While ‘Purpose’ Fired the Taliban, the Afghan Army Was a Rudderless Lot

The absence of plausible ‘Regimentation’ may have contributed to the humiliating surrender of the Afghan soldiers.

Mathematics does not add up: $80 billion in training and support for a military four times the size of the opponent, i.e., the Taliban, and yet it collapsed shamefully within 10 days, with barely a shot fired! The shocking capitulation of the Afghan army has triggered murmurs of “ghost” soldiers who are underpaid, corruption-ridden, disillusioned and demoralised. Reasons for the abject surrender are many, with politics at the top of the heap, but for the conduct of the Afghan soldiers themselves, it wasn’t just about military capability as much as the sheer lack of will to fight, irrespective of the outcome.

Clearly, the Afghan soldiers lacked ‘purpose’, whereas the Taliban fighters were fired by their beliefs and fervour in concepts like Jihad (struggle), Ghazi (killing infidels), Jannat (heaven), etc. It afforded an invaluable ‘purpose’ not to lose their heads in the bargain but fight till the end. No such galvanising emotion beset the poorly salaried Afghan Army soldiers, who served under numerically denominated and emotionless Kandaks (units).

Personal, Immediate Symbols

Usually, frontline soldiers do not fight for realms like geostrategic concerns, political issues or even national symbolism, as opposed to more personal, recognisable and immediate symbols that underlie his/her existence. While it is religious indoctrination for the likes of the Taliban, it is the priceless concept of ‘Regimentation’ for professional soldiering.

‘Regimentation’ is a traditional concept pioneered by the British that recognises the power of regional or clannish identities to infuse unmatchable esprit de corps amongst the ‘band of brothers’, especially in combat.

‘Regimentation’ gives soldiers (serving or retired) a revered identity, a sense of familial belonging to be protected with their own lives, and above all, a sacred covenant or ‘purpose’. It is a carefully and deliberately cultivated project of relatable-resonation that is embellished by inviolable traditions, even quirks, commemorative victories (battle honours), cherished heroes, symbols of unique identity and pride (colours, flags, lanyards, plumes, berets etc.); it is constantly reinforced with the regiment’s past glories, customs and campaigns of valour, with an implied duty to uphold all that spirit of honour and never-say-die gallantry.

‘Purani Paltan'

Regiments often derive their ancestry from antiquity (from former ‘state forces’ to even colonial references sometimes) to earn the unsaid sobriquet of ‘Purani Paltan’ (in the Indian context). Typically, the Indian soldier, usually from the rural-hinterland, is oblivious to Xi Jinping’s latest sophistry or Imran Khan’s machinations — the soldiers simply put themselves in harm’s way to uphold the ‘Naam, Namak, Nishan’ (name, fidelity and ensigns/standards of their ‘uniform’), which are solely vested in the battalion or the regiment’s name. That spirit of ‘Regimentation’ is often the starting and ending point of “paying the ultimate price” in the continuing tradition of its forbears.

‘Regimentation’ may not be ideal in its genealogical or puritanical sense, as it needs to constantly evolve and adapt, whilst still retaining its stirring values and impelling abilities. Corps, divisions, and brigades may be fighting formations, but the ‘Regiment’ is the existential and definitive sanctum sanctorum for a soldier. Even the United States Army Regimental System (USARS) has awakened to the efficacy of regimental affiliation in order to derive benefits of the traditional regimental system, which can be missing in personality-less, identity-less, history-less, cold, and numeric denominations of combat units.

An Example of ‘Unity in Diversity’

History repeatedly shows that morale (josh), pride (fakr) and ‘purpose’ are irreplaceable in warfighting, and many numerically smaller and materially inferior outfits have outdone bigger, technologically savvier, and ostensibly trained forces. The performance of both the Afghan army soldier and the US military against the Taliban is, therefore, no surprise.

Importantly, ‘Regiments’ are not just legacies of colonial interpretation of ‘martial castes’, religion, narrow ethnicities/regionalism or any other form of sub-supremacism, as may be construed by those outside the ‘uniformed’ fraternity. These are actually the finest examples of ‘unity in diversity’ in the constitutional idea of India. Calibrated reforms and the interlinking of the regiments’ ‘purpose’ towards the hallowed responsibilities of nationhood have ensured an optimum formulation.

It was the solemn spirit of ‘Regimentation’ that drove the legendary Major Shaitan Singh (PVC) along with his fearless band of C Company composed of 120 Ahirs (predominantly from Haryana) to fight under the flag of the Kumaon Regiment. These daredevils killed over 1,000 Chinese, before going down themselves.

Similarly, Major BK Pant repeatedly exhorted his troops from 2 Rajput with the regimental battle cry: "Bol Bajrang Bali Ki Jai". His dying words were, “Men of the Rajput Regiment, you were born to die for your country. God has selected this small river for which you must die. Stand up and fight like true Rajputs”. Of the 112 men under Major BK Pant, 82 were killed or wounded in combat. This ‘Regimental’ spirit had ensured that the Indian soldiers fought to the end in 1962, irrespective of the final result. The seeds of that made the Indian soldier repay the Chinese with interest in 1967 at Nathu La and Cho La, where Major BK Pant’s sister-battalion, 18 Rajput, avenged and reaffirmed the Rajput Regimental spirit, through Major Harbhajan Singh’s (MVC) heroics.

An Identity That Goes Beyond the Individual

Herein lies the ‘Regimental’ spirit that ensures a collective identity, which goes beyond an individual’s personal religion, region, caste, or ethnicity to be subsumed under the most powerful and singular ‘Regimental’ identity — an identity worth guarding with one’s own life. Last year, Col Santosh Babu (MVC), originally from Andhra Pradesh, went down fighting with his Veer Bihari troops at Galwan Valley. Only in a ‘Regimental’ environment would a Commanding Officer lead from the front.

Sadly, Afghan soldiers had no life-laying ‘purpose’ as ordained in a ‘Regimental’ environment, no motivation to go beyond the ‘call of duty’. So, they simply wilted, melted and surrendered to a motivated Taliban who were more ‘Regimented’ in construct, albeit regressively.

In Afghanistan, where tribal, regional and ethnic pride outweighs any national identity, the absence of plausible ‘Regimentation’ may have contributed to the humiliating surrender, amongst other political and administrative factors, in addition to the US pull-out.

The will, honour and steel of fighting were completely missing.

(Lt Gen Bhopinder Singh (Retd) is a Former Lt Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands & Puducherry. This is an opinion piece and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same.)