Tweet
Navy chief Admiral DK Joshi quits after another submarine fire, govt quickly accepts papersRajat Pandit,TNN | Feb 27, 2014, 01.01 AM IST[COLOR=#000000][FONT=Arial][CENTER]
comments
READ MORE Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi|DK Joshi|INS Sindhuratna|Devender Kumar Joshi
Navy chief Admiral DK Joshi resigns over warship accidents
RELATED
NEW DELHI: In an unprecedented step, Navy chief Admiral Devender Kumar Joshi resigned on Wednesday, owning "moral responsibility" for warship and submarine accidents over the last six months, including the latest mishap on board submarine INS Sindhuratna off Mumbai.
The incident involving INS Sindhuratna that left two officers feared dead and seven sailors injured on Wednesday proved to be the final trigger for Admiral Joshi's shock resignation. Equally stunning for the armed forces was its quick acceptance.
Admiral Joshi, in his resignation letter, said though the government had reposed faith in his capabilities, it had become untenable for him to continue as Navy chief in terms of accountability.
His image as a "no-nonsense, if slightly impulsive guy" was well known in the corridors of South Block, but what raised eyebrows all around was the resignation's prompt acceptance by the UPA government, leading to suggestions that he had "received a nudge or two" from the defence ministry to put in his papers.
Though the Navy maintains that only four of the so-called dozen accidents were serious enough to merit attention, Admiral Joshi had run into rough weather with the media as well as the political authority.
Unlike in the case of former Army chief General V K Singh's long-running row with the government over his date of birth, the defence ministry moved swiftly to accept Admiral Joshi's resignation. This is the second time that a Navy chief has left office under controversial circumstances before the end of his tenure. In 1998, the then NDA government, with George Fernandes as defence minister, had sacked Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat for defying government directives. Another former Navy chief, Admiral Arun Prakash, had offered to resign in the wake of the infamous naval war-room leak case in 2005-06, but then defence minister Pranab Mukherjee rejected it.
But on Wednesday, a brief MoD statement said, "The government has accepted the resignation of Admiral Joshi with immediate effect. The Navy vice-chief Vice Admiral R K Dhowan will be discharging the duties of the officiating chief of naval staff (CNS), pending the appointment of a regular CNS."
This sent shockwaves down the military rank and file, apart from speculation about how the chain of succession, usually based on the seniority principle, will be impacted. Admiral Joshi was slated to retire only in August 2015. After him, the senior-most serving officer is Western Naval Command (WNC) chief Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, who was commissioned in June 1974. Most of the warship mishaps, incidentally, have taken place in the WNC, which is the Navy's "sword arm".
Vice Admiral Dhowan, who is to retire on May 31 this year, was commissioned in January 1975, while Eastern Naval Command chief Vice Admiral Anil Chopra joined service in July 1975. Southern Command chief Vice Admiral Satish Soni, commissioned in July 1976, was slated to replace Admiral Joshi as the Navy chief in August 2015 but Vice Admiral Chopra is now seen to be the frontrunner for the top post.
Top MoD sources said Admiral Joshi was a "straightforward and honest officer" but "tactless" in dealing with the ministry as well as the media in the wake of the series of "accidents and incidents" that had hit the force over the last six months. "He was slightly intolerant of being asked by the MoD about the accidents," said a source.
The Navy has remained steadfast in its stand that only three of the dozen "so-called accidents" were serious enough to warrant attention after submarine INS Sindhurakshak sank due to a series of internal explosions at the Mumbai naval dockyard, killing three officers and 15 sailors on August 14 last year. "Only the mishaps involving INS Sindhurakshak, INS Talwar, INS Airavat and now INS Sindhuratna are serious. The Navy has removed three of the captains from their command. The other incidents were minor in an over-deployed Navy, but received a lot of negative publicity. There have been serious accidents in the past too, but nobody thought of resigning," said a senior officer.
Many officers commended Admiral Joshi for doing the "honourable thing". Admiral Arun Prakash said, "He has done the right thing since the buck stops with him. The tradition in India is not to own up moral responsibility. Most of the accidents were trivial incidents like a ship touching a jetty or a submarine being caught in low tide, for which a chief cannot be held responsible. Our politicians and bureaucrats should take a hint from Admiral Joshi's conduct."
TIMES VIEW
Admiral Joshi's immediate resignation taking moral responsibility for the accident stands out as a shining act of conscience in an age when our ministers cynically and shamelessly refuse to be held accountable for the deaths of countless citizens because of the negligence of their governments. Thousands have died in train accidents, but do our rail ministers take responsibility, far less resign?
