Samuel Kamleshan placed his personal religion before his troops' religion and customs

November 26

The Supreme Court has upheld the termination from service of Lt Samuel Kamleshan of the Indian Army, for not attending a gurudwara event at his Regiment.

The Indian Army, as also the Pakistani Army is composed of ethnic, religious and caste formations, reflecting the realities of this subcontinent. Officers however, are allotted Regiments on a random basis, or on parental claim. For example, if my father, a Malayali, served in the Jat Regiment, I his son, can claim affiliation to the Jat Regiment on receiving my Presidential Commission. However, if I do not claim that right, I will be allotted a Regiment randomly.

Once a part of a Regiment, an officer assumes the religion, customs, war cries and language of his troops. The initial Young Officers' Course introduces him to and reaches him the language, religion and customs of his troops. His personal religion remains personal, to be practiced in his home, with his family. A Catholic Christian Officer in a Gurkha Regiment will speak Gorkhali, engage in Durga Puja observances and sacrifice buffaloes with his Gurkha troops.

A uninformed maulvi has been known to conduct a Regimental Janmashtami puja and deliver a sermon of such beauty, that every eye was rendered moist...

That Samuel Kamleshan placed his personal religion before his troops' religion and customs, is an unconscionable affront to the ethos of the Indian Army. He had to go.