Army chief General Bipin Singh Rawat is known to have been carrying out a few restructuring and reformation exercises in the Indian Army, and the latest one has reportedly upset quite a few in the armed forces. He has issued strict instructions that golf will not be permitted in regions such as Jammu and Kashmir and the North East, which are known to be operationally active areas.
While many officers are said to be unhappy with the instruction, Rawat is unlikely to change his decision. Sources close to the matter told Hindustan Times that Rawat isn't opposed to sports and games in general and the forces are often encouraged to play football and tennis, but these sessions of golf and beer, when soldiers are dying at the border, put him off.
Rawat reportedly believes that at a time when soldiers are facing tough times in Kashmir and areas like Manipur, forces should be training and preparing for war instead of spending time on the golf course.
Meanwhile, Rawat isn't the only one who thinks this way. Former army chief general Dalbir Singh had the same belief and had, in fact, asked Rawat, who was then his vice chief, to make sure golf was banned at outposts in J&K. The golf sessions are said to have irked Singh when he was in the valley to assess the September 2016 Uri attack, in which 19 soldiers were killed.
Rawat later had a similar experience, when he was at Srinagar to receive the bodies of his fallen comrades. He reportedly noticed golf caddies waiting at a nearby course and realized that officers would later go back to playing golf. He then reminded the local commander of Singh's orders, after which the entire course was dug up. An open gym and a running course have now replaced the golf course.
Before this, Rawat has ordered that retired generals would no longer have access to "sahayaks" (assistants). The move was a part of Rawat's belief that soldiers were meant to fight and be present at the front, instead of serving as sahayaks – helping with canteen and household work – to retired generals.
Rawat is said to be focused on the fact that soldiers must always be prepared for war, something he has believed in since he was commissioned into the fifth battalion of the Gorkha Rifles in 1978.
