Supreme Court Advocate Dr. Aditya Sondhi delivers a talk on his book ‘Poles Apart’ at Mysore Open Forum

Mysuru: Mysore Open Forum (MOF) had organised a Book Launch and Book Talk on the book ‘Poles Apart,’ authored by Dr. Aditya Sondhi, Senior Advocate, Supreme Court of India, at Kalpa Kshetra Auditorium, Vijayanagar 4th Stage, on Feb. 16.

Dr. Aditya Sondhi dedicated his talk on the book ‘Poles Apart’ to Prof. Muzaffar Assadi as this book is a product of his doctoral thesis from the University of Mysore that he completed under the latter’s guidance a few years ago.

He recalled that Prof. Assadi was a great scholar with a keen intellect who always addressed most complex issues with dispassion and objectivity. He had a deep commitment to social justice and was very sensitive to the needs of the minorities, the Dalits and the tribals and worked in all the areas.

Military and Democracy

Turning to the subject of his book, which is a comparative study of the military and democracy in India and Pakistan, he noted that while the Army in Pakistan ruled for nearly 36 years of its 77 years of independence, the Indian Army has never once considered a military take-over primarily because of our strong institutions of Parliament, Judiciary, rule of Law and a sense of Constitutionalism that pervades our political culture.

Pakistan first lacked such tall leaders in the initial years as Jinnah died within a year of its independence. Secondly, its leaders were busy fighting for the spoils of office and                                                  constantly calling the army to quell riots in its major cities. The Pak army quickly realised that it was the only institution, with a high rate of public trust to restore law and order and political stability, he said.

This, coupled with the lack of a Constitution and free and fair elections till 1970 paved the way for military rule early in the days of independence.

Religion and Politics

Mixing religion into politics was another volatile combination that gave the Army the claim to be the defender of the Faith. And Pakistan’s participation in the Western military pacts strengthened the role of the Army further, he added.

In India, there were moments when the neutrality of the Army was severely tested when it was called upon to carry out Operation ‘Blue Star’ and the Indian Peace-Keeping Force (IPKF) Operation in Sri Lanka.

Both Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi paid with their lives, for these ill-conceived operations, the first was a victim of Operation Blue Star while her son was the victim of the IPKF operation, Dr. Aditya Sondhi said.

Lessons for Indian democracy — always keep the military under civilian control, keep religion out of politics and curb the growth of private armies (fascist, religious or communist). Moreover, one must cultivate a deep commitment to the Constitution and democracy and ensure their fair working.

Ravi Joshi, MOF Convenor, moderated the discussion and proposed a vote of thanks.