Why Sadhguru's award to military officers in uniform irked a section of veterans

During the Mahashivratri celebrations at the Isha Yoga Centre of spiritual leader Sadhguru, representatives from the three wings of the military, among others, were honoured for their contributions to building the nation.

Air Marshal Jeetendra Mishra of the Western Air Command, Lt. Gen. A. V. S. Rathee of the Southern Command, and Vice Admiral R. V. Gokhale of the Western Naval Command were among those who received the Bhavya Bharat Bhushan Awards.

"A special segment of the Bhavya Bharat Bhushan recognizes the strategic brilliance and courage of the Indian Armed Forces during Operation Sindoor," the notification on Isha's website read.

However, the awards seem to have evoked a mixed response as some veterans questioned defence personnel appearing in uniform for the award.

The Hindu quoted Major General B. S. Dhanoa (retd.) as saying that military officers can be part of such private functions, but they should not appear in uniform. “If they were to receive an award, they could well have received it in civil dress. Wearing a military uniform and going to a private event is unbecoming of the apolitical character of the military,” he was quoted as saying.

Lt. Gen. D. S. Hooda (retd.), however, pointed out that defence officers cannot refuse to attend events where the defence minister is present, but added that it is the responsibility of the political leaders to ensure that uniformed officers are not invited to events in which questions can be raised about their conduct or professionalism.

The Wire quoted a retired three-star Army officer as observing that these are merely “privately created awards, amounting to a parallel recognition track” outside the formal honours architecture of the forces and needed to be "strongly challenged, if the services’ ethos was to be maintained and perpetuated."

Another two-star Indian Navy veteran pointed out that while military officers are free to practise personal faith, uniformed commanders "appearing at personality-driven religious platforms risk projecting institutional endorsement of the individual," according to The Wire. “Optics at these levels can easily be read as institutional endorsement of such platforms,” the officer added.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had hailed the awards saying, "Alongside the distinguished stalwarts from these domains who were conferred this honour, three institutions of our Armed Forces were also facilitated in recognition of the remarkable success of Operation Sindoor. These are Western Air Command, Army's Southern Command and Western Naval Command. Personally, this filled me with great joy and a deep sense of pride."