Then he made reference to an incident of two officers getting involved in an incident with a Swedish woman. I am sorry that there was such an incident, hut I do not know wether that lady had returned to Sweden. But I can tell him that we have already had a court of enquiry about that, how the officers came into contact with that lady and so on. I do not know whether she had returned from Peking. Only because she had returned from Peking she is a had woman, I cannot say that.
He also mentioned one or two other things. I would invite my hon. friend, Mr. Vajpayee, that if he gets some very serious information which is useful for the military intelligence of this country, instead of making a mention of it in the House like this, he is always welcome to my residence or to my office where I can very confidentally listen to him and make use of the very valuable information that he will give me.
... Then I must say, I was not here but I am told, that some hon. Member made a reference that 50 .per cent of the army personnel are pro-communist. I must say it is a defamation of our army, defamation of our country. Somebody, said this, at least I am told that somebody made this statement. If that statement is made, I am sure this hon. House will dissociate itself from that statement. Our Army is an absolutely patriotic army, nationalist army, and an army which has made a splendid sacrifice for the defence of our country for which we are all proud, for which we shall continue to be proud. Our young men sacrificed their lives and the large number of young men are offering themselves for an army career— this is something very noble, and not only noble, but this is a very heartening thing. Really speaking, it is this gesture of this new generation that is giving us the real confidence that we need for ourselves. So let us not have any wrong notion about this.
Then somebody said something in regard to promotions. I can assure the hon. House that the promotions arc made absolutely on merits.
It will be unfair for me to say that it was not so before. I can certainly say it is so now. (Interruptions) I must certainly speak for myself, but at the same time I am speaking not only for myself as an individual, I am speaking for the Government. I can assure this Hon. House that the promotions are not based on any social connections or their looks, as somebody said. The promotions are really speaking based on the assessment of their lighting qualities and their qualities of leadership. Of course, I know that this is being done on the assessment of their past performances, but the Chief of the Army Staff has assured me that he is going to test the fighting qualities of the new promotees and other officers in the course of the different types of exercises that we are going to hold, to test their fighting qualities, because what is really needed is the fighting quality of the officer and not merely his look or smartness or his turnout. That matter is, really speaking, before the Army Headquarters and is certainly before the Government as well. I do not want this House to have that impression about promotions, because if that sort of thing is done, that would he another had lesson that we have to learn again some time. We are very much aware of this particular position. I can assure this hon. House that for promotions particularly in the higher ranks— because, as I said, the deficiencies about the qualities of leadership in the higher ranks have become more apparent, and therefore, we have to be more cautious when the officers are promoted to higher ranks— their fighting qualities and their other qualities are tested properly before they are given the right promotion.
