2 Recent Moves by the Indian Army Trigger Hinduization Concerns

While some see the moves as reflecting India’s greater security concerns over China, army veterans say the secular foundations of the Indian Army are being undermined. India’s Chief of Army Staff Gen Upendra Dwivedi and his Nepali counterpart Gen Ashok Raj Sigdel pose in front of a controversial painting, “Field of Deeds,” at the Indian Army chief’s office, New Delhi, India, December 11, 2024. In the second week of December, a painting depicting the historic moment of the Pakistan Army’s surrender to India in the 1971 war was removed from the army chief’s lounge. Then on December 26, 2024, the Fire and Fury Corps of the Indian Army unveiled a statue of the 17th-century Indian king “Chhatrapati” Shivaji on the bank of the Pangong Tso. Criticizing the removal of the iconic painting depicting the 1971 victory over Pakistan from the army chief’s office, retired Lieutenant General H. S. Panag wrote in a December 12 social media post, “The photo/painting symbolizing India’s first major military victory in a 1,000 years and also first as a united nation, in 1971, has been removed by a hierarchy which believes that mythology, religion and distant fragmented feudal past will inspire future victories.” When the removal of the iconic painting evoked outrage among army veterans, it was shifted to the Manekshaw Convention Centre, named after Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, the Indian Army chief during the 1971 war.