No Need for Indian Army & Civilians to Fight Over Cantonment Roads

This is a counter to a pro-Army piece on the closure of cantonment roads published earlier on The Quint.

(This is the counter-view. You can read the view here.)

Recently, the Ministry of Defence ordered the opening of roads in cantonments across the country, and since then a number of posts have gone viral on Facebook and Instagram highlighting how this is a threat to the Army installations, and the personnel and families stationed in the cantonments.

Also, a video has gone viral in which a man is seen misbehaving with the Army personnel who stand firm and do not reciprocate the abuse.

In the posts that have gone viral, there is a sense of fear and insecurity, and a narrative bordering on the bigoted, which warrants a critical attempt to juxtapose both the narratives and understand the stand-off.

Can Cantonments Really Be Closed?

‘Closure’ of cantonments for civilians has been demanded in most such posts and also in an online petition. But can cantonments really be ‘closed’? Before we seek answer to this question, let us ask a more fundamental question: what is a cantonment? A cantonment, in very simple words, is a place where the army is permanently stationed. Cantonments house army units, their families, and numerous military installations.

While many cantonments are small and somewhat exclusive, a lot of cantonments are quite old and ‘open’ with a large civilian population, such as Meerut, Varanasi, Allahabad, Mathura, etc.

Now let us go back to the question: can cantonments really be ‘closed’? No. A cantonment like Meerut, that has a large civilian population living there for hundreds of years, cannot be closed. Also, it should be noted that while many cantonments were created from scratch, many cantonments are part of larger old cities, such as Meerut. The cantonment there was founded in 1803, but Meerut had been there for way longer than that. A place people have been living in for centuries can’t suddenly be closed off to them.

This does not mean that the army has to ‘open’ cantonments to everyone and that it has to necessarily jeopardise the safety and security of its installations and living quarters.

Restrictions may well be imposed, subtle measures may be taken. These measures have worked well in Meerut, which too experienced an issue of ‘closure’ of public roads a few years back.

Civilians Are Not a Threat to the Army

A few years back when Major General VK Yadav was the General Officer Commanding of Paschim UP Sub Area, headquartered at Meerut, restrictions were imposed on some critical roads. Gradually, a system evolved in which gates were built and passes were issued after due registration and verification to people who had to pass through those roads, and the issue gradually faded.

Chaos was created by a few members of the political class back then too and the city MP reportedly met the defence minister over the same – but the army stood its ground and the situation was resolved. The most notable thing at Meerut was the army’s engagement with the public and liaising with the civil authorities.

If such a mechanism is evolved in other places too, then most of the issues can be solved. Civilians are, after all, not the threat. Anti-national elements are. The fear of anti-national elements coming into cantonments in the guise of civilians is real and it should be addressed.

But is ‘closing’ the cantonment the solution? No. Even military stations, such as Sunjuwan, have been attacked. So what is the solution? The solution lies in evolving a system in which the army systematically improves its infrastructure in cantonments. The army remains financially crippled because of lack of funds, as reports have repeatedly shown, and that affects its infrastructure and preparedness. That needs to be worked upon.

Also, the perception that the civilians do not care about the army is not true. The army is perhaps the only organ of the state that the public trusts so much. In a country in which the organs of the state have little credibility, the army is synonymous with the civilisational ethos of India. With the exception of a minuscule minority, most of the Indian public — civilians — respect and admire the army. They look up to it. Even a Pew study attested to this assertion.

We Can’t Put All Civilians Under One Umbrella

My grandfather was posted in Rajasthan during the 1971 war and he has first-hand accounts of how civilian women risked their lives to supply food to soldiers going to fight on the front.

My grandfather and those around him actively supported the army in every manner possible, from helping them in digging pits to prioritising their official work, so their families weren’t adversely affected during the war. Every year around the Kargil War anniversary, my mother and aunts solemnly recall the funeral procession of Major Manoj Talwar, which was attended by almost the entire city. There are innumerable such instances in my memory.

Posts bashing the civilians, therefore, came not just as a surprise, but also as a shock because they grossly generalised a billion-plus citizenry of the country.

Just because of a minuscule minority, all the civilians cannot be generalised as being disrespectful to the army. Also, just because some of them may harm the army and its installations, it does not mean that the entire population would be deprived of their basic movements.

These posts are also poorly drafted in terms of facts. While civilians have certainly ‘grown around cantonments’ in some places, in many a cantonments they have always been an integral part, such as in most of the older cantonments like Meerut.

Let’s Not Create a Divide Between Army & Civilians

India already has a lot of divisions and it does not therefore need an army-civilian division too. Both the communities ought to trust each other and respect each other’s issues.

The issues of the army are genuine and they ought to be given rights to protect critical roads and restrict their usage, but demanding a blanket closure and throwing around blanket accusations on the civilian population is unjust.

Also, the defence ministry should show maturity and not take blanket decisions. All cases are different. The same approach cannot be applied to all cantonments and stations and therefore, opening or closing all roads does not solve anything. All the stakeholders need to show maturity and avoid generalisations. Local commanders know how to deal with their area, as shown in Meerut. They should be given their due respect, rather than some MPs waiting for any opportunity to churn out political cream.

(Madhur Sharma is an undergraduate student of history at the University of Delhi. He tweets at @madhur_mrt. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)