Big Block: Army mindset boggles the civilian mind

Hyderabad: The men in olive green are conditioned to think that they must be in control of every situation, and to be seen to be backing off is deemed a failure.
For four years now, civilians residing in the fringes of the SCB and the Army are entangled in a fight over the closure of roads.

The LMA stand has been explained through the rule book though in some cases the norms do not support the Army. Most civilians do not read the rule book and believe the Army is right. In the road closure case, the law says the Army is not empowered to close roads.

Major Shiva Anand (retired) said, “Defence personnel are trained to handle crises of different intensities. It is an organised structure and they are trained. Their cognitive thinking is designed to be aggressive against enemies.”

The issue with the cantonment, especially with regard to road closure, is conflict over geography and right of way. The Army wants to restrict the flow of civilian population in certain zones for its own reasons. The civilians cannot imagine why the Army would want to stop its own people. Only if both the parties sit together and work their way out, the issue may not exacerbate.

Junior Commissioner Officer Swaroop Mishra (retired) said, “The issue of the Army being adamant and not re-opening roads requires constituting of a separate entity that will include members from the defence and civilians which will bring both parties together on terms.”

Civilians think that the Army is there to defend them and finding the men in green stopping them is an unsettling experience. “But I (civilian) am not quite sure if (Army) is defending me. Because you are (Army) defending me from something that I have a right on,” is the feeling.

Psychologist Dr Pragya Rashmi said, “Civilians have an anti-region feeling. People feel that they are homegrown, you (the army) are stopping me. It is not necessarily hatred against the Army. From the Army mindset, it is a crisis intervention, which is always strong and aggressive.” The only way out, she said, was for any one party to compromise.