It has taken 40 years for the issue to get noticed by the
nation. The armed forces veterans see this as gross injustice
Fortunately for about 20 lakh veterans the
One Rank One Pension issue is in the national limelight. Perhaps this is one of
the rare issues where most of the op-ed writers unanimously supported the
veterans. The veterans have been struggling
in their lives and the agitation is continuing from the far corners of Tamil
Nadu to the remote deserts of Rajasthan. But this article is not about OROP
issue! It had been taken up eloquently by veterans leading the struggle. I have
learnt five things from this seemingly never-ending struggle showing even at
ripe old age one can learn new lessons of life. Here they are -
Government cannot be trusted to deliver its promises. This is a lesson the “aam janata” (common man) learnt long ago. But soldiers both in and out of uniform have been brought up in the traditional but naive belief that the government is the “mai baap” to look after them. This covenant has been broken perhaps irrevocably. Even if the government now implements the OROP tailored to suit its convenience, I doubt whether it will ever regain the unique position it occupied in the soldier’s mind. Now every government order runs the risk of being suspect, probably for the very right reasons. This can change only when it makes the armed forces part of the decision making process in matters relating to national security. But many of us don’t believe it would happen in this country which has kept the armed forces at arm’s length for over six decades of independence. That is why Prime Minister Modi’s “Man ki baat” on OROP cut no ice with the veterans.
Government cannot be trusted to deliver its promises. This is a lesson the “aam janata” (common man) learnt long ago. But soldiers both in and out of uniform have been brought up in the traditional but naive belief that the government is the “mai baap” to look after them. This covenant has been broken perhaps irrevocably. Even if the government now implements the OROP tailored to suit its convenience, I doubt whether it will ever regain the unique position it occupied in the soldier’s mind. Now every government order runs the risk of being suspect, probably for the very right reasons. This can change only when it makes the armed forces part of the decision making process in matters relating to national security. But many of us don’t believe it would happen in this country which has kept the armed forces at arm’s length for over six decades of independence. That is why Prime Minister Modi’s “Man ki baat” on OROP cut no ice with the veterans.
There is no rule
of law for the soldier: The government
has not complied with a number of Supreme Court judgements on granting of OROP.
Who will enforce them if the government stubbornly refuses to do so? Only
politicians can twist the law to their end. If there is any doubt look at the
Lalit Modi case where politicians of all hues managed to keep him away from the
long arm of the law.
Civil society
exists for a select few: Despite the
veterans raising a lot of noise and the media going on high octave on OROP
issue, there is a deafening silence from civil society. The plight of the
disabled soldier or his widow living in abject poverty because they have not
been paid their dues does not move them. Their hearts bleed only for select
few: an extremist shot dead “to protect the public” or animals tested in laboratories.
Agitation is the
only way: Actually it has taken 40 years for
OROP - an issue that veterans consider as gross injustice - to get noticed by
the nation. That shows veterans are reckoned very low, probably just above the
visually handicapped, in the ranks of national preoccupation. The nation sat up
and started noticing the issue only when veterans used the electoral bandwagon
to extract promises from political parties. But it has not worked. So agitation
has to continue. But nobody bothers with Jantar Mantar-type agitations because
they are a daily phenomenon. The more inconvenient it is for the public, the
faster is the state’s response as indicated by caste agitations to block
national highways in the vicinity of Delhi NCR. But I doubt whether veterans
have the collective mindset to indulge in unlawful actions after a lifetime of
discipline and order.
Command is going
to be difficult within armed forces. When the
covenant of trust is broken at the top it will have its adverse fall out. It
will impact within the armed forces’ command and control set up from the top to
the unit level at the bottom. As it is the pernicious social ills of caste,
political animosities, inequality, absence of equitable justice have made unit
command a delicate task. It could become more difficult now.
I know these are cynical lessons. After
spending three decades of the best part of my life in the army based on values
we love, perhaps the country has managed to turn me into a cynic.
The worm has turned. That is Bharat
Mahan for you! Jai Hind!
Courtesy:
India Today Opinion portal DailyO
2 comments:
GOD Bless India & Indian Army.
Another lesson you can add is that Judiciary can not be the route to get justice as the Govt ignores the judgements with impunity.When Supreme courts instead of pronouncing verdict tells the veterans in the Contempt case that' you should fight the enemy and not the Govt' and in case of VK Singh DOB case tells him to come an understanding with the Govt supreme court cannot be viewed as the bastion of justice.
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