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Fernandes says Bhagwat's dismissal won't affect defence morale

Defence Minister George Fernandes today said the morale of the armed forces was not so weak as to get affected by developments such as the sacking of the chief of naval staff.

"Armed forces ka morale itna weak nahin hai," he said after a function to commemorate the golden jubilee of the canteen stores department in New Delhi, when reporters asked him to comment on the fallout of Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat's dismissal.

But he refused to comment on the decision to sack the admiral.

Meanwhile, Air Chief Marshal Anil Yashwant Tipnis, who took over today as chief of air staff, described the incident as "the most unfortunate thing to happen".

Asked by reporters to comment on Bhagwat's dismissal, the Indian Air Force chief said, "I feel I am neither authorised nor competent to answer."

"It's totally premature. It is of course the most unfortunate thing to happen," he said.

But ACM Tipnis issued a stern warning that any attempt to break or bypass IAF laws would get "the treatment it deserves".

Soon after taking over at Air Headquarters, he said the ethos of the service would have to be rejuvenated to overcome the various problems the IAF has been facing.

Asked to comment on the system of 'redressal of grievance', particularly in the wake of the agitation last year by a section of officers over the Fifth Pay Commission's recommendations, he said what had happened was a serious matter.

"It might have been instigated by a few. But if it happened, it was because something went amiss. The redressal system was available to them."

He said that during his visits to various air bases with the Ajit Kumar Committee, he realised that some of the perceptions were rather naive. "Within the force we have to educate the people," he said.

In a message, ACM Tipnis said the ethos of rationality and mutual trust and disciplined upbringing, which the IAF had been blessed with, was not always at the forefront of late.

The 58-year-old fighter pilot took over from ACM S K Sareen in the morning. Later he called on President K R Narayanan, commander in chief of the armed forces, at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

UNI

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