“Everywhere in the world, the peaked cap is only worn by General rank Officers. To give it to the ranks of Marshals is to insult the armed forces,” GD Bakshi said.
New Delhi| The members of Rajya Sabha were in for a surprise on Monday as the 250th session of the Upper House began. Taking a detour from the traditional ‘Pagdi’, the marshals sported a closed-neck dark blue suit and a peaked cap with insignia, instead. However, the change in uniform left several perplexed.
The uniform also left political leaders vexed. Cutting across party lines, most elders were irked with the use of the caps and the emblems. Congress’s Jairam Ramesh was heard asking Vice President Venkaiah Naidu whether “martial law” has been imposed on the upper house.
Several Army veterans too opposed the move. Speaking to HW News, Retd. Maj Gen GD Bakshi said that the concerned authorities should be held responsible for this. “They could’ve consulted the armed forces before deciding on the Uniform,” Bakshi told HW News.
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“The uniform has a peaked cap. Everywhere in the world, it is only worn by General Officers. To give it to the ranks of Marshals is to insult the armed forces, is to demean the uniform of armed forces,” he said.
“It is not a joke. You are reducing the Generals and Army chief to the level of a joke,” he said.
When asked about the military laws about the Uniform, he said that there are laws that say that the civilians cannot wear Military uniform or Military Accoutrements. “No civilian, no outsider can wear Army Uniform or Accoutrements. The camouflage pattern that we wear is not supposed to be sold in the market to civilians.”
However, Bakshi believes that Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu is not to be blamed for it. “The staff should have been advised correctly. They should’ve taken the army into confidence before doing that. Somebody ill-advised the vice president,” said Bakshi.
Responding to the claim that it was the National Institute of design that had approved the new uniform he said that one can not make fashion designer make derange the Army Uniform. “Fashion Designers don’t know about Army culture,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Vice President after widespread criticism has assured the Upper House that he will review the decision of changing the uniforms of marshal.
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