COLONIAL PRACTICES TO BE REMOVED
- Handwritten Submissions in Staff College.
Genesis – British Army would issue typewriters to British Clerks and Indians were expected to handwrite everything from letters to SOPs to documents. British officers would derive sadistic pleasure in making Indians re-write everything by hand due to small errors. - Black Combat Boots.
Genesis – Black Boots is a colonial legacy where in the Gora Sahib would want his Indian or African helper to polish and polish for hours. World over all armies have moved to Brown Faux Suede / Nubuck combat boots which don’t need polishing, but we still have black as part of uniform. - Fashion Shows, Singing & Dancing in the name of Welfare Meets.
Genesis – Gora Memsaabs would entertain themselves by making wives of Indian soldiers sing and dance in the name of promoting Indian Culture. Unfortunately, even today singing , dancing and more absurdly fashion shows have become a norm or Ladies Meet. - Candle Making, Vegetable Cutting, Namkeen Making in the name of welfare.
Genesis – Gone are the days that wives of Indian soldiers and officers were uneducated and underconfident. Wives of many junior officers, JCOs and jawans have more worthwhile degrees and post degrees in comparison to the famously quoted MsC from Madras University and Osmania University. Senior ladies asking them to make candles, stitch table napkins or cut vegetables in the name of welfare is just a repetition of colonial mindset. - Concept of First Lady, CO Maam, GOC Maam etc.
Genesis – As per constitutional protocol there is only ONE First Lady and that is the President of India’s Wife. Gora Memsaabs wanted to feel important and feel like rulers and that’s why the concept of First Lady was used. Unfortunately, today also many are rampantly wearing their husband’s rank and officers are bestowing them with titles like “CO Maam”, “Cdr Maam”, “First Lady” etc. These titles are a inheritance of colonial legacy and need to be stopped. - Over Importance to Memorizing and Rote Learning.
Genesis – The British undermined the intellectual capabilities of Indians and other people they ruled and thus entrance and promotion exams for Armed Forces, Civil Services and also internal exams were heavily memory based and not application based. However, this trend still continues- we want Drill Instructors and Weapon Instructors who rattle out procedures like a tape recorders without even 1% application or ingenuity and the same applies for officer exams. - Wives of Officers Standing Up When Wives of Senior Officers or Senior Officers Enter the Room.
Genesis – In Indian culture respect is given through your demeanour and not by meaningless mechanical functions. The concept of officers standing in attention is a military virtue but ladies standing up is once again a colonial practice from Victorian Era where all ladies would stand up for the Queen. - Going over board with snacks in Ops room and idiosyncrasies in guestrooms
Gensis – The British considered themselves as an elite class and wanted luxuries even when in training camps, ops rooms, field mess etc. Today certain officers asking and certain officers serving Coconut Water in Leh, Prawns in Arunachal, have particular branded cosmetics in guestrooms, jacuzzi in guestrooms, cashew nuts in an ops room, and the list is endless. This practice of going over board under the excuse of “hospitality” is just a modern day version of Gora Saab British behaviour