Navy chief Admiral DK Joshi quits after another submarine fire, govt quickly accepts papers - The Times of India
comments
READ MORE Navy Chief Admiral DK Joshi|DK Joshi|INS Sindhuratna|Devender Kumar Joshi
Navy chief Admiral DK Joshi resigns over warship accidents
RELATED
- Navy chief Admiral DK Joshi resigns over warship accidents
- Mishap on another Navy submarine off Mumbai coast
NEW DELHI: In an unprecedented step, Navy chief Admiral Devender Kumar Joshi resigned on Wednesday, owning "moral responsibility" for warship and submarine accidents over the last six months, including the latest mishap on board submarine INS Sindhuratna off Mumbai.
The incident involving INS Sindhuratna that left two officers feared dead and seven sailors injured on Wednesday proved to be the final trigger for Admiral Joshi's shock resignation. Equally stunning for the armed forces was its quick acceptance.
Admiral Joshi, in his resignation letter, said though the government had reposed faith in his capabilities, it had become untenable for him to continue as Navy chief in terms of accountability.
His image as a "no-nonsense, if slightly impulsive guy" was well known in the corridors of South Block, but what raised eyebrows all around was the resignation's prompt acceptance by the UPA government, leading to suggestions that he had "received a nudge or two" from the defence ministry to put in his papers.
Though the Navy maintains that only four of the so-called dozen accidents were serious enough to merit attention, Admiral Joshi had run into rough weather with the media as well as the political authority.
Unlike in the case of former Army chief General V K Singh's long-running row with the government over his date of birth, the defence ministry moved swiftly to accept Admiral Joshi's resignation. This is the second time that a Navy chief has left office under controversial circumstances before the end of his tenure. In 1998, the then NDA government, with George Fernandes as defence minister, had sacked Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat for defying government directives. Another former Navy chief, Admiral Arun Prakash, had offered to resign in the wake of the infamous naval war-room leak case in 2005-06, but then defence minister Pranab Mukherjee rejected it.
But on Wednesday, a brief MoD statement said, "The government has accepted the resignation of Admiral Joshi with immediate effect. The Navy vice-chief Vice Admiral R K Dhowan will be discharging the duties of the officiating chief of naval staff (CNS), pending the appointment of a regular CNS."
This sent shockwaves down the military rank and file, apart from speculation about how the chain of succession, usually based on the seniority principle, will be impacted. Admiral Joshi was slated to retire only in August 2015. After him, the senior-most serving officer is Western Naval Command (WNC) chief Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, who was commissioned in June 1974. Most of the warship mishaps, incidentally, have taken place in the WNC, which is the Navy's "sword arm".
Vice Admiral Dhowan, who is to retire on May 31 this year, was commissioned in January 1975, while Eastern Naval Command chief Vice Admiral Anil Chopra joined service in July 1975. Southern Command chief Vice Admiral Satish Soni, commissioned in July 1976, was slated to replace Admiral Joshi as the Navy chief in August 2015 but Vice Admiral Chopra is now seen to be the frontrunner for the top post.
Top MoD sources said Admiral Joshi was a "straightforward and honest officer" but "tactless" in dealing with the ministry as well as the media in the wake of the series of "accidents and incidents" that had hit the force over the last six months. "He was slightly intolerant of being asked by the MoD about the accidents," said a source.
The Navy has remained steadfast in its stand that only three of the dozen "so-called accidents" were serious enough to warrant attention after submarine INS Sindhurakshak sank due to a series of internal explosions at the Mumbai naval dockyard, killing three officers and 15 sailors on August 14 last year. "Only the mishaps involving INS Sindhurakshak, INS Talwar, INS Airavat and now INS Sindhuratna are serious. The Navy has removed three of the captains from their command. The other incidents were minor in an over-deployed Navy, but received a lot of negative publicity. There have been serious accidents in the past too, but nobody thought of resigning," said a senior officer.
Many officers commended Admiral Joshi for doing the "honourable thing". Admiral Arun Prakash said, "He has done the right thing since the buck stops with him. The tradition in India is not to own up moral responsibility. Most of the accidents were trivial incidents like a ship touching a jetty or a submarine being caught in low tide, for which a chief cannot be held responsible. Our politicians and bureaucrats should take a hint from Admiral Joshi's conduct."
TIMES VIEW
Admiral Joshi's immediate resignation taking moral responsibility for the accident stands out as a shining act of conscience in an age when our ministers cynically and shamelessly refuse to be held accountable for the deaths of countless citizens because of the negligence of their governments. Thousands have died in train accidents, but do our rail ministers take responsibility, far less resign?
Navy chief Admiral DK Joshi quits after another submarine fire, govt quickly accepts papers - The Times of India