MILITARY REPUBLIC OF INDIA

Egypt. The people rose in protest against a tyrant. As usual, the police beat, shot and killed the protesters. Before more people got hurt, the Egyptian Army stepped in and Mubarak was kicked out. It repeated the act to remove Morsi, bowing to popular sentiments. The Tahrir square has been witness to this historic event.
Back home, we have seen the Army rescue victims of natural and man-made calamities. Be it a child stuck in  a borewell, or pilgrims who expected God's mercy. Not to forget their job of trying to push back terrorists, within and outside the country; not to forget the role it plays when fanatics stir up communal violence and pit one man against his brother. The Army is called in to hold the pieces together and keep the peace.
One thing the Army hasn't done yet is take over the Government.
Yes, an attempt was made by Mangal Pandey, when the white man was ruling us and pork fat was used in guns. Today, a white woman, surrounded by hogs, is ruling us. And the Army, sadly, is killing itself. The suicide rate among the Armed Forces is high. Juniors shooting their senior officers over leave sanction is becoming a recurring event. Even for the ones not contemplating suicide, it is a tough task. We have battle tanks that blow up from the inside, MiGs that crash while taking off and choppers that drop from the sky like dead birds.We may have the highest casualties in peace time, than war.
Be it trucks, guns or plain rations, the government of the day always does an "Italian Job" of things. The magnitude of corruption increases as the defense budget sky rockets. Yet, terrorist acts continue and are more brazen than the previous one. Remember the Mumbai attacks?
It might sound as sacrilege, but sometimes to protect democracy, you need to appoint tyrants. Romans did it, Germans did it, Americans still do it; it's time we did it. We have waited more than 50 years, and we should not wait another 50 to realize it is not working out.
Our Army are not exactly tyrants. Yes, freedom of the Press is something that should be kept alive, unlike our neighbor Burma. But the armed forces have a good track record of solving problems pragmatically, be it court cases, providing relief or making judicious use of limited resources. They can be the right solution to our problem. All we need is to give them the call.