Indians, as a nation were in for a shocker on November 26, 2025. One of the headlines carried by morning newspapers had them shockingly surprised than confused.  The habitually somnolent tea-sipping early morning newspaper aficionados, who have been forced to restrict themselves to just the headlines these days, for want of ‘news’ of any semblance of consequence or relevance to the nation and citizens were forced into wide wakefulness.

The headline screamed ‘Christian officer’s sacking upheld’. At least that was what jolted me out of my quasi-sleep, while ‘going through’ the New Indian Express.

Inquisitive, I was compelled to read on. A Supreme Court Bench constituted by none other than the Chief Justice of India who was sworn-in just the other day, along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi, upheld the dismissal of a Christian Army officer who refused to enter the sanctum sanctorum of his regiment’s temple to perform puja. The officer believed it ran askance to the teachings of his monotheistic religion.

With sleep having deserted me, I read on.  The Apex Court Bench observed that refusal of Officer Samuel Kamalesan to take part in religious activities within his regiment amounted to ‘grossest kind of indiscipline.’

The Delhi High Court, in the very same case had earlier upheld the Army’s ‘disciplinary’ action of expelling Kamalesan, by observing that Kamalesan ‘kept his religion above a lawful command from his superior’, and termed Kamalesan’s refusal to perform puja ‘an act of indiscipline.’

To Kamalesan’s submission to the High Court that his bond with fellow soldiers was based on mutual respect, allegiance to the same flag and nation, and on the basis of their Indianness, shared meals, exercises, sleeping quarters and assignments, the Union Government had responded that ‘the troops derived motivation, pride and generated their war cries from devotional practices to a deity. ‘When an officer distanced himself from these practices, it would adversely affect the morale of the troops, undermining regimentation, cohesion and unity during combat.’ the government contended. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief.    

 Having had enough of one of the queerest news I happened to read in recent times, I couldn’t take more. I folded the newspaper and reflected.

 Officers serving the Indian Armed forces, irrespective of rank are free to practice the religion they chose to, in the manner they chose fit. It is their right to do so. As per the Indian Constitution. As long as it doesn’t trample on others’ belief systems. The Court’s directions to show the defiant officer the door would have held water had he attempted conversion.

 The unique drama- the Army’s act of terminating an officer for refusing to perform Puja at his regimental temple, and the judiciary upholding the Army’s obnoxious dictat and worse, the Union Government’s take on the issue made me wonder if Indian Armed forces are metamorphosing into a bunch of tantris, priests and mullahs. Since when was responsibility of performing religious rituals conferred on Indian armed forces? That the legislature had succeeded in reducing judiciary into one of its kitchen staff, like numerous other institutions, constitutional or otherwise, was clear as daylight from the Kamalesan incident. The judiciary seemed happy to concur to the government’s methodology to create places of worship of army barracks.

The army officer’s sacking had Indians wonder if the country was deteriorating into regressive ways of a nation functioning on religious tenets. Like her next-door neighbor being run by religious zealots.

The Indian judiciary badly needs a course correction on ‘discipline’ within the armed forces, and their duties which, to the best of an average Indian’s knowledge stop well short of performing religious rituals.

That India is losing her way is evident from judicial highhandedness, which has the blessings of the union government. My sincere prayer is that I close my eyes before officers of Indian armed forces are directed to adopt loin cloth, complemented by the sacred thread for their uniform!