A visual of the Bathinda military station in Punjab where the firing incident took place on April 12, 2023. Four army soldiers were martyred in this incident. , Photo Credit: PTI
Now that the dust has settled on the recent unfortunate incident in Bathinda, Punjab, in which, An army jawan shot his four comrades while they were sleeping. It is time to introspect and reflect on the bigger challenges so that the chances of another Bathinda-type incident can be reduced and ideally eliminated.
Unfortunately, there have been recurring cases of suicides and fratricides in the security organizations. Several government committees have been formed to look into these issues and recommend measures for a better future. The following reasons behind attrition have been identified: discrimination between sub-groups within an army unit, trauma of abuse, bullying by superiors in the hierarchy, lack of communication between the company commander and jawans, unsatisfactory service conditions, lack of promotion avenues, etc.
Surprisingly, the most important aspect related to ‘leadership’ is conspicuously absent in the recommendations of all the committees. It is important to underline that challenges related to human resources, whatever their origin and complexity, can be addressed if leadership issues are addressed at the unit level.
life of a soldier
Before identifying specifics related to leadership, it is worthwhile to understand the overall context that shapes the lives of security personnel in their unit. Following are the salient features.
First, a soldier spends about three-quarters of the year with his unit away from his family. This is usually the norm unless the young man lives with family in a peace-time environment. This makes intra-unit support systems very important.
Second, as society outside the unit becomes more complex and polarized in the present age of connectivity, it casts a mirror image reflection on the psyche of the young man in the unit. And this reflection is material in the face of diminishing human connectivity.
Third, when the growing aspirations of their families combine with the hectic pace of activities in the units, the individual’s affairs become redundant, especially when the chips are down.
Fourth, an aspect that may not be universally true, but holds some water in most cases, is that amidst the hectic pace of unit activities, the dignity of a soldier has come down. He probably doesn’t see himself as part of the bigger picture and doesn’t feel important anymore. Thus he ceases to take pride in his profession.
Leader’s Emotional Quotient (EQ)
Against this backdrop, it is the unit leadership that has the ability to root out any challenge relating to a jawan before it explodes. A leadership that is closely involved with the soldiers acts as a safety valve to vent a jawan’s frustration and resolve it later.
To be more specific, the need of the hour is leadership with a high EQ, i.e. ability to manage emotions in a positive manner. Leadership EQ is an important attribute for effective leadership in any field, including the military. Military leaders are responsible for leading and managing teams in high-pressure-, dynamic- and stressful environments, where emotions can play a significant role. He has to manage not only his stress but also the worries of his soldiers.
Some key aspects of EQ, as brought out by Daniel Goleman, are self-awareness, empathy, social skills, adaptability, and resilience. There is a need to train leadership at the unit level and sensitize them about the emotional challenges that jawans face and acquire the necessary skills to reduce their stress in a structured manner.
In the current times of social media and information revolution, our attention spans have become quite short. The human connection has taken a back seat in all relations and perhaps this has cast its shadow on the military leadership as well. A leader who is high on EQ will empathize with his followers, give them enough time and attention, delve deeply into their problems despite their complexity, and make the follower feel important. The adaptive and flexible leader will inspire the confidence of the followers to reach out to the leader with the smallest of challenges facing them.
The test of a good leader is that his men approach him with their problems. “Leadership is solving problems and the day soldiers stop telling you their problems, you stop leading them”, wrote General Colin Powell.
Whatever happened in Bathinda could have been avoided without being judgemental, if the main protagonist had approached his leader about the problem he was facing. Had their leader sympathized with them and had there been no breakdown in communication, perhaps, they would not have chosen to take up arms and kill their comrades.
It is time to acknowledge the importance of leadership with high EQ, and initiate efforts to institutionalize it in security organizations. This is necessary to prevent more Bathinda from appearing.
, Colonel Shashank Ranjan is a retired Infantry officer with rich experience of serving in insurgency. He is currently an Adjunct Fellow and PhD Scholar with OP Jindal Global University. The views expressed by the author are personal.,