General's ancestral village still swears by honest Singh

BAPORA (BHIWANI): In Bapora, General VK Singh's ancestral village, almost every house has either a serving soldier or a retired one. The village had a big celebration when Gen Singh became the Army chief in April 2010. Today, locals here including all the retired soldiers feel proud of the general for blowing the whistle against corruption and they allege he is being targeted for taking graft and malpractices head on.

People from all age groups in this village of over 20,000 people start attacking the government and sections of arm equipment suppliers and the Army the moment you raise the issue of recent controversies, whether it's his date of birth row or alleged movement of troops towards Delhi. "They can't fix him since he is a clean officer. One tiger is enough for all those are making allegations," said Parambir, a banker.

Ninety-year-old subedar major (honorary captian) Gugan Singh, a close relative of the general, recalls him as a gentlemen with keen interest in studies. "There is huge corruption in the Army - we know about the Bofors scam. None had the courage to raise voice. He has done it. All retired soldiers are with him. Had there been an iota of corruption against him, government would have fixed him by now. He never even favoured any local for getting a job in the Army," he added.

The Army chief had visited the village in the last week of March when he participated in an exhibition held at the village government school. Yashpal Tanwar, a young businessman, said he touched the general's feet and also shook hands with him.

Villagers said they would host a grand party for the general when he retires. Satbir Singh, who had played a key role in the April 2010 celebration, said people looked up to the Army chief as an inspiration. "We had never heard anything against him until the smear campaign started against him recently. People don't believe anything spoken or written against him. We have seen how his mother led a simple life here," he said.

The general's ailing mother is now in Delhi undergoing treatment.