers and jawans, two of them — in Meerut and Batala — in the last week itself.

Twenty officers and 200 soldiers have already faced "administrative action" including disciplinary and court-martial proceedings for involvement in these incidents. After Meerut and Batala, Army chief General Bikram Singh was quick to assert a "zero tolerance" policy in such cases. The Ministry of Defence said "exemplary punishment" would be meted out to the guilty.

However, as former generals pointed out to The Sunday Guardian, punishment, though essential, "will only cure the symptoms". The real problem lies deeper, and requires an urgent overhaul of "mindsets" and "government policies" if the country wants to avoid being "suddenly and rudely woken up to a shock."

Lieutenant General D.B. Shekatkar (Retd) a decorated soldier who has over four decades of experience in combating terrorism, insurgency in J&K, Punjab and Northeast, said the defence establishment needs to get rid of its "defeatist attitude" of "brushing everything under the carpet".

"What happened in Meerut was not a sudden development. Tensions had been brewing underneath. The trigger for the clash was only a pretext to give way to pent up anger," said Shekatkar. He however noted that most incidents happened in units which were "not operationally committed". "Ladakh was an artillery regiment. They were doing training there. Similarly, Gurdaspur, Meerut, Samba, all were units that were not operationally committed," he said, adding, operationally committed units "do not have time for trivial issues".

Major General Satbir Singh (Retd), the officiating chairman of the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement said, "There has been a downgradation of ethics, morals and values in society as a whole. Therefore, it would have its adverse effect on defence personnel also."

Last May a violent clash erupted in the 226 Field Artillery Regiment in Nyoma, Ladakh after officers thrashed a jawan for allegedly molesting an officer's wife. These incidents, Singh said were "unheard of" during his days in service.

"The armed forces need to understand that the days of authoritative leadership are over," said Shekatkar. "The need of the hour is 'participatory leadership'. Today's kids do not listen to their parents. The same kids are growing up and joining the armed forces. The trend today is that of questioning, the trend today is that of RTI."

"Leadership," he said, is as much about "being in the midst of your troops," listening to their problems, as it is about "anticipating trouble." "That can happen only when you are participating with your troops, though without getting too familiar. Unfortunately that kind of leadership is missing today. Suppose I am a jawan and I go to my Commanding Officer with a problem, and he abuses me... such outbursts can create problems."

In August last year, a soldier shot himself dead after he was denied leave. It triggered a clash between officers and jawans in the 16 Cavalry Armored Unit at Samba.

Several studies have indicated that stress is a major contributor in exacerbating tensions between officers and jawans. Last year, Defence Minister A.K. Antony informed Parliament that over 1,018 soldiers had committed suicide since 2003, and over 80 had died in cases of fratricide — soldiers killing colleagues. The minister had also said that over 25,000 soldiers had quit the force, prematurely, in the last three years.

"Both officers and jawans are under tremendous pressure from family, peer groups. They see their friends working in the corporate sector, doing well, enjoying their lives. They have young wives who are ambitious and want to see their husbands do well. This applies to both officers and jawans. Wives of jawans today are graduates, even hold PhD degrees. They are far more informed. These factors play on a soldier's mind," said Shekatkar.

"There are other factors as well. Look at communication technology...In 1976 when I was posted on the China border I learnt of my son's birth after five days, on wireless. Today a soldier gets running commentary from home on mobile. When he pulls the trigger these things play on his mind."

Several retired and serving defence personnel have advocated a transparent promotion and posting policy to reduce discontent among soldiers who face long postings in operational areas.

Maj Gen Singh said almost 65-70% of our troops are engaged in counter-insurgency operations or are guarding inhospitable terrains for long periods. "Indian defence forces are the most professional defence forces in the world. However, since they are extensively deployed in operational and insurgency areas, and are away from their families for long periods, it stresses them mentally. Plus, there is acute shortage of officers in the fighting units. Against the requirement of 23-25 officers only 10-12 are posted. Availability at anytime in the unit is not more than 6-8 officers. Thus, the system of keeping finger on the pulse of the troops in the unit by the officers suffers and effective supervision gets reduced," said Singh. The armed forces, including the Navy and Air Force currently face a shortage of over 14,000 officers.

An important area, Shekatkar said that urgent attention is needed in the "reorientation" of jawans who return to peace stations after long tenures in operational areas. "We need to devise programmes that take special care of soldiers who return after prolonged deployment in operational areas, where they were accustomed to holding a gun, 24x7, even while sleeping. We need to put them through a reorientation programme that will help them readjust mentally."

Officers and their wives, he said, also need to keep into consideration the socio-economic background of jawans. "For example, states like UP, Rajasthan have traditionally patriarchal societies. Women have their heads covered. So when this jawan who has been brought up in such a set up has to fetch vegetables for the officer's wife, he doesn't like it."