Studying Chola naval campaigns, reducing pipe bands: Armed forces look at changes

According to officials, immoderate of these points besides diagnostic successful a work connected ‘Colonial Practices and the Armed Forces – A Review’ that was launched by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh astatine the maiden Joint Commanders Conference successful Lucknow earlier this month.

Officials said efforts person been connected to inculcate an India-centric strategical thought successful young subject minds by including successful courses texts written by past Indian strategists alternatively of including lone thoughts propagated by Western subject thinkers and writers.

Towards this, they said, the Secunderabad-based College of Defence Management (CDM) is drafting a syllabus successful consultation with the Indic Studies section of Gujarat University which volition beryllium made a mandatory portion of mid-career courses to beryllium attended by officers of the 3 services.

It could see onshore run studies of Indian Generals in past specified arsenic the INA, Marathas oregon Sikhs arsenic good arsenic past maritime strategies and naval exploits of past Indian rulers specified arsenic Raja Raja Chola I and his lad Rajendra Chola, King Marthand Varma astatine Colachel and Kunjali Marakkar IV among others. It could besides see the governance exemplary of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya.

Additionally, different nonrecreational subject acquisition institutes person begun conducting regular seminars by apical Indology authorities to propagate indigenous ethics, instrumentality and warcraft concepts.

For instance, the Army Training Command has drafted speechmaking worldly connected past Indian concepts and doctrines for Army personnel, portion the CDM has published books connected the subject.

Some of these see the ‘Pearls of Ancient Indian Wisdom’ with extracts from the Gita, Panchatantra, Arthashastra, Chanakya Niti and Thirukkural.

The Armed Forces are besides successful the process of identifying obsolete laws and rules truthful that they tin beryllium weeded out, adjacent arsenic enactment is connected to bash distant with idiosyncratic work Acts and travel up with a consolidated tri-service Act.

There whitethorn besides beryllium a survey to spot if the Army’s infantry regiments tin beryllium fixed a much pan-India character, similar its different arms incrementally implicit a play of time. Additionally, much Indian poetry, prayers, songs volition beryllium utilized successful subject grooming institutions replacing assemblage epoch literature, specified arsenic IF by Rudyard Kipling and the existent supplication successful English astatine NDA.

Officials said that portion the Indian Air Force and the Navy person 1 Scottish-origin tube set successful each of their determination bid headquarters, the Army has them successful each unit. The Army is discussing whether they tin beryllium reduced to 1 astatine each determination bid office purely for ceremonial purposes.

The Indian subject has shed astir of its colonial-era vestiges since the country’s independency successful 1947. But determination was an upswing successful efforts aft Prime Minister Narendra Modi, portion speaking astatine the Combined Commanders Conference successful Gujarat’s Kevadia successful 2021, talked astir expanding indigenisation successful the nationalist information system, including successful the doctrines, procedures and customs practised successful the Armed Forces.

Some of these see changing respective Army portion crests, the naval ensign, giving retired Indian names to subject platforms, limb systems, exercises, operations. There is besides an enhanced usage of Indian tunes and instruments successful the Republic Day parade and the Beating Retreat ceremony.