Just a huge military force may become meaningless in the next ten years’ time.
just bravery and willing to fight, willing to die may not help in future.
the nation was made in a hurry. In a unholy hurry
not just villages, homes were divided in the line
very impractical boundaries we have drawn.
Very hard to protect, because nobody knows where the damn line is, first of all.
But at least now, where it is possible to settle, we must settle.
Questioner: I think what the Americans also feel, that we just have courage.
Rest everything, the resources that we should be having,
the technology, the weaponry, the bombarding machinery that is lacking in the Indian army.
And there have been budgetary cuts which are further augmenting and thus the soldier on ground feels that,
what is the end result for all this?
That is what the…
I think, is lying very main, that without resources, how does the soldier sustain?
Sadhguru: I am not an expert on this but I feel looking at various things, I have been closely you know,
I have been talking to various military personnel from United States, Israel, UK and other places.
What I see is and even the Chinese.
What I feel is, a significant move must be done right now.
That in the next five to ten years we should become far more technologically capable than what we are today.
Just a huge military force may become meaningless in the next ten years’ time.
And I know that we are moving in that direction, but in my opinion I don’t think it is as fast as it should be.
And, it is not in… in par with how various other nations are moving.
Particularly in United States, they are focusing on making their force very, very minimal.
Very lean and mean.
That’s what they are saying, their force is going to be very lean and mean.
These huge ships all over marines, all over the world,
all this going to go away in the next ten-fifteen years’ time for United States.
And particularly with their new president, they are moving towards that very fast.
They don’t believe in fighting battles anywhere in the world anymore.
That’s how they are looking at it.
They feel they can address it in so many technological ways, rather than sending their men out there.
I think, that’s a direction to go for sure.
And, how quickly, how rapidly we can do, what challenges are there, you’re best experts in the field.
But I feel, the army and the army… the officers in the army, the senior officers,
must continuously push towards this because…
just bravery and willing to fight, willing to die may not help in future.
It needs a technological edge.
And, we have a billion people with great technological capabilities.
The best of that technology should come to our armed forces.
See one… I feel, one of the greatest injustice that’s happened to the forces is,
except for the Navy, which has a clear, natural (Laughs) boundary, the nation was made in a hurry.
In a unholy hurry, if you ask me.
That we drew lines on the map without taking various geographical features into account.
When you draw lines without taking geographical features into account,
then protecting those lines is going to be an extremely difficult.
That’s what you’re going through.
It’s just not right.
If it was done with some wisdom and justice, it could have been done.
I don’t want to make a political commentary of this.
But we drew lines in great hurry.
There is one satire kind of movie, I don’t know if you…
Because somebody insisted I must see this…
Some Begum Jaan or something?
Have you seen this movie?
Radcliffe line passing through a home, dividing a prostitute’s den into two.
So, not just villages, homes were divided in the line.
So when you draw such impractical lines, and people are supposed to protect it,
forces are supposed to protect that most impractical line.
And, with all due respect I am saying this.
Because today I went through the “Hall of Fame,” I went through the First World War,
you know, the exhibition that the army put up in Delhi,
and I’ve been reading some amount of our military history.
Please, you must understand me in the right context.
Whatever the cause, it is not necessary, as far as possible, to take lives for it.
People should live for the nation - people should not die for the nation,
unless some extreme condition, inevitable, yes.
But when you try to protect an unnatural boundary, too many people die unnecessarily.
We can go on glorifying it, it’s fine.
You know, those who have laid down their lives, we have to honor them. All that is fine.
But still, a man is dead.
A man is dead.
All that’s happened is a man is dead.
We can give any amount of meanings and emotions to it.
But a man is dead.
A man who should not be dead is dead.
That’s not good.
And very impractical boundaries we have drawn.
Very hard to protect, because nobody knows where the damn line is, first of all.
I’m sure, you being on the border, you still don’t know exactly where the line is.
Because, there are no geographical features to mark these lines properly.
Maybe some parts you are saying, this river divides us – fine. That’s easy.
But especially the western border is drawn in such a way, nobody knows where the line is.
Simply, everybody pushing it all the time.
In seventy years’ time, both sides, how many people have died – for what?
We could’ve taken time to fix these boundaries properly.
So we were in a hurry to make a nation.
This is not…
We can’t do post mortem on history.
It has happened that way.
But at least now, where it is possible to settle, we must settle.
And the western borders, don’t look like it’s going to settle quickly.
But our northern borders, is very much possible if people sit down in a committed way,
it is possible because there... the situations are different… very different.
So this must be done in the interest of the armed forces, in the interest of the nation,
and the amount of money we spent on it
and for a poor nation where nearly four-hundred million people are still malnourished.
So one way to reduce this cost also, is to… it can’t be done right away.
But, in the next ten years, if we plan to make our forces much leaner, and more effective,
because of technological capabilities, I think this is the way to go forward.
I don’t think there’s any other way.
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