Veterans Urge President To Stop Parties From Using Forces For Polls

New Delhi: Over 150 veterans, including at least eight former chiefs of staff, have written to President Ram Nath Kovind expressing “alarm and disquiet” at the armed forces being used for “political purposes” or “to further political agendas”.

They have urged the President, the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, to direct all parties to “forthwith desist from using the military” and “any actions by military formations or personnel” for political purposes, reports NDTV.

The Telegraph reports that the unprecedented appeal became public past midnight, hours after the first round of polling got over on Thursday.

The letter carries the names of some of the most decorated and well-known military veterans. They include Gen. S.F. Rodrigues, Gen. Shankar Roy Chowdhury, Gen. Deepak Kapoor, Adm. Laxminarayan Ramdas, Adm. Vishnu Bhagwat, Adm. Arun Prakash, Adm. Sureesh Mehta and Air Chief Marshal N.C. Suri.

The letter does not name any political party or leader. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked first-time voters to dedicate their votes to the soldiers who carried out the Balakot air strikes.

The letter mentioned Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath referring to the armed forces as “Modiji ki Sena”, or “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s army” at a recent election rally in Uttar Pradesh. The Chief Minister was reprimanded by the Election Commission for the statements.

The veterans said they were echoing the sentiments of serving officers across the board.

They appealed to the President to “ensure that the secular and apolitical character of our Armed Forces is preserved”.